Conflict in Gambella regional state

In May 2019 the international news agency IPS News provides the following overview on Gambella region:

“When war broke out in 2013 in South Sudan, refugees poured into neighbouring Gambella. Today, 485,000 South Sudanese refugees lived in the Gambella region, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN refugee organisation. Some displaced Nuer brought arms across the border, destabilising an already tense region. ‘The fact that the Nuer and Anuwak exist on both sides of the border

makes it easy for people of both communities to pass backwards and forwards, taking with them their conflicts both between the two tribes but also at the national level,’ says John Ashworth, who has been working in South Sudan and the surrounding region for the last 30 years.

[…] It is hard to visit Gambella and not be struck by the height of many locals, some with horizontal scarification lines across their foreheads. The Nuer are one of five ethnic groups populating the region. Close ties and tensions between the Nuer and Anuwak, the two largest ethnic groups, representing about 45 percent and 26 percent of the population, respectively, date back centuries. The modern border between the two nations does not delineate where either group lives nor is movement across the South Sudan-Ethiopia border a new phenomenon.

[…] Back in 1962, the first of several civil wars broke out next door in Sudan at the start of a 50-year quest for South Sudanese independence, and from which Gambella could not remain immune. The stigma attached to the region hasn’t been helped by the Ethiopian government’ tendency to take a dismissive view of the region, underscored by a prejudice—one that extends throughout Ethiopian society—that the blacker one is the less Ethiopia you are, says Dereje Feyissa, a senior advisor at the Addis Ababa-based International Law and Policy Institute. ‘The Ethiopian centre has always related to its periphery in a predatory way,’ Dereje says. ‘This is not only because of the geographic distance but also the historical, social and cultural differences which the discourse on skin colour signifies.’” (IPS News, 6 May 2019)

In December 2003 “a brutal ambush allegedly committed by armed Anuak sparked a bloody three-day rampage in the regional capital in which ENDF soldiers joined ‘highlander’ mobs in the destruction of the town's Anuak neighborhoods”. Houses were burnt and “as many as 424 people were killed, almost all of them Anuak” (HRW, 23 March 2005). According to an article published by Ethiopia Insight “the Anuak’s largely untold story is still fresh a decade and a half later. The state has neither apprehended suspects for atrocities nor served apologies or compensated victims’ families and survivors for heinous state-sponsored crimes”. The article further notes:

“Of course, the troubled border region of Gambella has a long record of violence. Indeed, insecurity and poverty are its historical landmarks. In the past few decades, however, this has increased, with conflicts between the two major ethnic groups, the large South Sudanese refugee population, and other Ethiopians. Frequent violence has a far-reaching impact on livelihoods and community relationships. […]

In September [2018], Dhaldim youths [a pressure group that took to Gambella’s streets to bring about political change; also see section 3.5] protested for the first time complaining of endemic corruption, nepotism, youth unemployment, abuse and unfair treatment. The protest turned bloody when suspected followers of Gatluak Tut [Gambella region’s President, who resigned in October 2018] killed Okello Ojwato, an Anuak. The next morning, angry youths staged peaceful protests that turned out bloody. The army shot dead nine and wounded 22. Anarchy best described the grim reality in Gambella town for

133 the following two months. The Anuak and Nuer relationship became toxic and polarized

along ethnic lines in support or against the incompetent and corrupt Gatluak Tut and Senay Akwor leadership. Gambella town divided; streets were deserted and undeclared stay-home protest tactics enforced. This paid off: it paralyzed the local economy and forced Gatluak Tut and his Deputy Senay to unexpectedly resign at a political evaluation that took place in Addis Ababa. Possibly federal officials put them under considerable pressure to do so.” (Ethiopia Insight, 13 December 2018)

The situation in Gambella has been described as “very tense over the past year” in September 2019, and clashes between the mostly indigenous Anuak population and the Nuer population

“have occurred on a regular basis” (ECHO, 12 September 2019). As reported by UNOCHA, in April 2019, “the overall security situation in Gambella region has worsened and remains unstable”. The report describes the situation as follows:

“Several incidents have been reported between Nuer and Agnuak ethnic groups that contributed to a high level of anxiety and suspicion between communities. Security forces continue attempting to contain the escalation, mainly associated with revenge killings. In April, three refuges lost their lives allegedly linked to tribal/clan conflict, and one aid worker was killed in his private residence in Gambella town. The motives behind the killing remain unknown.” (UNOCHA, 30 April 2019, p. 2)

Also in April 2019, a report by Borkena mentions violence in a Gambella prison. Two individuals got into a fight that “took a form of ethnic conflict between Nuér and Agnuak” resulting in prison-wide violence. 92 inmates escaped following the violence. (Borkena, 16 April 2019) In May 2019 UNOCHA notes a significant decrease of “the number of security-related incidents in Gambella”. The incidents “were reported in Gambella city, Akobo Gambella, and Itang districts, most of them relating to longstanding Nuer and Anyuak tensions”, however, 13 of the reported 15 incidents were crime related (UNOCHA, 31 May 2019, p. 2). Regarding the “highly volatile” security situation in June and July 2019, UNOCHA notes the following:

“Tit-fortat attacks between ethnic Agnuak and Nuer continued through June and July.

Ordinary civilians were stabbed, beaten or shot - based on their presumed ethnicity – and while conducting day-to-day activities, in a spiral of violence that seems to never end. This violence has impacted the nature and quality of humanitarian activities as well as road movements along the axis Itang – Gambela. Thirty-four security incidents (18 in June, 16 in July) were reported by partners, over fifty per cent of which in Gambela town. In addition, there were reports of Nuer intra-clan fighting in Itang Special Woreda, impacting partners’

movements to the refugee camps.” (UNOCHA, 11 September 2019, p. 3)

In July 2019 Borkena mentions that four senior government officials were removed in Gambella regional state, “in what seems to be an effort to resolve the security issue in the region”. The head of the region’s peace and security office, the region’s Police Commission Commissioner as well as Gambella City’s Mayor were removed from their roles. (Borkena, 15 July 2019)

In September 2019 two aid workers were killed in Itang area (also see section 8.3). According to UNOCHA host communities and refugees bear “the brunt of protracted violence between Anuak and Nuer” (UNOCHA, 6 November 2019, p. 2).

Please also see section 8.3 for information on the situation of refugees in Gambella.

An article published by Ethiopia Observer in its opinion section describes the situation in Gambella after Prime Minister Abiy took office. The article was written by Obang Metho, the executive director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE):

 Ethiopia Observer: Political reform in Ethiopia eludes people of Gambella, 13 October 2018

https://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/2018/10/13/political-reform-in-ethiopia-eludes-people-of-gambella/

Further detailed information on the Gambella conflict can also be found in the following paper published in 2012:

 Lie, Jon Harald Sande; Borchgrevink, Axel: Layer upon Layer: Understanding the Gambella Conflict Formation; in: International Journal of Ethiopian Studies Vol. 6, No. 1/2, 2012 (login required)

www.jstor.org/stable/41756938