Unrest Grips Gambella As Region Struggles To Cope With Refugee Arrivals, Unaddressed Corruption Allegations

Dozens killed this month, ENDF deploys troops

Intense unrest in the Gambella Regional State over the past couple of weeks has claimed dozens of lives as the region struggles with rising ethnic tensions and a fresh influx of South Sudanese refugees seeking shelter from violence in already overcrowded camps.

Eyewitnesses, local officials, humanitarian workers, and investors in Gambella who spoke to The Reporter over the past week allege a far-reaching web of corruption preying on humanitarian aid meant for refugees is implicated in the violence that has gripped the region.

Sources say the unrest began two weeks ago, following the closure of roads connecting the regional capital—the town of Gambella—to several surrounding woredas. Early this week, a manager of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) branch in the area, who was reportedly a member of the Nuer ethnic group, was killed, according to the sources.

This was followed by the killing of a Gambella police commander, who was reportedly a member of the Annuak ethnic group.

Sources say these events eventually led to the widespread violence that had claimed close to 100 lives as of Friday, December 19. Towns like Akedo and Abol have been razed, while areas like Lare, Itang, and Gambella town have also been affected, according to reports. Gunfire was heard in several areas, according to sources.

Gatluak Ruon (PhD), deputy head of the regional administration, said the unnamed attackers targeted ambulances and government vehicles during the first days of the violence, killing at least five people.

Regional president Alemitu Umod declined to provide further details when The Reporter contacted her for comment on Friday. However, the president confirmed to local media that the regional government is working with the federal government to ensure peace and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has deployed troops in the region to contain the conflict.

The Gambella Police Commission has also issued statements confirming that regional security forces and the Federal Police Commission are working with the ENDF to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Despite making allusions to a hidden hand orchestrating the unrest in the region, both Alemitu and Gatluak refrained from naming the actual perpetrators while speaking to BBC and local media over the week.

Officials also say that opposition political figures in Gambella have an understanding with the government and are strictly engaged in peaceful politics.

This month’s unrest is not the first incident of its kind in the region, whose security issues stretch back decades and have roots in Juba, Addis Ababa, and Gambella itself.

In recent years, unrest in the region has been linked to tensions between residents and its large refugee population.

Data from UNHCR indicates there are over 483,000 South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, comprising nearly half of the one million refugees estimated to be living in the country. The vast majority of South Sudanese refugees, close to 450,000, reside in around half a dozen camps in Gambella.

The camps have long been at capacity, but renewed tensions in South Sudan have caused many more to flee to Gambella for safety over the past year.

In October, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan cautioned that armed clashes, political detentions, and human rights violations in the country have skyrocketed in recent months.

The violence began to escalate in March, when the government of President Salva Kiir arrested Vice President Riek Machar.

Machar was taken into custody on suspicion of working with the White Army, a militant organization tied to the Nuer ethnic group. At the time, Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) party denied ongoing links with the militia, which it fought alongside during the civil war that had engulfed South Sudan for years following its independence in 2011.

Machar and several other individuals have since been accused of treason, crimes against humanity, terrorism, mass murder, and destruction of property, and a criminal trial is ongoing.

In October, Benjamin Bol Mel, another of South Sudan’s five vice presidents, was taken into military custody under direct orders from the office of President Salva Kiir, heightening fears that the country is slipping back into a state of civil war.

While the armed conflict is concentrated in Upper Nile State and Jonglei State, there are pockets of fighting in other parts of the country, triggering population movements both within South Sudan and across its borders.

The UN estimates at least 370,000 South Sudanese civilians have been displaced by violence since March, with many more fleeing to neighboring countries including Ethiopia.

In April, local officials in Gambella, which shares a long border with South Sudan, told The Reporter they were struggling to cope with the influx of refugees fleeing violence and air strikes.

Reports indicate that at least 50,000 South Sudanese refugees have crossed into Gambella in the months following Machar’s arrest.

They add to the estimated 430,000 South Sudanese refugees already sheltered in the region at a time when funding constraints are forcing humanitarian organizations like the World Food Program (WFP), the sole humanitarian assistance provider for over 1.1 million refugees and millions of IDPs in Ethiopia, to scale back aid programs.

Two months ago, WFP officials announced their decision to cut rations for more than 780,000 refugees in camps across Ethiopia to less than 1,000 calories a day in response to funding shortfalls.

It is against this backdrop that unrest and violence have erupted in Gambella in recent weeks.

Sources say the ethnic tensions in the region often involve refugees.

“Local residents in Gambella fear their land will be taken over by refugees. Ethnic groups point fingers at one another, each accusing the other of purposely hosting more refugees belonging to their own ethnicity. Dominating in numbers often means dominating resources,” said a humanitarian expert with experience working in Gambella.

Officials and humanitarian workers who spoke to The Reporter on condition of anonymity claim that members of armed groups operating in South Sudan are also entering Gambella disguised as refugees. These armed groups include SPLM-IO and the White Army members, sources told The Reporter.

Security concerns notwithstanding, the influx of refugees poses a serious burden for Gambella, which was already buckling under the strain of its large refugee population.

A UNHCR report indicates that 994 upgradable emergency shelters have been built to accommodate new refugees in the region, while an additional 611 shelters are underway.

A joint border monitoring mission, conducted by regional authorities and humanitarian partners, found over 800 makeshift shelters along the Baro River, accommodating an estimated 8,000 individuals in congested and precarious conditions, reveals the report.

It notes that new arrivals were and are being hosted by local communities, but many remain exposed to harsh weather, the risk of cholera, and face serious protection risks.

UNHCR warns that without a political resolution in South Sudan, increased cross-border movement remains very likely. The agency says it is conducting border monitoring to “uphold the civilian character of asylum and prevent the infiltration of armed elements.”

Meanwhile, sources in the region allege the cycle of unrest and violence in Gambella is due in part to a network of corrupt government officials and humanitarian organizations, who benefit by diverting aid resources.

“The reason the refugee crisis and ethnic conflict in Gambella has gone without resolution is because the officials benefit greatly from it. There exists a large and influential network composed of regional and federal officials, and international organizations working in Ethiopia that is involved in diverting aid. Flour, cooking oil, and other resources and materials are siphoned off into commercial markets. A huge amount of resources are embezzled by the officials but nobody, including security forces, dares to intervene because there are real heavyweights behind it,” a well-placed source told The Reporter.

The unrest in Gambella also raises concerns about Ethiopia’s new refugee policy.

The Makatet Roadmap, which translates to ‘inclusion’, was introduced earlier this year as Ethiopia’s country refugee response plan (CRRP) by experts at the Ethiopian Refugees and Returnees Services (RRS) and UNHCR.

Making Forwards a number of Initiatives designed to integrate refugees in Ethiopia, mainly in Gambella but sulted for implementation in somali, amhara, and others, to assimilate into local host communities and Ethiopia’s national development programs.

However, its critics argue the plan fails to consider the will of local host communities and argue that refugees should return to their country of origin when the situation allows.