Responses to Information Requests

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

1. Overview

According to the latest census conducted by the Ethiopian government in 2007, Ethiopia has a population of 73,918,505 and "more than 80 ethnic groups" (Ethiopia Dec. 2008, 8, 16). The same source provides the following results regarding the number of inhabitants belonging to the 10 main ethnic groups as well as the Gedeo group:

(Ethiopia Dec. 2008, 84–85)

The 2007 census also provides information on the ethnic majority in each region:

(Ethiopia Dec. 2008, 86–108)

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimates Ethiopia's population at around 117 million in 2021 (UN 2019).

1.1 Oromo

According to the 2007 census, the Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia with 34.49 percent of the Ethiopian population (Ethiopia Dec. 2008, 85). In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, the Executive Director of the Oromo Legacy Leadership & Advocacy Association (OLLAA), a non-profit human rights organization (OLLAA n.d.a), stated that official statistics concerning the Oromo people have been "always underestimated" by the federal authorities and that they "represent over 40 percent of Ethiopia's inside population" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021). According to the 2007 census, the Oromo are most concentrated in Oromia, where they constitute 87.1 percent of the population, but are also the majority ethnic group in Dire Dawa and Harari, making up 46.08 percent and 56.41 percent of the population respectively (Ethiopia Dec. 2008, 93, 104, 106).

According to OLLAA's Executive Director, the Oromo have a "natural alliance" with "some Gurages and Gedeos who still claim the Oromo descent" and who are not "established in the big cities" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021). Further information on alliances between the Oromo and other Ethiopian ethnic groups could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

1.2 Amhara

According to the 2007 census, the Amhara are the second-largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, accounting for 26.89 percent of the population and are concentrated in the Amhara region, where they account for 91.48 percent of the population, and the Addis Ababa metropolitan region, where they account for 47.05 percent (Ethiopia Dec. 2008, 84, 91, 104). OLLAA's Executive Director has similarly stated that the "Amharas are effectively in majority in Amhara and maybe in Addis [Ababa]" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

According to article 5 of the 1994 Ethiopian Constitution, "All Ethiopian languages shall enjoy equal state recognition," but "Amharic shall be the working language of the Federal Government" (Ethiopia 1994).

OLLAA's Executive Director stated that the Amhara do not have a "natural alliance" with other ethnic groups but that people living in big cities are mostly "pro-Amhara" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021). Further information on the relationship of the Amhara with other Ethiopian ethnic groups could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

1.3 Gurage

According to the National African Language Resource Center (NALRC), a research centre at Indiana University Bloomington, the Gurage [Guraghe] live primarily in the Southern Nations and Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR) located 240 km south of Addis Ababa (NALRC n.d.). The 2007 census similarly reports that the Gurage ethnic group is most concentrated in the SNNPR but accounts for 7.52 percent of the population in that region (Ethiopia Dec. 2008, 99).

OLLAA's Executive Director stated that some Gurages, "who claim Oromo descent," are in a kind of "natural alliance" with Oromo people (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021). Further information on the relationship of the Gurage with other Ethiopian ethnic groups could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

1.4 Gedeo

According to the 2007 census results, the Gedeo ethnic group, with 986,977 members, is most concentrated in the SNNPR, where it accounts for 4.92 percent of the total population of this region (Ethiopia Dec. 2008, 84, 99).

According to OLLAA's Executive Director, some Gedeos "who claim Oromo descent" are in a kind of "natural alliance" with Oromo people (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021). Further information on the relationship of the Gedeo with other Ethiopian ethnic groups could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2. Treatment of These Ethnic Groups in Regions Other Than Tigray

According to the US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020, "[t]here were several cases of societal violence affecting members of national, racial, or ethnic minorities or groups" (US 30 Mar. 2021, 28).

2.1 Oromo

OLLAA states that "despite the population's majority in numbers, the Oromo remain a political, social and economical minority in Ethiopia" (OLLAA n.d.b). Minority Rights Group International (MRG) also reports that the Oromo people have "long faced marginalisation and exclusion at the hands of the central government" (MRG 22 July 2020). According to the BBC, [BBC English version] "[t]he Oromo, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, have long complained of being sidelined" (BBC 2 July 2020). OLLAA's Executive Director stated that "Oromos have always been discriminated [against] concerning access to housing and to employment even in Oromia region, especially in the Ethiopian big cities such as Addis [Ababa] and Adama" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

2.1.1 Murder of Hachalu Hundessa

With regard to violence, sources cite as one of the best-known examples the killing in Addis Ababa in June 2020 of an Oromo singer, Hachalu Hundessa [Hacaaluu Hundeessaa], which resulted in a number of deaths during demonstrations organized in Addis Ababa and elsewhere to protest the killing (OLLAA n.d.b; BBC 2 July 2020; Le Monde 3 July 2020). The BBC describes Hachalu Hundessa as [BBC English version] "a symbol for the Oromo people who spoke up about the political and economic marginalisation" (BBC 2 July 2020). The newspaper Le Monde describes him as having been [translation] "the interpreter … of the desire of Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, the Oromo, to invent a new national destiny for themselves" (Le Monde 3 July 2020). OLLAA's Executive Director stated that he "represented the determination and resistance of Oromo people facing oppression" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021). According to Ethiopia Insight, an EU-registered news website that reports on Ethiopia (Ethiopia Insight n.d.), the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) produced a report on 1 January [2021] "saying [that] 123 people were killed during the crisis that followed Hachalu's assassination, of which 76 were killed by government security forces, 35 by individuals and groups, and 12 as a result of explosions or similar incidents" (Ethiopia Insight 5 Jan. 2021). France 24 reports 239 people killed in Oromia, including [translation] "nine police officers, five militia members and 215 civilians," according to the Oromia police (France 24 11 July 2020). According to an organization that organized a protest in Paris against the assassination of Hachalu Hundessa, the singer was [translation] "killed under the orders of the government in place" (France 24 11 July 2021). On 3 August 2021, the Ethiopian newspaper Addis Standard reported that one person was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Hachalu Hundessa, and two other co-defendants were sentenced to 18- and 6-months' imprisonment, respectively (Addis Standard 3 Aug. 2021).

2.1.2 Other Examples of Violence

OLLAA also illustrates the violence experienced by the Oromo people through a series of portraits called "Humans of Oromia," in which the stories of mistreatment experienced by a dozen citizens are told, including the following examples:

• A mother who was detained with her two children after the special forces allegedly killed her 15yearold daughter for participating in one of the protests following the death of Hachalu Hundessa (OLLAA 9 Nov. 2020);
• A pastor who conducted his sermons only in Afaan Oromo [the Oromo language] and was killed on 24 October 2020, after previously being insulted and assaulted (OLLAA 11 Nov. 2020);
• An Oromo musician who was arrested without a warrant and left on the side of the road after being brutally beaten for releasing a song calling on Oromos to fight for their freedom (OLLAA 23 Nov. 2020);
• A community educator who was killed for being the brother of an activist who criticized the Ethiopian government on social media (OLLAA 30 Nov. 2020);
• A whistleblower who was abducted from his family home in Amboa by law enforcement in November 2020 and whose body was discovered floating in the Debis River (OLLAA 9 Dec. 2020; BBC 16 Jan. 2021);
• An Oromo father who was arrested at his home without reason or a warrant on 14 December 2020 and detained for four days before being escorted home by police officers who killed him in front of his family (OLLAA 22 Dec. 2020);
• A mother who was arrested and has been detained without a warrant with her young child since 21 November 2020 because her husband, also detained, had participated in one of the protests following the death of Hachalu Hundessa (OLLAA 13 Jan. 2021);
• A teacher who was abducted from his home on 19 November 2020 by ten police officers who had invaded his house and whose body was discovered a few days later (OLLAA 11 Feb. 2021; BBC 16 Jan. 2021);
• A TV show producer who was detained by the police for participating in a demonstration in front of the federal high court in solidarity with political prisoners (OLLAA 2 Mar. 2021) and was released without trial 38 days later (Addis Standard 19 Mar. 2021);
• A young student who was falsely accused on 5 March 2021 of having ties to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) [1] before being beaten and shot dead in his family's home after security forces failed to find incriminating evidence during searches conducted without a search warrant (OLLAA 24 Mar. 2021; Addis Standard 12 Mar. 2021).

Amnesty International states that it [Amnesty International English version] "documented the extrajudicial execution of at least 39 people in Oromia" in 2020 (Amnesty International 29 May 2020). Agence France-Presse (AFP) also reports an "array of abuses" by Ethiopian soldiers in their fight against the OLA, denounced by opposition politicians and rights groups, including killings and mass detentions in Nekemte as well as in rural areas of western Oromia (AFP 29 Feb. 2020). Addis Standard states that between January and March 2020 in Wollega, Oromia, "[d]ozens of unarmed civilians have been shot dead by Ethiopian army soldiers" with most of the victims being young men suspected of supporting the OLA rebels (Addis Standard 20 Mar. 2020). The same source adds that during this period, over a hundred others fled to the neighbouring Gambela Region to escape the violence (Addis Standard 20 Mar. 2020). According to Amnesty International, two trucks full of soldiers drove into town on 28 December 2018, and [Amnesty International English version] "indiscriminately shot at people for an hour," killing 13 in Finchawa, Dugda Dawa (Amnesty International 29 May 2020). The same source reports that at least 10,000 people, including entire families, were arbitrarily arrested and detained in 2019 as part of the government's crackdown on armed attacks and inter-communal violence in the Oromia region; they were [Amnesty International English version] "accused, but never charged" for supporting the OLA (Amnesty International 29 May 2020). The same source also notes that security officers forcibly evicted [Amnesty International English version] "at least 60 families" from Oromia's East and West Guji zones, by burning down homes, and that "another 300 families were forcibly relocated" from their rural homes into peri-urban areas because they were also believed to be OLA supporters (Amnesty International 29 May 2020). OLLAA's Executive Director stated that "the greatest atrocities" against the Oromo people "are those mostly perpetrated by the security forces in total impunity" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

2.2 Amhara

The Amhara Association of America (AAA), a non-profit civic organization based in North Carolina, US (AAA Apr. 2021, i), whose mission is to advance the political and humanitarian interests of the Amhara people (AAA n.d.), recorded and documented 38 incidents of "targeted killings" against the Amhara, including 25 in the Oromia Region, 8 in Benishangul-Gumuz, 2 in the SNNPR, and 2 in Amhara, which occurred between 1 January and 31 March 2021 (AAA Apr. 2021, 2–3).

Freedom House reports that there were several high-profile assassinations in 2019, including that of the Amhara regional president and two of his aides, as well as attacks on places of worship (Freedom House 2020, 2, 10, 12). In March 2020, Amnesty International reported the disappearance of 17 Amhara students, who were abducted by unidentified people in Western Oromia in November 2019 and have been missing since (Amnesty International 25 Mar. 2020). The BBC reports that the abducted students, "mostly ethnic Amharas," were originally 18 in number, that one of them managed to escape and that she described the unknown abductors as a group of youths who spoke Afaan Oromo (BBC 16 Mar. 2020). Amnesty International also states that [Amnesty International English version] "at least" 54 Amhara people were killed and several properties were damaged in the village of Gawa Qanqa of West Wellega Zone in an attack carried out by suspected OLA members on 1 November 2020, one day after Ethiopian defence forces troops withdrew from the area unexpectedly (Amnesty International 2 Nov. 2020).

Sources report that there has also been violence at 22 universities, leading to the death of a dozen students, forcing 35,000 others to flee, and resulting in disciplinary measures against 640 students and 40 teachers (Le Monde 12 Feb. 2020; CGTN Africa 17 Jan. 2020). The same sources report that the conflict involved "ethnic tinged clashes" (CGTN Africa 17 Jan. 2020) or that it involved Oromo and Amhara students (Le Monde 12 Feb. 2020). AAA further reports that in early 2021, "hundreds of thousands" of people were internally displaced, with most fleeing to the Amhara region (AAA Apr. 2021, 3). According to the same source, "[a]t least 491 ethnic Amhara civilians were killed and 314 injured, mostly in Oromia, Benishangul-Gumuz and Amhara regions" and "out of those 805 documented casualties, in at least 100 cases the victims belonged to vulnerable groups (children [40], women [50], elderly [9] and persons with disabilities [1])" (AAA Apr. 2021, 3, square brackets in original).

Sources also state that in 2019 and 2020, Amharas were attacked in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region (UN 10 Apr. 2020; Amnesty International 8 Apr. 2020; Addis Standard 16 Sept. 2020). According to Amnesty International, "[i]n April [2019], members of the ethnic Gumuz group killed 21 Amhara residents in the Benishangul Region" (Amnesty International 8 Apr. 2020, 43) and "[t]here has been a surge of deadly ethnic violence targeting Amharas in various parts of the country, including Benishangul, Oromia" and the SNNPR (Amnesty International 27 Oct. 2020). The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also states that "[i]ntra-community violence has escalated between ethnic Gumuz and Amhara in Benishangul Gumuz, and between … Amhara and Oromo communities, prompting new displacements and limiting humanitarian access" (UN 10 Apr. 2020, 1). Addis Standard reports that there have been weeks-long attacks carried out by yet unidentified, "heavily armed" militiamen in Metekel zone, Benishangul Gumuz, that have left unknown numbers of civilian causalities and destroyed properties; the attacks intensified in September [2020] and targeted the community of Bulan Woreda, where Amhara, Shinasha, Gumuz and Agew members reside (Addis Standard 16 Sept. 2020). The newspaper adds that "[t]here are several social media posts claiming the targets are ethnic Amharas" (Addis Standard 16 Sept. 2020). According to AAA, "[a]t least 12 ethnic Amharas were kidnapped in Oromia and Benishangul-Gumuz Regions, including seven children and women" (AAA Apr. 2021, 9).

The OLLAA Executive Director stated the following:

Amhara people cannot be discriminated [against] as they are controlling the economic system and all employment sectors in big cities [in Ethiopia]. However, because of the frustration and jealousy their situation arouses, they are the most likely to face physical violence from other mo[re] disadvantaged ethnic groups when they are in [a] minority [situation] outside Amhara region and [upscale neighbourhoods] of the big cities where they live. (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021)

2.3 Gurage

Vice magazine reports that Hundessa's death caused "a wave of violence in the capital and his home region of Oromia" during which "[h]undreds of people were killed, with minorities like Christian Amharas, Christian Oromos, and Gurage people suffering the biggest losses" (Vice 14 Sept. 2020). MRG reports that a large, organized group of predominantly young people from the Oromo community burned down hotels, schools, business centres and residential homes, in particular those belonging to Gurage people (MRG 22 July 2020). According to the same source, "[t]he attacks were premeditated" as the group of young Oromo people had "a list with the names of individuals and households to target" and went from "home-to-home" specifically targeting "Amhara and Gurages," in particular by "checking identity cards" (MRG 22 July 2020).

Amnesty International reports that some Oromos violently attacked non-Oromo groups, in particular the Gurage and Gamo living in Burayu District, in the special Oromia zone encircling Addis Ababa (Amnesty International 17 Sept. 2018).

The OLLAA Executive Director stated that Gurages have maintained relationships with Oromos based on a "natural alliance" but that those who show that they are pro-Amhara are subject to violence when they are in Oromia (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

2.4 Gedeo

Information on the treatment of Gedeo people was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

In March 2019, the Guardian reported that Gedeo people "fled" the district of West Guji in Oromia because they feared rebels from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) [2] (The Guardian 14 Mar. 2019). According to Germany's international broadcasting organization, Deutsche Welle (DW), in July 2019, Ethiopian authorities reported that tensions between Oromo and Gedeo people had calmed down and that it was safe for the latter to return; however, many Gedeo people indicate that they are still fearful of the armed groups responsible for the attacks who are still at large (DW 1 July 2019).

According to the OLLAA Executive Director, Gedeo people are allied with Oromo people but those who are pro-Amhara are subject to violence in Oromia (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

3. State Protection

Information on state protection was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to Amnesty International, [Amnesty International English version] "[t]he Ethiopian authorities have made notable progress in changing the country's bleak human rights record," including by setting up "security Command Posts" in 2018 to coordinate operations in response to ethnic violence in five of the country's nine states (Amnesty International 29 May 2020). Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transformation Index (BTI) 2020, which covers the period from 1 February 2017 to 31 January 2019 and "assesses the transformation toward democracy and a market economy as well as the quality of governance in 137 countries," also notes that following Abiy Ahmed's election in 2018, the government "improved" the situation of political opponents, in particular by lifting the state of emergency and releasing "thousands of political prisoners" (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2, 7).

3.1 Oromo

Sources state that in 2018, the government lifted the ban on some political opposition groups, such as the OLF (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2020, 7; Australia 12 Aug. 2020, 16; UN 4 Mar. 2019, 3) by removing them from the list of terrorist organizations (Australia 12 Aug. 2020, 16; UN 4 Mar. 2019, 3).

According to the OCHA, in May–June [2019], authorities and humanitarian partners provided assistance to displaced people "in terms of food, shelter and NFIs [non-food items]" in the West Guji zone of southern Oromia (UN 24 July 2020, 5). The same source also reports that although there are gaps in the distribution of food and non-food items, more than 24,000 Jarso Oromo IDPs are "currently hosted in Chinaksen woreda for the past two years, unable to return to their original place in Tuliguled due to unresolved security issues" following the violence with the Somali-Gari (UN 10 Apr. 2020, 4).

The OLLAA Executive Director stated that "[Abiy Ahmed's] government does not currently offer any protection … [and] particularly no[t] at all to Oromo people" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

3.2 Amhara

The OCHA reports that government and humanitarian partners established the IDP Technical Committee in order to coordinate the aid response and that, as a result, "70 per cent of the estimated 22,000 IDPs in Awi zone received emergency food and non-food aid" (UN 10 Apr. 2020, 3).

In addition, Human Rights Watch (HRW) notes that "[i]n some cases, security forces failed to intervene in time to protect lives and property or participated in looting [the Amharas]" (HRW 13 Jan. 2021, 4). According to the OLLAA Executive Director, "[Abiy Ahmed's] government does not currently offer any protection … no[t] even to Amhara people" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

3.3 Gurage

According to MRG, "[i]n many areas of Oromia region, the federal and regional government were not willing to deploy security forces in time to protect [Amhara and Gurage] minorities" (MRG 22 July 2020). According to Amnesty International, in the midst of violence during which Oromo people targeted Gurage people in particular, [Amnesty International English version] "the security forces did nothing to stop the incitement to violence, or to protect targeted communities despite their repeated pleas for help" (Amnesty International 17 Sept. 2018).

The OLLAA Executive Director stated that "[Abiy Ahmed's] government does not currently offer any protection … to Gurage people" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

3.4 Gedeo

According to the Reporter Ethiopia, a national newspaper, the government of Ethiopia had started a "voluntary repatriation" of displaced Gedeo people (The Reporter Ethiopia 8 June 2019). However, the same source reports that "the repatriation activities might not be as voluntary" as authorities claim and that "in some instances, they [the repatriation activities] appear to be forced" (The Reporter Ethiopia 8 June 2019). The Guardian also reports that despite the "self-evident risks," the government has "repeatedly pushed" Gedeo people "back into Oromia" even though it still "denies" that it supports "involuntary returns" (The Guardian 14 Mar. 2019).

Sources state that on 22 November 2018, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the Ethiopian Catholic Church (ECC) and World Vision held a peace forum in Dilla Town to ease tensions between Gedeo and Guji ethnic groups (UN Dec. 2018, 3; CRS, et al. 22 Nov. 2018, 1) with support from the government (CRS, et al. 22 Nov. 2018, 1) and the participation of government representatives (UN Dec. 2018, 3).

According to OLLAA's Executive Director, "[Abiy Ahmed's] government does not currently offer any protection … to Gedeo people" (Executive Director 21 Sept. 2021).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] For information on the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), see Response to Information Request ETH200764 of September 2021.

[2] For information on the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), see Response to Information Request ETH200764 of September 2021.

References

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Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Assistant professor at an Ethiopian university specializing in political relations; associate professor at a Canadian university specializing in gender and power relations; Brookings Institution; Centre français des études éthiopiennes; Ethiopia – Ethiopian Human Rights Commission; Ethiopian Advocacy Network; Ethiopian Association (Toronto); Ethiopian Human Rights Council; full professor at an American university specializing in Oromia politics and societies; full professor at a Canadian university specializing in revolutions, nationalist movements and conflicts in the Horn of Africa; Human Rights Watch; International Crisis Group; professor emeritus at a Dutch university specializing in African governance and politics.

Internet sites, including: ABC News; Africanews; The Africa Report; African Arguments; AllAfrica; Anadolu Agency; The Atlantic; Bloomberg; Borkena; Brookings Institution; CBC; Center for Strategic and International Studies; Chatham House; CNN; The Conversation; CTV News; ecoi.net; Ethiopia – Ethiopia Human Rights Commission; Ethiopia Observer; Financial Times; Foreign Affairs; Foreign Policy; France – Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides; Genocide Watch; The Globe and Mail; Institute for Security Studies; Los Angeles Times; The New York Times; News24; PBS; Reporters sans frontières; Stratfor; UK – Home Office; UN – UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, International Organization for Migration; US –– Department of State; US News; VOA Africa; The Washington Post; The World; WorldAtlas; World Bank; Xinhua News Agency.