Abstract
This chapter discusses a ‘tension’ between internal migration and the self-rule rights of ethnic communities in Ethiopia. Making ethnicity the basis for the political and administrative organisation of the Ethiopian federation has set the stage for the emergence of tacit group-differentiated rights that are coming into conflict with the protection of the individual rights of internal migrants. This chapter argues, in turn, that differentiated citizenship is necessary but insufficient to deal with the increasingly complex dynamics of ethnic diversity within the context of multiethnic (and multinational) federations; the enshrinement of rights in these settings must ensure that the empowerment of ethnic communities does not unreasonably restrict the rights of individuals who are not members of the community.
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- 1.
Internal migrants refer to individuals that do not belong to the groups that are ‘indigenous’ to the area they inhabit and are regarded as non-indigenes. These are individuals who have migrated to the state because of work, education or other related reasons. Indigenous communities are those ethnic communities that regard themselves or are regarded by law as communities that have historically inhabited the area and trace their ‘ancestral roots’ to the area in which they now reside.
- 2.
The Hawassa City Industrial Park and the Omo-Kuraz Sugar Development Project have recently attracted thousands of migrant workers to the state.
- 3.
The only exception was region 14 (the federal capital of Addis Ababa), which was not associated with a particular ethnic group—though the Oromo, the largest ethnic group in the country, are given special rights over the capital.
- 4.
By contrast, the constitution of the state of Amhara vests sovereignty in the people of the Amhara state rather than the dominant ethnic group, namely the Amhara.
- 5.
It must be noted that the Ethiopian constitution excludes courts from interpreting the constitution and adjudicating constitutional disputes. That power is given to the House of Federation. Of course, courts should have been utilised as legitimate checks against subnational authorities that orchestrated or played a role in mass evictions and unlawful restrictions on freedom of movement. However, the record of Ethiopian courts in the enforcement of fundamental rights and freedoms is not encouraging. They have done little or nothing in protecting victims of forced expulsion, whose properties have been illegally confiscated, looted or destroyed (The World Bank 2004).
- 6.
The Council of Constitutional Inquiry (CCI), which advises the HoF on constitutional interpretation issues, suggested by a majority vote that the language proficiency requirement be scrapped in the Benishangul Gumuz case, arguing that taking language as a requirement to stand for political candidature violates Article 38 of the FDRE constitution. However, the minority position in the CCI opined that the language proficiency requirement should be seen in light of the whole federal architecture and in particular with the rights of indigenous groups whose access to political power, the use of their language and associated cultural rights had already long been curtailed (Advisory Opinion of the CCI 2008, 14–33).
- 7.
The HOF was given another opportunity to deal with a similar situation when victims of another group of non-indigenes complained about the violation of their freedom of movement, freedom to choose residence and freedom to pursue a livelihood of their choice (Petition to the HoF March 9, 2009). However, The HoF did not give a formal response to the petition.
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Fessha, Y.T., Dessalegn, B. (2020). Internal Migration, Ethnic Federalism and Differentiated Citizenship in an African Federation: The Case of Ethiopia. In: Gagnon, AG., Tremblay, A. (eds) Federalism and National Diversity in the 21st Century. Federalism and Internal Conflicts. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38419-7_11
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