march 2012 Write a Letter

Youth ActionEthiopia Alert

Anuak People of “Don’t Force Us to Leave Our Homelands”

For more than 400 years, the Anuak (pronounced AN-yu-ak) Indigenous people have lived along the banks of wide rivers that flow through Ethiopia’s Gambella region and join with the White . In the fer- tile soil of the river valleys, Anuak people grow maize, sorghum, and peanuts. In the surrounding hills, they plant crops in small plots, rotating them each year to keep the soil healthy. Beyond their farmlands lie the forests, where they hunt and gather nuts, fruits, roots, and other useful plants. Life can be hard, with the constant threat of drought, but generations of Anuak people have learned how to survive by fishing and farming in their Gambella Soldiers moved these Anuak boys and their families off their farms and leased their land homelands. to a foreign company. Photo by Felix Horne

Now they are being driven out. Ethiopian A company soldiers are forcing all the Anuak families to from India is leave their lands behind and move into new destroying habitat of the villages. The government promises them jobs, Kob antelope schools, and health clinics, but most of the new and other villages have none of these. Some don’t even wild animals. have water. Without land, Anuak parents can’t Photo by Frank Dickert feed their children. And they can’t return to their homelands because the government has given their lands over to foreign companies. Right now, those companies’ bulldozers are destroy- ing the Anuak people’s forests and farms.

Who can do something about this? You can! Learn more, and then write a letter today!

The Ethiopian government leased this land to a company from India. What will happen to the Lou who live here? Photo by Felix Horne Youth ActionEthiopia Alert

Anuak People of Ethiopia “Don’t Force The Anuak People Anuak people live in the hot, tropical lowlands of Ethiopia’s Gambella region. Us to Leave Our They speak their own language, Dha-Anywaa, and their customs are different from other . Each Anuak family has its own round grass-roofed hut called a Homelands” tukul in a settlement where their grandparents and cousins live, too. They form larger groups called wimach to work together and to solve any conflicts or prob- Please write a polite letter to the lems that arise. They are skilled fishermen and farmers. US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Mr. Johnnie Carson. Tell him In Ethiopia, there is a long history of discrimination against the darker-skinned what is happening to the Anuak and Indigenous minorities like the Anuak. The government does not give them equal other Indigenous people in Ethiopia. access to schools, colleges, and health care. When people protest against this Ask him what the United States can discrimination, soldiers take them to jail. Many Anuak people have been tortured do to help them keep their lands and even killed for trying to defend their lands. To find safety, thousands of Anuak and defend their rights. people have fled to and , where many are now living in refugee camps. Around 3,000 Anuak people are living in the United States. ADDRESS: Mr. Johnnie Carson, Assistant Land Rights and Land Grabbing Secretary The Ethiopian government has a program called “villagization,” which means US Department of State moving all the Indigenous Peoples, including the Anuak, from their homelands into Bureau of African Affairs new villages. The government says it will provide jobs, schools, and health clinics Room 6234 in the new villages, but they have not done this yet. Many Anuak people are trying 2201 C Street, NW to go back to their homelands, but when they get there they learn that the govern- Washington D.C., 20520 ment has leased the land to foreign companies. These companies are making huge commercial farms, planting crops like palm oil, sugar cane, rice, and tea. Most of LETTER-WRITING TIPS: these crops will not feed poor people in Ethiopia. Instead, they will be exported to other countries. Foreign companies are eagerly grabbing up the cheap land in Start your letter with this salutation: Ethiopia. In fact, this practice is called “land grabbing.” Dear Ambassador Carson,

The Anuak people know that they have rights to their Make sure your letter is polite homelands, farms, and forests. The Ethiopian constitution and respectful. and international laws say they cannot be forced to leave At the end of your letter, their lands, and if they leave voluntarily they must be ask Mr. Carson for a reply. paid. But the Ethiopian government is not obeying these laws. “Villagization” and land grabbing are violating the Include your name, your age, rights of Indigenous Peoples, causing suffering, hunger, and your address on your letter. disease, poverty, and death. You might get a letter back from Mr. Carson! How can this be stopped? Anuak leaders think the United Postage inside the U.S. is 45 cents. States government can help. The United States gives mil- lions of dollars to Ethiopia to help end hunger and poverty there. Let’s tell the US State Department what’s happening Thank you for joining this to the Anuak people. Let’s ask what they can do to help. campaign. The Anuak people say, Uuna pwøc døc ki met ec! (“Thank you very much!”)  Foreign companies are draining and filling in Gambella’s wetlands. How will this affect bird species like this shoebill?

Find out more about refugees. Has your community welcomed refugees from any countries? How is your ? community helping them? If you were a refugee, what would be the hardest thing for you? www.cs.org