Source: Passportparty
On 9 September 2020, Ethiopia’s regional state of Tigray held elections. They confirmed the rule of TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front; aka Woyane), which has administered the state since 1991 and was the dominant force within the federal government until 2018. Tigray’s elections exacerbated a crisis that was looming since Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed’s ascension to power in 2018: The TPLF lost power in Addis Ababa, but fortified its hold on Tigray and increasingly disregarded decisions made by the federal government. In summer 2020, PM Abiy decided to postpone national and regional elections due to the Covid-19 crisis. Tigray disregarded this decision. The federal government reacted harshly: It cut all ties to Tigray’s government and declared it illegitimate – and started a military intervention to replace the Tigrayan government on 4 November.
This sudden escalation brings Tigray’s border conflicts back into focus. Tigray has territorial disputes with Eritrea and Amhara, its southern neighbour region within Ethiopia, but these conflicts have been frozen for many years. Both Eritrea and Amhara are now involved in Ethiopia’s military intervention in Tigray. Even though the border issues are not the reason for the current conflicts, Tigray’s neighbours might use the opportunity to settle old scores. This article briefly explains these border conflicts.
1. Raya
Raya-Rayuma has a complex and mixed identity. The territory lies at the border of nowadays‘ Tigray and Amhara regional states. Its population has traditionally been neither Amhara nor Tigray, but Oromo. In the last couple of decades, many Amharas and Tigrayans (Tegaru) have settled in Raya. As a result of this and their distance to other Oromo lands, most Raya-Oromos have assimilated linguistically to either Amharic, Tigrinya, or both – but preserved their distinct identity. Some Raya-Oromos in Tigray, however, now see themselves as a sub-group of the Tigrayan ethnicity.
Until 1991, Raya was divided into two districts (awrajas): Raya-Azebo in the North, and Raya-Kobo in the South. Raya-Azebo belonged to Tigray province, while Raya-Kobo was part of the multiethnic Wollo province, where Amharic language dominated. After the revolution of 1991, in which the TPLF and its allies took power in Addis Ababa, the two Raya awrajas were dissolved. While the territory of Raya-Azebo remained within the boundaries of Tigray, Raya-Kobo was divided between Tigray and the newly created Amhara regional state. This means: Tigray’s borders shifted southwards, at the expense of previously Amharic-governed territories. As a result, several Amharic-speaking towns and villages in Raya became part of Tigray. In Alamata woreda, for instance, Amharic is the mother tongue of about one third of the population.
Since 2018, tensions in Raya are growing. A committee called ማንነት አስመላሽ ኮሚቴ (Committee for the Reconstitution of Raya Identity) has been formed, questioning Tigray’s current borders. The Amharic-speaking population of Waja, Tigray’s southernmost town, has repeatedly blocked the main road connecting central Tigray with the rest of Ethiopia. Tigray’s security forces violently suppressed demonstrations. Already since ethnical tensions rose in 2018, many Tigrayans avoided travelling by land to other parts of Ethiopia, fearing attacks on vehicles with Tigrayan car plates in Amhara and Oromia – as well as in the disputed Raya area.
2. Wolkayit-Tegede
Similar to Raya, Wolkayit has a mixed identity. This also applies to the surrounding woredas of Tsegede (Tegede in Amharic), Tselemti (Telemt in Amharic) and Kafta-Humera – see the map above. The population traditionally has been closer to the Amharic-speaking area of Gonder than to Tigray, but both Amharic and Tigrinya languages are used in daily life. Prior to 1991, all four woredas were part of Amhara-dominated Gonder province. When the TPLF and its allies took power in Addis Ababa, the areas were attached to Tigray regional state. Since then, many Tigrayan settlers have arrived to the area, particularly to Humera town, changing the ethnic balance.
Since many years, local activist have demanded the attachment of the areas to Amhara regional state, created in 1991 out of Gonder and other provinces. Since 2018, tensions have mounted. A group called የወልቃይት ጠገዴ አማራ ማንነት አስመላሽ ኮሚቴ (Committee to Reconstitute the Amharic Identity of Wolkayit and Tegede) has formed. In the starting days of the 2020 Tigray conflict, Amhara security forces claim to have entered the area and occupied parts of Wolkayit-Tegede.
3. Badme
Badme is the central bone of contention between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Ethio-Eritrean border is based on colonial-area contracts between Italy and the Abyssinian Empire – contracts made by bureaucrats in Rome, which did not take into account details of local geography. Since Eritrea became a part of Ethiopia after colonial rule, the ill-defined border did not become a problem for decades. But after Eritrea’s independence in 1993, the conflict swiftly boiled up. In 1998, fighting erupted around Badme between Eritrean and Ethiopian armies, with both accusing the other side of having started. The war soon spread to other contested border areas such as Tsorona, Zalambessa, Irob or Bure.
After two years, the war ended in a cease-fire. Badme was now under control of Ethiopia, as were several other disputed villages. Both sides agreed to entrust the UN with the task to settle the border issue and promised to accept the decision without conditions. In 2002, the UN boundary commission defined the border in a binding decision, awarding Badme to Eritrea. Eritrea proceeded to accept the decision, while Ethiopia demanded renegotiations. As a consequence, the two countries entered a cold war, which lasted until 2018. During this time, the border was firmly closed, with large military contingents stationed along the contested frontline.
In summer 2018, Ethiopia’s new prime minister Abiy finally announced that Ethiopia accepted the 2002 UN decision without conditions and the Ethiopian army would withdraw Badme and other contested areas awarded to Eritrea. Between September 2018 and early 2019, most land border crossings were opened for the first time in two decades. Since 2019, however, no further progress has been made on the border issue: Contrary to the announcement, Ethiopia has not withdrawn its forces from the disputed territories, and the border crossings are closed again. A crucial reason for this is the TPLF’s opposition any withdrawal of forces: The Ethiopian army’s Northern Command is rather loyal to the TPLF government of Tigray.
Badme is a small village with few natural/agricultural ressources and little strategic value. But its symbolic value as the prize for the winner of the border war is high. In the last two decades, many Tigrayan settlers have arrived to the area. They firmly oppose PM Abiy’s withdrawal announcement. So far, Eritrea has not undertaken any military steps to retake the area.
4. Tsorona-Zalambessa
The rugged area around the villages of Tsorona and Zalambessa is contested for the same reason Badme. It has been the theatre of intensive warfare during the 1998-2000 border conflict and of sporadic skirmishes ever since. As of 2020, the actual frontline (= de facto border) still diverges significantly from the line set by the UN boundary commission in 2002. In contrast to Badme, however, Eritrea holds territory south of that line awarded to Ethiopia – but also the other way round. Hence, the divergences between the de facto border and the 2002 UN border are very complicated. There are even villages between the front lines.
The main Ethiopian-Eritrean road crossing, located between Serha (Eritrea) and Zalambessa (Ethiopia), belongs to this area. It is relatively uncontested, as Eritrea gave up its claim on Zalambessa after the UN decision in 2002. For a couple of months in late 2018, the border crossing was open – now it’s closed again.
5. Irob
Irob is a district (woreda) located east of Zalambessa. Most of Irob has been awarded to Eritrea by the UN boundary commission in 2002, but remains under Ethiopian administration and military control. The area is populated by the Saho ethnic group, which consists of several tribes. Most of these tribes live in Eritrea, they are Muslims. Just one tribe, the Irob, are Orthodox Christians. As they have been under Ethiopian control for so long and the UN border would cut their homeland into two, most Irob oppose the handover of the contested area to the Eritrean side. Even though their concerns seem reasonable, so far both Ethiopia and Eritrea have avoided any meaningful discussion about the future of the area.
Martin Plaut 
With due respect to you, the reference to prior 1991 is confusing. All we know is that Raya and Tsegede and Wolkayt area had been part of Tigray for several centuries. There is no doubt that Emperor Menelik, Hailesslassie, and the pro-shewa Derg regime intentionally cut these areas to enlarge Wollo and Gondar and at the same time downsize Tigrai, just punishment to the resistance of the Tigrian people to the oppressive Shewa rulers. Otherwise, it’s on record that the historical boundary of Tigrai goes far deep from what it is today. In 1991 regional boundary was drawn largely based on language factors at the expense of the historical rights of Tigrai.
Shoddy analysis. The main reason of the war is not territorial contention, even less territorial disputes with Eritrea. We know that you desperately want to give an international outlook to these internal events but at least try to be credible. While the immediate reason of the war is that a highly bellicose killil government went completely rogue by launching a sudden and coordinated attack on the northern command, the profound cause is power struggle between Abiy and TPLF as the later desperately wanted to conquer back its lost power through the only means it knows: force.
Martin, you should have done a better job than this! It is not about borders! It is about Tplf leaders losing power and privileges that they had enjoyed unimpeded for three decades! They run to their region to shield themselves using the populace and escape facing justice for all their horrendous crimes (from torture, mass killings in Oromia, and looting state treasury, and appropriating aid money). The current problem was precipitated when Tplf preemptively massacring civilians and military officers in the dead of night over a period of days and dumped their bodies in unmarked graves. Tplf plan was to destabilize/paralyze the nation through acts of terror and cyber war and reclaim power. The Red Cross has witnessed the mass murders as has Amnesty documented them. Federal gov sent in forces to establish law and order. Tplf leaders are now being hunted down to face justice. I don’t think Ethiopians need your advice or “analysis.”
You said the recent was was not about borders but about Tplf leaders losing power and privileges. Forget everything else, and I advise you to read ex Eritrean Minster of Defense short article on how Abiy & Isayas conspired to use the Northern Army Command as the ANVIL to crush TPLF in addition to using other hammering other forces coming from Eritrea side (https://cutt.ly/VjAOTwg). You said TPLF leaders killed people in Oromia. It was today’s Oromia Prosperity Party (yesterday’s OPDO governing Oromia; so no base to your accusations. You also talked about TPLF preemptively massacring civilians and military officers in the dead of night over a period of days and dumped their bodies in unmarked graves. I already covered this above but if you are also talking about Mai-Kadra the truth revealed by the refugees in Sudan is that genocide was committed on Tigrayan natives in Mai-Kadra once Amhara forces occupied the town days after the conflict. You said the Red-Cross witnessed. False. The Red-Cross was not there at the time of the massacre but only arrived saw people presented by the new Amhara Region occupying force. EHRC then produced a fake report which Amnesty simply echoed without knowing it was cooked. You also said the the Federal gov sent in forces to establish law and order. Again false. Until today Wolqait & Raya are occupied by Amhara Region occupying forces and if there is a federal government, it should force them to leave.
There is more than 1991 borders and this article didn’t ask or answer where Wolqait and Raya were some decades back. This article argues Wello was an Amhara province. Not at all. Wello was a small Oromo province until early 1950s separated from the rest of Oromo heartland. In early 1950s, King Haileselassie appointed his son Prince Amha-Selassie (Asfa-Wossen) as Duke of Wello and enlarged it from small to big WELLO by combining 1) Wello proper province (Oromo speakers) 2) Wag & Lasta provinces (Agaw people) 3) Saint province (Amhara) 4) Danakil province (Afar) 5) Raya Azebo & Kobo (taken from Tigray) 6) Argoba people (neighbours of Afar). Similarly, Woqait Semien was under Tigray until the death of Emp Yohannes in 1889 and Emp Menelik separated it as two provinces to serve as income source for his wife Taitu. During Haileselassie era in early 1950s, Wolqait Semien was made to join ex small Begemidir province (land of Amhara, Kimant, Shinasha, Gafat, & Jewish). The new province was called “Begemidir & Semien” and later labelled as Gonder. Following the 1991 change of government and UK style identity based regions, Tigray gave up half of its land mass to Afar, most of Wolqait Semein and Raya returned to Tigray as they still kept their Tigrigna language & culture, whole some part of these lands and people which forgot and adopted Amharic language & culture joined the new Amhara Region. Paradoxically, it is these historically Tigrayan lands which returned to Tigray in 1991 that Amhara expansionist elites are claiming. They are doing this on all fronts including from Oromos, Benshangul, Afar, etc. but this time they managed to enter Tigray behind Ethiopian and Eritrean invading army lines, doing genocide & displacement, and settling their own new people as we speak. As to the Eritrean border, the Border Commission’s rulings had various flaws on both sides and former ETH government TPLF’s stance was to settle detailed issues by involving the related people living in the borders as they know not only the colonial lines but their own individual agricultural lands too.
If we Tegaru were allowed to create our Republic of Greater Tigray nation in 1997, there wouldn’t be a war with Eritrea in 1998. It was Eritrea’s refusal to become part of our Greater Tigray Republic that prompted our Tigray leaders to use military force in 1998. Our invasion of Eritrea did not bring the intended outcome because the Ethiopian forces we used in the invasion did not fight the war wholehearted. Their cowardice cost us a golden opportunity to create our Tigray republic in 1998.
Dear Shewit, there is no relation between the 1997 (rather 1998) Ethio-Eritrea conflict with Eritrean’s refusal of anything. It was Eritrean which invaded Ethiopia (villages in northern Tigray) and the Eritrean leader refused vowing the sun will stop rising again if he leaves those areas. To bring him and his government into the negotiating table and thereby to reach at an amicable agreement, the 1998-2000 war became unavoidable.
wolkait is pure amhara.it is not a mixed identity.correct your untrue suggestion.