Ethiopia Forcefully removing ethnic somali farmers from their land.

[Gar-haye]

ONLF PRESS RELEASE ON CONFISCATION OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS IN ******

 

21 July 2008

 

The Ethiopian regime led by Melez Zenawi has begun forcefully removing ethnic Somali farmers from their lands and replacing them with non-ethnic Somali settler farmers from northern Ethiopia. Lands having agricultural potential are being taken away from ethnic Somali families who have owned those lands for generations in what is clearly an ethnic cleansing policy aimed at changing the demography of ******.

 

This plan of disowning the ****** Somali people of their farmlands was initially started by the Late Haile Sellasie who commissioned the feasibility study of Putting dams across the Rivers that go through the ****** and then settling non-ethnic Somali settler farmers from the north. Haile Sellasie sought to resettle millions of non-ethnic Somalis in lands bearing the most agricultural potential Mengistu Haile Mariam who deposed Haile Sellasie also sought to continue this policy but it was brought to an end when his regime fell and a regional authority was established by the ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF) in 1993.

 

It is now clear that this policy is once again being initiated by the regime of Melez Zenawi and his Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) clique. In order to legitimize this colonial policy the TPLF regime has entered into an agreement with its illegitimate regional administration in ****** and sought to obtain the consent of traditional elders in ****** who have refused to grant their consent. As retaliation for their refusal the TPLF regime arrested Ugaas Abdirahman Ugaas Muhumud Ugaas Qani, a prominent traditional leader in ****** and several elders and civilians in Godey in mid July of this year.

 

In addition, the TPLF regime has begun actions which can only be described as collective punishment against civilians in agricultural areas in North-West ******. 14 ethnic Somali farmers where killed in Buladari villiage in QabriBayah district. 6 farmers were also killed in the village of Jingada in Galalshe district. Most of these people were killed by hanging.

 

This systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing in agricultural areas clearly constitutes war crimes and actions tantamount to crimes against humanity. This is taking place in addition to current campaign of burning villages and farms in areas throughout ******.

 

The ONLF wishes to alert the people of ****** of the fact that this policy pursued by previous regimes in Ethiopia has been reinititiated. We also wish to inform the international community that the ONLF will not allow the TPLF regime to continue to remove our farmers from their lands in order to forcefully resettle non natives.

 

After the Ethiopian regime failed to overcome the resistance of the ****** Somali people against its colonial suppression, it is now resorting to a new strategy of settler colonialism whereby preparation is being made in the ****** agricultural areas in order to populate the ****** with farmer settlers from the Ethiopian highlands and change the its demography.

 

 

This plan of disowning the ****** Somali people of their farmlands was initially started by the Late haile Sellasie who commissioned the feasibility study of Putting dams across the Rivers that go through the ****** and then settling non-ethnic Somali settler farmers from the north. Mengistu Haile Mariam who deposed Haile Sellasie. This policy sought to claim.

 

The Ethiopian regime of Melez Zenawi has begun resettling non-ethnic Somalis in ****** in a policy aimed of cleansing ethnic Somalis from major agricultural areas. Lands belonging to ethnic Somalis holding agricultural potential are now being systematically assigned to non-somali settler farmers from the Ethiopian highlands in ******. These farms have belonged to ethnic Somali farmers forgenerations.

 

****** National Liberation Front (ONL

 

[jamaal7777]

They are nothing but ****** are sowing the seeds for more bloodshed in the horn of africa. We are already overburdened with misery dont they realise that this wont help no one.

 

They need to stop the violence and the mistreatment of somalis and whoever else that are also mistreated. It should have been building them roads and hospitals if they wont let them go free. Africans will never mature.