Ethiopian displacement is now worse than Syria’s
More people were internally displaced in Ethiopia in the first half of this year than in any other country.
Displacement there outpaced the world’s worst conflict zones including Syria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
More than 1.4 million Ethiopians fled their homes between January and June, data published yesterday by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva showed.
Syria had the second highest level of internally displaced civilians, with 1.2 million fleeing violence inside the country this year.
Another report released yesterday, by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, showed that this year was the worst for the number of people forced to leave their homes in Syria’s seven-year civil war.
In Ethiopia, a new ethnic conflict that began in April in the border areas of Gedeo and West Guji has killed hundreds and driven 1.2 million people from their homes, sparking a humanitarian crisis, the centre’s report said.
And an inter-communal dispute between the Somali and Oromia regions in the east has driven out 200,000 people since it flare up at the end of last year.
More than 80 ethnic groups live in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation.
This year conflict has arisen between Oromo and Gedeo ethnic groups over land and resources.
In Ethiopia’s rural populations there is a heavy dependence on agriculture and demand for grazing, leading to fights over access to food, water and pasture. The conditions are worsened by floods and drought.
“It beggars belief that 1.4 million people fleeing violence isn’t making global headlines,” said Nigel Tricks, regional director of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“The world is turning a blind eye to Ethiopia.
“Families we’ve met who have fled fighting are living in dire conditions and dismal international funding is being channelled to help them.”
In the Gedeo and West Guji region of Ethiopia, displaced people are living in overcrowded host communities, where need for food, water and health services is beyond capacity.
The Horn of Africa is the world’s worst hit region for displacement this year. Up to 341,000 Somalis have been internally displaced, while nearly a million have fled drought and flooding in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.