The Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue has called on UN agencies concerned to investigate the massacre in Bolin County in the western Ethiopian province of Benishangul-Gumuz, in which 207 people were killed on ethnic grounds and buried in a mass grave.
Ethiopian sources said there were identical reports that armed militias had attacked the province and tracked down members of the Amhara, Oromo and Shinasha nationalities in the Benishangul-Gumuz area, stabbed and shot them and set their houses on fire.
The Forum warned of the escalation of the crisis in Ethiopia, expressing concerns about the deterioration of the humanitarian situation, pointing out that since September, members of the communities of Amhara, Shinasha, Oromo and Agio in the region have been subjected to many waves of violence and lack of protection by Ethiopian security, noting that tensions between ethnic groups in Ethiopia have escalated under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has been in power since 2018.
According to data provided by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), more than 40,000 Ethiopian refugees have fled to neighbouring Sudan since the beginning of the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. The Forum stressed the need to protect all refugees and displaced persons inside and outside Tigray from any forced and premature resettlement or return, and that all parties to the conflict must abide by international humanitarian law.
