https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/7/un-decries-shocking-christian-muslim-clashes-in-ethiopia
In Ethiopia, the deep-seated religious conflict between Muslims and Orthodox Christians has become a pressing concern for United Nations Human Rights Chief, Michelle Bachelet, due to the recent attacks in Gondar city that began April 26 that are targeting muslims and mosques and spreading out from the city day by day. Muslims have also returned fire with fire— Bachelet has stated that “two Orthodox Christian men were reportedly burnt to death, another man hacked to death, and five churches burnt down”. So far, these clashes have killed 30 people, injured over 100, and 578 people across four cities have been taken into custody by Ethiopian police due to involvement with the violence in some capacity. In response, Bachelet has specifically requested for the Ethiopian police to address the problem and investigate the crimes committed in an “independant and transparent” manner while still affording those accused with fair trials and their due justice throughout the process. She also implored “survivors, families, and affected communities” to help in the effort to recover from these attacks and seek whatever small semblance of peace there is to be had in such a torn state of affairs.
The muslim population in Ethiopia is nearly one third of the entire population (31.3%) and is the second largest religion in the country, however, sects of Christianity including Roman Catholic, Pentay, and Ethiopian Orthodox make up the vast majority (67.3%) of Ethiopians. Meanwhile, just 1.4% of the population practice other religions, namely Judaism. The potential for conflict is clear if not imminent. On top of this, the wider conflict in Tigray between the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian military as well as the famine and floods that have plagued citizens and driven them from their homes are exacerbating tensions, desperation, and unrest among the people as the war in Tigray has devolved into a major refugee crisis and resources become more and more intermittently scarce with the unpredictable weather disasters. Despite such setbacks, Ethiopia is an expanding power in the Horn of Africa, having one of the fastest growing economies in the world, which will hopefully lead to a better future for its people as the economic growth means the government will have the chance to increase its spending and bolster its police force to discourage religious violence and bring participants to justice.
In relation to Comparative Government, Ethiopia is somewhat like Somalia in that there are bureaucratic processes standing in the way of government action as disagreements among government officials hold up legislation and effective government assistance in the ongoing crises. Again, with a federal parliamentary republic and prime minister, these is no single person to make decisions as in an authoritarian state, however responsibilities and tasks can also be delegated amongst the many officials and this will certainly facilitate progress as more issues, legislation, and plans will be allotted, analyzed, and addressed by the government. The current Ethiopian president, Abiy Ahmed, aimed for serious reform at the start of his career but has since had those ambitions sidelined when he launched the Tigray War; in this sense it will be necessary for the Tigray War to end before religious violence, famine, and the refugee crisis in Ethiopia can end.