UN: Thousands flee Ethiopia violence, seek asylum in Sudan
At least 7,000 people who fled escalating ethnic violence in western Ethiopia have sought asylum in neighboring Sudan, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday, amid heightened tensions between the two Eastern African nations.
Violence in the Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-gumuz region is separate from the deadly conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. That’s where Ethiopian and allied regional forces began fighting Tigray regional forces in early November. The Tigray war sent more than 61,000 Ethiopians into Sudan’s provinces of Al-qadarif and Kassala, according to AP.
The UNHCR said most of the 7,000 asylum seekers who fled Metekel have been living among Sudanese host communities. It said it was working with local authorities in the Blue Nile Province to respond to the humanitarian needs of the newly arrived, many of whom have arrived in hard-to-reach places along the border.
Tensions escalated in the past three months in Metekel Zone, prompting Ethiopia’s government to declare a state of emergency in the area on Jan. 21, the UN agency said.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said more than 180 people were killed in separate massacres in Metekel in December and January.
Amnesty International reported in December that members of the ethnic Gumuz community — the ethnic majority in the region — attacked the homes of ethnic Amhara, Oromo and Shinasha. The rights group said the Gumuz set the homes on fire and stabbed and shot residents. The Gumuz see minorities as “settlers,” the rights group said.
Ethnic violence poses a major challenge to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as he tries to promote national unity in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups.
Amharas are the second most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia and they have been targeted repeatedly over the last year. Fighters from Amhara, however, have been accused by witnesses of carrying out atrocities along with Ethiopian and Eritrean forces in the Tigray conflict
The new influx of refugees into Sudan comes amid tensions between Addis Ababa and Khartoum over a border dispute and the deadlocked talks over a massive dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River.
The head of Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA) announced the inauguration of a wind farm project on the border of Iran and Afghanistan in the near future.
According to Mohammad Satakin, the 25-megawatt (MW) capacity of the joint project, which is considered to be one of the biggest wind farms in the world, will be put into operation by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20) while another 25-MW capacity project is scheduled to be inaugurated early in the next Iranian year, IRNA reported.
The construction of this 50-megawatt power plant has led to the development of the region’s infrastructure such as road construction, the construction of high-voltage electricity lines, substations, as well as telecommunications and internet infrastructures, Satakin said.
Referring to the eagerness of new investors for the construction of other wind projects in the region, he added: “In addition to this project, another 50-MW wind farm project is under construction using 4.2-MW turbines, part of which will be completed by the end of this year, while the other part will be constructed early next year.”
According to Satakin, having 30,000-MW potential of wind power capacity, the Iran-afghanistan border area is one of the world’s most windy regions.
“About 25,000 MW of the mentioned capacity is in Afghanistan’s territory while the other 5,000 is on the Iranian side,” he explained.
Back in November 2020, Satakin had said that over 30 MW will be added to the country’s wind power capacity, of which 60 percent will be supplied by the wind farm on the Iran-afghanistan border. Iran and Afghanistan started considering joint cooperation in renewable projects back in August 2019.