May 2022 - Page 2 of 2 - Professor Tony Magaña

Canadian fake policy and silence on Tigray to preserve mining claims alleged

The proposed mining sites in Tigray worth potentially billions were falsely claimed to be foreign policy works to help women. Source Breach

The Canadian government claimed mining projects planned in Tigray were a part of a foreign policy to help women. A leaked investigation reveals there was never such an intent. Further Canadian silence on the humanitarian crisis is seen is facilitating continued Ethiopian atrocity. In the midst of controversy, academics at Canadian universities with close ties to the Canadian Mining Association, have also sought to prop up the Ethiopian government and shed light away from Canada.

To hide growing complaints of exploitation of indigenous peoples by their mining activities in foreign countries the Canadian government created a false cover of mining being a foreign policy to help women in Tigray. Many have speculated that the ongoing war between Tigray and the Ethiopian government which saw thousands of women suffer violence has been encouraged by the silence of the government of Canada on the humanitarian situation in Tigray.

The Canadian government in cooperation with the powerful lobby of the Canadian Mining Association started a program in 2016 of six smaller mines in Ethiopia mostly in Tigray. The initial $15 million dollar project by the Canada’s Global Affairs department. The success of Canadian mining in Eritrea offered hope that similar returns could be seen in Ethiopia as it was reported that $1 billion a year was being added to the Eritrean budget. Under Abiy Ahmed the government had wanted to increase mining to be 10% of the Ethiopian gross domestic product.

Wide spread criticism of Canadian exploitation in foreign mining by MiningWatch Canada and other advocates began to develop in the last two decades. MiningWatch Canada is a watchdog organization that has been reporting on abuses of the Canadian mining industry in underdeveloped countries where they see a pattern of exploitation of indigenous peoples by one of Canada’s largest industries. Law suits were filed against Canadian mining interests in Canada against their Nevsun mine in Bisha, Eritrea. The plaintiffs claimed slavery and torture occurred at the site. Ultimately a large settlement was paid and that 90% of the ownership of the facility was sold to Chinese interests to avoid further litigation.

Subsequently to present mining as a positive foreign policy in 2018 Canadian support to Ethiopia’s mining sector has been guided by Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), developed in 2018 by the Liberal government to integrate gender equity and empowerment of women and girls into its foreign aid.

A leaked government review of the mining plans and procedures by the Canadian Executive Service as reported by the Canadian website ,The Breach, noted that although the mining project could bring $4 billion in revenue the activity was not benefiting any goals of protecting women. In fact it was alleged that the Canadian government was protecting its own financial interests rather showing concern for the humanitarian situation developing in Tigray.

Sidney Coles, the administrator of the review, reviewed the sites, government officials, and humanitarian groups. She came to the following conclusions

“This is not only not happening, it felt to me like a bold-faced lie that cost $12 million,”

“Aiding the Ethiopian government in this way has directly benefited Canadian mining interests across the country, but most alarmingly in the Tigray region where the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea have been accused of engaging in genocidal activity,”

War debt and lack of resolve to find resolution damning Ethiopia’s future

The dreams of Ethiopia becoming a middle income country have been dashed by war debt and uncertainty. Photo of Addis Ababa the capital of Addis showing high rises and modest dwellings. Source

As a result of war debt and chaos of failing to find resolution even in the capital of Ethiopia health care access, food security, and the dream of becoming a middle income nation have been dashed. Imagine for a moment what the Abiy Ahmed led Ethiopian government could have accomplished with estimated at least $6 billion spent on war since November 2020. This high expenditure has caused literally irreconcilable debt affecting the health and well being of all Ethiopians. Most of us remember in college learning the “guns vs butter” laws of economics but it appears the Ethiopian leadership skipped that class. Before Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 Ethiopia had experienced almost a 10% annual economic growth and had hoped to reach a state of at least 25% of the population having a middle income by world standards. Instead by refusing to make progress in peaceful resolution hoping that Tigray will just starve to death the Ethiopian government has drastically reduced the quality of life for all Ethiopians.

The average healthcare expenditure per capita in Ethiopia has likely been reduced from an average $23 per capita per year to $18. While most developed countries spend close to 10% of their gross domestic product providing health care for their citizens as a priority for Ethiopia it is only 4%. Under Abiy Ahmed there have been some developments in private health care in a few of the larger cities for the 10% of the population considered middle class who make more than 4000 birr a month. With current birr value at about 6 cents to the dollar this equals about $240 a month.

While many assume that Ethiopia has a socialized health care system without any beneficiary payment this is wrong. Except of the first month of life most health care even at government facilities requires co-pays averaging $32 per house hold per year. The high inflation of decreasing availability of jobs is making it hard for poor and middle class families to access healthcare because they cannot afford the out of pocket costs.

If the Ethiopian government had spent another $2 billion on healthcare instead of defense they could have almost doubled the current healthcare budget. More clinics and more outreach could result in better treatment of chronic illness such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and HIV. While only about 20% of pregnant women in Ethiopia have medically assisted delivery this could be dramatically increased reducing maternal complications and improving infant mortality. Millions cannot afford to pay for subscriptions. Increasing the availability of surgical care for treatable conditions now considered essential standard worldwide has severely dampened.

For this first time in a generation circumstances of drought, locusts, poor agricultural support, and a lack of general attention to both fertile farm lands and dryland farming are resulting in combination with war to cause the worst food shortage in a generation. Millions of displaced persons and the war environment have complicated food production and distribution even outside the besieged state of Tigray. Ethiopia normally needs $260 per capita per year for food. If another $2 billion was spent on food instead of defense an additional 10% of the poor who make up the majority of the population could be feed.

Ethiopia now threatening death penalty for journalists criticizing government

Ethiopian press freedoms have severely deteriorated since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power. Source Economist

Ethiopia is now planning possible executions for reporters who speak out against the government. When Abiy Ahmed first came to power in 2018 he promised new press freedoms as a part of his overall program of democratic reform. Government spokesman stated that “freedom of expression and the protection of the press are sacred values that are enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution.” To the contrary in February 2021 a new law was passed creating the Ethiopian Media Authority which “accredits journalists”. Without this accreditation news reporting services and their reporters can be seized and detained without cause. New laws were declared that anyone who in the government’s opinion speaks out against the government is threatening the constitution. Many journalists have left the country for fear of imprisonment.

Two Ethiopian journalists from the Oromo region, Dessu Dulla and Bikila Amenu, who have been jailed without charges since November 2021 have now been told they face a possible death penalty for allegedly speaking against the government. At least another 21 journalists are also said to be in peril of a death penalty. The exact number of journalists currently imprisoned in Ethiopia is unknown but the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters without Borders now say the Ethiopia has emerged as being among the world’s most oppressive regimes against a free press.

Under Abiy Ahmed religious co-existence in Ethiopia is waning fast

Riots between Christians and Muslims with many deaths have broken out in Gondar and the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, as the Islamic holiday of Ramadan comes to an end. Source My View on News

Abiy Ahmed in trying to manipulate and coerce extremist religious leaders of Ethiopia as well as diaspora has created havoc. Although many Ethiopians have for years presented Ethiopia as an example of religious harmony between Muslims, Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, and Jews the reality is there have always been undertones of conflict. For the most part until recently cooler heads prevailed with many religious leaders being united in calling for peaceful co-existence that recognized each group had an appropriate and respected place in Ethiopian society.

This stability began to change with the coming to power of Abiy Ahmed. It was hoped with his mixed ethnic and religious ancestry a new era of harmony would come. He claimed a new state of medemer alleging a united national identity. However the largest part of his power base has been Amharic expansionist Orthodox as well as evangelical protestants. To some extent he tried to make the Tigray a “straw man” enemy against which various ethnic groups and religious views could unite. He has often rather falsely claimed the Tegaru, the people of Tigray, are a godless people forgetting the the Orthodox Church had its origins there. It also has longstanding albeit small but significant populations of Muslims and Catholics.

What he did not predict is how a new struggle would emerge for power in Ethiopia between these groups based upon old wounds. Between Muslims and Christians there are some major differences for example in how important historical events played out. For example Christians believe that Christian King Negas welcomed Muslim refugees fleeing the pagan Saudi rulers. Many Ethiopian Muslims believe that the monarch was converted to Islam.

The struggle for dominance between Islam and Christianity continued until the nineteenth century when the Tigrayan monarch Yohannes compelled Muslims to convert to Christianity. The Muslim ruler Mohammed is claimed by many to have converted to Christianity changing his name to Mikael. However many in the Wollo region of Amhara belief this was not a true conversion but a temporary act. After Yohannes was killed in battle, the Amharic emperor, Menelik II carried out vicious atrocities against Muslims and pagan worshipers especially the Oromo.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church until the twentieth century did not consider Oromos or the people of Southern Ethiopia who were of Cushitic origin unlike the Semitic peoples of the north to be fully human. Slavery of Oromo and southern nationalities was common by Amhara interests in response to the religious determination. This ultimately lead to the introduction evangelical Protestant movements.

There are major diaspora supporters of Abiy Ahmed especially in the United States who feel strongly that God intended for Ethiopia to be a Christian country. They oppose the pantheist traditional beliefs of many Oromos as well as Islam. Traditionally under the Amharic monarchy, Muslims, Oromo pantheists, and Jews were often not allowed to own land. By aligning himself with those holding extremist views in the exiled synods of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and evangelical protestants Abiy Ahmed has given new voice to their claims that Ethiopia is a “Christian” nation. Yet even among them there is now fighting over who has rights to traditional religious areas such as Meskel square in Addis Ababa. In recent years there have been increasing attacks on mosques and churches throughout Ethiopia. Abiy Ahmed’s ally, Eritrea, has defaced and ransacked both Christian and Muslim places of worship as well as killing innocent worshippers.

Meanwhile although the “official” census states the population divide between Christians and Muslims is about 60% vs 40% there are many areas where Muslims predominate such as in Harar and the traditional regions of the Afar and Somali people. It is well documented that the population growth of Muslims is likely increasing faster then the Christians. Many outspoken Muslims believe they are undercounted.

There is little doubt now that Abiy Ahmed rather then bringing unity is fomenting division and distrust in Ethiopia. Whereas Christianity and Islam preach peaceful co-existence and civil society the regime of Abiy Ahmed has been exactly the opposite.