Ethiopia: Land grabs fuel violence in Gambella

The Ethiopian government has committed gross human rights violations by uprooting the indigenous people of Gambella from their traditional territories, which they have inhabited for centuries, in order to make more land available for commercial agricultural investment. During the first phase of the government’s 'villagization' programme, over 21,000 households were forcefully relocated from their traditional villages, farms and water resources. By the end of the programme 45,000 households (about a third of Gambella’s indigenous population) will be moved to new villages. The government has failed to fulfill promises to provide new villages with social services. And since the land in the new places is not suitable for traditional agriculture, people now rely on gold mining in order to survive.