Amhara Expansionism during the Genocidal War in Tigray

Ethiopia’s unelected Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has made it clear that he desires to fulfill his life-long dream of becoming Ethiopia’s 7th king. This includes following Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s imperial governing styles and land annexation strategy. 

Ethiopia is not unfamiliar to land disputes, however, donkeys being stolen by the hundreds is unchartered territory. While this theft is almost farcical, it is an intentional part of a plan to hinder the agricultural life of Tigray, uproot farmers from their ancestral lands, and destabilize the region. Stealing livestock and burning crops are among the numerous actions taken by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), regional militias, and foreign invading forces to further intensify the land disputes and tension taking place during the war in Tigray. These calculated acts aim at weakening future Tigrayan generations through famine and violence. This war, still referred to by the Ethiopian federal government as a law-and-order enforcement operation, is entering its seventh month.

That is over half a year of telecommunication and media blackouts, restricted and looted humanitarian aid, extrajudicial civilian executions, weaponized rape, biological warfare, and a looming man-made famine. While the fascist Abiy Ahmed and co. claim victory in taking down Tigray’s democratically-elected regional government, the rest of the world sees that declaration as far from the truth. 

Along with inviting foreign invaders such as Eritrean and Somali forces to unleash terror on the Tigray region, Abiy Ahmed’s administration has made an attempt to legitimize land grabbing and Amhara expansionism.

One of the first actions taken by the Ethiopian forces entering Tigray was removing the Tigray regional flag from invaded areas and replacing it with the notorious plain green, yellow, and red Derg-era flag. The use of this specific flag, which has also been seen being waved at Ethiopian pro-genocide rallies around the U.S. and in other countries, is a reminder that supporters of this war have an agenda to take the country back to a unitarian, Amhara-dominated state. In fact, numerous Ethiopian diaspora community centers frequently use the Derg-era flag over the Ethiopian federal flag, which is a blatant gesture that only one specific type of person is welcome at that establishment. There have been publicly expressed sentiments by several members of the Amhara community to officially change their regional flag to the plain Derg-era green, yellow, and red flag. Thus, to those who claim this flag represents Ethiopia, being Ethiopian is synonymous with being Amhara.

In reference to the well-evidenced expansionism and land grabbing, Amhara state official Gizachew Muluneh stated, “[…land was] taken by force and now has been returned by force.” This is partly true; however, it is an incomplete history and the blame lies not with Tigray but with no other than the 20th century Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I.

Some lands surrounding present day Tigray such as Raya and other provinces, along with western Tigrayan regions including Welkayt, were annexed from Tigray by Selassie in the 1940s. Prior to this expansionism, these were Tigrayan lands under Tigrayan governance for centuries. This is evidenced by the Tigrayan names of the cities in these areas (e.g., Mai Hanse, Tselemti, Adi Hamli). Furthermore, Tigrinya has remained the first language of the vast majority of people from the region, ethnic Tigrayans, throughout history. 

The routine of land annexation and expansionism into Tigray by Haile Selassie must first and always be acknowledged and assessed. Therefore, to say the land was taken by force is a valid statement, but contrary to Gizachew Muluneh’s claim, the party responsible for such action is not Tigray — the land was taken away from Tigray. Similar Tigrayan land annexations and border manipulation can be traced even further back in Ethiopian history to the 19th century when Emperor Menelik II ruled. Along with incorporating areas of western Tigray to Gondar, the emperor betrayed Tigrayans by negotiating the Treaty of Wichale and granting Italian colonizers the rights to Tigrayan and modern-day Eritrean land.

Now, the Amhara militia and elite are attempting to claim Tigrayan land as part of the Amhara region in the name of a law and order operation. These actions have provoked a large amount of violence during the war in Tigray, which has been especially prevalent in these land grabbing hotspots such as along the Welkayt border. Beyond Tigray, Amhara expansionism is spilling over to neighboring countries. Sudanese Water Minister Yasir Abbas describes the threat of such expansionism, “The rise of the Amhara in Ethiopia’s politics is threatening the future of relations between our nations — not countries, but nations, peoples with literally thousands of years of shared history.”

Flags are not the only indication of the ongoing land grabbing in Tigray. It is reported that Amhara militia and Ethiopian forces are instructing Tigrayans to destroy their Tigrayan IDs and replace them with Amhara IDs. These civilians are ordered to denounce their Tigrayan identity and declare themselves as Amhara. Such actions are unequivocally done to perpetrate and push Tigrayans out of their homes in an attempt to take advantage of the intentional destabilization of the region. 

According to the elected Tigrayan Regional President Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael, there will not be any call for negotiations until the Amhara militia and other invaders withdraw from the Tigray region, including falsely reclaimed areas. Not only are Tigrayans fighting to survive weaponized famine, weaponized rape, bombs, and extrajudicial killings, they are fighting to defend and uphold their identity — one that has never wavered for thousands of years. So, while invaders can steal donkeys, hand out IDs, and wave oppressive flags, they can never change the identity of an ethnic Tigrayan.

As Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael stated, “We are fighting for our identity. We are fighting for our rights. We are fighting against all invaders to the end.”

Omna Tigray Contributor, May 2021