Jemal Countess Photography

They allowed me into their personal spaces so they could tell the stories of their suffering and struggles at the hands of those attacking them during the course of the TPLF invasion of the Amhara region. Most of these people have endured war for 3 and a half years now. Displaced, returned then displaced again and now under threat from TPLF AND the Federal Government of Ethiopia under Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party. On this Sabbath and everyday, I pray that they may soon finally have REST and PEACE, IN THEIR OWN HOMES, in a country at peace…. EBENAT, ETHIOPIA - OCTOBER 08, 2021: Young men from various wareda’s and cities in the Wag Hemra zone sit in the repurposed classrooms that act as their homes at the Ebanet Primary School on October 08, 2021 in Ebenat, Ethiopia. As many as 75 occupants sleep in single classrooms that have been repurposed to living quarters. Many of the teenagers and youth fled their homes in Wag Hemra sometimes at night to escape forced conscription into the TPLF. The TPLF was taking Amhara youth as young as 10 years of age from conquered territories, giving them brief military training and forcing them to march in front of their advancing forces as human shields in front of seasoned troops as they engaged Ethiopian Government forces. Most of the IDP’s at the primary school fled their homes in various cities in the Wag Hemra zone following the invasion of the Amhara region by the TPLF that started in July of 2021. When the TPLF invaded the Amhara region, many of its residents were displaced as they fled ethnic based violence and went to dozens of IDP camps all over the Amhara region. Thousands of people have died in the fighting between Ethiopia’s Federal Government and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front or TPLF, with approximately 2 million displaced and more than 5 million relying on emergency food aid. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images) #amharagenocide #ethiopia #idp #internallydisplacedpeople #genocide #conflict #canoncps #canoncpsusa