The Enduring Shadow of Weaponized Rape: Gendered Violence in the Tigray Genocide

The Tigray war, which was a genocidal war waged by the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments, represents one of the gravest humanitarian crises and violations of international laws in the modern era, defined not only by the scale of violence but also by its deeply gendered dimensions. More than 600,000 civilians perished and close to 3 millions were displaced. Women and girls in Tigray have been targeted with heinous acts of sexual violence, including rape, mutilation, and forced sterilization. The Tigray government estimates that at least 120,000 women and girls were impacted. This number is likely underreported as many survivors do not share these crimes. Further, there are areas forcefully and illegally occupied by Amhara and Eritrean forces where the victims are not captured in these numbers. Across Tigray, the perpetration of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) was part of a larger strategy in which sexual violence was used as an instrument of warfare to systematically target Tigrayans and destroy the region’s social fabric. These atrocities are compounded by systematic displacement and lack of access to care and psychosocial support, which continue to strip women of safety, stability, and the ability to protect their families. The deliberate weaponization of starvation and the blockade of humanitarian aid further entrench their suffering. Furthermore, Eritrea’s and the Amhara region’s occupation of Tigrayan territories exacerbates the crisis, with daily occurrences of human rights violations, including sexual violence. This is despite the provisions for the withdrawal of non-federal forces from Tigray according to the Nairobi Declaration (Article 2.1 (d)).The international community’s response, however, remains inadequate, with delayed interventions and failure to address the urgent needs of survivors and hold perpetrators accountable. This article seeks to serve as a call to action by highlighting the scale of the CRSV in Tigray and describe its nature, while summarizing the international community’s response or lack thereof. 

Weaponized Rape

Weaponized rape, a deliberate strategy of terror and control, was a defining characteristic of the genocidal war in Tigray. Books such as Tearing the Body, Breaking the Spirit by Birhan Gebrekristos and Mulu Mesfin as well as In Plain Sight by Rita Kahsay et al. extensively document cases of weaponized rape. Women and girls were subjected to systematic sexual violence intended not only to inflict physical and psychological harm but also to exert dominance over the Tigrayan community. Documented reports from survivors and organizations, such as the Tigray Genocide Commission of Inquiry, detail horrific acts, including gang rape, sexual mutilation, sexual slavery, which often included debilitating acts of violence such as insertion of foreign objects into women’s and girls’ genitals, which have left devastating, long-term impacts on survivors and communities. Testimonies from survivors, as well as insights from experts such as Yirgalem of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) unit of the Tigray Genocide Commission of Inquiry underscore the systematic and deliberate nature of these atrocities. 

The scale of the violence is staggering, with 52.9% of reported incidents of sexual violence involving rape and over 80% involving gang rape, according to the Tigray Genocide Commission of Inquiry. Such statistics highlight the widespread and systematic nature of the violence in the war. These acts, perpetrated by Ethiopian, Eritrean, Amhara and Afar forces, represent a deliberate campaign to terrorize and destabilize the Tigrayan population. Perpetrators used ethnic slurs and proclaimed their goal to “pollute Tigrayan bloodlines.” The acts of violence that accompanied many of the sexual assaults had the intent of preventing Tigrayan women’s ability to bear children. These acts of violence impacted hundreds of thousands of women.

Reinforcing Inequalities

This campaign of sexual violence was not only an instrument of terror but also a tool of broader socio-economic devastation. The physical and psychological scars left on survivors are compounded by the destruction of essential services and infrastructure, deepening their vulnerability. As the war raged on, the deliberate targeting of Tigray’s economic and social foundations ensured that women, already facing the burden of trauma, would also bear the brunt of economic deprivation and societal collapse. This was further compounded by the destruction of healthcare facilities.

The genocidal war further exacerbated existing inequalities, reinforcing patriarchal structures. Women face disproportionate challenges due to the intentional destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods by the Ethiopian government and its allies. The Ethiopian government blockaded Tigray for several years. As I outlined elsewhere, banks were shut down, budgetary allocations frozen, and communications severed, effectively isolating Tigray from the rest of the country and the international community. This, in addition to causing isolation, was done to destroy the economy. In fact, key figures aligned with the genocidal regime pompously made statements about successfully returning Tigray’s economy to what it was 30 years before, to shambles.

The genocidal war has also eroded progress toward gender equality, impacting women disproportionately. Schools have been destroyed or repurposed. According to an IDP I spoke with and other sources, some schools are used to shelter the internally displaced within Tigray. Further, according to the internally displaced person, 70-80 students are placed in one classroom, leading to overcrowding, which discourages attendance. The loss of educational opportunities, disproportionately affecting girls, not only limits their individual potential but also undermines the region’s future development and economic stability. These barriers reflect a broader assault on women’s rights. 

Survivors also face enduring physical and psychological trauma, compounded by the collapse of healthcare systems that once offered maternal care, psychological support, and reproductive health services. According to a nurse at Ayder Comprehensive Hospital in Mekelle, Tigray, the stigma associated with weaponized rape further isolates survivors, preventing them from seeking help and perpetuating cycles of silence and neglect. As the impact of weaponized rape ripples through families and communities, it leaves a legacy of a broken social fabric that will take generations to mend.

Response by the International Community

In response to the widespread human rights abuses in Ethiopia, the International Commission of Human Rights on Ethiopia (ICHREE) was established by the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in December 2021. The commission’s mandate was to investigate reported atrocity crimes and to lay the foundation for future justice and accountability efforts. Based in Entebbe, Uganda, ICHREE was tasked with conducting a thorough investigation into human rights violations in Ethiopia since the war began in November 2020. Its focus included violations of international human rights law, humanitarian law, and refugee law, while paying particular attention to gender-based violence and other violations that disproportionately affect women and girls in the conflict zones.

Although the ICHREE was disbanded, its second report illuminated the horrors faced by women and girls in Tigray, identifying widespread sexual violence and gender-based crimes as part of the strategy of the Ethiopian government and its allies. The commission documented incidents of sexual slavery, physical abuse, and other forms of violence, with various armed groups implicated in these heinous acts. The victims of these crimes included pregnant women and women and girls of all ages, often subjected to violence in front of their children or family members, compounding the psychological trauma.

The international community has condemned these acts of violence against women and girls during armed conflict, recognizing them as serious violations of international human rights law. Under the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, sexual violence in conflict is classified as a war crime, a crime against humanity, and, in some cases, an act of genocide. Perpetrators of such violence can be held accountable under international law, particularly if the crimes are part of a broader, systematic attack against civilians. This is intended to ensure that military and political leaders can be held accountable for crimes committed by their subordinates, providing a path for justice for the victims of these brutal acts. 

The U.S. government, in particular, has previously expressed deep concern over the war and human rights violations in Tigray. Citing specific issues such as extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture, the U.S. decided to suspend Ethiopia’s benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The suspension of AGOA benefits was a significant step, signaling the need for stronger international pressure on Ethiopia to ensure accountability for human rights violations, and pursue peace in the region. International accountability for these crimes is essential to ensure justice for the victims but has yet to occur in a way that is reflective of the extent of the crimes committed.  

The Need for International Action

The response of the international community has been slow and inadequate. Integrating gendered perspectives into conflict analysis and interventions remains a critical step towards ensuring the needs of the survivors are met and justice is served for the women and girls. The sexual violence in Tigray, specifically the weaponized rape, emphasizes the importance of considering the gendered dimensions of war. Without acknowledging and addressing this dimension, peacebuilding and justice efforts will fall short, leaving the specific needs of women and girls unmet.

Weaponized rape is a violation of international law, demanding urgent global attention. The deliberate targeting of women as a means of terror and control reveals the gendered dimension of this genocidal campaign. As such, holding perpetrators accountable for these crimes is essential to any meaningful resolution of the war. Ending impunity for these heinous crimes and addressing the genocidal nature of gender-based violence in Tigray is critical to achieving lasting peace and stability in the region. Human rights organizations, in collaboration with international bodies, should work to ensure that all perpetrators are held accountable for these violations. The failure to address these atrocities not only perpetuates impunity for perpetrators but also undermines efforts toward peace and reconciliation. Global intervention is necessary to hold the Ethiopian government, as well as other forces involved, accountable for these heinous violations. It is through this accountability that survivors may begin to rebuild their lives and communities may find the path to healing.

The humanitarian response must also urgently address the needs of survivors and vulnerable populations. For women, establishing safe spaces in displacement camps, access to female healthcare providers, and robust mechanisms for reporting abuse are essential. Girls, who face disrupted education, malnutrition, and psychological trauma, require access to education, nutrition programs, and specialized mental health services. Elderly women, often overlooked, need targeted interventions like accessible healthcare and improved sanitation facilities. A comprehensive and inclusive approach is vital to mitigate the far-reaching impacts of this genocidal war. The international community must channel this support through local civil society organizations to prevent abuse by the Federal government.

Survivors must be supported through legal, medical, and psychological means, and access to justice remains a crucial aspect of the  healing process. By strengthening legal frameworks, providing survivor support, and ensuring international oversight, we can begin to address the violations in Tigray and beyond, working toward a future where women’s rights to safety, justice, and equality are upheld.

Batseba Seifu – Omna Tigray External Contributor, March 2025

“ንሞት ባዕልኹም ኣይትኺድዋ” ስለምንታይ መንእሰይ ትግራይ ናብ ስደት ይውሕዝ ኣሎ?

ፀላእቲ ህዝቢ ትግራይ ካብ ርሑቑን ቀረባን ዘራያት ኣተኣኻኺቦም ትግራይ ንሓንሳብን ንሓዋሩን ንምጥፋእ ወሸን ኢሎም ኩሉ ዓይነት ዕንወት፣ ፅንተትን ብርሰትን ኣብ ዝፈፀምሉ እዋን፥ መናእሰይ ትግራይ “ንሕና እናሃለና መሬት ትግራይ ብፀላእቲ ኣይድፈርን” ኢሎም ከም ቀፎኡ ዝተተንከፎ ንህቢ፣ ማዕበላዊ ቃልሲ ወሊዖም። ብልዑል ሕራነ ናብ ግምባር ወፊሮም።
ምእንተ ክብርን መንነትን ህዝቦም ተኳሺሖም፤ ህልውናን ድሕንነትን ትግራይ ኣውሒሶም እዮም።

እሞ፣ እቲ ህልውና ትግራይ ዘውሓሰ “ትግራይ ግምባራ ከይውቃዕ” ግምባሩ ዝሃበ፣ ደሙ ዘፍሰሰ፣ ኣካሉ ዝጎደለ መንእሰይ ትግራይ ስለምንታይ ድኣ ኣብዛ እዋን እዚኣ ናብ ስደት ይውሕዝ ኣሎ? ኣብ ዓውደ ውግእ ዘይተማረኸ ንምንታይ ኣብ ፈቖዶ ሊብያን የመንን ብደላሎ ይማረኽ ኣሎ? እቲ ዓዱን ዓውዱን፣እቲ መዳሕንቱ ዝተቐበረላ መረበቱ፣ እቲ ዓዲኣቡኡን ዓዲ እንኡን፣እቲ ዝፈትዎም ስድርኡን መቕርቡን ገዲፉ እግሩ ናብ ዝመርሖ፥ ሞት ከምዘሎ እናፈለጠ፤ እሞ ድማ ክነብረላ ኢሉ ደሙ ዘፍሰሰላ፣ ኣብ ቅድሚ ዓይኑ መስዋእቲ ብፆቱ እናረአየ፣ ሕድሪ ስውኣት ብፆቱ ተቐቢሉ ሕድሮም ከይፈፀመ ናብ ስደት ዘምርሐላ ምኽንያት ብኽልተ ነገር እየ ዝሪኦ” ይብል ነባራይ ከተማ መቐለ መንእሰይ ገብረሚካኤል ኪዳነ፧ “እቲ ሓደ፣ ፀገሙን ድልየቱን ዝርእየሉ መሪሕነት ስለዝሰኣነ፣ በዚ ድማ ሕመቕን ህረፍ ስልጣንን ኣብ መራሕቱ ይዕዘብ ብምህላው እዩ። ገለገሊኡ “እዚ ኩነታት ክሳብ ዝረጋጋዕ ግልስ ክብል” ኢሉ ስደት ይመርፅ ኣሎ።

እቲ ካልኣይ ምኽንያት ድማ “ሰሪሑን ርሂፁን ህይወቱ ክመርሐላ፣ ህይወቱ መሪሑ እውን ዓዱ ከዕብየላ ሃፍታም ትግራይ እናሃለወቶ፥ እቲ ሃፍቲ ኣብ ኢድ ውሑዳትን መን ኣሎ ካባና ወፃእን በሃልቲ ስለዝኣተወ እዩ ዝብል ርድኢት ኣለኒ” ይብል።
በዚ እውን ሰሪሑ ዝበልዐላ ዓዲ፤ ዕድል ስራሕ ስለዘይፈጠረትሉ፡ ይረኸብ ኣይረኸብ ብዘይፈልጦ ‘ስራሕ ኣለዎያ’ ናብ ዝተበሃለ ዓዲ ጓና ክስደድ ይግደድ ኣሎ።

“እቲ ልብኻ ዘድሚ ድማ ናብታ ዝሓሰባ ከይበፅሐ፥ ኣብ በረኻታት ሊብያን የመንን ግዳይ ሞትን ስቅያትን ይኸውን ኣሎ” ይብል ገብረሚካኤል።

እቲ ናሃቱ ሞትን ስቅያትን ከይኣክል፥ ገንዘብ እምበር ሕልና ይኹን ሰብኣውነትን ዘይፈጠረሎም ስሱዓት ኣስገርቲ/ደላሎ፥ ነቲ ክሓልፈለይ ኢሉ ናብ ስደት ዘምርሕ ትግራዋይ፥ ልክዕ ከም ውኻርያን ነብርን ኣብ ፎቖዶ መንገዲ እናሓነቑ ይሕዝዎ ኣለው።

ናብ ስድራ እቶሞ ወገናት ብስልኪ ደዊሎም “ገንዘብ ሃቡ፣ ወድኹም ወይ ጓልኩም ክትረኽቡ ፤ እንተዘየለ ኣብ ኣፍ ሞት ኣሎ” ብምባል ነቲ ወላዲ እናፈራርሑ ዝነበረኦ ንብረቱን ጥሪቱን ኣሽይጦም፥ ኣሽሓትን ሚልዮናትን ዝወስዱ ዘለዉ ሰያጥን ድማ ትዕዘብን ትሰምዕን እሞ ብጓሂ ሕርር ትብል።

ኣብዚ እዋን፥ ወዳን ጓላን ክተድሕን ኣብ ፈቐዶ ኣብያተ ክርስትያንን ዕዳጋን ‘ፃውዒት ሓገዝ’ ዝብል ባነር ኣስሪሓ፣ ናብ ሚሞሪ ‘ድምፂ ሓግዙና’ ብምምላእ ብመጉልሂ ድምፂ እናጋውሐት ለይትን ቀትርን እትልምን ኣዶን ዝልምን ኣቦን ምርኣይ ልሙድ እዩ። እዚ ክትርኢ ከለኻስ “እዛ ትግራይ ከመይ ድያ ጨኪናትልና፣ከመይ ድያ ብሃፍታማ ኣብ ድኽነት ክንነብር፣ ባሕሪ ሰጊርና ናብ ስደት ክነምርሕ ፈሪዳትልና” ኢልካ መልሲ ዘይርከቦምን መላሲ ዘይብሎምን ሕቶታት ክትሓትት ትግደድ” እናበለ ነቲ ኩነታት የብራህርህ።

ብዝኾነ እቲ መሰረታዊ ፀገም ካብ ባዕልና እቲ መሰረታዊ መፍትሒ እውን ካብ ባዕልና እዩ ኢለ እየ ዝኣምን ዝበለ ገብረሚካኤል “ንሕና ብውነ ስለዘየለና፡ መንእሰይና ናብ ዕርብርብ ስደት ይበታተን ኣሎ። ኣነኳ’ስ ፓስ ፖርት ዘየውፃእኹ ኮይነ እምበር ኪድ ኪድ እዩ ዝብለኒ ዘሎ። ምኽንያቱ ክሰርሐሉ ዝግብአኒ ግዜን ሞያን በቲ ዝድለ እናሰራሕኹሉን ለውጢ እናምፃእኹሉን ኣይኮንኩን ዘለኹ” እናበለ ኣብ ዕለታዊ ናብርኡ ዕጉብ ከምዘይኮነ ይገልፅ።

ነባራይ ከተማ ሽረ እንዳስላሰ ዝኾነ መንእሰይ ሰለሞን ግደይ ብወገኑ፧ “ናይ ስደት መንቀሊ ምኽንያት ብዙሕ እኳ እንትኾነ መንእሰይ ትግራይ ንምንታይ ይስደድ ኣሎ? ንዝብል ግን ውሽጣዊ ስእነት ሰናይ ምምሕዳር፣ ቁጠባዊ ቅልውላው ብምህላው ካብዚ ሓሊፉ እውን ኣብ ትግራይ ደመና ኵናት ዘንፀላለዎ ኩነታት ስለዘሎ እዩ ዝመስለኒ” ብምባል ይገልፅ። ብፍላይ ድማ ብሰንኪ ኵናት ዝተመዛበለ ህዝቢ ናብ መረበቱ ስለ ዘይተመለሰ ተስፋ ምቁራፅ ዝወለዶ ክኸውን ይኽእል፤ ዝብል ርድኢት እዩ ዘለኒ” ይብል ሰለሞን።

ካብዚ ብተወሳኺ ድማ ፖሊሲን ስትራተጅን መንግስቲ ትግራይ ንመንእሰይ ትግራይ ሓቋፋይ ዝኾነ ኣሰራርሓን ግልፅነትን ስለ ዘይኽተል እዩ” ኢለ እየ ዝሓስብ። ነዚ ስዒቡ ድማ መንእሰይ ትኹረት ዝገበረ ዕድል ስራሕ ስለ ዘየለን ብሰንኪ ፅንተታዊ ኵናት ዝበፀሐ ናይ ስነልቦና ማህሰይቲ ዝፈጠሮ ኣእምሯዊ ነውፂ ክኸውን ይኽእል” ብምባል ዘለዎ ርእይቶ ይጠቅስ።

ካልእ ካብ መቐለ ዘዘራረብናዮ መንእሰይ ሓጎስ ብርሃነ ብግዲኡ፧ “ከም ዝመስለኒ፥ ተስፋ ህዝብ ኩነታት ኣይኮነን ዝርኢ ዘሎ። እቲ መንእሰይ ዋላ’ኳ ኣብ ዓዱ ክሰርሕን ክልወጥን ድሌት እንተሃለዎ ፤ ሰናይ ምሕደራ የለን ፣ ስርዓተ መንግስቲ የለን።

ሓደሓደ ግዘ “መንእሰይ ንኲናት ጥራሕ ድዩ ዝድለ” ኢልካ ንኽትሓስብ’ውን ትግደድ ኢኻ። ዋላ እዉን ንዓዱ መስዋእቲ እንተኸፈለላ ካብ ፀገም ክትወፅእ ኣይከኣለትን” ይብል ሓጎስ። “ኣብ ኩሉ ከባቢ፥ መንእሰይ ካብ ዝኾነ ይኹን ግዜ ንላዕሊ ተስፋ ቖሪፁ ፣ እንዳለመነ ንዘየድሊ ወልፍታት ሽጋራ ፣ ጫትን ሓሽሽን ተሳጢሑ ኣሎ።

ስለዚ ካብ ኣብ ዓደይ እናጠመኹ ዝመዉት ኣብ በረኻታት ሊብያን ሲናይን ክመዉት ኣለኒ ኢሉ እዩ ዝስደድ ዘሎ። እዚ ከምዚ እንተቐፂሉ ፅባሕ ንትግራይ ከቢድ ዋጋ ከኽፍላ እዩ” ዝብል ስግኣት ከምዘለዎ ድማ ኣትሪሩ ይገልፅ።

እቲ ካሊእ ምኽንያት ዝመስለኒ፥ ዓብዪ ናይ ኢኮኖሚ ኣፈላላይ ኣሎ” ዝበለ ሓጎስ ኣብተን ዝሓለፋ ናይ ፅንተት እዋናት ገሊኡ ብረት ታሓንጊጡ እንትዋጋእ ገሊኡ ብኮንትሮ ፣ ብስርቅን ምጭብርባርን ዝተቐየረ ሰብ ብርክት ዝበለ እዩ። እዚ ዝፈጥሮ ኣሉታዊ ፅልዋ እውን ቀሊል ኣይኮነን” ብምባል ዘለዎ ርድኢትን ትዕዝብትን የካፍል።

ካብ ሊብያ ብስልኪ ዘዘራረብናዮ መንእሰይ ቃልኣብ ዘነበ ብወገኑ፧ “ኣብዚ ሕዚ እዋን ብኣሽሓት ዝቑፀር መንእሰይ ትግራይ ናብ ሊብያ ይውሕዝ ምህላው ከምዝተዓዘበ የረድእ።

ኣብ ሊብያ ንልዕሊ ሓደ ዓመት ብቃላት ዘይግለፅ ኣካላውን ስነልቦናውን ስቓይን መግረፍትን የሕልፍ ከምዘሎ ዝገለፀ ቃልኣብ፡ ናብ ስደት ዝወፅኣሉ ቀንዲ ምኽንያት ከምዝስዕብ ይገልፅ፧ ” ስደት ክወፅእ ዘገደደኒ፥ ፀገማት ምስተደራረበኒ እዩ። ብፍላይ ህፃን ወደይ ዝበልዖ ስኢኑ ጠምዩ እናበኸየ ምስርኣኹ ካብዚ ክፉእ ዓይኒ ዝርኢ ኢለ እየ ጨኪነ ወፂአ። ሕሰቦ፣ ኣብ ቅድሚ ዓይንኻ ሓፍትኻ ጠምያ ክትሪኢ፣ ኣዴኻ ንደቃ ተቕርቦ ቁራስ እንጀራ ስኢና ከፊእዋ ክትርኢ ኣብኡ ኮፍ ክትብል ውሽጥኻ ኣየኽእለካን እዩ። ኣነ ጥራሕ ኣይኮንኩን ኣባል TDF ዝነበሩ ውቃዕ ዘለዎም ገና በሰለኦም ዘይሓወዬ ኣብዚ ሊብያ ምሳይ ኣብ ሓደ መረባ ብዙሓት ኣለና። ዝገርመካ ድማ ዋላ ምስዚ ኹሉ ፀገማቶም ሕዚ’ውን “ትግራይ ትግራይ” እዮም ዝብሉ ብፍቕሪ ዓዶም ዝነደዱ እዮም። ነገር ግን ኣሚኖምሉ ዘይኮነስ ዓቕሊ ፅበት እዮም ስደት ወፅዮም። ኣብ ትግራይ ዘሎ ስራሕ ስእነት ዝወለዶ ጥምየትን መከራን ብሓቂ መሰከፊ እዩ” ብምባል ድማ ነቲ ኩነታት ኣምሪሩ ይገልፆ።

ኣብ ሊብያ ዝግበር ግፍዕን መግረፍትን ልዕሊ እቲ ብቪድዮታት ዝዝርጋሕ ምስሊ እዩ ዝበለ ቃልኣብ ኣብዚ ከም ሰብ ዝቖፅረካ የለን፤ እቶም ሸፋቱ ልክዕ ከም እንስሳ እዮም ንገንዘብ ዝሸጡኻ ዝልውጡኻ። ገና ናብዚ ክመፅኡ ንዝሓስቡ መንእሰያት “ንሞት ባዕልኹም ኣይትኺድዋ” ‘መፂእኻ ኤሌትሪክ ከም ምጭባጥ ሕሰብዋ’ እየ ክብሎም ዝደሊ” ብምባል እውን የጠንቅቕ።

ብዙሕ ሰብ ዝደናገረሉ ምኽንያት፥ ገና ካብ ዓዲ ክትብገስ እንተለኻ እቶም ደለልቲ ፀፅቡቑ እንዳነገሩ፣እናተባብዑ እዮም ካብ ዓድኻ ዘውፅኡኻ፣ ብድሕሪኡ ዘሎ ስቓይን መከራን ግን ብቃላት ዘይግለፅ ዘስካሕክሕ ጭካነ ኢኻ ትርኢ። እዚ ኹሉ ሓሊፍካ’ውን ኩሉ ስደት ዝወፅአ ይቐንዖ ማለት ኣይኮነን። ኣብዚ ሊብያ 8, 9 ዓመት ገይሮም ብዘይ ገለነገር ኣብ ስደት ዕድሚኦም ወዲኦም ዝመረቱ ኣለው። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ህይወቶም ዝስእኑ ብዙሓት እዮም።

“ነዚ ሓደገኛ ዋሕዚ ስደተኛታት ንምዕጋት ድማ መንግስቲ ኣብ መናእሰይ ዝጠመተ ዕድል ስራሕ ብምፍጣር፥ እንተስ ብውልቀ እንተስ ተወዲቦም፥ መስርሒ ቦታን ልቓሕን ተዋሂቦም ኣብ ዓዶም ንክሰርሑ ባይታ ክመቻቸወሎም ብዘይ ወዓል ሕደር ክስራሕ ኣለዎ” ይብል ቃልኣብ።

ምኽንያቱ ኣብ ዓዲ ጓና ከይድና እውን ስራሕ ኢና’ኮ ክንሰርሕ፥ ምሽቃል ምሽቃሉ ኣብ ዓድኻ ዝመስልዎ የለን፡ ካልእ ይትረፍ ብናፅነት ወፊርካ ስለትኣቱ፣ ንባዕልኻ ተለዊጥካ ድማ ዓድኻ ስለትልውጥ ማለተይ እየ። እዚ እንተዘይኮይኑ፥ ዳርጋ ኩሉ መንእሰይ ናብ ስደት ኣንቂዱ እዩ ዘሎ” ብምባል ሓሳቡ የጠቓልል።

ኣብ ዩኒቨርስቲ መቐለ መተሓባበሪ ክፍሊ መፅናዕቲ ስነ ፍልሰት ኣይተ ሽሻይ ታደሰ ብግዲኦም ድሕሪ ስምምዕ ፕሪቶርያ ኣብ ዝተገበረ መፅናዕቲ ኣብ ዉሽጢ ሓደ ዓመት ልዕሊ 30 ሽሕ መናእሰይ ትግራይ ንዘይሕጋዊ ስደት ከምዝተቓልዑ ኣረዲኦም።

ካብ ሰነ 2015 ክሳብ ሰነ 2016 ዓ.ም ብደረጃ ኢ/ያ ኣብ ዝተገበረ መፅናዕቲ ልዕሊ 108 ሽሕ ብዘይሕጋዊ መንገዲ ከምዝተሰደዱን ካብዚኣቶም እቶም ልዕሊ 30 ሽሕ ማለት እዉን 30 ሚኢታዊ ተጋሩ ምዃኖም ኣይተ ሽሻይ ወሲኾም ኣብሪሆም። ቀንዲ መበገሲ ዘይሕጋዊ ስደት፥ ስእነት ስራሕን ወጥሪ ፖለቲካ ትግራይን እዩ ዝበሉ ኣይተ ሽሻይ 80 ሚኢታዊ ዝኾን መንእሰይ ትግራይ ኣብ ፀገም ከምዝርከብ ገሊፆም።

ሓላፊ ቢሮ ጉዳይ መናእሰይ ትግራይ ኣይተ ሓይሽ ስባጋዲስ ብወገኖም ኣብ 11 ወረዳታት ኣብዚ ሽዱሽተ ወርሒ ማለት እዉን ካብ ሓምለ ክሳብ ሕዳር 2017 ዓ.ም ዝተገበረ መፅናዕቲ 6646 ዝኣኽሉ ወገናት ብዘይ ሕጋዊ መንገዲ ናብ ስደት ከምዝወፁ ገሊፆም።

ኣብ ዝሓለፈ 2015/16 ዓ.ም ኣብ 49 ወረዳታት ትግራይ ዝተገበረ ዳህሳስ ከምዘመላኽቶ 32 ሽሕ ዝኣኽሉ ወገናት ከምዝተሰደዱ ዝገለፁ ኣይተ ሓይሽ ስባጋዲስ እዚ ናይ ሎሚዘበን ኣሃዝ ካብ ዝሓለፈ ዓመት እንትረአ ሓለፋ ከምዘለዎ ጠቒሶም።

ስደት መናእሰይ ትግራይ በቢእዋኑ ሕዚ’ውን እናወሰኸ ይኸይድ ከምዘሎ ዝገለፁ ኣይተ ሓይሽ፥ ኩነታት ፖለቲካ ትግራይ ካብ ግዜ ናብ ግዜ ክመሓየሽ ትፅቢት እናተገበረሉ ብኣንፃሩ ይጋደድ ብምህላው “ዳግም ናብ ኵናት ክንምለስ ኢና” ብዝብል ስግኣት መንእሰይ ብበዝሒ ይስደድ ከምዘሎ ኣረዲኦም።

ብፍላይ ቅድሚ ሕዚ፥ በዝሒ ስደት ዝርኣየለን ከባብታት ዞባ ምብራቕ፣ደቡብ ምብራቕን ደቡብን ትግራይ ከምዝነበራን፥ ኣብዚ ሕዚ እዋን ግና ስደት ዘይርኣየለን ዝነበረ ዞባ ሰሜን ምዕራብ ኣስገደ፣ ፅምብላን ሸራሮን ሓዊስካ ሙሉእ ትግራይ ዝሸፈነ በዝሒ ስደት መናእሰይ ይርአ ምህላው ገሊፆም።

ቢሮ ጉዳይ መናእሰይ ትግራይ ምስ መዳርግቲ ኣካላት ማለት’ውን ምስ ቢሮ ሕርሻ፣ቢሮ ቴክኒክን ሞያን ፈጠራ ዕድል ስራሕን(Tvet)፣ ኤጀንሲ መሬትን መዓድንን፣ ትካላት ኢንዱስትሪ፣ ከምኡ ድማ ልቓሕ ኣብ ምምችቻው ምስ ደደቢትን ኣደዳይን ማይክሮ ፋይናንስ ብምትሕብባር መናእሰይ ማእኸል ዝገበረ ዕድል ስራሕ ብምፍጣር ስደት መናእሰይ ደው ንኽብል ዘኽል ስራሕቲ ይስራሕ ከምዘሎ ሓቢሮም።

ካብዚ ብተወሳኺ መናእሰይ ተረባሕቲ ንምግባር ካብ ዝግበሩ ዘለው ኣብነታዊ ምንቅስቓሳት ‘ሰብዋና መሬት ገባራት’ ግራውቶም ኣብ እዋን ክረምቲ ንሕርሻ ይጥቀምሉ፤ ኣብ እዋን ሓጋይ ድማ መናእሰይ ናይቶም ሓረስቶት ግራውቲ ተኻርዮም ብኤክስካቫተር ማይ ኩዒቶም ብልምዓት መስኖ፥ ዝተፈላለዩ ኣሕምልትን ፍራምረን፣ ከምኡ ድማ ምፍራይ ደርሁን ልምዓት ኣናህብን ዘጠቓለለ ሃፍቲ እንስሳ ኣልሚዖም ንኽጥቀሙ ኣብ ምግባር ካብ ዓሚ ጀሚሩ ዝሓሸ ልምድን ተሞክሮን ከምዘሎ ገሊፆም።

ብፍላይ መስርሒን መንበሪን ቦታ፣ መጠሻ፣ ናብ ከተማ ዝኣተው ከባብታት ንመናእሰይ ብሰፊሑ ንክወሃብ፥ እዚ’ውን ክሳብ ዝቕፅል ሚያዝያ 2017ዓ.ም ክዛዘም ብግዝያዊ ምምሕዳር ውሳነ ወፅዩ ይስራሓሉ ከምዘሎ ሓቢሮም።

ነገር ግን ሓደሓደ መናእሰይ ዋላ መስርሒ ቦታን ገንዘብን እናሃለዎም ነዚ ንጎኒ ገዲፎም ዝነበሮም ገንዘብ ሒዞም ናብ ስደት ዝወፁ መናእሰይ ኣለው። እዚ ንኽገብሩ ዘገድዶም ድማ ብሰንኪ ” ስግኣት ኵናት” ምዃኑ እዩ ዝግመት” ክብሉ እውን ተዛሪቦም።

ብሰንኪ ዘጋጠመ ዘርኢ ኣፅናቲ ኵናት(Genocidal war) ከቢድ ቁጠባዊ ዕንወት ከምዝበፅሐን ናይዚ ውፅኢት ድማ “ብሚልዮናት ዝግመት ስራሕ ኣልቦ መንእሰይ ብምህላው ነዚ ዝኣክል ቁፅሪ ብሓደ ግዜ ዕድል ስራሕ ንምፍጣር ቀሊል ከምዘይኮነ ድማ ጠቒሶም።

መንእሰይ ብኣተሓሳስባ ግንዛብኡ ክሰፍሕን ደረጃ ንቕሓቱ ኽዓቢን ስደት ብምፅያፍ ኣብ ዓዱ ስራሕ ፈጢሩ ተጠቃማይ ንክኸውን ምስ ትካላት ሃይማኖት፣ ሚድያታትን ምግበረ ሰናይ ትካላትን ብምዃን ይስራሕ ከምዘሎ ሓቢሮም።

ብፍላይ ሙሁራት ትግራይ ‘ንስደት መናእሰይ’ ኣጀንዳ ገይሮም መፅናዕትን ምርምርን ብምክያድ ግዝያውን ዘላቕን መፍትሒ ኣብ ምምፃእ ዝተጀመረ ስራሕቲ ከምዘሎን እዚ ተጠናኺሩ ንክቕፅል ዝተዋደደ ኩለንተናዊ ተሳትፎ ከምዝሓትት ኣይተ ሓይሽ ኣገንዚቦም።

በሪሁ ገዛኢ – Omna Tigray Contributor, February 2025

Op-Ed: A Black History Month Call to Action For Tigray, Ethiopia

Black History Month should be a time of reflection, celebration, and—above all—a call to action. It is a moment to honor the immense resilience, groundbreaking achievements, and agonizing struggles of Black people across the world. But let’s be clear: as we commemorate this month, we must not turn a blind eye to the ongoing horrors that continue to ravage Black lives. Among the most pressing and urgent crises is the genocide and humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray, Ethiopia—an atrocity that the global community, and the Black diaspora, have largely ignored. This silence is not just deafening; it is a moral failure of the highest order.

For over four years, Tigrayans have been subjected to unspeakable atrocities—ethnic cleansing, systematic famine, rampant sexual violence, and mass displacement–part and parcel of genocide. Over four years, yet the world remains shamefully indifferent. Where is the global movement that condemned apartheid and marched for George Floyd? Why does the suffering of millions in Tigray barely register on the global conscience? The refusal to act, to speak out, is not just a failure of governments and international organizations—it is a collective failure of humanity, and it is especially a betrayal of the Black community, which has historically been at the forefront of global struggles for justice and human rights.

Black History Month should not just be about remembering past pain—it must be about confronting the pain that continues to unfold in real-time. The same systems of oppression that have enslaved, brutalized, and disenfranchised Black people in the Americas, Europe, and Africa are at work in Tigray. Colonialism, racism, and global indifference continue to dictate whose lives are deemed worthy of protection and whose suffering is erased. If we truly believe that Black lives matter—all Black lives—then the lives of Tigrayans, who are enduring the worst forms of violence and persecution today, must matter too.

The fight for justice is not selective. We cannot proudly stand in solidarity with Black liberation movements while ignoring a genocide that is happening right now against Black people in Africa. The call to action could not be clearer: we must demand an end to the atrocities, accountability, humanitarian aid, and justice for Tigray. And the Black community, which has fought against oppression and injustice for generations, must not remain passive in the face of this crisis. We cannot afford to be complicit in silence. Our struggle for liberation is not an isolated one. From the civil rights movement to the anti-apartheid struggle, we have seen that only through collective resistance can we dismantle even the most entrenched systems of oppression.

It is not enough to simply commemorate resilience—we must embody it. Resilience should not be used as an excuse for inaction or apathy. We owe it to our ancestors, to ourselves, and to future generations to stand up for all oppressed people, regardless of where they live. This includes the Tigrayans who are fighting for their right to live, their dignity, and their humanity in a world that has turned its back on them. Justice is not justice if it is selective or if it is contingent on which lives are more worth saving.

The time for silence is over. The time for action is now. We cannot, and must not, ignore the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Tigray any longer. Black History Month must be a time not only to remember but to act—to act for the liberation of all Black people, wherever they may be. The Black community must answer the call for solidarity with Tigray. The liberation of black individuals around the world is tied to the liberation and freedom of Tigrayans. If Tigray is not free, then as Black people, we will never truly know freedom. 

Hiab – Omna Tigray Contributor, February 2025

ዓይነ-ስውር ምዃነይ እናርኣየ ኣስናነይ ኣጉሪፉኒ

ነዛ ዓለም ብልበይ እምበር በዒንተይ ክርእያ ኣይተዓደልኩን። ገና ወዲ 3 ዓመት ህፃን እናሃለኹ እየ ብልሙድ ንፍዮ እናተብሃለ ብዝፅዋዕ ሕማም ብርሃን ዓይነይ ዝሳኣንኩ። እቲ ሕዚ ኣብ ኵናት ትግራይ ዝተሰወአ ምንኣስ ሓወይ እውን ኣብቲ ሽዑ ተሓዛሊ ህፃን እንከሎ ልክዕ ከም ናተይ ኣጋጢምዎ እኳ እንትነበረ፣ ከም ዕድል ኮይኑ ንሱ ብፀበል ሓውዩ ፤ ኣነ ግና ብርሃን ዓይነይ ክምለሰለይ ኣይከኣለን” እናበለ ኩነታት ኣተዓባብይኡ የዘንቱ ።

ፍስሃ ኣረጋይ ተሾመ ኣብ ትግራይ ወረዳ ራያ ኣላማጣ ፍሉይ ቦታ ዶጉያት እዩ ተወሊዱ ዓብዩ። ብሩህ ኣእምሮ ዝተዓደለ ልበ-ብርሃን ምዃኑ ካብቲ ብህድኣት ከዋግዓካ እንተሎ ዝስማዕ ብሱል ሓሳባቱን ርቱእ ኣንደበቱን ቀልጢፍካ ንምርዳእ ግዜ ኣይወስደልካን።

“ካብ ግዜ ቁልዕነተይ ጀሚሩ ንስፖርት ጉያ ፍሉይ ዝንባለን ድሌትን ነይሩኒ። ኣብ 2008 ዓ.ም ኣብ ትግራይ ኣብ ዝተኻየደ መላእ ፀዎታታት ስፖርት ትግራይ እውን ተሳቲፈ ነይረ። ንክልልን ወረዳን ወኪለ ድማ ብናይ ዓይነ ስውራን ውድድር ጉያ ሓፂር ርሕቐት፡ ሜዳልያ ብሩርን ነሓስን ተሸላሚ ብምዃን ዓደይ ኣፀዊዐ እየ” እናበለ ዝነበሮ ሕሉፍ ተዘክሮ ይገልፅ።

ፍስሃ ብ 2013 ዓ.ም ኣብ ዩንቨርስቲ መቐለ ክፍሊ ትምህርቲ ሕግን ስርዓት ምሕደራን (Law and governance) 2ይ ዓመት ተምሃራይ እናሃለወ ብሰንኪ ኣብ ትግራይ ዝተወለዐ ዘርኢ ኣፅናቲ ኵናት’ዩ ትምህርቱ ከቋርፅ ተገዲዱ። ንትምህርቲ ስነዜጋን ስነምግባርን ልዑል ፍቕሪ ከምዘለዎ ዘዋግዐና ፍስሃ፡ ብፍላይ ኣብ ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት (human rights) ንምስራሕ ኣብ ህይወቱ ነዊሕ ራእይን ሕልምን ከምዝነበሮ’ዩ ዝገልፅ። እዚ ኹሉ ርሱን ባህግን ድሌትን፡ ብሰንኪ ዘጋጠመ ዘርኢ ኣፅናቲ ኵናት (Genocidal war) ተኣጓጕሉ ዝተኾለፈ ይመስል።

እዚ ኵናት፡ ሕልሚ ብዙሓት ኣምኪኑ፣ ተስፋ ማእለያ ዘይብሎም ተጋሩ ንበለል ኣትሪፉን እዩ። ፍስሃ እውን ኣብ ልዕሊ ዓይነ-ስውር ምዃኑ ግዳይ ናይዚ ሓሳረ መከራ ኾይኑ ብምፅናሕ፡ ነቲ ዘሕለፎ ፈታኒ እዋን ከምዝስዕብ ይገልፆ። “ኣብ ትግራይ ኵናት ምስበርተዐን ምስሓየለን እቲ ዝመሃረሉ ዝነበርኩ ዩንቨርስቲ መቐለ ምስተዓፀወን ናብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ተጓዒዘ። ኣብቲ ሽዑ እዋን፡ ኣርባዕቲኦም ኣሕዋተይ ፀላእቲ ክምክቱ ንግንባር ወፊሮም፣ ሰለስቲአን ደቂኣንስትዮ ኣሕዋተይን እታ ከቢድ ዋጋ ከፊላ ዘዕበየትኒ ወላዲት ኣደይን ኣብ ዕፅዋ እየን ነይረን። እንተ ኣነ፡ ኣዲስኣበባ ኾይነ ከምቲ ኩሉ ትግራዋይ ኣብ ጭንቂ ጥሒለ፡ ኣብ ትካዘ ተዋሒጠ እየ ነይረ። ንባዕለይ ንዕለታዊ ምግበይ ክኽእል ካብኡ ሓሊፉ’ውን ነቶም ኣብ ማእኸል ኵናት ተጠጢቖም ሓንሳብ ብጥይት ሓንሳብ ብጥምየት ዝሕለጉ ዝነበሩ ስድራይ፡ ንምሕጋዝ ሓደ መሪር ውሳነ ክውስን ነይሩኒ።

ነዛ ነብሰይ ኣእሚነ፡ ኣብ ማእኸል ጎዶናታት ኣዲስኣበባ ‘ሳሙናን ኦሞን’ ዘርጊሐ ክሸይጥ ጀሚረ። ካልእ ዝሓሸ ነገር ንኽሰርሕ፡ ዓቕሚ ይኹን ኣማራፂ ኣይነበረንን” እናበለ ነቲ ዝነበረ አፀጋሚ ኩነታት የረድእ።

“ኣብዚ ስራሕ ንእሽተይ ግዜ ምስፀናሕኹ ከምኣጋጣሚ ሓንቲ ‘ማርያና’ ዝተብሃለት ኣሜሪካዊት ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ብውልቃ ብሰናይ ፍቓድ ንፅጉማት እናዘረት ትሕግዝ ነበረት’ሞ፣ ቋንቋ እንግሊዘኛ ተርጓሚ ኮይኑ ምስኣ ዝሰርሕ ሰብ ደልያ እናተኣላለሸት እናሃለወት፡ ብቐረባ ዝፈልጡኒ ሰባት ንዓይ ጦቍሞማ፡ ረኺባ ኣዘራሪባትኒ።

“ካብዘን ‘ሳሙናን ኦሞን’ ትረኽቦ ኣታዊ ንእሽተይ ወሲኸ ‘ቋንቋ ምትርጓም’ ምሳይ ከስርሓካ” ዝብል ሕቶ ኣቕሪባትለይ፣ ነዚ ‘ዕድል’ ታይ ዓይነይ ክሓስየሉ ኢለ ሕራይ ኢለያ ተሰማሚዕና፤ ስራሕ ጀሚርና። ወግሐ ፀብሐ፡ ብፍርሕን ስግኣትን ተኸቢቡ ዝነበረ ውሽጠይ ብሓዱሽ ተስፋ ተመልአ።

ነገር ግን ኣብ ቋሕሰም ግዜ፡ ተስፋይ ክቕህም ጀመረ። ክልተ ተለኣኣኽቲ ሓይልታት መንግስቲ ፌዴራል ጥቆማ በፂሕዎም ኣብ ትሕቲ ቁፅፅሮም ኣውዒሎምኒ። “ምስ መንግስቲ ትግራይ ርክብ ኣለካ እዩ”፣ ሓበሬታ ተቐብል ኢኻ ፡ ሓገዛት ትልእኽ ኢኻ” ብዝብል ፀለመ፡ ብመንነተይ ምኽንያት ናብ ዘይፈልጦ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ወሲዶም ደርብዮምኒ። እቲ ንኽዛረቦ ዘሕፍር ድማ ከምዚ ከማይ ዝበሉ ዓይነ-ስውራን (ደገፍቲ ብልፅግና) እዮም ጠቍሞም ኣትሒዞምኒ ” እናበለ ነቲ ዝሓለፈ ጨካን ኣካሒዳ ግዜ ይዝክር።

“እታ ተስርሓኒ ዝነበረት ማርያና ዝተብሃለት ኣሜሪካዊት “ስለምንታይ ትኣስርዎ? ምሳይ ቋንቋ ምትርጓም ጥራሕ እዩ ዝሰርሕ ዘሎ” ኢላ ተዛሪባቶም። ኮይኑ ግና “ንስኺ ዘይትፈልጥዮ ነገር ኣሎ” ኢሎም ክስምዕዋ ኣይከኣሉን። ዝኾነ ዓይነት ገበን ስለዘይረኸቡለይ ድሕሪ ናይ 2 መዓልቲ ማእሰርቲ እታ ኣስራሒተይ ‘ማርያና’ ብዋሕስ ብር 4 ሽሕ ኣፍቲሓትኒ። ስርሐይ እውን ምስኣ ቀፀልኩ።

ሕዚ እውን ነዊሕ ከይፀናሕኹ ድሕሪ ውሱን መዓልታት ንኻልኣይ ግዜ ካልኦት 4 ናይ ፀጥታ ሓይልታት “ንደልየካ ኢና” ኢሎም ብሓይሊ እናጎተቱ ብበትሪ እናደከሩ ብጭካነ ገሪፎምኒ። ኣነ ድማ “ሰሪሐ ዝበልዕ ሰብ እየ፣ “ዓይነ ስውር እየ በጃኹም ኣይትውሰዱኒ” ኢለ ለሚነዮም ኣብዮምኒ። ድሓር በቲ ተግባራቶም ሓሪቐ ” በቃ እሞ ኣይትወስዱንን ወይ ናይ ፖሊስ መፀውዒ ትእዛዝ ወረቐት ኣምፁለይ” ኢለ ምስተኸራኸርኩዎም ሓደ ፖሊስ ብሰደፍ ብረት ኣልዒሉ ኣስናነይ ኣጉሪፉኒ። ኣብ ልዕሊ ብርሃን ዓይኒ ምሰኣነይ፡ ኣስናነይ እውን ኣስኢኑኒ። “ብሓቂ ከምዚ ዓይነት ጭካነ ኣብ ልዕሊ ዓይነ ስውር ዝፍፅም ፍጡር ኣሎ ኢለ ኣይሓስብን ነይረ። ሕዚ ክልቲኡ ላዕለዋይ ስኒ የብለይን፤ ተሸሪፉ እዩ።

ድሕሪ እዚ ኹሉ መግረፍቲ እውን እንትኾነ እናደፍኡን እናወጠጡን ምስ ደመይ እናሃለኹ ናብ ዘይፈልጦ ቤት ማእሰርቲ እዮም ዳጕኖምኒ።

ኣብታ ዝተኣሰርኩላ ፀባብ ክፍሊ ልዕሊ 100 እሱራት ኢና ብሓደ ተፀቓቒጥና ንውዕል ንሓድር ነይርና። ኩልና ብሓደ ተፀፍፂፍና ንኽንድቅስ ቦታ ስለዘይኣኽለና፡ እናተባረና “ገሌና እንተደቂስና” ገሌና ኮፍ ኢና ንብል። እቲ ክላስና ኣብ ልዕሊ ምፅባቡ ሕማቕ ጨና ስለዝነበሮ ንጥዕናይ እውን ከቢድ ነይሩ።

ከምዚ ዓይነት ፍፃመ ኣብ መብዛሕቲኡ ትግራዋይ ከምዝበፅሐ ይፈልጥ እየ፤ ኣባይ ዝኸፍአን ዝተፈለየን ዝገብሮ ግና ምስቲ ዘለኒ ኣካላዊ ፀገም እዩ ነይሩ። እዚ ኣብ ልዕለይ ዝተፈፀመ ግፍዓዊ ማእሰርትን ምንግልታዕን ብዙሓት ተጋሩ ጋዜጠኛታትን ዓበይቲ ሰብ ሞያ ጥዕናን ብቐረባ ዝፈልጥዎ እዩ።

ድሕሪ 4 ወርሒ ናይ ስቓይን ቃንዛን እዋናት ተፈቲሐ። በቲ ዝበፃሓኒ ገሃንም ዘይዳረጎ ማእሰርቲ ምስ ሰንበድኩ ኣብ ሒደት መዓልታት ዝፈትዎ ዓደይ ሓዲገ ካብ ኣዲስኣበባ ብምብጋስ፡ መንገዲ ዝምርሑኒ እሙናት ሰባት ኣላልሸ ምስረኸብኩ ብሞያሌ ኣቢለ ዶብ ሰጊረ ኬንያ ናይሮቢ ኣተኹ። ንህይወተይ ኣብ ሓደጋ ኣእትየ (risk ወሲደ) እየ ናብ ኬንያ ተሰዲደ። እዚ ከይዲ ጉዕዞይ ንኽሰምር ናይ ብዙሓት ወገናት ኣዎንታዊ ግደ ከምዝነበረን ብፍላይ ብሰለስተ ግዱሳት ተጋሩ ዝተገበረለይ ሰብኣውነት ዝተመልኦ ትሕብብርን ሓገዝን ፈፂመ ኣይርስዖን።

ከም ሰብ ሕስብ እንተብሎ፡ እዚ ኹሉ ናይ ስቅያት ጉዕዞ፡ ኣሽንኳይዶ ‘ዓይነ-ስውር’ ኮይንካ ሙሉእ ጥዕና ንዝሓዘ ሰብ እኳስ ንኽትኣምኖ ዝኸብድ፡ ንኽትሰምዖ ዘደንፁን ዘስደምምን እዩ።

ኣብ ኬንያ ካኩማ ዝተወሰነ እዋን ፀኒሐ፡ ኵናት ትግራይ ጠጠው ኢሉ ኣብ ዝነበረሉ ጊዜ “ሰላም እንተድኣኾይኑስ ዓድኻ እዩ ዋና” ኢለ ንትግራይ ተመሊሰ። ኮይኑ ግና ድሕሪ ዝተወሰነ ኣዋርሕ 2ይ ምዕራፍ ኵናት ምስቀፀለ፣ ብፍላይ ኣብቲ ዝነርበኩሉ ከባቢ ራያ ኣላማጣ ደብዳብ ድሮን ምስሓየለን፡ ዳግማይ መረበተይ ሓዲገ ናብ ዩጋንዳ ሃፅ ኢለ ተሰዲደ። ክሳብ ሕዚ ድማ ኣብዚ መፅለሊ ስደተኛታት ዩጋንዳ ፍሉይ ቦታ ‘ናኪባሊ’ ኣዕቝበ ይነብር ኣለኹ።

ኣብዚ ዘለኽዎ፡ ንምዝራቡ ዝኸብድ ዓይነት ሂወት እየ ዘሕልፍ ዘለኹ። ዓይነ-ስውር ኮይንካ ብዘይተስፋን ዕላማን ምንባር ክንደየናይ ከምዘሕምም ዝበፅሖ ጥራሕ እዩ ዝፈልጦ። ሰሪሐ ዝበልዐሉ ዓቕሚ እናሃለወኒ፡ ክምሃረሉ ዝኽእል ዓቕሚን ክእለትን እናሃለወኒ ዘይምዕዳል ኮይኑ ኣብ ፀምፀም በረኻ ኣብ መዓስከር ተደርብየ የሕልፎ ኣለኹ ይብል ፍስሃ።

ኣነ ጥራሕ ኣይኮንኩን፡ ብዙሓት በላሕቲ መናእሰይን ደቂኣንስትዮን ስደተኛታት ተጋሩ ኣብዚ ዘለኽዎ መዓስከር ተስፋ ስኢኖም፡ መፃኢኦም ፀልሚቱ ኣብ ዕንይንይ ይነብሩ ኣለው።

እዚ ጭንቂን ዓቕሊፅበትን ዝወለዶ ድማ መብዛሕትኦም ኣማራፂ ስኢኖም ብዓይነ -ዕሙተይ ገሊኦም ናብ ፎቖዶ ሊብያ ገሊኦም ናብ ሃገራት ኣንጎላን ካልኦትን ክስደዱ ይውዕሉ ኣለው” እናበለ እቲ ሕዚ ዘሎ ህሉው ኩነታት ናይቲ ስደተኛ ኣብ ዘሰክፍን ዘሻቕልን ደረጃ ከምዘሎ ብዝርዝር ትዕዝብቱ ይገልፅ።

ካብዚ ብምብጋስ፡ ነዚ ፀገም ንምቅላልን እታ እንብህጋ ትግራይ ንምግሃድን ኣብ ውሽጢ ዓድን ወፃእን ዝርከቡ ወልቃውን መንግስታውን ኣካላት ምስ ዝምልከቶም መዳርግቲ እሂን ምሂን ኢሎም ብምምኽኻር ተግባራዊ ስጉምቲ ንክወስዱ ትካል ኦምና ትግራይ የተባብዕ።

ኣብ ትግራይ ፍልጠት መሰረት ዝገበረ ሳይንሳዊ መፅናዕቲታት ብምክያድ ፀገም ማሕበረሰብ ዝፈትሕ መሃዝን ተመራማርን ንቑሕን ምዕቡልን ወለዶ ንኽህነፅ፡ ንፅባሕ ዘይባሃል ናይ ተጋሩ ሓባራዊ ውራይ ተገይሩ ክስራሕ እውን ኦምና ትግራይ ፃውዒት የቕርብ።

በሪሁ ገዛኢ – Omna Tigray Contributor, February 2025

Tigray’s Fight for Financial Justice: Survival Amid Systemic Injustice and Neglect

Tigray’s ongoing economic, political, and humanitarian crises, which have persisted since the outbreak of the genocidal war in 2020, highlight the Ethiopian government’s deliberate destruction and systemic neglect of Tigray. The region’s dire financial situation underscores its people’s broader struggle for justice, equity, and survival. The refusal to provide adequate resources is symptomatic of the Ethiopian government’s broader strategy of economic warfare, punitive policies, and continued efforts to strangle Tigray, even in the post-active genocidal war period. In this article, I outline the financial and human destruction during the genocidal war and post-Pretoria Agreement, describing how the physical destruction of the region’s infrastructure and economic potential is compounded by the Ethiopian government’s fiscal and budgetary neglect of the region. The article concludes with a call to the international community.

Genocidal War in Tigray

The active genocidal war on Tigray (2020-2022) by the Ethiopian government and its allies was characterized by unprecedented atrocities, destruction, and human suffering. The Ethiopian government, alongside its allies, waged a genocidal campaign targeting Tigrayans through massacres, widespread weaponized sexual violence, weaponized starvation, and systematic destruction of cultural heritage and infrastructure. Schools, hospitals, factories, and marketplaces were deliberately destroyed and bombed, crippling the region’s ability to sustain itself. 

Starvation was weaponized as a tool of war by the invading forces. Millions of Tigrayans were cut off from humanitarian aid, while agricultural destruction, including the burning of agricultural fields, slaughtering of livestock, and looting and destruction of farming equipment, was enacted. These were not isolated acts but deliberate strategies designed to annihilate the region’s capacity for self-reliance. 

The Ethiopian government’s financial blockade on Tigray during the genocidal war was a calculated act of economic warfare. Banks were shut down, budgetary allocations frozen, and communications severed, effectively isolating Tigray from the rest of the country and the international community. This, in addition to causing isolation, was done to destroy the economy. In fact, key figures aligned with the genocidal regime pompously made statements about successfully returning Tigray’s economy to what it was 30 years before: into shambles.

Post-Pretoria Agreement 

Following the November 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) in Pretoria, South Africa, a silencing of the guns between the Ethiopian Federal Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front was achieved. Pursuant to the Pretoria Agreement and subsequent Nairobi Declaration, the people of Tigray were left to grapple with the aftermath of this devastation.

Tigray’s agricultural sector, once the backbone of its economy, has been decimated. Farmers face severe shortages of seeds, fertilizers, and tools, while millions have been displaced from their land by the ongoing illegal and forceful occupation of Tigrayan territories by invading Eritrean and Amhara forces. In fact, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that: “Tigray region…hosts the highest number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), primarily due to conflict.” Further, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), only 40 per cent of the estimated need for food aid in Tigray can be met [in 2025]. In addition, in occupied territories (approximately over 40% of Tigray’s land), aid is severely restricted and atrocity crimes continue. 

Civil servants, including teachers and healthcare workers, went unpaid for over two years, resulting in the collapse of public services. Schools closed, clinics ceased operations, and families were driven into extreme poverty. By December 2023, over 900 healthcare professionals (4.5% of the workforce), including 86 specialists and 150 general practitioners, resigned and left the region, according to Dr. Fisseha Ashebir, chairman of the Tigray Association of Health Professionals. This exodus compounded an already dire situation, leaving children without education, patients without care, and families without hope. The Ethiopian government’s deliberate withholding of resources has turned everyday survival into a monumental struggle for Tigrayans. 


The Budget Allocation Formula: A Tool of Marginalization 

In light of this destruction, budget allocations for Tigray remain grossly inadequate, ignoring the region’s unique needs as it attempts to rebuild unoccupied areas from the ashes of the genocidal war. 
The Ethiopian government’s budget allocation formula, based solely on population size, fails to account for the extraordinary circumstances faced by Tigray, a region already devastated by a genocidal war. For the 2024/25 fiscal year, Tigray has been allocated just 13 billion birr—a figure that pales in comparison to the scale of the deliberate destruction and the resources required for recovery.

Senior officials within the TIRA have criticized this formula as blind to the realities on the ground. Desta Bezabih, a prominent leader in the administration, has noted that this allocation treats Tigray as though the war never happened, ignoring the region’s unique needs and the federal government’s responsibility to address them.

This budgetary neglect perpetuates Tigray’s marginalization within Ethiopia’s federal system, forcing the region to rebuild with minimal resources while grappling with ongoing challenges such as non-payment of civil servants, displacement, food insecurity, and the presence of hostile forces including Amhara and Eritrean forces.

The Role of the International Community

The international community has a moral and legal obligation to hold the Ethiopian government accountable for its actions. The Pretoria Agreement cannot succeed without robust international oversight to ensure its full implementation, including the withdrawal of non-federal forces from Tigray (Article 2.1 (d)) according to the Declaration in Nairobi and the restoration of essential services (Article 7 Sub-Article 2(b)) according to the Agreement in Pretoria.

Donor countries and international organizations must pressure Ethiopia to provide adequate financial support to Tigray as restitution, not just charity or loan. Humanitarian aid alone is not enough; what Tigray needs is justice and the resources to rebuild its economy and society.

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have documented the economic and humanitarian crimes committed against Tigray. These reports must serve as a basis for international advocacy, demanding accountability and reparations for the people of Tigray.

A Struggle for Justice and Survival

Tigray’s fight for financial justice is about more than money—it is about survival, dignity, and the right to rebuild after enduring unimaginable suffering. The Ethiopian government’s refusal to provide adequate resources is not only a betrayal of the Pretoria Agreement but also a continuation of the systemic oppression that has plagued Tigray since the rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party.

For the people of Tigray, this struggle is far from over. It is a battle for justice, and the opportunity to heal and rebuild. The international community must stand with Tigray in demanding justice and accountability from the Ethiopian government. Anything less would be a failure to uphold the principles of the Pretoria Agreement, and indeed, that of humanity, peace, and reconciliation.

Batseba Seifu – Omna Tigray External Contributor, January 2025

ትማሊ ኵናት፡ ሎሚ ስደት ዘማስኖም ዘሎ ስደተኛታት ትግራይ

ናይ ፅባሕ ተረከብቲ ዓዲ ዝኮኑ ሰብ ክንደይ ሕልምን ራእይን ህፃውንቲ ትግራይ ኣእዛኖም ኣብ ክንዲ ናይ ቤት ትምህርቲ ደወል ናይ ድሮንን መዳፍዕን ድምፂ ከዘውትር ክንዲ ምርኣይ ዘሕምም የለን።
ብ’ተመን’ያ ዝሰንበደስ ብልሕፂ ተድሃለ’ ከምዝበሃል፡ ሎሚ ድምፂ መኪና ሰሚዖም “ደብዳቢት ኣየር መፀትና” እናበሉ ብስንባደ ናብ ትሕቲ ዓራት ዝጎይዩ ህፃውንቲ እልፊ ኣእላፍ እዮም።
ብኣቆፃፅራ ፈረንጂ ሕዳር 2020 ኣብ ትግራይ ብሰንኪ ዝተፈፀመ ኣዕናዊ ደማዊ ኵናት፡ ኣብ ነፍሰወከፍ ትግራዋይ ዘይተነግረ እምበር ዘይተገብረ ግፍዒ የለን።
ልዕሊ 1 ሚልዮን ዝኣኽሉ ወገናት ንሞት፡ ብቁፅሪ ንምግላፁ ዘሰክፍ በዝሒ ህዝቢ ትግራዋይ ድማ ኣይማዩ ኣይሰማዩ ኣደዳ ስቓይ፣ ስደትን ምንግልታዕን ኮይኑ፡ ኩሉ ዓይነት መከራ ኣተኣናጊዱ።

እቲ ንስደት ጋሻ ዝኾነ፡ እንታይነት ስደት’ኳ ዘይፈልጥ ትግራዋይ፡ግፍዕን በደልን ምስመረሮ፡ ገሊኡ ደቁ ሓንጊሩ ገሊኡ ብዓይነ-ዕሙተይ እግሩ ነናብ ዝመርሖ ዞጓሕ ክብል ክንከራተት፡ እታ እንካ እምበር ሃባ ዘይትፈልጥ ኣዶ ትግራይ፡ ፎቖዶ ጎደናታት ኢዳ ንልመና ክትዝርግሕ ዝገበረ ጨካን ግዜ ነይሩ።
ኣብቲ ሽዑ ግዜ ፡ ትግራዋይ ነታ ብመከራን ፀበባን ተኸቢባ፡ ኣብ ኢድ ሓረድቲ ዝወደቐት ህይወቱ ንምድሓን፡ ዝፈትዎ ሙውቕ ገዝኡ፣ ዓዱን መረበቱን ሓዲጉ ናብ ጎረባብቲ ሃገራት ሱዳን፣ኬንያ፣ ዩጋንዳን ካልኦትን ከም ደቂ ዛግራ ፋሕ-ጭንግራሕ ኢሉ ንኽብተን ተገዲዱ።
ነዚ ስዒቡ፡ ኣብዚ ሕዚ እዋን ኣብ ሱዳን ልዕሊ ስሳ ሽሕ፣ ኣብ ኬንያን ዩጋንዳን ድማ ልዕሊ ክልተ ሽሕ ዝኣኽሉ ተጋሩ ስደተኛታት ኣዕቝቦም ይርከቡ።
ትግራዋይ ኣብተን ዘዕቖበለን ዓድታት፡ ዝሓሸ ንፋስ ሰላም ዋላ’ኳ እንትረኸበ ነገር ግን ብሕሱም ስደት ማሲኑን ተጎሳቝሉን ሕዚ’ው ንከቢድ ስነ-ኣእምሯዊ ጭንቀት ተሳጢሑ ኣብ ሰንፈላል ህይወት ይነብር ኣሎ።

1. ሕሉፍ ኣእምሯዊ በሰላ፦
“ኣብቲ ተኣሲርናሉ ዝነበርና ግዜ ኣብ ሓንቲ ፀባብ ክፍሊ ልዕሊ ሳላሳ ሰብ ኢና ነይርና። ሕዱር ሕማም ዝነበሮም ሰባት ኣብ ቅድሜና ክሞቱ ንቡር እዩ ነይሩ።ብጭንቀት ነብሱ ከጥፍእ ዝሓስብ ሰብ ቁፅሪ ኣይነበሮን። ኣብቲ ሽዑ ግዜ ነቶም ምሳና ሓዲሮም ንጉሆ ሬሴኦም ተጎቲቱ ዝወጹ ዝነበሩ ተጋሩ ክዝክሮ ከለኹ ሕጂ ኾይኑ እዩ ዝርኣየኒ፤ ክሳብ ሎሚ ካብ ድቃሰይ እየ ዝብህርር።” ይብል ኣብ ኣዋሽ ኣርባ ተኣሲሩ ዝነበረ ሕዚ ኣብ ዩጋንዳ ዘዕቖበ ዳዊት ዘነበ ዝተብሃለ ትግራዋይ።
“ወረርቲ ሓይልታት ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢን መሬትን ትግራይ ኩሉ ዓይነት ዕንወት፣ ብርሰትን ፅንተትን እዮም ፈፂሞም።
ኮነ ተባሂሉ ህዝብና ጥይትን ጥምየትን እናተበራረዩ ከማስንዎ ተገይሩ” ይብል ዳዊት።
ኣብ መላእ ሃገር ብፍላይ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ዝነበሩ ተጋሩ ብመንነቶም ክጋፍዑን ክእሰሩን ብምግባር ንዓመታት ብደመ-ርሃፆም ዘጥረይዎ ንብረቶም ብፀሓይ ቀትሪ ብጉሒላታት ተወሪሩ። ታሪኽ ይቕረ ዘይብሎ ግፍዒን ክሕደትን ተፈፂምዎ።
እቲ ኩናት ዝሓደጎ ፀሊም በሰላ ንብዙሓት ስደተኛታት ሕዱር ቃንዛ ኾይኑ ሕዚ’ውን ኣብ ዕለታዊ ህይወቶም ከቢድ ስነልቦናዊ ሃሰያ የብፅሕ ኣሎ።

2. ፋይናንሳዊ ፀገም፦ ኣብ ስደት ንጭንቀት ካብ ዘቃልዑ ነገራት ፋይናንሳዊ ፀገም ልዑል ብፅሒት ዝሓዘ’ዩ። እዚ ድማ ኣብቲ ስደተኛታት ዘዕቖብሉ ጎረቤት ሃገር ምስ ዘሎ ምኽባር ናብራ ዝተኣሳሰር እዩ። ብፍላይ ኣብ ከተማ ዝነብሩ ስደተኛታት ብሰንኪ ምኽባር ክራይ ገዛን ጠለባት ምግብን፡ መዓልታዊ ይኹን ወርሓዊ ወፃኢታቶም ምሽፋን ኣብዩዎም ከንፀርፅሩ ምርኣይ ዝተለመደ እዩ።
ካብ ከተማ ርሒቖም ኣብ መዓስከራት ዝቕመጡ ስደተኛታት ድማ ኣብ ሓደ መፅለሊ ቴንዳ ተኣጕዶም ዝነብሩ ብምዃኖም ንዝተፈላለዩ ናይ ጥዕና ፀገማት ዝተቓልዑ እዮም። ዝኾነ ሕማም እንተጋጥሞም ድማ “ብሰንኪ ሕፅረት ፋይናንስ ዋሕዲ ቀረብ መድሓኒትን ‘ግቡእ ሕክምና’ ኣይንረክብን” ይብሉ።
ካብዞም ናይዚ ፀገም ተኻፈልቲ ሓደ ዝኾነ ኣብ ኬንያ መዕቖቢ ስደተኛታት ‘ካኩማ’ ዝርከብ ያሲን መሓመድ ዝተብሃለ ትግራዋይ “ስደት ንኽመርፅ ዝተገደድኩሉ ምኽንያት ኣብቲ ሽዑ እዋን ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ሽሮሜዳ ዝነበረ ዳ’ጥልፍን ባህለዊ ክዳውንትን ትካለይ፡ ብመንነተይ ምኽንያት ምስተዓሸገ፣ ማእሰርትን ምንግልታዕን ተጋሩ ምስሓየለን ዓይነይ ዓሚተ ስደት ወፂአ።
ናብ ስደት ከምርሕ ከለኹ ብዓልቲ ቤተይን ክልተ ደቀይን ሒዘ እየ ተበጊሰ።ኣብ ኬንያ በፂሐ ናብ መዕቆቢ ስደተኛታት ካኩማ ምስኣተኹ ግን ነገራት ፅቡቕ ኣይፀንሑናን። ካብ ዓደይ ክብገስ ከለኹ፡ ዝኮነ ስራሕ ክሰርሕ እየ ዝብል እምነት ሒዘ እየ ተላዒለ ነይረ። ኣብዚ ዓዲ ግን ኣይኮነን ስራሕ፡ ናይ ስራሕ ወረ እውን ኣይትሰምዕን ብፍላይ ድማ እንድሕር መበገሲ ዘይብልካ ኣዝዩ ኸቢድ እዩ። ስለዚ ድማ ምስ ደቀይን ብዓልቲ ቤተይን ኣብ ዝሓመቀ ኹነታት ናብራ ወዲቕና ንርከብ። ኣብ ቀረባ እዋን ንባዕለይ ሓዊሱ ህፃውንቲ ደቀይን በዓልቲ ቤተይን ዓሶ ሓሚምና ሕክምና ንምርካብ ኣፀጋሚ ነይሩ።
ከም ወላዲ ሕስብ ክተብሎ እንከለኻ፡ ስኣን መሕከሚ ገንዘብ፡ ደቅኻ ኣብ ቅድሚ ዓይንኻ ሓሚመን ከም ምርኣይ ዘጉሂ የለን። ዘለናዮ ቦታ ኣዝዩ ሙቖት ዝዓብለሎ ብምዃኑ ንዓሶ ዝተቓልዐ ከባቢ እዩ። ብተደጋጋሚ ኢና ዓሶ ንሓምም ” ብምባል ነዚ ኣብ ስደት ዘጋጥም ዘሎ ሕማምን ፋይናንሳዊ ፀገምን ብኣንደበቱ ኣምሪሩ ይገልፆ።

ከምኒ ዓለምለኻዊ ፕሮግራም ምግቢ ዓለም (WFP) በቢእዋኑ ናብ ስደተኛታት ሓገዝ ምግቢ ዘቕርቡኳ እንትኾኑ ነገር ግን ኣብ መዓስከር ንስደተኛ ዝወሃብ ምግቢ ብዓይነትን ኣቀራርባን ፅሬቱ ዘይሓለወ ብምዃኑ ብፍላይ ኣብ ጥዕና ህፃናት ዘስዕቦ ሓደጋ ቀሊል ከምዘይኮነ ይገልፅ ያሲን።
ካብዚ ብተወሳኺ ኣብ ዩጋንዳ ዝርከብ መዕቆቢ ስደተኛታት ‘ናኪባሊ’ ዘፅለሉ ብዙሓት ተጋሩ ኣለው።
ካብ ሞንጎ እዚኣቶም ‘ጣዕሞ ነጋ’ ዝተብሃለት ጓል ኣንስተይቲ ብሕማም ኪንታሮት፣ ከምኡ ድማ ‘ብርሃነ ኣብርሃ’ ዝብሃል መንእሰይ ብሕማም ሽኮርያ ልዕሊ ዓቐን እናተሳቐዩ ይርከቡ። እዞም ሕማማት እዚኦም ክሓውዩ ዝኽእሉ ሕማማት ዋላኳ እንተኾኑ ነገር ግን እቲ ዝበልዕዎ ምግቢ ፅሬት ዘይብሉ ስለዝኾነ ንዕኡ ዘጋድድ እምበር ዘድሕን ከምዘይኮነ ይዛረቡ።
ናብ ሕክምና ከይከዱ ወይ ምግቢ ገዚኦም ከይበልዑ ድማ ገንዘብ ስለዘይብሎም ኣብ ከቢድ ስቓይ ከምዝርከቡን ማዕልቲ ካብ መዓልቲ እናብኣሶም ይኸይድ ምህላዎሙን ይገልፁ።
ንግልጋሎት ሕክምና ዝውዕል ካብ ትካል ውድብ ጥዕና ዓለም (WHO) ብርክት ዝበለ መድሓኒታት ናብ መዓስከር ስደተኛታት ከምዝልኣኽን ይኹን እምበር ብዘይተፈለጠ ምኽንያት እቲ መድሓኒታት ኣብ መዓልኡ ከምዘይውዕልን ንብልሽውና ዝተቓልዐ ኣሰራርሓታት ከምዘሎን የረድኡ። ነዚ ድማ ዝምልከቶ ላዕለዋይ ኣካል በቢእዋኑ ኽከታተሎን ክግምግሞን ይግባእ ዝብል ለበዋ ኣመሓላሊፎም።

3. ትፅቢትን ክውንነትን፦
“ካብ ዓደይ ንስደት ከምርሕ ከለኹ ዝሓሸ ነገር ንምርካብ እዩ ነይሩ። ካብቲ ዘዕቖብኩሉ ዓዲ እውን ቀልጢፈ ንዓደይ ክምለስ ወይ ንደገ ናይ ምውፃእ መደብ እየ ሒዘ መፂአ ነይረ።ይኩን እምበር ኣብ ዓደይ ኮይነ ዝሓሰብክዎን ኣብዚ መፂኤ ዝረኸብክዎን ግን ሰማይን ምድርን እዩ ኾይኑኒ። ብፅባሕ ሎሚ እነሆ ሕዚ ሰለስተ ዓመተይ ኣሕሊፈ። ሓደ ሓደ እዋን ናይ ምንታይ እዩ እቲ ፀገም ክርዳኣኒ ኣይክእልን። ኣብ ዝኸድናዮ ቢሮታት ኩሉ ብግቡእ ኣይንትኣናገድን። ብዙሕ ምጉታት እዩ ዘጋጥመና ዘሎ።
ናይ ፅባሕ ህይወተይ፣መፃኢየ እንታይ ከምዝኾነ እውን ዳርጋ ኣይፈልጥን። ሕዚ ግን ንመናበሪ ኢለ ሻሂ ቡን ይሸይጥ ኣለኹ።” ትብል ሓንቲ ካብቶም ትፅቢትን ክውንነትን ዝተዛብዕዋ ኣብ ዩጋንዳ ካምፓላ ትርከብ ትግራወይቲ ፍዮሪ ደሳለ።
“እቲ ስደተኛ ፣ ብዛዕባ ጉዳይ ስደተኛታት ዝምልከቶም ከም UNHCR ዝበሉን ካልኦ ዓለም ለኻዊ ትካላት ገበርቲ ሰናይን ብዝግባእ ክቕበልዎን ከተኣናግዱዎን ዝነበሮም ልዑል ትፅቢት በቲ ዝድለ ኣይኮነን።
ከም ተጋሩ እቲ ነሕልፎ ዘለና፡ ‘ስቓይ ዝተመልኦ ዓመታት’ ክሳብ ክንድዚ ክነውሕን ክመርርን ፈፂምና ኣይተፀበናዮን በዚ ድማ ተጋሩ ስምዒትና ተጎዲእና ኢና” እናበለት ትዛረብ ፍዮሪ ደሳለ።
መብዛሕትኡ ስደተኛ፡ ናይ ፅባሕ መዋፅኦን መዕለቢን ህይወቱ ታይ ክኸውን ከምዝኽእል ስለዘይፈልጥ ብዘይ ዕረፍቲ ዘጨንቖን ዘተሓሳስቦን ጉዳይ ኮይኑ’ሎ።

ብUNHCR ይኹን ብኻልኦት መዳርግቲ ትካላት(Partners) ዝግበሩ ደገፋት እውን ብመንፅር ዝወስዶ ግዘን ኣሳልጦን እንትርአ ዘዕግብ ከምዘይኮነ ኩሉ ስደተኛ ዝሰማመዐሉ ሓሳብ እዩ።
ናይዚ ምኽንያት ድማ ዓለምለኻዊ ትካል ስደተኛታት UNHCR ናይ ሚልዮናት ስደተኛታት ጉዳይ ዘተኣናግድ ዓቢዪ ትካል ብምዃኑ ጉዳያት ክምርምርን ክግምግምን ነዊሕ ግዘ ዝወስደሉ ምዃኑ እዩ ዝግለፅ።

ኣብ ጉዳይ ስደተኛታት ዝነጥፉ ዝተፈላለዩ መዳርግቲ ትካላት (Partners of UNHCR) ዝኾኑ ከም፣ ኣውሮፓ ህብረት(ECHO)፣ ትካላት መንግስቲ ኣሜሪካ (USAID)፣ መደብ ልምዓት ሕቡራት ሃገራት(UNDP)፣ ኣህጉራዊ ትካል ስደት(IOM) ከምኡ ድማ
International Rescue Committee (IRC) ካልኦትን ዝኣመሰሉ ትካላት ድማ ንስደተኛታት ዝህብዎ ግልጋሎት ስሉጥን ፅፉፍን መስርሕ (system) ዘይተኸተለ ብምዃኑ ኣዝዩ ዝተሓላለኸን ዝተጓተተን ግልጋሎት ከምዝወሃቦምን ኣብ ገለ ወቕትታትውን ሓገዝ ከምዘይረኽቡ እቶም ስደተኛታት ይገልፁ።

4. ማሕበራ ተነፅሎ(social Isolation ) እቲ ስደተኛ ካብ ዝፈትዎ መሬት ዓዱ፣ወለዱ፣ደቁን ኣሕዋቱን ተፈልዩ ዝነብር ብምዃኑ ብናፍቖትን ሻቕሎትን እናተሓመሰ ዝነብር እዩ። ኣብ ስደት እናሃለወ፣ ብሰንኪ ኵናት ካብ ዓዱ መርድእ ኣሕዋቱን ወለዱን ዝሰምዐ ብዙሕ እዩ። ናይ ስደት ፀገሙ ከይኣኽሎ ተደራቢ ሓዘናት የተኣናግድ ኣሎ። ኣብ ዓዲ ስደት ኣጆኻ ኢሉ ዘፀናንዕ ሰብ ዘይብሉ፣ገዛ ዓፅዩ በይኑ ዝነብዕ ብዙሕ’ዩ።
እዚ ድማ ብስነልቦና ተሃስዩ፡ ዓርሱ ክፀልእን ፅምዋ (ብሕታውነት) ክስምዖን ይገብሮ ኣሎ።

5. ፀገም ምልከት ቋንቋን ስእነት ስራሕን፦
እቲ ስደተኛ ኣብቲ ዘዕቖበሉ ዓዲ ተንቀሳቒሱ ሰሪሑ ኸይበልዕ ስእነት ስራሕ ብሰፊሑ የጋጥሞ’ እዩ። ብፍላይ ምስ ፀገም ክእለት ቋንቋ እንግሊዘኛ ተኣሳሲሩ ውሑዳት ዘይበሃሉ ስደተኛታት ኣብቲ ዘለውዎ ቦታ ብቐሊሉ ስራሕቲ ንምስራሕ ይፅገሙ እዮም።
ካብዚ ብተወሳኺ ናብ UNHCR ኮነ ካልኦት ንስደተኛ ዝምልከቶም ቢሮታት ብኣካል ከይዶም ዝበፅሖም ፀገምን መከራን ብቋንቋ እንግሊዘኛ ብዝግባእ ኣብራህሪሆምን ኣረዲኦምን ጉዳዮም ከፈፅሙ ዘይምኽኣል ዕንቅፋታት ኣሎ።
እዚ ከምዚ እናሃለወ፡ ዝበዝሕ ስደተኛ ትግራዋይ፡ኣብ መንእሰይ ብርኪ ዕድመ ዝርከብ ብምዃኑ መብዛሕትኡ ግዘ ካብዚ ጭንቀት ንምህዳም ክብል ኣብ ዘየድሊ መስተን መዐወኒ ወልፍታትን ተፀሚዱ ዝውዕል ዝሓድር ብዙሕ እዩ።

6. ስግኣት ፀጥታን ድሕንነትን፦
“ንሕና ጋዜጠኛታት ኢና።ፍሉይ ክትትልን ሓለዋን ክግበረልና ነይርዎ። ይኹን እምበር እቲ ዘጋጠመና ንምእማኑ ዘጸግም እዩ።ዓዲ ሰላም እዩ ኢልና ኣብ እንቀሳቀሰሉ እዋን ብከተርቲ እቶም ደቂ ዓዲ ንብረትና ተወሪርና ኣካልና ተሃሲና ኢና። እዚ ዜና እዚ ድማ በብመዓልቱ ምስማዕ ንቡር እዩ። ብዙሓት ህይወቶም ዝስእኑ ኣለው። ንብረት ዝውሰዶም እሞ መቁጸሪ የብሎሙን። ሰብ፡ ጸጥታን ድሕንነትን ደልዩ ተሰዲቱ፡ ክስእን ከሎ ድማ ኣዝዩ ኸቢድ እዩ።” ይብሉ ኣብ ሃገረ ዩጋንዳ ከተማ ካምፓላ ተዓቝቦም ዝነበሩ፡ ደሓር ናብ ትግራይ ዝተመለሱ “ንድሕንነትና ክብሃል ስምና ይተዓቀበልና” ዝበሉ ክልተ ነባር ጋዜጠኛታት ትግራይ።
ኣብ ጎረቤት ሃገር ሱዳን ዘሎ ልዕሊ 60 ሽሕ ስደተኛ ትግራዋይ’ውን እንትኾነ ኣብ ውሽጢ እታ ሃገር በቢእዋኑ ብዝፍጠር ኵናት- ሕድሕድ ነቲ ስደተኛ ብቐጥታ ድሕንነቱ ዝፀልዎን ኣብ ሓደጋ ዘውድቖን እዩ።
ከምኡ ድማ ብሓደጋታት ባርዕ፣ ንፋስን ውሕጅን ተደጋጋሚ መፅለሊ ስደተኛታት ንሓደጋ ክቃላዕ ልሙድ ክስተት እዩ።
ብፍላይ ምስ ስግኣት ፀጥታ ተኣሳሲሩ፡ ጉዳዮም ተፀኒዑ ፍሉይ ከለላ (protection) ዘድልዮም፡ ማለት’ውን ኣብ ዓዶም እናሃለው ብዝነበሮም ልዑል ሞያዊ ስራሕን ሓላፍነትን ንሓደጋ ተቓላዕቲ ዝኾኑ ዓበይቲ ስደተኛታት፡ ቅልጡፍ ከለላ ብዘይምርካቦም ድሕንነቱ ኣብ ዘይተሓለወ ቦታ ነዊሕ ዓመታት ንኽነብሩ ይግደዱ ኣለው።
ብርክት ዝበለ ትግራዋይ ድሕንነቱ ንምውሓስ ኢሉ ናብ ጎረባብቲ ሃገራት እንትስደድ ኣብተን መዓስከራት ብዘለዉ፡ ኣብ ዓዱ እንከሎ ዝሃድንዎን ዝኣስርዎን ዝነበሩ ደሓር’ውን ንኽስደት ምኽንያት ብዝኾኑ ልኡኻት ፀላእቲ፡ ቀሊል ዘይበሃል ስግኣትን ምፍርራሕን ይበፅሖ እዩ።
ንኣብነት ካብ መዓስከር ሱዳን ንድሕንነቱ ክብል ስሙ ዘይገለፀልና ‘ሓደ ነባር ተጋዳላይ ኮሎኔል’፡ ከምዝስዕብ ይብል።
“ከምዝፍለጥ ኣብ ጎሮባብቲ ሃገራት ዘለና ስደተኛታት ተጋሩ ምስ ደገፍቲ ስርዓት መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያን ኤርትራን ስደተኛታት ተሓዋዊስና ኣብ ሓደ መዓስከር ንነብር ብምህላውና ሕዚ ውን ግዜን ቦታን እንተረኺቦም፡ ፀላእቲ ብሰለልቶምን ተላኣኣኽቶምን ኣቢሎም ሓደጋ ከብፅሑልና እዮም ኢልና ኢና ንጭነቕ ብምባል ኣብቲ ስደተኛ ዘሎ ስግኣት ይገልፅ።
“በዚ ምኽንያት ከምድላይና ብናፅነት ክንቀሳቐስ ንግደብ ኢና ብምባል ዘለዎ ስግኣቱ የጠናኽር።
ነዚ አተሓሳሳቢ ጉዳይ ከም በዓል ትካል ቀይሕ መስቀል (IRC)፣ዓለም ለኸ ትካል ስደተኛታት (UNHCR) ዝበሉ ትካል ስደተኛታትን ከምኡ ድማ ኣብ ዳያስፖራ ዘለው ውዳበታት ኮሚነቲ ትግራይን ብትኹረት ክከታተልዎን፣ልዑል ስግኣት ዘለዎም ሰባት ብፍሉይ ተፀኒዖም ቀልጢፎም ናብ ድሕንነቱ ዝተሓለወ ቦታ ዝዘዋወርሉ ዕድል ንክመቻቸወሎም ድማ ለበዋ ኣቕሪቡ።
ካብዚ ብተወሳኺ ብመሰረት ውዕል ፕሪቶሪያ ተመዛበልቲ ስደተኛታት ቀልጢፎም ናብ መረበቶም ክምለሱ ዝምልከቶ ኣካል ብትኹረት ክሰርሕ ይግባእ ዝብል መልእኽቲ ኣመሓላሊፎም እቶም ስደተኛታት።

7. ባህሊ ዝፈጥሮ ፅዕንቶ ፦
ስደት ንትግራዋይ ሓድሽ ምስቲ ምኳኑ ብዙሓት ተጋሩ ክደናገሩ ምርኣይ ልሙድ እዩ። ሓደ ማሕበረሰብ ነውርን ንቡርን ዝፈልየሉ ናይ ባዕሉ ባህላዊ ክብርታት ኣለዎ። ኣብ ሓንቲ ሃገር ነውሪ(ውጉዝ) ዝኾነ ኣብ ካልእ ሃገር ንቡር(ፍቑድ)ክኸውን ይኽእል። ንኣብነት ኣብ ትግራይ መዐወኒ ወልፍታት ከምኒ ዕፀ ፋርስ፣ ሽሻ ሓሽሽን ካልኦትን ፍቑድ ኣይኮነን። ኣብዘን ጎረቤት ሃገራት ድማ ሰባት ብቅሉዕ ኾነ ብሕቡእ ብበዝሒ ክጥቀሙሉ ዳርጋ ልሙድ እዩ። እዚ ድማ ነቲ ሓዱሽ ስደተኛ ትግራዋይ ኣብ ህይወቱ ዝፈጥረሉ ኣሉታዊ ፅልዋ ቀሊል ኣይኮነን።

‘ከም መፍትሒ ዝተቐመጡ መበገሲ ሓሳባት’

ነዞም ኣብ ላዕሊ ዝተገለፁ ፀገማት ብዝግባእ ተገንዚብካ፡ ዝሓሸ ለውጢ ንምፍጣርን ፍታሕ ንምቕማጥን ጥጡሕ ባይታ ምህናፅን ምትዕርራይን የድሊ።
ኣብ ባህሊ ዝተጠቐሱ ኣድለይቲ ዘይኮኑ ነገራት፡ ናብ ኣዎንታ ንምቕያር ኣብ በቢዘለናሉ ኮይንና ናይታ ሃገር ባህላዊ ዓውደ መፅናዕታት ብምድላውን ኣብ ናይ ሓባር ውህደት ፍፃመታት ብምፅንባርን ንኽንድግፍ ከምኡ እውን ንቕሓትን ክእለትን ቋንቋ ንምዕባይ፡ ቋንቋ እንግሊዘኛ ብምምሃር፡ ናይ ትርጉም ሓገዛት ብምሃብ፣ ንልውውጥ ቋንቋታት ሽርክነት(partnership)ብምፍጣር ነዚ ሓጓፍ ንምምላእ ተግባራዊ ርብርብ የድሊ።
ኣብቲ ስደተኛ ዝፍጠር ዘሎ ጭንቀት፡ ዘይተደለየ ፀቕጥን ሕሉፍ በሰላን ንምሕዋይ ድማ ምስ በዓል ሞያ ቴራፒ ይኹን ስነልቦና ብምዝርራብ ፍታሕ ምምፃእ ይከኣል።

ኣብ ፀጥታን ደሕንነትን ዝተልዓለ ስግኣት እውን እንትኾነ ካብ ዕግርግር ዝበዝሖ ቦታ ዓርስኻ ብምርሓቕ ነቲ ስግኣት ምንካይ ዝከካኣል ኮይኑ ተደጋጋሚ ኣስጋኢ ኹነታት እንተጋጥም ድማ ብግዜ ንዝምልከቶ መንግስታዊ ኣካል ብምፍላጥ እቲ ጉዳይ መዕለቢ ክግበረሉ ክኽእል ኣለዎ።

ኣብዚ ህልዊ ኩነታት፡ ንኹሉ ስደተኛ ከም ሓደ መሰረታዊ ፀገም ኮይኑ ዘሎ ሕፅረት ፋይናንስ ድማ፡ ነኒባዕልኻ ናይ ምትሕግጋዝ ባህሊ ብምዕባይን ዕድል ስራሕ ብምፍጣርን ክቃለል ዝኽእል እዩ።
ከምኡ ድማ እቶም ኣብ ፎቖዶ መዓስከር ስደተኛታት ብዝተፈላለዩ ሕማማት ዝጥቅዑ ዘለው ወገናት’ውን ቀልጢፎም ሕክምና ንክረኽቡ ዘኽእሉ ስራሕቲ ምስራሕ ኣገዳሲ እዩ።

ነዚ ንምዕዋት ኣብ ውሽጢ ዓድን ወፃእን ዘለው ተጋሩን ፈተውቲ ትግራይን፡ ስደተኛታት ወገናትና የሕልፍዎ ንዘለው መሪርን ነዊሕን ስቓይ፣ ተገንዚቦም፡ ሓላፍነት ዝተመልኦ ሰብኣውን ሞራላዊን ግቡኦም ንምፍፃም ዝከኣሎም እጃም ከበርክቱ ፃውዒት ነቕርብ።

Omna Tigray External Contributor, December 2024

Recounting the Genocide Stories of Tigray: My experience in the concentration camps in Ethiopia – Part 3

Every atrocity in the playbook and more have been perpetrated by the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as their peoples, against Tigrayans and those of Tigrayan descent. Among these atrocity crimes were the arbitrary arrest and gross mistreatment of people with any connection to Tigray, however minute. This is the third and final part of my series recounting my experiences while detained in a concentration camp solely because of my Tigrayan identity. In this final chapter, I recount more of the crimes I witnessed while illegally detained and reflect on what this experience taught me about Ethiopian society and how it has cemented my steadfast commitment to ensuring justice and humanity. 

After November 4, 2021, we were forcibly transferred to a concentration camp specifically designed to inflict suffering on Tigrayans. The camp, overcrowded and decrepit, became our new reality, where approximately 500 of us Tigrayans endured inhumane conditions. 

The camp was rife with horrific injustices against Tigrayans. This concentration camp, a stark symbol of systemic oppression and ethnic persecution, epitomized the horrors inflicted upon Tigrayans daily– the stripping away of basic human dignity.


An 80-year-old Tigrayan man was subjected to severe restrictions, denied access to the toilet or sunlight, simply because he bore a resemblance to the late and veteran politician Abay Tsehaye. Extortion was rampant. Tigrayan prisoners were forced to pay more than 5,000 Ethiopian birr daily to avoid brutal torture by the policemen. The deprivation of sunlight was so severe that two Tigrayan inmates eventually lost their eyesight. Even those with disabilities were not spared: A Tigrayan man with a disability, who made a modest living by fixing hair within the prison compound, was coerced into giving up 50 percent of his earnings to the guards.

The hate against Tigrayans was so deeply seeded that people of other ethnic groups with any connection to Tigray, whether real or imagined, were considered Tigrayans and punished as such. A few non-Tigrayans shared our fate due to absurd and unjust reasons.

One Amhara man, whose only crime was having his driver’s license issued in Alamata, a Tigrayan town, found himself imprisoned with us because his license address read “Alamata – Tigray.” Another young Amhara native was arrested merely for wearing plastic shoes that were typically worn in Tigray, under the ludicrous accusation that his footwear signified allegiance to the Tigray Defense Forces. Additionally, an Amhara native from Debre Berhan was imprisoned with us because his grandfather’s name, Gebretsadik—a common name derived from the Ge’ez Bible—sounded Tigrayan to the authorities.

As evidenced above, the Ethiopian government and its agents do not believe that Tigrayans deserve the right to life or human dignity. As a victim of the Tigray Genocide and witness of countless human rights violations, I have had to process what it means for your countrymen to want your eradication. I was raised hearing that the people would unite and triumph over politicians and armed groups that opposed national interests. However, until November 2020, I had never encountered the idea that ordinary citizens could be incited to commit genocide against another group of ordinary citizens. I grew up with the belief that all Ethiopians were akin to the people of Tigray, sharing the same problems, goals, and aspirations. Sadly, I have come to realize that many Ethiopians harbor a deep-seated hatred towards Tigrayans and would readily align with destructive forces to annihilate them given the chance.

Ideally, the government should be for the people and by the people, but in Ethiopia, it is the people who are subjugated, controlled, and manipulated by the government. This is why almost the entire Ethiopian populace supported the genocidal campaign against Tigray from the time the government declared war until much of the active conflict ceased with the signing of the Pretoria Agreement. Genocide against Tigrayans was not only perpetrated by politicians and elites but also supported by the general Ethiopian population, who endorsed Abiy Ahmed’s actions. Every Ethiopian who had the chance to contribute to the genocide did so willingly.

The Ethiopian government has also committed war crimes against the Amhara and Oromo people for some time.

Despite the fact that many Oromo and Amhara individuals supported the government during the height of the genocide on Tigray, I do not condone the atrocities being committed against them now. I consistently advocate for an end to the conflict in Amhara and Oromia, while still demanding justice for the crimes perpetrated in Tigray by both the Ethiopian government and its citizens. 

We, the resolute survivors of the Tigray Genocide, shall never forget the despicable atrocities inflicted upon us. We will relentlessly pursue justice to ensure that those responsible are brought before impartial international courts to answer for their appalling crimes. We will never forget, nor will we allow such malevolent acts to be perpetuated against humanity again.

Mulu – Omna Tigray External Contributor, December 2024

Reflections on Four Years

2024 has been a year shadowed by catastrophe and genocide. From Palestine to Sudan to the Congo and countless other countries, the world is consumed in tragedy. For Tigrayans, November 4, 2024 marks four years since the beginning of a brutal genocide. In terms of the magnitude of destruction and loss, the genocidal war on Tigray is the deadliest conflict of the 21st century to date. Each year Tigrayans approach this day with dread knowing that it is yet another year in which the suffering of the people of Tigray continues.  Each year, we find ourselves reflecting: Why has the world stayed silent for so long in the face of such violence? And yet, this question goes unanswered.

Year after year, we recount the unspeakable tragedies that have ravaged Tigray. Conservative estimates indicate that at least 800,000 Tigrayans have died. Over 120,000 women have been subjected to Conflict Related Sexual Violence and continue to face gender-based violence to date. The genocidal campaign against Tigrayans has entailed ethnic cleansing, obliteration of infrastructure and healthcare, illegal imprisonment, and mass starvation on an unimaginable scale. And each year, it feels as though these facts weigh less and less on the conscience of the world.

In 2024, a glimmer of hope surfaced: the genocide in Tigray was finally recognized for what it was by an independent team of investigators. We dared to hope that maybe, finally, the world would heed this call for justice and demand action. The report was clear: A deliberate genocide had been committed in Tigray. The report further layed out the necessary steps for accountability. Yet, as the months have passed, international actors have not moved, their inaction speaking louder than any words.

November 2024 also marks the two-year anniversary of the signing of a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, also known as the Pretoria Agreement. Although this agreement eased tensions and brought an end to most of the active fighting in Tigray, we know that it has not brought true and lasting peace. Instead, it has allowed Abiy Ahmed to continue a genocide under the world’s mistaken belief that peace has been achieved. These past two years have brought empty promises and worsening devastation, as the humanitarian crisis continues inadequately addressed and atrocity crimes persist in occupied areas. 

What unimaginable suffering must the people of Tigray endure before the world—and the people of Ethiopia—are moved to act? For four years, Ethiopians have turned their backs on their own. People are taking part in hate fuelled violence and allowing Abiy Ahmed not only to pursue the erasure of Tigrayans, but also spread war and destruction across the country. It has become unmistakably clear that Abiy Ahmed is no leader, but a self-serving authoritarian who holds onto power illegally, propped up by Western and Ethiopian allies who should be holding him accountable. In this betrayal, Ethiopians have watched and participated in the invasion, devastation and brutalization of their fellow citizens. What does this indifference say about the soul of Ethiopia?

Even in the face of devastation, we are witnessing how power struggles among leaders persist. The infighting among Tigray’s political figures is destructive and must end. These divisions only strengthen our enemies, allowing Abiy Ahmed and Ethiopia’s political elites to manipulate and divide us further. This infighting is destructive and shows that the leaders of Tigray are willing to put their own interests above the people of Tigray, and as such should be held accountable. By weakening ourselves, we pay the highest price: every moment spent arguing is another life lost. These fractures within Tigray’s leadership are also creating divisions among the diaspora, undermining our collective movement for a free Tigray. Unity—both here and in Tigray—is essential to our survival.

As Tigrayans in the diaspora we must never lose sight of a free Tigray. Our disappointment in the world, our anger, our distrust in leaders—none of this can divert us from centering the people of Tigray. In the end, we must rely on ourselves and on the resilience of Tigray’s people to find a path forward. The spirit of Tigray has been unbreakable, enduring through Menelik, Haile Selassie, Mengistu, and now Abiy Ahmed. In the face of fascism, the people of Tigray have always defied injustice and fought for the right to self-determination. This is who we are. It is our job to amplify the voices of those who have been silenced. The world may ignore us, but we cannot afford to ignore each other. We cannot let another year pass us by. We must mourn and honor our martyrs and honor the sacrifices made for a free Tigray. To the people of Tigray, you are not forgotten. 

Eternal glory to our martyrs. Free Tigray.

Hiab – Omna Tigray Contributor, November 2024

Reflection on post-war and the gaps for lasting peace in Tigray, Ethiopia

Today marks 2 years since the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray leadership. The CoHA marked a pivotal moment in the search for stability after two years of a brutal genocidal war that the Ethiopian government and its allies launched on November 4, 2020. While the agreement has brought an end to active fighting, many underlying issues remain unresolved. Thus far, the Ethiopian government and international community have largely focused on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR), rather than an end to the ongoing Amhara and Eritrean occupations of Tigrayan territories where atrocity crimes continue, the return of those internally displaced from occupied areas, and justice and accountability for the atrocities committed during the war. This focus reflects the urgent need to stabilize the region, but it also raises concerns about whether true healing can take place without addressing the suffering endured by millions.

The CoHA has made significant strides in bringing about a ceasefire, disarming combatants, and restoring some form of normalcy to war-torn regions. In Tigray, humanitarian aid has started flowing into some areas that were once inaccessible, giving some relief to the millions affected by famine and displacement. The return of communication and services to parts of Tigray has also allowed families to reconnect after years of being cut off. These steps have laid a foundation, though fragile, for rebuilding shattered communities. Yet, since the CoHA signing, Tigray’s humanitarian needs are far from being addressed, as the humanitarian response has been inadequate at best and negligent at worst. The urgency of addressing basic needs remains pressing. Children need to return to school, farmers must receive the support necessary to restart agricultural production, and the healthcare system—barely functioning after the war—must be restored. Crimes against humanity continue unabated in occupied areas. In Irob district, home to one of Tigray’s minorities, weaponized sexual violence and enforced disappearances, amid ethnic cleansing, is commonplace. In Western Tigray, and parts of northwestern and southern Tigray, Amhara forces and militias still terrorize Tigrayans and protect the Amhara region’s illegal governance structure. Over a million internally displaced persons and tens of thousands of refugees have not been able to return home. Without addressing these critical areas, the long-term success of the peace process remains uncertain. 

However, the emphasis on DDR shows that the immediate priority was securing an end to the fighting on the ground and preventing a return to violence. Though DDR is important, what is key and stipulated in the CoHA is that disarmanent occurs in parrallel to ensuring and maintaining the safety and secuity of Tigrayans–which has yet to occur. That said, every effort to reintegrate the thousands of fighters into civilian life and to help rebuild their lives should be supported. This disarmament process if done right and among all belligerent parties is crucial for maintaining peace, but it does not address the deeper wounds left by the genocidal war.

Justice and accountability have been notably absent from the core discussions of the peace process. Survivors of the war on Tigray, particularly those who have experienced war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and brutal sexual violence, are left wondering when or if their suffering will be acknowledged. The absence of a clear path toward justice has raised concerns that those responsible for atrocities may never face justice. Though a commitment to justice and accountability was stipulated in the agreement, and the Ethiopian government drafted a transitional justice framework, much is left to be desired. This framework, which provides false equivalence of crimes committed across Ethiopia and does not address the acts of genocide committed by Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Amhara forces, has yet to be really implemented nor can it offer adequate accountability. The silence of the international community and Tigray’s leadership on justice and accountability suggests that political stability has been prioritized over addressing the needs of victims. 

This trade-off between immediate peace and long-term justice is a familiar dilemma in post-conflict settings. As Omna Tigray, BBC, and other observers have pointed out, securing a fragile peace often takes precedence, especially when the risk of reigniting conflict is high. The Ethiopian government and the United States Special Envoy for the Horn Africa, Mike Hammer, likely saw DDR as the quickest way to reduce tensions, but this has left many questioning whether lasting peace is possible without justice.

The international community cautiously welcomed the CoHA in 2022, but many survivors and victims in Tigray still share their concern that justice may be indefinitely delayed. Without clear mechanisms for accountability, the deep wounds left by the genodical war risk being overlooked. Such an oversight threatens to allow injustice to persist, making genuine reconciliation elusive. For true healing to occur, these mechanisms must be prioritized, ensuring that those affected are heard and that the cycle of impunity is broken.

As the situation in Tigray unfolds, one thing is clear: peace without justice is incomplete. While DDR is essential for stabilizing the region and preventing further violence, the long-term success of the peace process will depend on whether the Ethiopian government and Tigray’s leaders can ensure peace across Tigray and create a path for accountability and reconciliation. The world is still watching to see if this agreement leads to a just and lasting peace, or if it merely postpones an inevitable reckoning with the past.

Much remains to be done to have a chance at peace. The focus remains on disarmament and reintegration, but the call for justice grows louder each day. As Tigray and Ethiopia rebuild, the question will persist: can peace be truly sustained without acknowledging and addressing the crimes that were committed during the genocidal war? Only time will tell.

Blen – Omna Tigray Contributor, November 2024

ሓሙሽተ ኣሕዋተይ ካብ ዝወፈርዎ ኣይተመለሱን

ኣብ ማእኸል ከተማ ካምፓላ፡ ምስ ትኪ እናተቓለሰት መጠቓ ትምጥቕ ኣላ። ነቲ ፀረር ዝብል ዘሎ ንብዓታ ሪኢኻ ናይቲ ትኪ ድዩስ ዋላስ ናይ ሓዘን ምግማት ከቢድ እዩ። ፀገም ናብራ እንተኾነ ገና ብህፃና እያ ለሚዳቶ። ሰናይት ደስ ዝብል ፍሽኽታኣ ርእዩ ብርሑቕ ንዝዕዘባ፡ ይትረፍ እዚ ገበታ ፀገም ኣብ እንግድዓ ተሰኪማ ትከይድ እያ ኢሉ ክሓስብ፡ ማዕልታዊ ህይወታ ብሓጎስን ፌስታን ዝተመልአ እዩ ዝመስሎ። ቅርብ ምስ እትብላ ግን ንምእማኑ እውን ዘፀግም ንእዝኒ ኣደንፅዩ ልብኻ ዝተናኽፍ መንነታ እዩ ኮፍ ኢሉ ዝረአየካ። ውሽጣዊ መንነት እዛ ንእስቲ ነቲ ብደገ ሪኢኻ ትፈርዶ ሓቅታት ዘፍርስ ስለዝኮነ፡ ለካ ኩሉ ዝስሕቕን ዝፃወትንስ ኩሉ ሕጉስ ኣይኮነን።ለካ ኩሉ ፀገሙ ተፃዊሩ ፍሽኽ ዝብልሲ ከምዚ ጉንዲ ብፍልሖ ተበሊዑ ዝወድቕ፡ ውሽጣ ውሽጡ ብጓህን ጣዕሳን ዝተበልዐ እዩ ንክትብል ኢኻ ትግደድ። ድሕሪ ድሙቅ ፍሽኽታ ግን ገሊህካ ዘይውዳእ ድባብ ሓዘን ቀንጢጥካ ዘይሃልቕ ፀልማት ኣሎ።ሰባት በይኖም ዝነብዕዎ በይኖም ዝሳቐይዎ ናይ ስቓይ ሰንሰለት።
ከምቲ እቲ ገጣሚ፣
“ናይ ኩላና ምድሪ ናይ ኩላና ሰማይ
ናይ በይንና መዓት ናይ በይንና ስቓይ” ዝበሎ። በቲ ኣብ ትግራይ ዘጋጠመ ጄኖሳይዳዊ ኲናት ኣብ ስቓይን መከራን ፡ኣብ ዘይፈልጦ ዓዘቕትን ቁስለትን ዘይኣተወ ትግራዋይ ዳርጋ የለን እኳ ተበልና ናይዛ ንእስቲ ስቓይን ቁስልን ግን ልዕሊ እቲ ትግምቶን ትሓስቦን እዩ።

ህይወት ንዓኺ እንታይ እዩ ኢልካ ምስ እትሓትታ “ህይወት ማለት ናይ ቃንዛን ሕማምን መድርኽ እያ።” ኢላ ምመለሰት ኔራ። ስለምንታይ ዝብል ሕቶ፡ ቃንዛን ሕማምን ኣብ ልዕሊ ንኡሳት፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ዓበይቲ፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኣዴታት ኣቦታት ኮታስ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኩሉ ትግራዋይ ወሪዱ እዩ። ምድሪ ናይ ኩልና እንከላ፡ ግን መዐንደሪ ታንክን መዳፍዓትን ኮይና ከም ዕንቊ ፀቢባትና።ሰማይ ናይ ሓባር እንከሎ፡ ሰማይ ትግራይ ግን መሳወሪ ሓውን መርዛም ጋዝን ኮይኑ። ብርሃን ንኩሉ እንትውሃብ፡ ፀሓይ ትግራይ ግን ኣብ ዘይሰዓታ ዓሪባ፡ ፀልማት ነጊሱ ሱር ፀገማት ተረቢቡ። በቲ ዘጋጠመ ሕሱም ኲናት፡ ሚልዮናት ተጋሩ ሙውቕ ገዝኦም ራሕሪሖም ናብ ጎረባብቲ ሃገራት ንክመዛበሉ ተገዲዶም። ነዚ ስዒቡ ዩጋንዳ ካብተን ተጋሩ ዘዕቖብለን ጎረቤት ሃገር ሓንቲ ኾይና። ካብዞም ናይዚ ሕሱም ናብራ ስደት ተኻፈልቲ ሓንቲ ዝኮነት ትግራወይቲ ንእስቲ ሰናይት ዘጋጠማ መሪር ሓዘንን ኣብ ዩጋንዳ ተሕልፎ ዘላ ሕሱም ናብራ ስደትን ድማ ከምዝስዕብ ብኣንደበታ ትገልፅ።

“ስመይ ሰናይት ካሕሳይ ሓድጉ ይበሃል። ኣብ ትግራይ እየ ተወሊደ ዓብዬ። ገና ጓል ትሻዓተ ዓመት እናሃለኹ ዝፈትዋ ወላዲተይ ብሞት ስለዝተፈለየትኒ ኩነታት ኣተዓባብያይ ኣዝዩ ከቢድን ፈታኒን ነይሩ። ንኣሕዋተይ ክብል ገና ኣብ ዕድመ ንእስነተይ እንከለኹ እየ ካብ ዝፈትዎ ትምህርተይ ኣብ ራብዓይ ክፍሊ ኣቋሪፀ፡ ሓላፍነት ኣዶነት ተሸኪመ እንጀራ እናሰንከትኩ፡ ናይ ሰብ ሆቴላት ዓራት እናንጸፍኩ፡ ኣብ ፎቖዶ ጎረባብቲ እናዘርኩ፡ ንሳላሳ ኪሎ ሕሩጭ ብ15 ቅርሺ ቅጫ መጠቓ እናመጠቕኩ ኣሕዋተይ ምዕባይ ጀሚረ። ድሕሪ ሞት ወላዲተይ ህይወት ከቢድ እዩ ነይሩ። ኣይኮነን ዶ መሓዙተይ ዝገብረኦ ክገብር፡ ክሕንቅቕስ ይትረፍ፡ እቲ ናይ መዓልቲ ናፅነት ዝብሃል ጓል ኣንስተይቲ ትፃወተሉ ብዓል ኣሸንዳ እኳስ ከም ጓል ኣኽቢረ ኣይፈልጥን።እቱይ ምንታይ፡ንኣሕዋተይ ከናዲ ክብል ኣርክቦ ግዜ እውን ኣይነበረንን።

ደስ ዝብለኒ ዝነበረ፡ ኣሕዋተይ ምእዙዛት እዮም ኔሮም። ኣብ ገዛና ናይ ጓልን ወድን ዝብሃል ስራሕ ኣይነበረን። እቲ ሓደ ፀብሒ ይሰርሕ እንተሃልዩ እቲ ሓደ ገዛ የፅሪ፡ ምስ ስእነትና ብፍቕርን ሰላምን ንነብር ኔርና። ድሕሪ ግዜ፡ ናብራ ልዕሊ ዓቕመይ ኮይኑ ምስተሰነፍኩ ግን ኣብ ህይወተይ ሓደ ዓብዪ ውሳነ ክውስን ኔሩኒ።ኣሕዋተይ ገዲፈ ናብ ዘይፈልጦ ዓዲ ተሰዲድካ ምስ ህይወት ምቅላስ። ኣደይ ብሓደራ ዝሓደገትለይ ኣሕዋተይ ንኽዕቢ ኢለ ናብ ስዑዲ ዓረብ ተሰዲደ። 4 ዓመታት ዝኣክል ዓዲ ጓና እናሰራሕኹ ኣሕዋተይ የመሓድር ነይረ።

ዓዲ ጓና ተሰዲድካ፡ ምስራሕ ኣይኮነን፡ ምንባር እኳ ኣዝዩ ከቢድ ምዃኑ ብዓይነይ እየ ሪኤዮ። ዘልኣለም ኣብ ሻቅሎትን ስክፍታን ኢኻ ትነብር። ህይወትካ ኣብ ጭቆናን መግዛእትን ኢኻ ተሕልፎ።ይኩን እምበር ኣሕዋተይ ካብቲ ዝነበርዎ ትሑት ናብራ ብዝሐሸ ይዓብዩለይ ስለዝነበሩ ፅባሕ ኣብ ፅቡቕ ደረጃ ክበፅሑለይ እዮም እናበልኹ ተስፋ ስንቀይ ጌረ ይነብር ነይረ። ኣብዚ ዕሙር ናይ ህይወት ቃልሲ እዚ እናሃለኹ ግን ጥቅምቲ 24/2013 ዓ.ም ህዝቢ ትግራይ ብ ዕስለ ወረርቲ ዘርኣዊ ፅንተት ምስተኣወጆ፣ ናብ ዘይቆፃፀሮ ብርቱዕ ስቓይን ሻቅሎትን ኣተኹ። ትግራይ ኣብ ዕፅዋን ክባን ምስኣተወት ከምቲ ኩሉ ትግራዋይ ደሃይ ኣሕዋተይን ዓደይን ርሒቑኒ ብጭንቀትን ሻቕሎትን ተረቢሸ ዕረፍቲ ይኹን ድቃስ ኣይነበረንን። በቲ ሽዑ ዝነበረ ፀገም ስልክን ኢንተርኔትን ሓልሓሊፉ እምበር መብዛሕትኡ ግዜ ደሃይ ኣሕዋተይ ረኺበ ኣይፈልጥን።

ኣብታ ድሕሪ እቲ ደማዊ ኲናት ዝተረኸበት ውዕሊ ሰላም ፕሪቶርያ ዝተብሃለት እፎይታ፡ ካብ ስደት ናብ ትግራይ ዓደይ ኣምሪሐ። ገዛና ሰብ የብላ ገለ የብላ ብዕፅውታ እያ ፀኒሓትኒ። ዕጫ ኩሉ ትግራዋይ ዝበፅሖም ኣሕዋተይ እውን ኣንፃር ወረርቲ ክቃለሱ ናብ በረኻ ከምዝወፈሩን ክሳብ ሕዚ ድማ ከምዘይተመለሱን ተነጊረ። ይኹን እምበር ድሕሪ እቲ ኲናት ጠጠው ምባሉ እውን ኣብ ትግራይ ምዃን ኣዝዩ ከቢድ ስለዝነበረ ዳግማይ እግረይ ናብ ዝመረሐኒ ካብ ዓደይ ተሰዲደ ዩጋንዳ ኣብ ዝብሃል ዓዲ ኣዕቊበ። ናብራ ስደተይ ከይክእል ግን፡ ድሕሪ ዝተወሰኑ ኣዋርሕ ልብኻ ዝሰብር፡ ናይ ዘመናት ጓሂ ዘሸክም መርድእ ሓሙሽተ ኣሕዋተይ በታ ጨካን እዝነይ ሰሚዐ።

ክንዲ ኣዶ ኾይነ ዘዕበኹዎም ኣሕወተይ፥ ሕዚ ግን ኩሎም የለውን።ካብ ዝወፈርዎ ኣይተመለሱን። “ኣዶ ትግራይ ኣይትነብዕን መሬት ትግራይ ብፀላእቲ ኣይውረርን።” ኢሎም ምእንቲ ክብሪ ትግራይ ተቓሊሶም፣ ናይ ምንባረይ ምኽንያት ዝነበሩ ኣሕዋተይ ክቡር መስዋእቲ ከፊሎም። ስውእ ተጋዳላይ ዳኒኤል፡ ተስፋይ፡ ኣማኑኤል፡ ጉዕሽ፡ ተኽለሃይማኖት፡ ካብ ዝወፈርዎ ቃልሲ ኣይተመለሱንን። ብዘይ ኣሕዋት ተሪፈ። ምስ ሕልሞምን ተስፈኦምን ተቐቢሮም። ብፍላይ ኣማኑኤል ሓወይ ሙዚቃ ይፈቱ ነይሩ፣ደራፊ ክኸውን እዩ ዝደሊ ነይሩ። መዓልታዊ ክደርፍን ከዝይምን ከሎ ተስፋ ይስመዓኒ ነይሩ። ተስፋይ ሓወይ ድማ ኣብ ሰገን ዕድሚኡ ቆሎን እንቋቑሖን እናዘረ እናሸጠ፡ ንቐፃሊ ነጋዳይ ናይምዃን ባህግን ሕልምን እዩ ነይርዎ። ኣብቲ እዋን ዕፅዋን ክባን ኣብ ስደት ናሃለኹ፣ ኢንተርኔት ኣተኣላልሸ ክድውለሎም ከለኹ እውን ኣጆኺ ክንዕወት ኢና ናበሉ ተስፋ ይህቡኒ ኔሮም። ሕዚ ግን ናብቲ ድምፆም እውን ዘይሰምዐሉ ርሑቅ መገሻ ከይዶም፤ኣብ ማእኸል ሜዳ በይነይ ገዲፎሙኒ።

ምስ ሰብ ተፈጢርካ ብዘይሰብ ክትተርፍ ዘለዎ ቃንዛ፡ ኩሉ፡ ‘ሰብ እየ’ ዝብል ፍጡር ዝርድኦ ሓበራዊ ስምዒት ይመስለኒ።ምሳኻ ከለዉ እኳ ትናፍቖም ኣሕዋትካ ፅባሕ ዶ ክመፅኡ ድሕሪ ፅባሕ እናበልካ ንዘልኣለም ኣይመፁን ክትብሃል ከለኻ ዝስመዐካ ስምዒት እቲ ዝበፅሖን ብዓይኑ ዝራኣዮን ጥራይ እዩ ዝፈልጦ። ግን ከ ምእንተ እዛ ምድሪ ምእንተ እዛ ትግራይ ዝተኸፈለ ክቡር መስዋእቲ ምዃኑ ድማ ነቲ ከቢድ ደልሃመት ሓዘን ጩራ ብርሃን ይዘርኣሉ።” እናበለት ነቲ ኣብ ውሽጣ ዘሎ ጓሂ ዝሕንዝሕ ንብዓት ሓዊሳ ንደገ ተውፀኦ። “እዞም ኣሕዋተይ ብጅግንነት ንህዝቦም ኢሎም ክቡር መስዋእቲ ምኽፋሎም ዘኹርዓኒ እኳ እንትኾነ፣ ነገር ግን ንባዕለይን ንስድራይን ዘመሓድር ዝነበረኩ ሰናይት ኣብዚ ሕዚ ሰዓት ብሓዘን ኣሕዋተይን ብሕሱም ናብራ ስደትን ምንባር ክሳብ ዝፀልእ ዘይንሰይ መሲለ የሕልፎ ኣለኹ።

ተስፋ ኣብዘይብሉ ናይ ስደት ህይወት ናብራይ ንምስዓር ኣብ ዩጋንዳ ከተማ ካምፓላ ቅጫ መጠቓ መጢቐ ስዋ ፆሚቐ ኣብ ጎደናታት ዩጋንዳ ብእግረይ እናዘርኩ ስዋ እናሸጥኩ ይናበር ኣለኹ።” እናበለት ነቲ ኣብ ዩጋንዳ ተሕልፎ ዘላ ፀገምን ከርተትን ኣምሪራ ትገልፆ።

እዛ ኣብ ገፃ ሕራነን ፍሽኽታን ዘይፍለያ ንእስቲ ሰናይት “ዕለታዊ ናብራይ ንምድፋእ ምስ ሃገረይ ይስሕቕ፡ ምስ ሃገረይ የዐልል፡ እንተ ንብዓት ውሽጠይ ግን ኣብ በይነይ እየ ዘፍስሶ። ኩሉ ብደገ ዝሪኤኒ ከምቲ ደገይ እዩ ዝመስሎ እንተ ውሽጠይ ግን ኣነ ጥራይ እዩ ዝፈልጦ። ብዓቕልን ትዕግስትን ገፀይ ንምብራህ እፍትን፡ ሓቅን ክውንነትን ግን ውሽጢ ልበይ ጠቐር ካብ ዝለኽይዎ ዓመታት ኣቊጺረ ኣለኹ።” ብምባል ነቲ ዘላቶ ህይወት ብሕሱም ቃላት ትገልፆ። እዛ ንእስቲ ካብ ኣቦ ወንበር ማሕበር ተጋሩ ነበርቲ ዩጋንዳ ካምፓላ ኩነታት ህይወታ ዝገልፅ ድጋፍ ደብዳበ ዝተዋሃበት ምዃና እውን ትሕብር።

ሰናይት ሕዚ እውን፡ ምስ ሓዘናን ንብዓታን ከይተሰኮነት ንህይወት ትገጥማ ኣላ። ታሪኽ እዛ ንእስቲ፡ ብሰንኪ እቲ ዘጋጠመ ጄኖሳይዳዊ ኵናት ምሩፃት ደቀን ገቢረን ኣብ ውሻጠ ገዝአን ተኾርምየን ብንብዓትን እህህታን እናቖዘማ፡ ኣብ መሪር ሓዘን ንዝነብራ ብዙሓት ተጋሩ ደቀንስትዮን ኣዴታትን ዝውክል ኣብነታዊ ዛንታ እዩ።

ኣብ ውሽጢ ዓድን ወፃእን ዝርከቡ ግዱሳት ውልቀ ሰባት፡ውዳበታት ኮሚኒቲ ኾኑ ካልኦት ኣብ ማሕበራዊ ጉዳያት ዝነጥፉ ዝምልከቶም ሃገራውን ዓለም ለኻውን ትካላት ንከምዚኦም ዝኣመሰሉ ጉዳያት ብውነ ተገንዚቦም ግዝያውን ዘላቕን ፍታሕ ኣብ ምንዳይ ግደኦም ከበርክቱ ትፅቢት ይግበር።

ምሉእ ስማ ንድሕነታ ተቐይሩ እዩ:: “ሰናይት” ከም ቅጽል ስም ትጥቀምላ።

To protect her safety, “Senait Kahsay” is used as pseudonym.

Omna Tigray External Contributor, October 2024