In the second wave of protest in less than two months, Raya residents oppose the return of TPLF combatants under the guise of “displaced people”
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Toronto – Over 14 thousand people who were said displaced from Raya Alamanta have returned to the area on Wednesday. They were returned to Raya Alamata, Alamata town, Waja, Timuga, Merewa and Cheqera areas of Raya.
However, residents say the majority of those returned as “displaced” people are TPLF’s armed combatants. A resident who spoke to Ethiopian Media Services cited as saying that Colonel Mohammed, Ethiopian Defense Force colonel posted in the area, has reportedly demonstrated a partisan stance – one that reflects a pro-Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) position and covered up the return of TPLF armed combatants.
DW Amharic on Thursday cited a resident from Alamata as saying that “three of his neighbors have returned and that he has visited them. However, he also said that others who are not residents have also entered the city.”
Ato Haftu Kiros, administrator of what the TPLF administration calls “South Tigray,” contests the claim that most of those returned were not residents. He is cited as saying “All of those returned are residents of the area. Among those are armed militia before 2013 [2020 G. C.],” according to a report by DW Amharic
Furthermore, he has stated, according to DW Amharic report, there are 68,000 more displaced people excluding those who have already returned. Hailu Abera, member of the Amhara Identity Restoration Committee, says those who have not yet returned are not more than 500. Wazema Radio on Thursday reported – citing TPLF sources – that 5,000 more displaced people are expected.
The TPLF forces made a military incursion into the area several months ago – violating the Pretoria Agreement – and displaced over 50,000 residents from the area, as witnessed by OCHA.
Background to the Crisis in the Raya area of Amhara region
As in the case of Wolkait, at the core of the political problem in Raya that morphed into military conflict is the TPLF determination to continue to impose ethnic Tigray identity to residents of Raya who identified themselves as Rayuma and ethnic Amhara.
Before the TPLF forcefully included the area as part of Tigray region and labeled it “South Tigray,” Raya was an integral part of the Wollo province.
There had been underground resistance to the TPLF since the inclusion of the area as part of Tigray but it was mostly clandestine and many paid in life.
When the TPLF attacked the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Defense Force in December 2020, a fertile ground was created for residents of Raya to openly struggle to shake off the imposed Tigray Identity. The goal was achieved. However, the TPLF exploited the Pretoria agreement that ended the two-year war in the region. The Federal government went to great lengths under the guise of the Pretoria agreement to facilitate the TPLF recapture of the Raya areas.
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