May 22, 2023
By Hailegebriel Endeshaw
Staff Reporter
ADDIS ABABA – (BORKENA) – Some 3,000 Internally displaced persons who have been evicted from Tolle Kebele, Gimbi Woreda, West Wollega Zone of Oromia Region and settled in Harbu Town said that they have been without any kind of humanitarian support for eight months.
The IDPs said that due to lack of food supply, elderly people were compelled to go out into streets for alms seeking, and over 200 children have become school dropouts. They further said that although they have reported the problem to the concerned governmental bodies, there is currently no solution in sight.
One of the displaced people in Harbu Town is Zemu Ali. She is a 75-year-old woman. She says that her grandson and her son-in-law were killed in the attack and she is now without any one to support her. The septuagenarian said that to get her daily bread, she had to go out in the street to beg for alms.
The other displaced person, 76, is named Hassen Yimam who has been forcefully displaced from Gimbi Woreda, Tolle Kebele. He said that due to his old age, he was unable to work but compelled to lead life as a beggar.
The IDPs said that following the attack perpetrated by Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) or as they call it shene, they were forced to evacuate, 11 months ago, Tolle Kebele, Gimbi Woreda, Wollega Zone of Oromia Region and made their destination in Harbu Town.
The Virginia-based representative and spokesperson of OLA/OLF militants, Oda Terbie, refuted time and again at interviews he repeatedly gave to VoA, Afan Oromo service that the armed militias do not commit attacks against civilians but armed government soldiers.
Asked why humanitarian aid has not reached the IDPs, head of the South Wollo Zone Disaster Prevention and Food Security Office, Ibrahim Yimer, said that it would be difficult to provide support to the IDPs until they abide by the directives that require, as prerequisite, their entrance in to the government-arranged shelters.
Stop Genocide Against Amhara People in Ethiopia 