Seattle Metro Transit Workers Sue over Order to Limit Use of Ethiopic Amharic Language

🚌 የሰሜን አሜሪካዋ ዋሽንግተን ግዛት ሲያትል ከተማ ሜትሮ ትራንዚት (አውቶብስና ባቡር) ሰራተኞች የግዕዝ አማርኛን አጠቃቀም ለመገደብ በተሰጣቸው ትዕዛዝ ላይ ክስ/አቤቱታ አቀረቡ

💭 “የአፍ መፍቻ ቋንቋችን በዲ.ኤን.ኤ አችን/በመቅኒያችን ውስጥ ነው ፣ ይህ በደማችን ውስጥ ነው፣ ባህላችን ይህ ነው!” አለ ገብረ ሥላሴ።

የሜትሮ ትራንዚት ሰራተኞች በግል ብቻ የአፍ መፍቻ ቋንቋቸውን አማርኛን እንዲናገሩ ታዘዋል

ኢትዮጵያውያን በሲያትል ከተማ ዙሪያ እ.አ.አ ከ1960ዎቹ መጨረሻ እና ከ1970ዎቹ መጀመሪያ ጀምሮ ኖረዋል፤ ወደ ፲፪/12 የሚጠጉ የዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች እና የትዳር ጓደኞቻቸው ወደ አሜሪካ በመምጣት ወደ ሀገር ቤት ለመመለስ በማሰብ የኮሌጅ ዲግሪ አግኝተዋል። ያ በ1974 የሀገሪቱ ንጉሠ ነገሥት ከስልጣን ሲወርዱ ኢትዮጵያ የእርስ በርስ ጦርነት ውስጥ ስለገባች፤ በውጭ የሚገኙት ኢትዮጵያውያን ተማሪዎች እና የከተማ አስተዳደር ባለሙያዎቹ ወደ መጡበት ወደ ኢትዮጵያ በመመለሱ ረገድ ‘እንታጎራለን’ የሚል ስጋት ስላደረባቸው እዚያው በሲያትል ቀርተዋል።

እ.ኤ.አ. በ1980 የወጣው የስደተኞች ህግ ከፀደቀ በኋላ በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን እና ኤርትራውያን ከጦርነት፣ ከፖለቲካ ስደት፣ ሰፊ ድርቅ እና ረሃብ ሸሽተው በመጨረሻ በሲያትል ሜትሮፖሊታን አካባቢ እንደ ስደተኞች ሰፍረዋል።

በ2021 የሕዝብ ቆጠራ ቢሮ ግምት መሠረት ዛሬ፣ ወደ ሃያሁለት ሺህ/ 22,000 የሚጠጉ ትውልደ ኢትዮጵያውያን በሲያትል አካባቢ ይኖራሉ። እ.ኤ.አ. በ2015 የወጣው የህዝብ ቆጠራ ቢሮ መረጃ ደግሞ አማርኛ የሚናገሩ ሰዎችን ቁጥር ወደ አስራ አራት ሺህ አምስት መቶ ሰባ አምስት/14,575 ያህሉ ሲሆን አርባ ስድስት በመቶ/46% ያህሉ ደግሞ እንግሊዘኛ የሚናገሩት “በጣም ጥሩ” ከሚለው ያነሰ ነው።

አቤቱታ አቅራቢዎቹ ኢትዮጵያውያን፤ “ብዙ ሐበሻ በሚኖርባት በሲያትል ከተማ አማርኛ ቋንቋ በመናገራቸው ብቻ እንደ “ሲጋራ አጫሽ” ቆሻሻ መቆጠራቸው አሳፋሪና ወራዳ የሆነ ተግባር ነው!”፤ ይላሉ።

ቀጥለውም፤ “የሲያትል ከተማ አሜሪካውያን ምስራቅ አፍሪካውያንን የሚያከብሩ አይመስለኝም፣ እንደማንኛውም ሰው ጠንክረን እንሰራለን ነገር ግን በቀኑ መጨረሻ ላይ ክብር አናገኝም፤ ይህ ጥሩ አይደለም!” ብለዋል አቶ ፍሰሃ።

የእኔ እይታ፤ ይህ ቀላል የሆነ ጉዳይ አይደለም። በርግጥ አማርኛ ቋንቋን የማይሰማ ባልደረባቸው በአቅራቢያቸው ካለ እንግሊዝኛ እንጂ አማርኛ መጠቀም የለባቸውም። ነገር ግን ሐበሾቹ እርስበርሳቸውም ሆነ አማርኛ ከሚናገር መንገደኛ/ ጎብኝ ጋር በአማርኛ ቢነጋገሩ በጭራሽ ሊተቹ ወይንም ሊወነጀሉ አይገባቸውም። እነርሱም እኮ ውጭ አገር በሥራ ቦታቸው እያሉ እርስበርሳቸው በእንግሊዝኛ፣ በጀርመንኛ፣ በፈረንሳይኛ ወዘተ ነው በየጊዜው የሚነጋገሩት። እኔ እስከ ሰባት ቋንቋዎችን እናገራለሁ፤ በየቀኑ ብዙ ከተለያዩ ሃገራት የመጡ እንግዶች፣ ደንበኞች ወይንም ቱሪስቶች ጋር በየቋንቋቸው የመነጋገር እድሉ አለኝ። አሰሪዎቼ በዚህ በጣም ደስተኞች ናቸው፤ እንዲያውም ተቋሙን ተወዳጅ አድርገውታል። ታዲያ የሲያትል ወገኖቻችን ከሜክሲኮ የመጣ አንድ ቱሪስት አውቶብስ ላይ ቢሳፈርና በስፓንኛ ቋንቋ ቢያናግሩት ምን ክፋት አለው? ከጥቅም ሌላ እንዴት ‘አድሏዊ’ ሊሆን ይችላል?

ጠለቅ ብለን ስናየው ጉዳዩ መንፈሳዊ ነው፤ አገራችን በአሁን ሰዓት እያካሄደች ያለውን መንፈሳዊ ውጊያ የሚያንጸባርቅ ነው። ከዚህ በፊት በተደጋጋሚ እንዳወሳሁት፤ ሉሲፈራውያኑ ሮማውያን (ላቲን) በአክሱማዊቷ ኢትዮጵያ ላይ ጂሃዳቸውን ካወጁባቸው ምክኒያቶች አንዱ ቋንቋን የሚመለከት ነው። ሮማውያኑ ላቲን ባልሆኑ ቋንቋዎችና ፊደሎቻቸው ላይ ጦርነት ከከፈቱ ውለው አድረዋል።

ለምሳሌ በአውሮፓ እንኳን ጀርመናዊ የሆኑት የሰሜን አውሮፓ ሕዝቦች፤ ብሪታኒያውያን፣ ስካንዲናቪያውያን፣ አይስላንዳውያን ከ700 እስከ 1100 ክፍለ ዘመናት ድረስ)ላቲን ያልሆኑትንና፤ “ሩኒክ/ሩንኛ/Runic የተሰኙትን ጥንታዊ ፊደላት ነበር ሲጠቀሙ የነበሩት፤ ነገር ግን ሮማውያኑ ላቲኖች የካቶሊክን እምነት እያስፋፉ እግረ መንገዳቸውንም የላቲን ፊደላቸውን በሰሜን አውሮፓውያኑ ላይ አራገፉ። አሁን ከምስራቅ አውሮፓ ውጭ መላዋ አውሮፓ ቋንቋዎች ደሃ የሆነውን የላቲንን ፊደል ነው የሚገለገሉት። በምስራቅ አውሮፓም ዛሬ በዩክሬይን የሚካሄደው ጦርነት አንዱ ተልዕኮ በሲሪሊክ ፊደል የሚጻፈውን የዩክሬን ቋንቋን ወደ ላቲን መቀየር የሚለው ነው። ከሃያ ዓመታት በፊት በዩጎዝላቪያ ጦርነቱን ከከፈቱ በኋላ ነበር የዩጎዝላቪያ ብሔራዊ ቋንቋ የነበረውንና በሲሪሊክ ፊደላት ሲጻፍ የነበረውን የ’ስርፕስኮ-ህርባትስኪ/ሰርቦ-ክሮኤሺያን’ ቋንቋ በሰርቢያ እና በክሮኤሺያ(ህርባት (ከረባት ከክሮኤሺያ የመጣ ነው)) መካከል በመከፋፈል ኦርቶዶክስ ሰርቢያ በራሷ የሲሪሊክ ፊደላት ቋንቋውን መጻፉን ስትቀጥል ካቶሊክ ክሮኤሺያ ግን የላቲንን ፊደል መጠቀሙን መርጣለች።

በካውካስ ተራሮችም በአርሜኒያ እና በአዘርበጃን መካከል የሚታየው ግጭት መንስዔ እና ዒላማ ሃይማኖትና ቋንቋ ነው። በላቲን ቋንቋዋን የምትጽፈውና የቱርክ ሳተላይት የሆነችው ሙስሊም አዘርበጃን ላቲኑን ስትመርጥ አርሜኒያ ደግሞ በግዕዝ ፊደላት አነሳሽነት የተገኘውን የአርሜኒያ ፊደል ትጠቀማለች። ኢትዮጵያም፣ ሩሲያም፣ ዩክሬይንም፣ ሰርቢያም፣ አርሜኒያም ሁሉም የኦርቶዶክስ ክርስቲያኖች ሃገራት ናቸው።

ታዲያ አሁን በሮማውያኑ ላቲኖች ድጋፍ ፋሺስቱ ጋላ-ኦሮሞ አገዛዝ በኢትዮጵያ እያካሄደ ያለውና በዘር፣ በሃይማኖት፣ በባሕል፣ በቋንቋና በመላ ሕልውና ላይ ያተኮረው ጂሃድ አንዱ ዒላማ የግዕዝን ቋንቋ/ፊደላት አጥፍቶ ላቲንን ማንገስ ነው። የእነዚህ አረመኔዎች ዒላማዎች በዋናነት ‘አማራ’ ፣ ‘ትግሬ’ ፣ ‘ጉራጌ’ ፣ ጋሞ እና ‘ወላይታ’የተባሉት ነገዶች ሳይሆኑ ግዕዝ፣ ኢትዮጵያ እና ተዋሕዶ ክርስትናዋ ናቸው። ታዲያ እራሳቸውን ዛሬ፤ ‘አማራ’ ፣ ‘ትግሬ’ ፣ ‘ጉራጌ’ ፣ ጋሞ እና ‘ወላይታ’ እያሉ የሌለ ማንነትንና ምንነትን እንደ አዲስ ለመፍጠር የተነሳሱት ኢትዮጵያውያን በአክሱማዊው ኢትዮጵያዊነታቸው፣ በአጋዚያንነታቸው፣ በኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ የመንፈስ ማንነታቸውና ምንነታቸውና በግዕዝ ፊደላት ባለቤትነታቸው በአንድ ላይ ተነስተው እስካልታገሉ ድረስ ከሃዲው ጠላት ጋላ-ኦሮሞ እና ላቲናውያኑ ፈጣሪዎቹ እየፈነጩበት፣ አፓርታዳዊ አድሎ እየፈጸሙበት፣ እያሳደዱትና እየገድሉት ይኖራሉ።

👉 የሚገርም ነው፤ ሩኒክ/ሩንኛ/Runic ፊደላትም አንዳንዶቹ የግዕዝን ፊደላት የመሳሰሉ ናቸው፤

💭 Metro Transit workers ordered to speak native language only in private

👉 Courtesy: The Seattle Times.

In spring 2021, King County Metro supervisor Daniel Fisseha asked his colleague, Berhanemeskal Gebreselassie, to print something for him from his computer. He made the request in Amharic; both men are originally from Ethiopia.

On May 5 that year, their boss, Riceda Stewart, called the two longtime employees into her office. She told them that she and her superior, Dennis Lock, had received a complaint from an operator, who reported feeling uncomfortable with their use of their native language. Stewart told them they were not “presenting and acting like a professional,” according to an investigation conducted by Metro’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. Going forward, if they wanted to speak Amharic, they should do so only in a private room, they were told.

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That act was hostile and discriminatory, the EEO investigation concluded, creating “an atmosphere of inferiority, isolation and intimidation.” By implementing such a rule specifically targeted to two Amharic speakers, Metro was sending an “overt” message “that their national origin identities made people uncomfortable and were not appropriate in the workplace, statements that are subjectively and objectively offensive and discriminatory.”

The men, the report concluded, had grounds to sue.

With the damning EEO report in hand, the two men filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court last month, asking for damages and attorney’s fees determined in court, and that Metro adopt policies against language discrimination. The case was recently reassigned to federal court, in the Western District of Washington.

“Our native language is in our DNA,” said Gebreselassie. “That’s our blood. That’s our culture.”

The basic arc of events is largely undisputed. Lawyers with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office acknowledge that Fisseha and Gebreselassie were told they should “be more discreet and use a separate room when speaking in Amharic to each other” in response to a complaint.

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Defendant Stewart and Lock also acknowledged to EEO investigators that they’d received the complaint and had told Fisseha and Gebreselassie to use a private room when speaking Amharic, although they disagree on who came up with the plan. Their focus, they said, was on making the operator feel more comfortable.

But in making that their goal, the two bosses failed to consider how it would make Fisseha and Gebreselassie feel.

“Mr. Lock and Ms. Stewart may very well have been thinking about [the complainant’s] comfort when they agreed to this course of action, but the comfort they wanted to provide was discriminatory against employees who speak a language other than English,” the EEO report concluded.

In a statement, Metro spokesperson Jeff Switzer said the agency works to build a healthy environment free from harassment or discrimination.

“It is not, nor has it ever been, Metro’s policy, practice or culture to require people to speak only English,” Switzer said. “We see this as a single, regrettable incident, rather than a rule, and we took swift steps to correct the behavior with the supervisors, including requiring appropriate King County training.”

Fisseha and Gebreselassie immigrated to the Seattle area from Ethiopia in the early 2000s, becoming American citizens several years later. Both started working for Metro as bus operators in 2008 before becoming supervisors — training and scheduling drivers — roughly 10 years after that.

Getting to that level is a source of pride, particularly for Gebreselassie. As an immigrant, he said he has a chip on his shoulder.

“We have to prove ourselves every day,” he said.

After the meeting, the two men requested that the policy be put into writing, which they never received. Shortly after, they filed a complaint with the EEO office.

Fisseha and Gebreselassie allege they were retaliated against for complaining — spurring them to take leaves of absence and later move to different departments with less desirable shifts, including overnight. In its response to the complaint in federal court, Metro denies any retaliation occurred and said the choice to move departments was the two men’s, pointing out that Fisseha returned to work under Stewart again in 2022.

Regardless, Fisseha and Gebreselassie said they were racked with anxiety following the interaction. Rumor spread among Metro’s diverse staff, giving workers pause whenever they slipped into their native languages.

“Sometimes you start talking and you have that feeling of, ‘Well now I have to always watch where I’m at’,” said Gebreselassie.

Ethiopians have lived in the Seattle region since the late 1960s and early 1970s, when about two dozen university students and their spouses came to the United States to earn college degrees with the intention of returning home. That changed with the deposition of the country’s emperor in 1974, sparking the Ethiopian Civil War and leaving Ethiopian students and urban professionals abroad stranded and fearful of returning.

With the passage of The Refugee Act of 1980, thousands of Ethiopians and Eritreans would ultimately settle in the Seattle metropolitan area as immigrants and refugees fleeing war, political persecution, widespread drought and famine.

Today, about 22,000 people of Ethiopian ancestry live in the Seattle area, according to 2021 Census Bureau estimates. Census Bureau data published in 2015 puts the number of people here who speak Amharic at home at about 14,575, with about 46% reporting they speak English less than “very well.”

With such a large population in Seattle, and presence within Metro, being treated like a “cigarette smoker” for using Amharic, was demeaning, the men said.

“I don’t think they respect East Africans,” said Fisseha. “We work hard like everybody else, but at the end of the day, we don’t get respect.”

______________

Ethiopian World Federation asks The President of Malawi to institute investigations on integrity of Madonna’s Malawi Charity

👉 ገብርኤል 👉 ማርያም 👉 ኡራኤል 👉 ጊዮርጊስ 👉 ተክለ ሐይማኖት 👉 መርቆርዮስ 😇ዮሴፍ 👉 መድኃኔ ዓለም

💭 የኢትዮጵያ የአለም ፌዴሬሽን የማላዊን ፕሬዝዳንት ማዶና ለምን አፍሪቃውያን ሕፃናትን “አሳድጋለሁ” እያለች በምትወስደው ጉዳይ ላይ ምርመራ እንዲያደርጉ ጠየቀ

ወደ ዓለም አቀፋዊ የዲያስፖራ ድርጅትነት የተቀየረው ፌዴሬሽኑ የማላዊውን መሪ ፕሬዝዳንት ላዛሩስ ቻክዌራን ማዶና የማላዊ ልጆችን በጉዲፈቻ በመውሰዳቸው “የሰዎች ዝውውር እና ማህበራዊ ሙከራዎች” ላይ “ግብረ–ሰዶማዊ እና ጾታ–ዘለል/ትራንስጀንደር” ውንጀላዎችን ለመከላከል እየጠየቀ ነው።

አዎ! ግሩም ተግባር ነው፤ “ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ!” የሚል እንዲህ ነው እንጂ አፍሪቃውያንን መምራት የሚጠበቅበት፤ የጋላ–ኦሮሞዎቹን አቆርቋዥ፣ ወደ ኋላ ጎታች፣ መንደርተኛና ኋላ ቀር፤ “ሁሉም ኬኛ! ኢኔ! ኢኔ!” ዲያብሎሳዊ ባህልንና መርሆን በመከተል፤ “ወልቃይት እርስቴ! ቅብርጥሴ” እያለ እራሱንና ኢትዮጵያን ማዋረድ የለበትም።

ግብረ–ሰዶማውያኑ ወኪላቸውን ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ አሊን በኢትዮጵያ አስቀምጠዋል፤ በአክሱም ጽዮን ላይ የዘር ማጥፋት ጦርነት የከፈተበትም ዋናው ምክኒያት፤ አክሱም ጽዮን መለኮታዊ በሆነ መንገድ ኢትዮጵያ፣ አፍሪቃንና መላዋ ዓለምን ከሉሲፈራውያኑ ሥርዓት የምትከላከል ድንኳን ስለሆነች ነው። እነ ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ አሊ ተገድለው ለውሻ እስካልተሰጡ ድረስ በተለይ በኢትዮጵያ ሕፃናት ላይ ከፍተኛ አትኩሮት ያላቸው ግብረ–ሰዶማውያኑ እኹይና ፀያፍ ተግባራቸውን ከመፈጸም አይቆጠቡም።

💭 Ethiopian World Federation asks The President of Malawi to institute investigations on integrity of Madonna’s Malawi charity, Raising Malawi

👉 Courtesy: Nyasa Times

Ethiopian World Federation, an organisation established in the United States in 1937 to promote love and good-will among Ethiopians at home and abroad, has made surprising stance on world celebrated performing artist, Madonna Louise Ciccone — who adopted four Malawians.

The Federation, which has since transformed into a global diaspora organisation, is asking the Malawi leader, President Lazarus Chakwera to prevent “homosexual and transgender” allegations over the adoption of the Malawian children for possible “human trafficking and social experiments”.

In opening the investigations, the Federation is also asking Chakwera to look into the integrity of Madonna’s Malawi charity, Raising Malawi — and “restrict her and her associates accessibility to Africa and to African children as a precautionary measure until a thorough investigation is done into child trafficking, sex exploitation, sexual slavery, adoption reversal, threat of coercion, fraud, deception and abuse of power or vulnerability”.

The Federation quotes Malawi Penal Code that provides in Section 137A: ‘Indecent practices between females. Any female person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with another female person, or procures another female person to commit any act of gross indecency with her, or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any female person with herself or with another female person, whether in public or private, shall be guilty of an offense and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years’.

The petition makes references to a book that Madonna wrote in 1992 called ‘SEX’, which “features adult content including softcore pornography and simulations of sexual acts including sadomasochism (the derivation of sexual gratification from the infliction of physical pain or humiliation either on another person or on oneself)”.

“Gay porn stars were photographed in pornographic pictures with Madonna performing vulgar sex acts with the same sex which should have been disclosed during her adoption case in 2006 in Lilongwe, Malawi.

“Madonna had to sign a contract that forbade the book from including images of child pornography, bestiality, or religious imagery. Shortly after signing that agreement, Madonna founded a company called Maverick, a partnership with Time Warner.

“She now holds total artistic control over any work released by Maverick, who is now the book’s publisher. The agreement she signed with Time Warner with the sexually explicit content in the book Sex was null and void.”

The petition further says the “psychology behind her ability to release child pornography, religious imagery, bestiality and vulgar pornography has prompted her to open an orphanage in Malawi named ‘Raising Malawi’ in 2006 to host social experiments on vulnerable African children in Malawi”.

It adds that in the same 2006 when Madonna founded the charity “she falsely accused [David Banda’s] father of being absent” when she was applying to adopt him.

Madonna is being accused of using David Banda “for sexual exploitation and social experiments today”. Pictures are awash on social media of David Banda wearing female clothes, makeup and wearing earrings — whilst the two holding hands like two lovers.

The organisation further says Justice Fiona Mwale, who presided over the adoption application, is alleged to have made “a series of harsh questioning of [Madonna’s] motives” — and quotes the Judge as saying in her judgement: “In determining her motives, I questioned the petitioner at length about the impact of her decision which could be construed as robbing Malawi of its most precious resource, its children.”

“We firmly believe that Malawi has been robbed of its most precious resource — its children,” contends Ethiopian World Federation. “In 2013, the country accused Madonna of ‘bullying’ state officials and making diva demands — and of citing her Raising Malawi charity as the reason for doing so.

“After another appeal, the Supreme Court granted Madonna the right to adopt her second child from Malawi, Mercy James. In 2017, Malawi granted the singer permission to adopt again, and she became mother to twin baby girls Esther and Stella Mwale.

“After careful review and facts presented regarding the psychological, physical and mental abuse of African children on January 11, 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa confirmed that Ethiopian Parliament passed new legislation banning adoptions by foreigners on January 9, 2018.

“In 2019, nearly 70% of human trafficking victims in the U.S. were identified as either being sex trafficked, or victims of both forced labor and sexual exploitation.

“The High Court recently stated that 25 million people worldwide are not afforded their fundamental right to freedom; however, the International Labor Organization estimates the number of human trafficking victims to be approximately 40 million,” said the petitioners — citing the link https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2021/12/13/the-current-state-of-sex-trafficking-and-celebrity-perpetrators/.

The petition also accused the government of Malawi of failing “to do a complete social background check on the adoptive parent” and they have reason to believe that Madonna “is using these children as a social experiment in response to the heavy LGBTQ community push for sodomy in America”.

“We, the global diaspora, the Black People of the World at the Ethiopian World Federation, Incorporated are concerned that the integrity of Africa and the cultural traditions should be preserved, not exploited or discredited.

“In 2013, Malawi accused Madonna of exaggerating her contributions to the impoverished country and unreasonably demanding special treatment during a tour there and Madonna has used social media to discredit the culture and policies that Malawi has in place to protect our children globally.”

The organisation says, concerned about the welfare of all black people of the world, the Ethiopian World Federation has existed since 1937 “in order to effect unity, solidarity, liberty, freedom and self-determination — to secure justice and maintain the integrity of the entire African continent, which is our divine heritage and a policy we uphold, defend and protect”.

The Federation operates from 105 West 125th Street #1095, New York, NY 10027–4444 — whose email is www.theethiopianworldfederation.org/ewf@theethiopianworldfederation.org.

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How The Tigray Crisis is Affecting Families in The U.S.

💭 Ethiopia Conflict Leaves Diaspora in US Fearing for Families

As chaos envelops Kabul after Afghanistan’s government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, horrific stories and heartbreaking images also pour out of Ethiopia. Some in the U.S. with a connection to the African country are feeling a call to action.

In Washington, D.C., home to the largest concentration of Ethiopians in the U.S. and the largest Ethiopian population outside Africa, there’s an intense debate over the war and who’s at fault.

“Tigray is part of Ethiopia. Tigrayans are Ethiopians until they decide otherwise. So any war, any suffering in Ethiopia, should be a pain to everybody,” Assefa Fisseha, a man who fled the country 20 years to begin a new life in America, told ABC News.

In Fisseha’s homeland, within the northern region of Tigray, millions are caught in the middle of civil war between Tigrayan defense forces and the Ethiopian government.

Each side has been accused of atrocities throughout the conflict, with systemic rape and starvation used as weapons of war, according to the United Nations, senior U.S. officials and monitoring groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Roads, bridges, hospitals and farms have been destroyed, exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe, according to aid groups.

But information can be hard to come by. Internet outages by the Ethiopian government have disconnected families inside and outside the country for days, weeks or even months at a time, according to Internet monitor NetBlocks.

With over 110 million people, Ethiopia is the second-most populous country in Africa. The conflict has left thousands dead and displaced roughly two million people in Tigray, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

“On the ground, what I’m really seeing is just hungry people there, people are extremely paranoid and protective,” Leoh Hailu-Ghermy, who made a two-day trek to the region to deliver supplies and aid to refugees, told ABC News.

Hailu-Ghermy is one of the voices in the movement to end the war many activists call a modern-day genocide.

Earlier this month, more apparent victims of the atrocities in the brutal, 10-monthlong civil war washed up on a riverbank in neighboring Sudan. Fifty bodies were believed to be Tigrayans from a nearby village, according to The Associated Press.

There have been reports of massacres, ethnic cleansing and widespread sexual assault by Ethiopian government troops, according to Amnesty International.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the U.S. has seen “acts of ethnic cleansing,” but stopped short of calling the atrocities genocide — a specific legal term in international law. The Ethiopian government has fiercely denied such accusations.

“It’s really heartbreaking to see that people’s livelihoods can be stripped away from them in such an unfair way and that the world wouldn’t care because of the geography of that place or because of the race of those people,” Hailu-Ghermy said.

Just last week, the Biden administration called out the Ethiopian government for obstructing humanitarian aid, including convoys, saying aid workers will run out of food this week.

In May, President Joe Biden issued a lengthy statement, calling for a ceasefire, negotiations to halt the conflict and an end to human rights abuses, including the widespread sexual violence.

The Biden administration also tapped a special envoy for the region to push for a diplomatic solution — and fired a warning shot at the Ethiopian government, a critical U.S. partner, by imposing limited sanctions.

MORE: US restricting visas, aid over conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region

In May, the State Department said it imposed visa bans on officials from Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea — whose military crossed the border to fight Tigrayan forces. Because visas are confidential by law, it did not say who was impacted but the U.S. Treasury slapped financial sanctions on Monday on General Filipos Woldeyohannes, the chief of staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces, accusing his forces of massacres, looting, rape, torture and extrajudicial killings of civilians.

Hailu-Ghermy and other advocates say they are looking for more action.

Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed was once seen as a popular reformer when he came into power in 2018, even winning the Nobel Peace Prize for ending a decades-long war with neighboring Eritrea. His election unseated the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, which dominated Ethiopia politics prior to his administration, and tensions between his federal government and their regional leaders exploded into conflict last November.

“Now that the conflict has been ongoing for several months, it produces its own logic. And so every atrocity, every retaliation begets another retaliation and unfortunately, another atrocity,” Aly Verjee, a senior adviser to the Africa program at the U.S. Institute of Peace, told ABC News.

Tigrayans celebrated when Abiy declared a ceasefire in June, but now their forces are on the offensive and Abiy responded with a call for all capable citizens to take up arms and join the fight to show patriotism.

“Ethiopians at home and abroad, your motherland calls upon you. History has shown that there is no force that can stand in our way when we say no more,” he said in a statement.

Analysts fear the conflict will spiral further out of control, putting hundreds of thousands on the brink of famine and potentially spilling over borders to Ethiopia’s neighbors.

“Let’s not forget that the reason the majority of Ethiopian Americans are in the United States is because, at one time or another, there was conflict in Ethiopia. Let’s not see another generation of Ethiopians feel that they have to leave the country because of conflict,” Verjee said.

Courtesy: abc NEWS

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