The Past, Present Looming Crisis and Future Trends in Ethiopia
Kefale Alemu
Good Evening,
The 2009 meeting, which was held in this same marvellous Palace, has created awareness about the hidden crimes committed against the Ethiopian people and successfully exposed the Human Right Violations in Ethiopia. Today’s meeting is the continuation of the last two meetings, and will brief us on the past, present and future of Ethiopia, emphasising on the present looming crises. The future of Ethiopia depends upon the Ethiopian people but needs support and attention by the International Community.
The country’s predicament has been worsened after the end of the cold war when the previous military regime abandoned the country without a responsible body at the national level. This unfortunate situation created a favourable condition for hostile organisations such as TPLF to carry out their hidden and divisive activities in the name of liberty, ethnic federalism, democracy and the name of the people of Tigray.
The opportunistic pseudo-Marxist Leninist organisation that has immediately camouflaged by privatisation and capitalist system is still confusing the International Community so as to stay in power, to commit crimes and loot the nation. Until his death in 2012, the late notorious ethnic based dictator, Zenawi committed shocking atrocities against the Ethiopian and neighbouring innocent people by killing, imprisoning, torturing, displacing and persecuting.
Eritrea one of the provinces of Ethiopia has been dismembered without the participation of Ethiopians as well as the Eritrean people. TPLF was simply forcing and advocating separation. Then it carried out the illegal separation without a proper agreement and clear border demarcation. This ignoramus and hatred based decision instigated a senseless destructive war that consumed hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians and a huge amount of wealth.
Consequently Ethiopia became a land locked country because of TPLF’s refusal to claim Asab and a 500 KM coastline. Americans and most of the international community members wanted Zenawi to claim and take Ethiopia’s historical Asab port but Zenawi the wicked refused to do so. To date the unsettled issues because of TPLF’ s negativity towards Ethiopia is a great concern for the future Peace and stability of the area. TPLF is once again trying to complicit the issue of Nile River as another old and decayed tactics to sabotage and drag the Ethiopian people to another senseless war for its evil survival.
According to the regimes own parliament report 2.7 Million Amharas have been disappeared. Many believe that these people are killed systematically using epidemic and other contagious diseases. Even after the natural death of its leader the group consolidated its power and tightened its grip so as to continue its Human Right Violations. Furthermore, the remnants have been trying to glorify the dictator with imagined praises and false statements. The people of Ethiopia believe that honouring Zenawi is an insult for all victims of innocent citizens who had perished by his direct order.
The group has also savagely vandalised and attacked the history of the country, values, religions, records of facts and the country’s legal and historic flag. The incumbent has no limit and its lawlessness reached at a level where it dared to manipulate and erase facts from the current Internet digital information by accessing important and useful sites such as wikipedia. Professor Gregory Stanton of the ICC has also reported that the regime always changes facts by logging into the edit part of this very innovative web site
Ethnic based racism and anarchy emerged as one of the present day’s most dangerous inhuman thinking, which is damaging this wonderfully developing and integrating world. When the International Community is coming together and the process of assimilation is in progress on the contrary we have been witnessing savagery and brutality in ethnic conflicts and terrorism.
During the Second World War Ethiopia was in similar predicament. Revising the past human history may help us to remember the suffering of the international community because of that destructive war. This again reminds us the most popular quote of the present day, which says,” Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
It will be ridiculous to talk about development in figures when Millions are starving, tens of thousands are displaced and when genocide and ethnic cleansing are in progress. Zenawi and his group have looted 11.7 Billion Dollars only between 2000 and 2009. Global Financial Integrity (GIF) has reported this fact in 2011. In addition to this, according to www.therichest.org the gorilla fighter Zenawi’s net worth currently stands at $3 Billion US Dollar. The remnants of Zenawi have continued to beg money in Millions while they are robbing in Billions.
The amount of outflow from this poor country reached 16.00 Billion US Dollars in 2013. No one to date asked the incumbents why they are beginning in Millions while they are robbing in Billions? Why Ethiopia is known as poor and starving nation if it has elicited this much financial outflow? Zenawi’s regime has marginalized and impoverished the large part of Ethiopia while he has been investing in railways, heavy industries, roads, electrification, education and health services for his sole ethnic group. This is not fair!!
According to the WCED: “sustainable development is that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The regime has been doing the contrary by forcing the indigenous people from their ancestral land and by displacing citizens without their consultation and participation. This has encouraged environmental degradation, suffering and compromised the present as well us the interest of the future generations. The unprecedented corruption and unjust distribution of resources across the regions has greatly sabotaged and crippled the country’s development for the last long 22 years.
TPLF has been terrorising the Ethiopian people and Ethiopia has always been victim of terrorists. In an exclusive interview with ESAT, President of Genocide Watch, Prof. Gregory Stanton, said “The FBI has got the TPLF already in its sights. It knows very well that the TPLF is a terrorist organization”. TPLF is an isolated minority ethnic group that cannot defend itself leave alone to be an ally against terrorists and therefore it does not give sense to use terrorism as an excuse of keeping relationship with this criminal group. Abandoning TPLF and maintaining the good relations with the broad peace loving and glorious people of Ethiopia is the only reliable alliance that the international community can be benefited. We ask the international community to participate in bringing all perpetrators to the International Criminal Court or to facilitate the process inside the country.
On behalf of Ethiopians and Ethiopian British Citizens of Ethiopian descent I thank the British Government for protecting and helping us to be the voice of our voiceless people. We thank the TWS and APPG for TWS. It is my greatest pleasure to thank MR. Dave Anderson MP and Alderman Mushtaq Lasharie for their compassion and great support to the Ethiopian people at all times. I would also like to thank the chair of the Executive committee of the TWS Journalist Saundra Saterlee, Victoria Goddard and other committee members, Lords, Karen Buck MP and other parliamentarians for their direct and indirect support for myself and other Ethiopian refugees.
I want to thank you all for giving your valuable time for this very important and rewarding humanitarian issue. My fellow Ethiopians and British Citizens of Ethiopian Descent in the UK and all over the world have foiled the divisive propaganda and psychological war of TPLF and once again confirmed our unshakable unity and resilience. We will continue our just struggle to end the back ward divisive system and to attain genuine development, peace, justice and stability. We are strong and confident because we have both the moral and legal rights.
Thank you very much indeed!