The Status of New Minorities in Federal Ethiopia: The Case of Benishangul-gumuz Regional State
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2017-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa
Abstract
The right of minority protection particularly national minorities is guaranteed in both
international convention and domestic laws (FDRE Constitution). However, the right of new
minorities whether foreigners or internal migrants were/are not yet guaranteed in two
consensuses. The main objective of this study is to Analyze, examine, assess, and address the
concerns and interests of the new minorities in Ethiopian federation. In fact, the ethnic
federalization of territorial arrangements in Ethiopia was erected without taking into account of
internal migrants who are territorially dispersed ethnic groups in each region. Currently, they
lie to new minority status throughout the country. This research investigated the status of new
minorities in areas of recognition, equality and non-discrimination, internal self-determination
and self-government, participation and representation rights in federal Ethiopia with particular
case study of Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State. For this critical looking down to the existing
problems in the study area, in order to interconnect, organize and recommend, the researcher
used the qualitative research approach. In accordance with this, the researcher used both
primary and secondary sources of data collection. As the result, the finding shows, the status of
new or internal regional minorities were remained to less exercising group rights and lessparticipants in the key political position due to lacked consideration and commitments of
political bodies, electoral formula, ethno-terrilorial and legal institutional arrangements in study
area. So that, this research highly recommended that, both federal and regional government
needs to have structural changes. In sense that, the ethno territorial arrangements among the
nine federation is dangerous particularly for the new emerged minorities like in BGRS in the
areas of sharing and exercising fundamental human and democratic rights. So that, in order to
accommodate them better to have establish non-territorial arrangement or personal autonomy in
the region. The new minorities need fair and equity representation in BG regional institutional
polity. Therefore, to address their interests, the regional government needs to have erect
proportional representation and upper house. The last but not the least, the new minorities in BG
needs special treatment and protection through independent bodies. So that, both federal and
regional government shall be establish special new minority's protection commission bodies in
the two levels.