“Unheard Voices” Speak Out: Indigenous Ethiopians Demand a Stop to Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Agricultural Investment Policies
Obang Metho of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia and Nyikaw Ochalla of the Anywaa Survival Organization testified to the human rights abuses against Anuak community members in the Gambella region of Ethiopia...Since 2010, the Ethiopian government has displaced hundreds of thousands of indigenous communities from their ancestral lands and has made these lands available to investors. This relocation process, which the Ethiopian government calls “villagization,” has destroyed livelihoods, rendering small-scale farmers and pastoralist communities dependent on food aid and fearful for their own survival. Ethiopian officials have also beaten, arrested, and intimidated individuals who have refused to comply with relocation policies.