By Samuel Getachew
GONDER, AMHARA REGION: Nineteen-year-old Gideon Tesfu, an Amhara teenager who has lost most of his siblings and witnessed the displacement of his entire extended family over the past year, said he is considering joining FANO, an Amhara nationalist group that has been fighting the Ethiopian government since 2023. Tesfu said that becoming a combatant seems like the only option open to him.
“I came to Gondar from Debark, running away from the risk of drones, hoping to find safety and some employment to sustain me financially as I navigate my situation, but so far the only choice I have is to join the Amhara movement,” Tesfu said, looking at a bleak future in a region that has been grappling with civil strife, famine, and frequent kidnappings for years.
Once an ally of the Ethiopian government in the war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – which ended in 2022, after claiming 600,000 lives and displacing millions – FANO has been engaged in war since 2023 with no end in sight. Prior to the war, Amhara had long been known as one of the most peaceful and economically powerful regions in Ethiopia. But since April 2023, the Amhara region has seen its economy descend into ruins, destabilizing a nation that was just beginning to heal from the devastating conflict in Tigray.
On the outskirts of Gondar, in Amhara, once a major breadbasket of Ethiopia, now on the verge of famine. Photo / Samuel Getachew
In the historic city of Gondar, the war has chased off the visitors who used to flock to sites such as the palace of the 17th-century Ethiopian emperor Fasilades, creating hardship for the local residents who depended on tourism revenues. At Haile Resort, founded by the Ethiopian Olympics champion Haile Gebrselassie who later became a successful entrepreneur, only a few rooms were occupied on a weekday in early October. The once-busy hotel is a shadow of its old self, explained a server who asked to speak anonymously.
“The hospitality sector is suffering. Most of the hotels are either closing or working with a skeleton staff, laying off a majority of their staff members as they contemplate their future,” the server said as he surveyed the aging and neglected facade from the hotel verandah.
On top of a mountain not far from Haile, the Goha Hotel is suffering from a similar fate. Once popular with Israeli tourists who came to the area because of its historic connection to Israel, now the Goha Hotel has been turned into a makeshift camp for the army which has taken possession of it. Thousands of Ethiopian Jews who trace their lineage to the biblical king Solomon moved to Israel in the 1980s and early 1990s
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According to another staff member, “We make no tips, and no outside customers come into the hotel since they are afraid to interact with the soldiers who frequent the restaurant or bar. We are worried how this will sustain us and the prospect of our employment.”
Kidnapping is new concern
Kidnapping has become a frequent occurrence in the region. Earlier this year, a rare protest against the government took place during the funeral of a young girl who had been kidnapped and murdered after her family refused to pay a full ransom. Her father, a taxi driver who had given a partial payment to the kidnappers, made her a poster child for the atrocities taking place in the region.
But the government has shown little interest in a negotiated settlement with FANO and instead has vowed to fight on, using sophisticated drones and ground combat. According to the Amhara regional government, currently over 4 million school-aged children do not attend school, and many universities remain partially closed because of the volatile situation.
Tadesse Shileshi, a 49-year-old widower, was elated when his first-born daughter was accepted for admission to the University of Gondar, one of Ethiopia’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning. He hoped that his daughter, who was overflowing with enthusiasm for pursuing her studies, would be able to transition to graduate school at Canada’s Queens University, which offers scholarships to high-achieving students.
A UNESCO-recognized tourist attraction Failades, with no tourists visiting it because of the war. Photo | Samuel Getachew
However, his daughter was among the many students kidnapped while on her way to the capital to study, and he had to pay a ransom to secure her release. She was advised not to return to the university. Now he is looking for alternatives. “I am now in desperate search for her to head outside of Ethiopia and complete her studies because I see no future for her in Ethiopia,” Shileshi said.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has indicated that he expects negotiations to soon bring peace. And an end to the conflict cannot come soon enough for the many residents who have been forced to flee the capital, once one of the breadbaskets of Ethiopia. The federal government continues to regard FANO as a terrorist entity.
With the road unsafe, Marta Tsegaye, a 22-year-old hairdresser, gathered the few resources she had and bought an expensive Ethiopian Airlines ticket. Her plan was to then save enough money to pay smugglers for passage to Djibouti, before continuing on to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, her final destination But the little she earns barely covers her monthly expenses.
“I make about 5000 Birr [about $40 USD] a month and with rent and taxis, I rarely have enough to eat when I am not working, let alone pay my way out of my misery,” Tsegaye said. So now she is considering taking part in a government scheme to send about one million domestic workers to the Gulf nations – this despite many shocking allegations of abuse of migrants, including physical and sexual abuse and even death.
Amhara is also home to a growing number of Sudanese refugees fleeing the ongoing conflict in their motherland, aggravating an already dire situation of people trying to survive with dwindling resources. “With thousands of Sudanese refugees among us, many in a temporary camp and others not, the prices of rentals and food prices have gone up, bringing resentment from longtime residents,” Fassika Alemu, a public servant in Gondar, said while pointing to a hotel he used to frequent when he wanted a pint of beer, but which has since closed due to a lack of customers.
“The whole economy has collapsed, a majority of residents don’t even feel safe with gunshots being heard at night and conflicts starting without warning, and the Sudanese refugees have overpopulated the area. Unfortunately we have become strangers in our own town,” Alemu added.
The recurring conflicts in Ethiopia, and in particular in Amhara, have forced many international donors to pause humanitarian support after many of their drivers were kidnapped and several killed. The World Food Programme (WFP), which is the biggest aid entity operating in Ethiopia, has been forced to scale down its operations since FANO announced that it is closing down main roads to pressure the federal government to negotiate.
A number of aid organizations have complained about the lack of security in the region, including the looting of resources meant for the vulnerable. They have said they might be forced to suspend aid. Food theft has already forced many leading organizations to suspend their operations.
The United Nations reports that more than 15 million people in Ethiopia are facing famine, with the numbers in the Amhara region reaching crisis levels.
