Resettlement Risks and Inter-Ethnic Conflict in Metekel, Ethiopia

Abstract

Involuntary displacement has the capacity to disrupt the lives of different categories of people: refugees, relocatees, and host populations. However, policymakers, donors, and researchers show inordinate concern for involuntary migrants, while the risks encountered by host people remain largely underestimated. This article compares the impacts of the 1980s resettlement program in Metekel, Northwest Ethiopia, on the settlers and their hosts in light of conceptual constructs. It also describes how resettlement-induced conflict over resources led to bloodshed, increased displacement, reformulation of inter-ethnic alliance, and administrative complications. In addition to presenting the implications of the resettlement for the recent settlers and the original inhabitants (the Gumuz people), the paper examines how other ethnic groups such as the Shinasha and the Agaw became involved in the guest-host interactions and how the ethnic based decentralization policy was exploited to promote group interest.