Ethiopia: On the brink of crisis - again

Ethiopia is entering uncharted territory. As stated by the Washington Post in its article dated 3 March 2018: "Under a new state of emergency, Ethiopia is on the brink of crisis, again." The state of emergency has imposed excessive burdens on the general population. According to Amnesty International"˜s commentary on 1 March 2018, both the proclamation and implementation have problems at many levels, including the fact that some of the measures and restrictions fail to comply with international and regional human rights norms and anyway lack sufficient clarity and precision. Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, is worried by the current development: "This is Ethiopia"s second state of emergency in less than two years. The first one lasted ten months, lives were lost, property was damaged and thousands were arrested. Even though this new state of emergency does not have a unique impact on Christians, it has serious implications on the freedom of religion. It declares, for example, that "˜assembly for whatever reasons can be prohibited". If the situation is not resolved, the country will indeed sink further into a crisis endangering the lives of millions, both in Ethiopia and in the whole region."