Ethiopia: Video footage circulating on social media that shows government forces searching Amhara farmersā grain warehouses and making the grain unusable has sparked wave of public outrage
Urgent Appeal for #UN Intervention to Halt Violence and Protect Indigenous Communities in the #Gambella Region, #Ethiopia
To: Mr. António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations @antonioguterres
405 East 42nd Street,
New York, NY 10017,
USA
From: Ethiopian Solidarity Movement (ESM)
Subject: Urgent Appeal for UN Intervention to Halt Violence and Protect Indigenous Communities in the Gambella Region, Ethiopia
Your Excellency, This letter is submitted to urgently appeal for the immediate attention and intervention of the United Nations to help address the escalating security and humanitarian crisis in the Gambella Region of Ethiopia. Indigenous communities there are facing repeated killings, cattle raiding, forced displacement, and attempts at illegal land claims linked to cross-border actors and refugee movements.
The situation now poses a grave threat to human life, the constitutional rights of indigenous communities, and regional peace and stability. For years, the Anyuaa, Magang, Opo, Komo, and sub-Nuer communities have lived under constant threat from recurrent attacks on their villages and farms, including in areas near the South Sudanese border. Heavily armed groups, some reportedly sheltered within refugee populations, have carried out organized raids, burning of homes, killings, and violent appropriation of ancestral lands. Despite numerous appeals from local residents and leaders, security responses have been inadequate to prevent further atrocities or displacement. Over the past week alone, at least 261 people have reportedly been killed in Gambella, including a regional police commander, in a series of violent inter-ethnic clashes. These tragic developments underscore the growing instability and the urgent need for effective international engagement. Without immediate action, there is a real danger of further escalation and mass civilian casualties.
The people of Gambella have the right to live in peace and dignity under the protection of law. However, the scale and persistence of violence now exceed local capacity to manage and require urgent international attention. We therefore respectfully urge Your Excellency and the United Nations to: 1. Dispatch a UN fact-finding or humanitarian assessment mission to Gambella to evaluate the situation on the ground and recommend coordinated measures for civilian protection. 2. Engage the Government of Ethiopia and regional authorities to ensure the deployment of adequate and accountable security forces capable of protecting all communities, without ethnic bias. 3. Encourage the establishment of an independent inquiry, with UN and AU technical support, to investigate the killings, forced displacement, and possible cross-border involvement in acts of aggression. 4. Strengthen cooperation with UNHCR to review refugee registration and camp security to prevent infiltration by armed elements and to uphold international refugee protection standards. 5. Promote an inclusive dialogue and reconciliation process between affected indigenous communities and refugee representatives to address longstanding grievances and prevent future conflict.
Your moral leadership and the UNās impartial support are crucial in this moment of crisis. Unchecked violence in Gambella could destabilize not only Ethiopiaās western frontier but also neighboring areas across the border. Through timely UN engagement- diplomatic, humanitarian, and technicalāthousands of lives could be saved, and the progression toward a wider regional conflict could be halted. We trust that Your Excellencyās office will give this matter its immediate and serious consideration and take appropriate steps to support peace and justice for the people of Gambella.
Respectfully,
Badege Bishaw (Ph.D.)
Chairperson, Ethiopian Solidarity Movement
Cc: President Ursula von der Leyen, The European Commission @vonderleyen
Director-General, UNHCR @Refugees
Chairperson, African Union Commission @_AfricanUnion@AUC_PAPS
The Office of the Prime Minister, FDRE, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
This is how the con artist brute, #AbiyAhmed, the Beshasha Worobela, treats those he has thrown into prison simply for holding a different political opinion or perspective on the countryās problems and their solutions. And now, with characteristic hypocrisy, he dares to lecture that āit is ok to have varied opinions and perspectives.ā, as he did today, during his book launch. Nothing more than his usual deception and manipulation of public opinion.
#EthiopiaWatchšŖš¹: Trump has extended the US national emergency in Ethiopia, which was first signed by Pres. Biden in 2021, citing threats to peace & stability in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia: Reports that Kiristian Tadele, an elected former Member of Parliament representing the Amhara people, remains unlawfully detained and continues to suffer from life-threatening illnesses. He's said to be being denied critical medical treatment
#EthiopiaWatchšŖš¹: On this week's Hanke's #CurrencyWatchlist, the Ethiopian birrĀ checks in as the WORST CURRENCY IN THE WORLD.
The birr has depreciated by ~55% against the USD YoY.
MORE EVIDENCE OF AN IMF FAILURE.