Ethiopia: catch all

[davidbfpo]

I was startled a few months ago when a BBC TV documentary on Ethiopia referred to the large Muslim minority and that the communities got on well.

Ethiopia has close historical ties to all three of the world's major Abrahamic religions. It was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. It still has a Christian majority, but a third of the population is Muslim.

Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia#Religion

[davidbfpo]

Ethiopia rarely gets coverage here, although Chinese investment in a railway appears elsewhere and the US has a "drone relationship", well did till recently. I did catch reports on disorder and a government "crackdown" all over a planning dispute; missed the scale:

Rights groups say that at least 150 protesters have died and another 5,000 have been arrested by security forces.

This BBC article is a swift overview of a state that faces "small wars" out in the countryside:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35325536

[davidbfpo]

A long explanation on Ethiopia's governance and wider issues (not the small wars as above post), with more detail than I have seen before:https://www.opendemocracy.net/ren-le...e-warning-shot

It opens with:

The Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the strongest component of the ruling coalition, from the middle of 2014 has faced the highest level of Tigrean popular discontent since its inception 40 years ago. That came first. Now the unrest in the most populated region of Ethiopia has sent to the regime as a whole the most shattering warning shot since its arrival in power in 1991.

[davidbfpo]

A BBC backgrounder that opens with:

Political protests which have swept through Ethiopia are a major threat to the country's secretive government, writes former BBC Ethiopia correspondent Elizabeth Blunt. For the past five years Ethiopia has been hit by waves of protest, not only by formal opposition groups but also Muslims unhappy at the imposition of government-approved leaders, farmers displaced to make way for commercial agriculture, Amhara communities opposed at their inclusion in Tigre rather than the Amhara region and, above all, by groups in various parts of the vast Oromia region.
In the most recent unrest in Oromia, at least 55 people died when security forces intervened over the weekend during the annual Ireecha celebrations - a traditional Oromo seasonal festival.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37564770
The scale of the deaths:

The prime minister said there were at least 170 deaths in the Oromo region and more than 120 in Amhara but admitted that "when you add it up it could be more than 500".

Within a rolling item:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-37390867
I wonder if internal issues have affected this exit from a town in Somalia? See:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37616973

[davidbfpo]

A long explanation of the crisis, now with a state of emergency, by a French SME:https://www.opendemocracy.net/ren-le...opia-s-crisis?

He provides an answer to the perception within Ethiopia that the regime now finds itself in a new position:

Why this impotence and loss of credibility?

[CrowBat]

I wonder if internal issues have affected this exit from a town in Somalia? See:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37616973

Have discussed Ethiopian withdrawal from Somalia with several sources that made the project Wings over Ogaden possible.

They say: this has nothing to do with internal affairs in Ethiopia - but with costs of this enterprise.

They compare the situation with what happened back in 2007, when Ethiopia moved in in order to help the UN, but then nobody helped Ethiopia.

The force withdrawn was the Ethiopian contingent operating outside AMISOM's command, and sponsored by Ethiopian defence budget. Original plan was for this force to hold the specific zone until AMISOM would take over. But, there was simply no reaction - neither from the UN, i.e. AMISOM, nor from regular Somali forces.

Fed up of waiting, Ethiopians withdrew on their own. The AMISOM eventually moved in, but only after ash-Shabaab took over some of places.

[davidbfpo]

With the media focus on President Zuma's removal from power in South Africa, few spotted let alone saw reporting on the resignation of the Prime Minister in Ethiopia.

A French SME is the author (cited before) and he starts with:

The crisis in Ethiopia has suddenly gained momentum and reached a tipping point. Things could go either way. The country could dig itself even deeper, with consequences that don’t bear thinking about. Or there could be a broad realisation that Ethiopia is “at the precipice”, bringing a surge of realism and pragmatism that would finally start a process of political rebuilding on solid, inclusive and lasting foundations.

Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/ren-lefort/crisis-in-ethiopia-elections-and-fast?

Is this important to us, whether the 'small wars' community of that horrible phrase "the West"? Yes, if only out of self-interest, notably access to facilities and whatever the crisis Ethiopia is an example of how change can happen for the better amidst the communal tensions and religious context.