Disclaimer: This is an English translation of an Amharic article taken from DW Amharic and is intended solely for information purposes.
DW Amharic - Statement of opposition from the Wollo Amhara Identity and Border Repatriation Committee
August 16, 2024
A newly appointed committee issued a statement stating that efforts underway to provide a lasting solution in areas disputed between the Amhara and Tigray Regions were expected to yield results. The Wollo Amhara Identity and Border Repatriation Committee however stated the statement neglected what has been happening and has overlooked the crimes being committed against the people of Raya.
In areas disputed between the Amhara and Tigray Regions efforts to provide a lasting solution to the issue have not yielded results
The Wollo Amhara Identity and Border Repatriation Committee in its statement criticized the newly formed committee for neglecting the truth and ignoring the crimes being committed against the people of Raya.
The newly appointed national committee issued a statement stating that efforts underway to provide a lasting solution in areas disputed between the Amhara and Tigray Regions were expected to yield results, and on this matter the Wollo Amhara Identity and Border Repatriation Committee stated the statement from the committee neglected what has been happening and has overlooked the crimes being committed against the people of Raya.
The national committee’s statement
Last August 12, 2024 (Nehase 6, 2016 EC) the national committee issued a statement on the matter stating that a technical committee reviewed details of the matter and presented them with a report which they reviewed stating implementation points had yielded promising results.
The national committee’s statement said residents which had been displaced from Raya and Tselemt had returned to their homes, and cited that the national defense force had played a significant role in leading and facilitating this process. It explained that the process of repatriating the displaced people was a model of promoting Ethiopian values between the peoples, unity, love and mutual understanding.
The national committee’s statement said both regions had played a role in disrupting the process of returning the displaced persons, and said the problems and the needs of the people were not beyond the needs and capacity of the government and said the work was successful.
The national committee made a recommendation that the national defense force facilitate federal civil officials along with involvement from observers from both regions to oversee selection of an interim administration.
Statement from the Wollo Amhara Identity and Border Repatriation Committee
Yesterday the Wollo Amhara Identity and Border Repatriation Committee issued its own statement opposing the statement from the national committee. The repatriation committee’s chairman Ato Hailu Abera told Deutsche Welle the majority of kebeles in the area were under occupation by Tigray forces and so the national committee stating, “the points of implementation were successful” was untrue. Ato Hailu added Tigrayan IDPs were allowed to return en masse without any Investigation, and that efforts to return more than 70,000 IDPs from Amhara Region were unsuccessful.
Ato Hailu said of 56 kebeles of Raya Alamata, 44 were under control of Tigray forces and explained the majority of those who were returned under the pretense of being IDPs were in fact combatants and reasoned if they had been IDPs they would have returned to their homes but since they originally came from other areas they are currently in schools. Those who supposedly came as IDPs were given a grand welcome which the national committee said it did not acknowledge. It was said, “the agreement was that the IDPs would be checked by community elders, but let alone be checked they came with force.”
Ato Hailu says the area had not received any budget over the past 4 years which has caused many problems, that more than 60,000 students are out of school and that the area has been neglected by the Federal Government. Ato Hailu said more than 9,000 plots of land have not been farmed and more than 13,000 farmers have been unable to farm their harvests and so he could not accept that this process could be described as a success. He said, “we cannot consider the Federal Government’s view of the people of Raya as good, it was seen as a problem which may have improved with time, however over the last 4 years the people did not even have a budget.”
Though it was previously determined that the problem would be resolved by a referendum which was agreed upon, the TPLF rejected this and the people of Raya have once again been made to suffer. He criticized the statement saying it was not at all reflective of the current situation. The Wollo Amhara Identity and Border Repatriation Committee in its statement said it believed that the Pretoria agreement has been nullified and that the Federal Government should review the matter to ensure the agreement is respected and that a fair and balanced decision is made. Efforts to contact the Southern Tigray administrator Ato Haftu Kiros by his mobile phone both through a call and through text for comment on the matter were unsuccessful.
Alemnew Mekonnen
Hirut Melese
Tsehaye Chanie
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