Anti-Tigrayan sentiment
{{short description|Ethnic hatred against Tigrayans in Ethiopia}}
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File:Stop -TigrayGenocide- Columbus, OH (12.09.21) IMG 9395 (51736661603).jpg in Columbus, Ohio]]
Anti-Tigrayan sentiment is a broad opposition, discrimination, hatred and bias against Tigrayans that reside in northern Ethiopia. During the EPRDF era, anti-Tigrayan views have been common among Ethiopians, particularly after the 2005 general election.{{Cite book |last=Markakis |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yckMyLVh3oYC&dq=anti-tigray+sentiment&pg=PA275 |title=Ethiopia: The Last Two Frontiers |date=2011 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=978-1-84701-033-9 |language=en}} Not only the irregularities of election caused the sentiment, but also the EPRDF (dominated by majority Tigrayans) was becoming more authoritarian dictatorship. It also created discontent among Amharas and Oromos;{{Cite news |last1=Burke |first1=Jason |last2=correspondent |first2=Jason Burke Africa |date=2020-11-25 |title=Rise and fall of Ethiopia's TPLF – from rebels to rulers and back |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/25/rise-and-fall-of-ethiopias-tplf-tigray-peoples-liberation-front |access-date=2023-08-27 |issn=0261-3077}} the Oromos demanded justice after an abrupt master plan to expand boundaries of Addis Ababa into Oromia Region, resulted in mass protests.{{Cite web |last=Kestler-D'Amours |first=Jillian |title=Ethiopia: Mass protests 'rooted in country's history' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/2/20/ethiopia-mass-protests-rooted-in-countrys-history |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}
During the Tigray War
The Tigray War has manifested negative attitude against the Tigrayans. The Ethiopian federal government promoted hate speech statements against the ethnic group, as well as dehumanizing them in rare occasions.{{Cite web |title=Ethiopian forces possibly committed 'war crimes' in Tigray: UN |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/19/un-warring-sides-committing-atrocities-in-ethiopias-tigray |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}} They have been subjected to massacres by the federal troops, Amhara regular and irregular forces, and Eritrean soldiers. Around 500,000 Tigrayans died as a result war crimes, famines and shortage of healthcare supplies.{{Cite web |last=Teklu |first=Asmelash Yohannes |date=2023-01-16 |title=Because of the war, many Tigrayans no longer identify with Ethiopia |url=https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2023/01/16/because-of-the-war-many-tigrayans-no-longer-identify-with-ethiopia/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=Ethiopia Insight |language=en-US}}
From July 2021, the Ethiopian Federal Police began arresting thousands of Tigrayans in Addis Ababa.{{Cite news |date=2022-06-10 |title=In Ethiopia's civil war, thousands of jailed Tigrayans endured squalor |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ethiopia-conflict-prisoners/ |access-date=2023-08-27}} The Police claims that they have been arrested because they are supporting the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Amnesty International said that they were detained because of ethnicity. The United Nations estimated that more than 15,000 Tigrayans civilian were arrested between November and February alone amidst the state of emergency. About 9,000 were still in detention as opposed to the government assertion that they have now released.{{Cite web |date=2022-06-18 |title=In Ethiopia's Civil War, Thousands of Jailed Tigrayans Endured Squalor and Disease |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/in-ethiopia-s-civil-war-thousands-of-jailed-tigrayans-endured-squalor-and-disease/6621910.html |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=VOA |language=en}} Human Right Watch stated that the government used arbitrary arrests, mistreatment, and force disappearance against Tigrayans where thousands are deported from Saudi Arabia instead receiving assistance from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).{{Cite web |date=2022-01-05 |title=Ethiopia: Returned Tigrayans Detained, Abused |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/05/ethiopia-returned-tigrayans-detained-abused |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en}}
=Eritrean Army involvement=
Eritrean involvement in the Tigray War has increasingly committed war crimes against Tigrayans after sending its thousands of soldiers in support of Ethiopian federal forces.{{Cite web |last=Reid |first=Richard |date=2022-01-30 |title=Eritrea is involved in Tigray to boost its stature. Why the strategy could backfire |url=http://theconversation.com/eritrea-is-involved-in-tigray-to-boost-its-stature-why-the-strategy-could-backfire-175591 |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=The Conversation |language=en}} According to rights groups, aid workers and news outlets, the Eritrean troops massacred hundreds of civilians, looted businesses and arbitrarily detained civilians already facing extraordinary suffering.{{Cite news |last1=Dahir |first1=Abdi Latif |last2=Marks |first2=Simon |date=2023-03-01 |title=Slaughter on Eve of Ethiopian Peace Draws Accusations of War Crimes |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/world/africa/eritrea-ethiopia-tigray-war.html |access-date=2023-08-27 |issn=0362-4331}}