Addis Ababa — It never occurred to Abdi Suleiman, an ethnic Oromo who escaped his home in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia at the start of conflicts in the border areas between Somali and Oromia regional states (2017 - 2018); that the conflict that started as minor border disputes between clansmen, would escalate or see the interference of the Somali Regional Special Forces under the presidency of Abdi Illey. The conflict resulted in the death of 734, the injury of 395, the disappearance of 39 individuals and 13 women falling victim to sexual assault at the hands of police on both sides of the border. (See Ethiopian Human Rights Council report).
While a statement by the Oromia Regional State estimated IDPs numbers to be 416,807 in the year 2017, later estimates provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC) put the number at 1,073,7642 by mid-2018. Abdi Suielman, his immediate and extended families, friends and neighbors were displaced as a result of the conflict and Abdi is left three years after the end of the conflict with angry sentiments such as, "I would rather die here than go back there (referring to his previous home in the Somali Regional State)." Abdi participated in the Oromia Regional State's Government massive permanent resettlement program aimed at resettling and integrating thousands of ethnic Oromos who were forced out of the Somali regional state. Abdi, the main source of income for a family of 8, participated with the hope of establishing a new life better in its quality than the life he had back in the Somali Regional State.
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