Ethiopia ‘forcibly displacing’ for sugar plantations
By BBC News
18 June 2012 . The sugar plantations will be irrigated in part by the Gibe III hydropower project, HRW says
The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing tens of thousands from their land to make way for state-run sugar plantations, a campaign group has said.
The displacements are happening in the country’s Omo Valley, according to a report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The valley, a World Heritage site, is also the site of a controversial dam.
The Ethiopian government has denied forcing anyone from their homes and says the project will create jobs.
HRW says that in order to make space for the plantations, government security forces are compelling communities to relocate from their traditional lands, using violence and intimidation.
In its report, the campaign group says that at the time of its visit to the area – in June 2011 – “military units regularly visited villages to intimidate residents and suppress dissent related to the sugar plantation development”. It added that “soldiers regularly stole or killed cattle”.
These allegations were denied by government spokesman Bereket Simon.
“There is no forcing out of people from their residence, if there is any reason to relocate people, then it is based on… open communication,” he told the AFP news agency.
‘No shortcut’
The sugar plantations will be irrigated in part by the Gibe III hydropower project, the group says.
The dam, which would become Africa’s largest and the fourth-biggest in the world, has provoked much controversy.
The Ethiopian government says that the project must be completed in order to bring energy and development to the country.
But campaigners fear it will fuel conflict over already scarce water resources, and rob communities of their livelihoods.
According to the report, previously unpublished Ethiopian government maps show plans for sugar plantations covering nearly a quarter of a million hectares.
The maps, HRW says, also show processing factories, irrigation channels and large tracts of land reserved for other forms of commercial agriculture.
The group says that if the plans go ahead they could affect at least 200,000 people in the Omo Valley and another 300,000 Kenyans living across the border around Lake Turkana, which derives up to 90% of its water from the Omo River.
The Ethiopian government has said that the dam’s impact on Lake Turkana will be negligible.
HRW describes the region as among the most ecologically and culturally diverse areas on the planet and says it is currently home to eight different agro-pastoral communities.
“Ethiopia’s ambitious plans for the Omo Valley appear to ignore the rights of the people who live there,” said Ben Rawlence, of Human Rights Watch.
“There is no shortcut to development; the people who have long relied on that land for their livelihood need to have their property rights respected, including on consultation and compensation.”
Many other African countries are reserving huge tracts of land for commercial agriculture – often leased by foreigners in order to export the crops cultivated there abroad.
Gibe III would be one of the biggest dams in the world, dwarfing its neighbours
5 thoughts on “Ethiopians evicted to make way for sugar plantation: BBC”
The division of people of Ethiopia according to their ethnicity is to help TPLF built coducive environment to exploit.
They have two options:
1/ exploit the country in terms of investment by foreigners
/2 EXTEND THEIR RULE AND CONTINUE EXPLOITATION
I think this is a well done job. I have a difference with the political system of the country, but development muse continue for a better Ethiopia. I do not buy the other countries out cry since it has no any base. Our people need to lock after themselves using our own resource.
Tizibt replies:
June 19th, 2012 at 3:12 AM
You obviously don’t have a clue about sociological and economic concepts. Meles & Co. do know what they are doing – except that they do not care for the people and the country – all they care about is getting their kickbacks! As for Bereket Simon – has anybody ever heard him say one honest response when foreign journalists ask him questions? He has been lying for 21 years now! He has become a pathological liar and should be examined by a psychiatrist.
ወያኔዎች ምነው በሀገር ልማት እያሳበባችሁ ልባችንን ባታደርቁን። የሌባ ቡድናችሁ ልማት ነው እያለ መደበቂያ አገኘላችሁ። ሌባ ቤታቹሁ ገብቶ ሲዘርፍ አስፔዛ ይገዛልና ተዉት ነው የምትሉን? ሌባ አለማ ማለት በሬ ወለደ ነው። እበት ሲጥል ልጅ ነው የምትሉን የደደቢት ጉጅሌዎች እስቲ አስቡት፤ አገር ስትሸጡ ሰላም ለማምጣት ስትሉ ነበር ሰላም አልተገኘ። ዠረኛነትን ስትረጩ እኩልነት ነው ትሉ ነበር እኩልነትን ከነጭራሹ አጠፋችሁት። በዲሞክራሲ ስትፎክሩ እራስ ማስተዳደር ብላችሁ ዘፈናችሁ 99.6% ዲሞክራሲ ነው ብላችሁ ገደላችሁ። አሁን ደግሞ ልማት ላይ ተፈናጣችሁ ለሀገር ጥሩ ነው እያላችሁ ኪሳችንን ታወልቃላችሁ። ምን ቀራችሁ ከንግዲህ ሰማዩን አርሰን 3 ግዚ እናበላቹሃለን?
ይልቅ የደደቢት ብልጣብልጥናችሁን የዘረፋ ካዝናችሁ ቆልፋችሁ ሳየመሽባችሁ የሚያስጠጋችሁ ፈልጉ። አልያ እየገደላችሁ ዘረፋ ቀጥሉ፤ ሌላ ምረጫ የለም
ወስላታ ሌቦች
አስርሳችሁኝ ምነው፤ አሸባሪ እያላቹሁም ወገን መግደያና መዝረፊያም መንገድም ቀዳቹሃል እኮ፤ ጃል አፋችሁን ባትከፍቱ መልካም ነው የዝምብ መጠራቀሚያ እነዳይሆን። አፉን የሚከፍት ወያኔ መዝጋት ስለተሳነው ነው እንጂ ይሸታል
I knew it all along that the dam was being built to irrigate the foreign-owned plantation, as opposed to generating electricity as woyanes would have us believe. My suspicions were confirmed when a well-respected Ethiopian engineer made extensive studies of the project and concluded that the dam is not economically viable, and without giving out specific details, he expressed his suspicions about woyane’s possible motives in using the dam for purposes other than generating electricity.
It’s WATER-GRAB, folks !