Mereja Forum

[Ethiopians4cm]

This is a most ignoble distinction, the type that we should all be ashamed of. Ethiopia is now the world’s leader when it comes to conflicts and the number of people those conflicts have subsequently displaced. As of the latest count, Ethiopia has more than 3.1 million people displaced from their homes and living in makeshift camps, tent cities or have become homeless sleeping on the streets. The next country behind Ethiopia in terms of number of IPDs is the Democratic Republic of Congo, their number of displaced citizens is nearly half what it is in Ethiopia.

The rise of Internally Displaced Ethiopians is not taking place in a vacuum; when people feel hopeless and their means to earn a living evaporate, violence rises in correlation. Even when Ethiopia was wowing the world with her pace of “economic development”, the perks were largely hoarded at the top and the people reaped marginal or zero benefits by derivative. The little that did trickle down to the masses has slowed nearly to a halt as economic policies are now aimed solely at attracting foreign investors by leveraging low wages and exporting Ethiopians, in what is tantamount to state sanctioned human trafficking, to the Middle East to become low skilled workers.

Bracketed by financial anxieties and economic insolvency, people turn to extralegal means to solve their problems. Lawlessness has gripped Ethiopia as bands of tribal thugs, inspired by hatemongers like Jawar Mohammed, rove from city to city kicking people out of...continued...

Read full article at: https://ethiopians4cm.org/crisis-in-ethiopia-2019-7-24/