Befekadu Z Hailu
1. 19th April 2015 – ISIS slaughtered Ethiopians who were illegally migrating through Libya to Europe in search of better life. Ethiopia mourned for three days.
2. 15th April 2016 – Gunmen from Murle tribe of South Sudan killed more than 200 people and kidnapped more than 100 women and children in Gambella. Ethiopia mourned for two days.
3. 2nd October 2016 – Stampede that was caused by panic reaction of mass following security officials scary attempt (through noisy teargas fires) to crackdown peaceful protests at Irrecha festival killed several people in Bishoftu. Ethiopia mourned for three days.
4. 11th March 2017 – Garbage land slide in Addis Ababa killed at least 113 people residing beneath the garbage landfill-hill.
All four of the tragedies are consequences of poor administration and lack of economic well being. In all of the tragedies, officials first denied or undermined the incidents; then, forced by social media community to declare mourning seasons and then forge narratives that either depoliticize or externalise the cause.
All these are implications we are heading from bad to worse. Even today, while we are mourning deaths after garbage landslide, the murle tribe gunmen crossed our border once again, killed and kidnapped people in Gambella. In the past few months, 100,000 people were displaced in South-East Ethiopia due to drought; 35,000 people, in the same area, were displaced due to Oromia-Somali border conflict. Like this, many tragedies pass ignored covered by those near to news and by those of worse ones. The suffering will not end here unless we wake up and take actions. It will knock the doors of each of us.
