Oromo & Oromiya - FAQ

(From the OLF)

  

 

What do Oromos want?

Ø  Nearly 90% of political prisoners in Ethiopia are Oromo nationals.

 Ø  In a survey of more than 500 Oromo refugees in Minnesota, 69% of men and 37% of women had been tortured by Ethiopian government. This number is considerably more than the 5-35% for other refugee populations.

Ø  The Oromo language is spoken by majority population in the Ethiopian empire; yet, the empire’s official language is that of the minority Amhara.

Ø  Oromia accounts for 65% of the empire’s GDP and 60% of its foreign exchange earnings; Yet Oromia is the least developed region in the empire.

Ø  Nearly 100% of Ethiopia’s hydro-electric power generation originates in Oromia; yet less than 13% of Oromia’s population has access to electrical power.

Ø  Ethiopia today is an authoritarian regime with no room for independent political mobilization or debate and where political space for electoral competition, the free exchange of ideas, and independent civil society organizations is virtually nonexistent.

Ø  Ethiopia receives US$3.5 billion (on average) annually in development aid which it utilizes as a tool to suppress political dissent and to consolidate the power of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).The European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany are the largest bilateral donors.

Source: Oromo Liberation Front

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