ICC Note: Not yet a week since Islamic terror group ISIS released a video Sunday, April 19, showing the gruesome executions of 30 Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians in Libya, Ethiopians mourn feeling both sadness and anger. Citizens protested Wednesday April 22 in Addis Ababa, reeling from their government’s response, which many say was largely political in nature, rather than sympathetic. Sources in Ethiopia tell ICC that much of the public in the majority Orthodox Christian nation are fed up that Muslim leaders spoke alongside Christians and government officials during the government’s vigil to remember the victims.
By Jacey Fortin
4/22/15 ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (New York Times) — In a downtrodden neighborhood called Cherkos, not far from the headquarters of the African Union, an olive-green tent stands as a tangible symbol of this nation’s grief.
Two bereft families have gathered under its shade to mourn the loss of Eyasu Yikunoamlak and Balcha Belete, Ethiopian migrants who were killed in Libya by militants claiming to represent the Islamic State.
“Eyasu was a good person who just wanted to make money to help our mother, who is very sick,” said the victim’s brother, Seyoum Yikunoamlak, as women in black scarves wailed around him. “He was a follower of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and that is why they slaughtered him.”
Mr. Seyoum said he had helped his brother pay $4,400 to a smuggler for an illegal journey to Italy. But on Sunday, a video surfaced online revealing that his brother was among about 30 people who appeared to have been shot or beheaded by masked militants in Libya. The Ethiopian government is trying to determine how many were Ethiopian citizens.
The killings are the latest warning to Ethiopians seeking passage to foreign countries for economic opportunity.
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