Resident of Alamata in Raya and Maikadra in north Ethiopia took to the street demanding an end to imposed Tigray identity
Residents of Maikara taking to the streets to demand government address identity question, among other things. (Photo : SM)borkena
December 6, 2020
As the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) militia and special forces learned that they are about to lose Maikadra town to the Ethiopian Defense Forces and Amhara region special forces – that rescued besieged Ethiopian Defense Forces following November 4 -, they massacred what is said to be now over 1000 unarmed civilians.
The international human rights organizations and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission have confirmed that the massacre that mostly targeted ethnic Amharas took place in Maikadra. A good number of those who perpetrated the massacre are belived to have crossed the Ethio-Sudan border and are believed to have claimed refugee status.
As residents of Maikada city still mourn the victims of the massacre, they took to the street on Sunday demanding the Federal government to end what they call imposed identity.
Maikadra region was one of the areas incorporated into the Tigray region of Ethiopia soon after Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) took over government power in 1991. Residents say they were subjected to unimaginable repression during the TPLF administration.
Wearing black T-shirts as a symbol of mourning those who were massacred in the city about three weeks ago, residents chanted “respect our Amhara identity,” and “the border is Tekezze and our identity is Amhara”
Protestors also said that those who are responsible for the Maikadra massacre are now in Sudan as refugees which they opposed. The Ethiopian government is requested to act in that regard.
There were similar protests in Raya, another area in what is now “southern Tigray” but formerly as an integral part of Wollo province. Raya too was incorporated into the Tigray region after 1991.
Residents of Alamata in Raya accused TPLF of imposing Tigray identity on them while it was known that they were part of Wollo province. They demanded the government to respect and address their identity question for which they struggled for nearly three decades.
TPLF forces lost control of Raya region after the Amhara region special forces, militia and Ethiopian Defense Forces destroyed a highly fortified trench from where TPLF launched the offensive.
Residents of Alamata vowed that the “years of slavery will never come back.”
Ruling party position on border and identity issues
The executive committee of the ruling Prosperity Party had a two-day meeting which concluded on Sunday. Based on information from state-owned media outlets, one “border and identity” issue was among the topics discussed during the meeting.
And the position of the party is that ” “Border and identity controversies should be resolved in a way that addresses [addresses]citizen’s rights,” as quoted in Amhara Mass Media Agency report on Sunday.
The regional states in Ethiopia are organized based on ethnicity. The experience in the past twenty-seven years is that citizens rights have been compromised for the sake of ethnic group rights to the point that Ethiopians from other ethnic groups were targeted and attacked as aliens especially in the Oromo, Benishangul Gumuz, and Southern Ethiopian region – among other areas.
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What are your sources to claim the following: “A good number of those who perpetrated the massacre have crossed the Ethio-Sudan border and are believed to have claimed refugee status.”
All the mass graves as well as the rotten corps are witnes of what really happened there! unlike the conspiracy of refugees the deads can not lie theire identity! May be TPLF has blackmailed them befor masked them as a refugee.
‘ Protestors also said that those who are responsible for the Maikadra massacre are now in Sudan as refugees which they opposed. The Ethiopian government is requested to act in that regard’.
Shouldn’t the Abiy Ahmed’s failed federal government be held accountable too, for failing to properly address the Alamata Raya Welkait question in time?
if the question was addressed properly in time it would have resulted in preventing the massacres and the kidnappings the residents faced during his leadership’s time so Abiy Ahmed need to get included in the list of people who are responsible.
We should ask why did the Abiy Ahmed’s failed federal government continue to fail to capture all of the Woyane “Junta” in a one day to a week days maximum operation , by mobilizing desperately needed special forces ልዩ ኃይሎች from all of the other regions ክልሎች besides from the Amara region special forces ልዩ ኃይሎች?
It should be noted in the past three years Abiy did not reform as much as he should , actually it is questionable is he even reformed anything in the country’s defence forces and state police in the past three years. Currently as each day passes the TPLF junta is recuperating and getting stronger because Abiy’s regime failed to capture the “Woyane Junta”. As more days passes the risky it is to ensure justice because Abiy is not a great leader as many hype him up to be.
Abiy Ahmed should resign ASAP!!
Abiy Ahmed’s administration is a liability which allowed this recent loss of innocent civilians lives to the residents in places such as Maikadra and Raya .
All the mass graves as well as the rotten corps are witnes of what really happened there! unlike the conspiracy of refugges the deads can not lie theire identity! May be TPLF has blackmaile them befor masked them as a refugge.
All the mass graves as well as the rotten corps are witnes of what really happened there! unlike the conspiracy of refugees the deads can not lie theire identity! May be TPLF has blackmaile them befor masked them as a refugee.
Why are you not posting my comment?
Amhars are gonna claim asylum in the name of their victims , as we have seen it in some other tribes . These demonstrators are fropm Bahir dar and Gondar who came top Maikadra to support Abiy and its defnse force who killed civilians mercilessly.
propaganda machines is still working properly , I thought it is out of order and blunt .
kiki wushet bekisi and yeterete abatoch hulem kegojam ena gonder aytatum.
The population of the Kafta-Humera woreda was 88% Tigriyan and 8% Amhara in 2016 as can be found in the Cross-Border Analysis and Mapping Report – Cluster 4: Eastern Sudan-Northwest Ethiopia-Eritrea bkhub.org/library/cross-border-analysis-and-mapping
The Maikadra region, along with Raya, was indeed one of the areas incorporated into the Tigray region of Ethiopia soon after Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) took over government power in 1991, but this was on the basis that the regions were majority Tigrigna speakers. And it’s not a recent influx, as often claimed, if you look back to the time of the Italian occupation in the late 1930s both of these regions were incorporated into Eritrea, along with Tigray and Afar.
Never in history was this now so-called west Tigray part of Tigray or of Tigres (comical, but as you currently wish to be named Tegaru). The border of West-Tiragy is the river Tekeze. Yes, Tigrayans used to come for harvest seasons for labour work, but they go back to Tigray. The first TPLF member Aregawi Behre publicly declared that it was never part of Tirgay nor populated by Tigreyans. The then rebellion TPLF entered Wokait-Tegede in 1979 and found a chance to control this area to have access to Sudan for escape, international communication, arms and potential economic endeavors for its newly coming nation “Greater Republic of Tigray” in 1979. The locality and the people of Wolkait-Tegede is in historical Gondar, Ethiopia. Historical documents and maps dated from about 1434 to 1991 show that Wolkait-Tegede were pars of the Gondar province of Amhara. Despite the availability of a mountain of evidence to support this fact however, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has annexed the Wolkait-Tegede region into historical Tigray region in 1991.
Then it continued by annexing Telemt, Setitu & Humera, this is the area that one of the best quality sesames in the world comes from. There is a hardcore census data to prove this all. There are tons of Amhara’s that were ousted of their own farmland or snatched by big portion or completely. Any complaints were never welcome, or else extermination was followed and that never bothered Tigrayans as long as their bodyguard TPLF was all under control. #TPLFcrimes is too long to say the least. But what amazes me the silence yo have showed until these whole denial, nepotism and dominance fired back at TPLF and you all seem to be shaken like and start to crawl from your comfort zone buzzing like a buzzing bee looking for a free nectar on the field or any space. Welcome to social media to protest and rant on government which you kind of missed the past 30 years class unlike the rest of Ethiopians.
Gionawit
Historically these areas used to be under the Begemder (now referred to as Gondar) province, but have been majority Tigrinya speaking (around 90%) for a long time – look at any language map for Ethiopia (eg muturzikin.com/cartesafrique/14.htm). As mentioned in my post above, the Italians made these areas part of Eritrea in the late 1930s, along with Tigray and the Afar, because they were Tigrinya speaking.
In line with the ethnic based administrative restructuring that took language as the main criterion, provided in Article 46(2) of the 1995 FDRE constitution, Setit Humera along with Wolkait, Tsegede and Tselemt, became part of the Western administrative zone of Tigray.
Where is your mountain of evidence to say that the areas were never populated by Tigrayans?
What hardcore census data are you referring to?
The link above only gives access to the final Cross-Border Analysis and Mapping Report covering four regions of Ethiopia. More detail specific to Cluster 4: Eastern Sudan-Northwest Ethiopia-Eritrea, including population breakdowns, can be downloaded from
blogs.soas.ac.uk/ref-hornresearch/files/2020/02/Cross-border-cluster-4.pdf
Dear Countrymen/women,
I don’t have to tell you that all of us are products of one of most kind and generous people on this good earth. The only reason I was talking to you all along by means of my various comments has been due to such blessed perspective. I see it as like a parent like a child just because I strongly believe that such kindness and a spirit of giving have rubbed off on us from those upright people(goons notwithstanding).
This senseless war triggered by demons from the upper echelons of the TPLF has left and is still leaving death and destruction in its tracks. Patriotic soldiers who lived up to the promise they made on their first day on the job have paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can continue to have a country we all lived to adore and be proud of. They never forgot that poor farmer and wretched urban dweller everywhere in that country whose tax money had sent him to school and paid their salaries including the guns they carried to the battle fronts. They felt indebted and sure enough the debt is demanded as it was in 1896 and 1930’s. I would not even start to tell you how this high mileage nigga here is bursting with pride of these young patriots who answered the call to duty with valor and acumen. For many of them it was the only and final duty and not to return to their loving families alive or in one piece. The debt was demanded of them and O’ boy was the price it was paid in full with their Allah Blessed lives and intricately constructed limbs!!!!!!
Those goons who used to brag about being so invincible have left the innocent civilians alone exposed wide open to open fire and destruction and taken to some forsaken joints in the barren escarpments of that blessed region. These goons even donned military uniforms of the national defense forces to carry out robbery and looting in the region’s capital and other towns. They were even reported to be standing between the federal forces in the national uniforms firing at both citizens and soldiers. They had emptied food storage and businesses warehouses before leaving town. It was reported that such savage act is still being carried out in some towns of that region. Where did these Shaitans come from? Don’t you ever tell me they are ETHIOPIANS you and the world know!!! This has exposed the innocent citizens of that region to a precarious situation and potential deadly calamities. That is what these goons want to see. You can see them and their filth spewing operatives accusing the federal soldiers and policemen of the very looting they carried out on their own kin and kit. Famine should never happen again because of this war. It should never happen under our watch. There are two things I politely ask you to do:
1 – Let’s help those martyred soldiers’ families and the wounded patriots with the last red cent we have.
2 – Lets also keep those upright citizens in that region in our thoughts and prayers and help them with the last penny we have in our pocket.
We will be Blessed!!!
Dear TPLF sympathizing folks (comical, but as you currently wish to be named, Tegarus)
Never in history was this now so-called west Tigray part of Tigray or of Tigres (comical, but as you currently wish to be named Tegaru). The border of West-Tiragy is the river Tekezze/Tekeze. Yes, Tigrayans used to come for harvest seasons for labour work, but they go back to Tigray. The first TPLF member Aregawi Behre publicly declared that it was never part of Tirgay nor populated by Tigreyans. The then rebellion TPLF entered Wokait-Tegede in 1979 and found a chance to control this area to have access to Sudan for escape, international communication, arms and potential economic endeavours for its newly coming nation “Greater Republic of Tigray” in 1979. The locality and the people of Wolkait-Tegede is in historical Gondar, Ethiopia. Historical documents and maps dated from about 1434 to 1991 show that Wolkait-Tegede were pars of the Gondar province of Amhara. Despite the availability of a mountain of evidence to support this fact however, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has annexed the Wolkait-Tegede region into historical Tigray region in 1991.
Then it continued by annexing Telemt, Setitu & Humera, this is the area that one of the best quality sesames in the world comes from. There is a hardcore census data to prove this all. There are tons of Amhara’s that were ousted of their own farmland or snatched by big portion or completely. Any complaints were never welcome, or else extermination was followed and that never bothered Tigreyans as long as their bodyguard TPLF was all under control. The same goes to the land taken from Amhara in 1991 from Bete-Amhara (Wollo)-Raya Azebo, Alamata, Wefla.
#TPLFcrimes is too long eve start and Tigreyans were silent hence complacent. But what amazes me the silence you have showed until these whole denial, nepotism and dominance fired back at TPLF and you all seem to be shaken like and start to crawl from your comfort zone buzzing like a bee looking for a free nectar on the field or any space without a gigolo. Welcome to social media to protest or rant (usually you are brainwashed, pathological liars) on government which you kind of missed the past 30 years class unlike the rest of Ethiopians.
Regardless of it all, I wish your families to be safe and you to heal from deep rooted inferior or superior disease and recon with yourself and Amharas. That is healing #1.