Conflict Primary Source Of Ethiopia's IDP Camps In Amhara

EBENAT, ETHIOPIA - OCTOBER 08: Young children from various wareda's and cities in the Wag Hemra zone stand in a repurposed classroom that acts as their home at the Ebanet Primary School on October 08, 2021 in Ebenat, Ethiopia. As many as 75 occupants sleep in these classrooms. These 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 J. Countess/Getty Images)