Unpacking the current internal displacement crisis in Ethiopia: root cause, governance and response

ABSTRACT

Forced internal displacement has become one of the prominent issues in the world today. Ethiopia is not an exception to this problem. The country has been witnessing the internal displacement of millions of people particularly since Prime Minister Abiy assumed power in 2018. However, the topic has not received adequate scholarly attention and this paper aims to fill in this gap and provide a contextualized and distinctive perspective by examining the root causes of the current internal displacement crisis, the governance mechanisms, and the responses taken by the government. As the finding reveals, the ideological antecedent of ethnic federalism has been the underlying drive behind ever-increasing conflict-induced internal displacements across different parts of the country. The government has been reluctant to recognize IDPs existence (particularly conflict-induced displacements) up until now and tried to address the IDPs issue in a fragmented manner. Yet, these governance and response undertakings were not without their setbacks. In conclusion, conflict-induced displacements are likely to continue unabated and remain a challenge for the country for the foreseeable future unless the ethnic-based political structure is somehow addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• Conflict
• internal displacement
• political system
• governance
• response

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Editor and the two anonymous reviewers of the manuscript for their careful reading of the manuscript and constructive comments and suggestions. My deepest gratitude also goes to Behaylu Girma Desta, whose contribution was immense in the development and refinement of the manuscript. I would like to thank Desta for his critical review of the draft manuscript and inputs throughout the revision and publication process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) was a coalition of four ethnic-based organizations – Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO) and the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM).

2. With the creation of two new regions (Sidama in June 2020 and South West Ethiopia Peoples’ in November 2021) from the existing Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ (SNNP) region, the number of regional governments has increased to eleven now.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alemu Asfaw Nigusie

Alemu Asfaw Nigusie (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. His received his PhD in Political Science and International Studies from Bahir Dar University, on the topic “Negotiated Securitization? The Nature and Dynamics of State Response towards Refugees in Ethiopia”. He has been working and researching in the field of migration and forced displacement governance, political economy, identity politics, and conflict, peace and security in the Horn of Africa.