Indigenous Struggles Continue in Eritrea And EthiopiaOn May 25, 1993, Eritrea became an independent state, after fighting a war for independence against Ethiopia for 30 years. Ethiopia had controlled and dominated Eritrea since 1952. Some 98.5 percent of the electorate participated in the referendum which determined Eritrea's liberation; some 99.8 percent of those who voted chose secession from Ethiopia as the path to self-determination.
The referendum and its results have not ended the question of self-determination in either Eritrea or Ethiopia, however. The Afars, Muslims who live in Denkalia (the south-eastern lowlands of Eritrea), are seeking self-determination from Eritrea. Afars also live in Awsa (a large lowland area of adjacent Ethiopia) and comprise a substantial population in also adjacent Djibouti. Inspired by the outcome of the Eritrean struggle, the people of the "Afar Triangle" may now be moving toward a new independence movement for separation from all three states in which they live, or alternatively to become an administrative region within the new Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, the new Ethiopia, now reduced by the secession of Eritrea, is still awash in ethno-nationalist movements. In an attempt to cope with that situation, the new state has been reorganized into a federation of administrative subdivisions which correspond closely and specifically to the largest and strongest indigenous peoples. The state is still dominated, however, by Amharas and Tigreans, who control most of the seats in the present government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), none to the liking of peoples who find themselves once more subordinated in such a state (in which Amharic has become a lingua franca).
The Oromo people, with the largest population of all the peoples presently included within Ethiopia, are in deep conflict with the government. Although politically fragmented among at least four separate liberation movements with varying degrees of aspiration for secession and total independence, the Oromos have the potential to become a powerful unified nation in their own right. Oromo secession and independence would effectively shatter Ethiopia, probably forever.
Apart from the cases of Afar and Oromo, other peoples with current liberation movements (mostly organized since 1991) in the new Ethiopia include: the Somali, Sidama, Gurage, Hadiya, Welayita, Agew, Issa, Gugura, Horyal, Hareri, Benishangul, Kembata, Yem, Gedo, Uma, Kore, Dawro, Omo, Kefa and Gambella (see Hearing before the subcommittee of Africa, Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives. Washington, DC. September 17, 1992).
Both the EPRDF and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) are frantically attempting to find a way to keep Ethiopia's centrifugal forces from prevailing. Accusing the various liberation movements of being the work of external actors is only one argument being inveighed in the international arena. Meanwhile, the governments of neighboring states with similar difficulties (e.g., Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia) are watching events unfold in Ethiopia and Eritrea with utmost interest and no small amount of trepidation.
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