Setting a Social Reform Agenda: The Peacebuilding Dimension of the Rights Movement of the Ethiopian Muslims Diaspora

Author: Dereje Feyissa, Diaspeace
Date: Winter 2010

This working paper examines the impact of the Ethiopian Muslims in the diaspora on socio-political processes in the homeland, with a special focus on their activities that have a bearing on peace-building.Ethiopia has one of the largest diaspora populations in the world. The exact number of the Ethiopian diaspora is not yet known, but it is widely believed that over half a million Ethiopians live in North America and Europe (Lyons 2006). The Ethiopian diaspora remittance in 2010 was estimated at 387 million USD (World Bank 2010). The push factor for many of the Ethiopian diaspora was the violent political conflicts of the 1970s, when the military socialist government (Derg) ruthlessly suppressed political organizations that called for political change.

DIASPEACE_WP9