http://www.mareeg.com/why-do-the-somali-people-of-ogaden-demands-independence-from-ethiopia/
Why do the Somali People of Ogaden Demands Independence from Ethiopia?
Posted on May 23, 2014 by Warsame in English with 0 Comments
Mareeg.com-INJUSTICE in the end produces independence. whoever coined this
phrase is right. Ogadenia people are bleeding because they demand
independence from Ethiopian occupation.
Ethiopia does not provide quality education, proper health care, rule of
law and a respect for human rights in the Ogaden region. Instead, the
Somali people of Ogadenia state are considered as second class citizens on
their own soil.
The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt, who had a rare access to the region once
reported:
"An elderly goat herder, beside himself with indignation, launching a
diatribe in front of a senior local official. He had lost two sons, he
said, fighting for Ethiopia against Eritrea. And now the soldiers come to
his village, chase everyone out and burn their houses, and then have the
effrontery to tell him he is not a true Ethiopian."
The Somali people in Ogadenia realized that the Ethiopian government is
denying them every basic right that a human soul needed to survive
including clean water, sanitation and schooling except to few individuals
who spy on their relatives and abide by its ethnic cleansing policy in the
region.
New York Times reporter Jeffrey Gentlemenonce conducted an interview with
one Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) fighter that joined the
struggle five years ago and asked why he joined ONLF.
"I could not sit back and watch when I realized that no education, no
health services, no development, and children don't go to school. I knew
there were problems."
The Somali people in Ogadenia State, who have long been exploited by the
successiveEthiopian regimes of Menelik II, Emperor Haile Selassie, Mengistu
Haile Mariam and Meles Zenawi. The people of Ogaden do not share language,
religion, ethnicity and culture with abyssinia (Ethiopia) highlanders.
The Abyssinian highlanders from Tigray and Amhara have been stationed and
patrolled more than 30 military garrisons in Ogadenia state as part of
their continued occupation.
According to right groups like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International
and Genocide Watch, the Ethiopian military and its allied Liyu police
militia have killed, detained, tortured and raped thousands of Somali
Ogadenia and commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Ethiopian
government also banned the international media and aid agencies to enter
the Somali region of Ogaden to cover up its human right abuses.
It is a well documented fact that as part of its counterinsurgency
campaign, the army and its Liyu Police militias slaughtered hundreds of
villagers like animals as it happened recently in many villages in the
Ogadenia state.
Ethiopia has been marginalizing the entire 8-10 million Somali Muslims in
the Ogaden ever since it took over the territory from the British
colonizers in 1954. The Ethiopian governmentexploits the natural resources
of the region and imposed "Gibbir" on people, land andlivestock. (Gibbir is
understood as a form of "tax" forcefully collected from the non-Abyssinian
populations)
The oppression that existed in Shinile, Jigjiga, Dagahbur, Fiiq, Wardher,
Korahe, Gode, Afder and Liban has forced the people to think on their own
in order to choose their own fate of self-determination. If Ogadenia is
given everything, there is no other option rather than full Independence.
Moreover, the example of Eritrea offers hope to many Somalis that the
lasting peace and prosperity can happen only after full independence.
Eritrea, which owns the strongest army in Africa won its independence after
a hard fought 30-year-struggle against Abyssinian (Ethiopian) occupation.
Received on Fri May 23 2014 - 08:31:05 EDT