Hundreds of families remain stranded without permanent shelter or sustainable aid as recurring violence empties rural kebeles across the woreda
By Staff Writer
(Nairobi, Kenya) — Hundreds of families displaced from Merti Woreda in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia region remain stranded without permanent shelter or sustainable humanitarian assistance, following months of recurring violence that emptied vast rural areas across the district.
The ongoing crisis follows a severe security deterioration across the Arsi Zone. Human rights monitors and the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church have repeatedly raised alarms regarding systematic attacks targeting rural communities, local clergy, and agrarian populations. Armed groups operating throughout the region have launched repeated incursions involving mass casualty assaults on rural villages, targeted executions, and the destruction of agricultural livelihoods. These attacks have driven widespread civilian flight across multiple woredas, including Merti, Shirka, Aseko, and Robe.
Community representatives report that recurring security breaches have completely displaced residents across 21 of the 23 administrative kebeles in Merti Woreda. Only two kebeles in the entire woreda currently maintain active residential populations in their homes. Many affected families have lived in temporary displacement for up to three years after being forced off their ancestral farmlands, while newly displaced victims from late-October attacks face critical survival conditions without official shelter infrastructure.
Displaced residents report that victims are currently living in makeshift conditions, relying on informal rental arrangements or host families willing to accommodate them. Displaced women, children, and elderly citizens face acute shortages of food, clothing, and basic medical care, with community members emphasizing that no direct relief aid has reached the majority of victims.
Responding to the emergency, Merti Woreda Administrator Ato Abdelkerim Mohamed acknowledged that daily relief assistance—including support coordinated through federal disaster risk structures and the zonal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Office (BUSAGONOFA)—remains active. However, he admitted that current aid flows are severely insufficient to meet the scale of displacement and called on charitable organizations and international relief agencies to assist affected populations.
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