Document #1232588
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
According to Country Reports 1993,
officially, the government does not discriminate against any
religious order, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) also known
as the Coptic Church enjoyed greater autonomy in 1993 than in 1992
(1994, 95). However, incidents of religious conflict were reported
in 1993 following the installation of a new EOC Patriarch from the
same ethnic group as the President (ibid.), the non-Tigrayan
members of the EOC reportedly perceived this as government
interference and religious matters and interpretated the
installation as an attempt to divide the Church along ethnic lines.
Amharic-speaking Ethiopian dissidents in the United States
expressed their discontent during the Patriarch's 1993 visist by
attacking him with stones and "other missiles" and by disrupting
his service (ibid.).
In Gondar, clashes involving the Orthodox
community, Muslims and Christians erupted when an Orthodox hermit
protested against Protestant and Muslim incursions in the region,
drawing a large Orthodox following (ibid.). His followers clashed
with security forces sent to restore order, and a number of deaths
and casualties were reported on both sides (ibid.).
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1993. 1994. Washington, DC: United States.
Government Printing Office.