The Deprivation and Livelihood Impoverishment of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in East Wollega: the Case of Oromo Displacees from Kamashi Zone of Benishangul-Gumuz Region

Abstract

Internally displaced persons are among the most vulnerable people in Ethiopia, deprived of many things, some of which are fundamental to their lives, including homes, productive assets and livelihoods, familiar environments to which skills and practices have been attuned, community networks, and a sense of local belonging, to mention but a few. Ethiopia experiences internal displacements driven by multiple factors, the scale of which has risen to an unprecedented level in recent years. Of all the drivers of displacement, the post-2018 political quagmire induced the surge of inter-communal violence. Largely stemming from emergent inter-ethnic rivalry for power and resources at the periphery and propelled by political tensions at the center, communal violence displaced over 3 million people in 2018 and 2019. Displacement of such magnitude engendered untold human suffering and stretched to the brink of resources and the capacity of the government to manage them. This study is centered on the exploration of one of the conflict-induced displacements in Western Ethiopia, with particular reference to the plight of tens of thousands of Oromo displacees from the Kamashi Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in the wake of the 2018 political transition. A qualitative research approach was employed to generate the necessary information. In-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and case narratives were the major data-gathering tools. These were corroborated by an extensive and critical review of relevant literature. The study revealed that the recent conflict in the region is too delicate and multilayered. Situated in competition for power and resource, it was played out at the national, regional, and even village level by multiple actors. Historically embedded narratives of injustices (imagined or real), constitutionally sanctioned inequalities, competing political and resource interests as well as a proxy war waged between the incumbent government and the deposed hegemonic party -Tigray Peoples’  Liberation Front (TPLF) that dominated Ethiopia’s political landscape nearly for three decades nourished and inflamed the conflict. The study also found that the regional constitution of the Benishangul Gumuz disproportionately privileges the so-called indigenous groups in the region (the Gumuz, Berta, Shinasha, Mao, and Komo) while excluding others from political power and economic benefits placed a huge stain on inter-ethnic relations. The claim of exclusive rights to power and resources by the Gumuz in the Kamashi Zone and their attempt to clean the zone from what they call aliens – settlers, to contain further migration and settlement as well as the urge to assert sovereignty over the region; have triggered conflict with the Oromo who despite their numerical significance were denied equal rights. This was further exacerbated by chaotic power shakeup following the 2018 political transition whereby purged and disgruntled former political cadres emerged as a potentially destabilizing force by pitting one ethnic group against another.