In-depth: Between two peace treaties: Irob community confronts plight, looming displacement
May 14, 2024
The Irob people, consisting of around 60,000 individuals, with an estimated 35,000 living in semi-arid mountainous areas, face challenges to their survival and cohesion, initially from the Algiers treaty and more recently due to failure to fully implement the Pretoria peace agreement (Photo: Irob Advocacy Association)
By Mihret G/kristos @MercyG_kirstos
Addis Abeba – Fisuh Welde, a resident of Irob district in the Eastern Zone of Tigray, has spent his entire life nestled in the northern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands.
Like his forefathers, Fisuh and his four children have called this rugged mountainous area, straddling the Ethiopian-Eritrean border, their only home.
For centuries, the Irob people have inhabited this remote, mountainous area, primarily sustaining themselves through agriculture. Yet their resilience has been tested by a series of adversities.
Among these, the 1998-2000 Ethio-Eritrean border war and the recently concluded Tigray war, which ended in November 2022, stand out as pivotal events. (For More, CLICK HERE!)
Ethiopia’s Irob Catholic Minority Faces Extinction (Source: MERCATOR)
Following decades of persecution and invasions by Eritrea, the Irob, a Catholic minority residing in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, found themselves ensnared in the Tigray War’s crossfire, spanning from 2020 to 2022. This conflict left many dead and displaced. Additionally, they endured a harsh and violent occupation by the Eritrean military. Now facing a crisis of internally displaced persons (IDP) and famine, the Irob people are on the brink of extinction.
The Irob, an ethnic group of about 50,000 people, primarily reside in Irobland within Ethiopia’s Tigray Region, with a smaller group living in neighboring Eritrea. They largely speak Saho, an Afroasiatic language distinct from Amharic, the federal government’s working language. Most Irob people are Catholic, while a minority follow Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity or Islam. Most are farmers. They possess a unique cultural identity and social structure based on clans. In Ethiopia, Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity prevails as the main religion, with Catholics constituting about 1% of the population. Within this Catholic minority, the Irob represent an even smaller segment. (For More, CLICK HERE!)
AFRICA, ETHIOPIA, HORN OF AFRICA
Catholic Irob minority
AFRICA, ETHIOPIA, HORN OF AFRICA
Catholic Irob minority has lost its home in Ethiopia’s Tigray region (Source: Martin Plaut)
23/04/2024
Catholic Irob minority has lost its home in Ethiopia’s Tigray region (Catholic Herald)
