Interview with Amin Alishu, the head of resettled families

Amin Alishu is the chairman of 15,000 people who have been voluntarily resettled in Bidre, Oromiya over the last month. He tells IRIN of the hardship now faced by many of the families and says that many now feel betrayed by the promises of fertile land. QUESTION: Why did you leave Haraghe [also in Oromiya]? ANSWER: In Haraghe we did not have sufficient land or enough land to plough. All the land was cultivated. The land was also affected by drought and had lost its fertility because of overuse. People had been ploughing for a long time. The main reason was so we could get land, more than we had in Haraghe. Q: Why did you decide to resettle in Bidre A: The community in this resettlement area came here to get land and to grow crops on the land. But the conditions here are not favourable for farmers; there are no basic services like water, food stores or road access. There is a problem of shelter because so far all that has been distributed is plastic sheets. Most people do not want to stay in this area. They want to shift to other land. The resettlement plan is from the government, that is why we came here. Q: Why did you decide to resettle if the services are not adequate? A: We were told they were drilling nine bore holes in the area and that the land was fertile and food would be provided for the resettlement area. Obviously we were happy to come here. But when we got here the conditions were obviously different, and the community was just being dumped where there is no water, food or shelter. We feel we have been tricked because they do not have the things they said they would have. The water is about three hours away in a pond. The last time we received clean water was five days ago because the trucks bringing the water in are getting stuck in the mud. We have been drinking rain water and dirty water from ponds. Q: Why have people not returned home to Haraghe if the situation is so bad? A: Some people have gone back but as chairman of the IDPs [internally displaced people] I spoke with the government officials about this and the police stopped them from leaving. We were worried that if they go back to Haraghe, many may die before they arrive. They do not have any money to go by truck and children may die. This is why they were stopped. Q: How will you ensure a new resettlement centre is suitable? A: We are organising some IDPs to see the land and they will check that it is OK. We need to make sure they do not just dump us where there is no water. We need to speak to the Oromiya government to make sure the land is suitable. We need to make sure people are closer together and that there are clinics so we can get medicines if we need them. Q: When will you start planting seeds? A: This is the seeding time. We have not got the farming land from the government - the distribution is late so we will not plant. The government has promised us two hectares of land and free seeds, but we do not know what seeds we will receive. So with each day that passes we are losing planting time. We have been told that we will be given food until we harvest. We are receiving some food from the DPPB [Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau] and some from non-governmental organisations like the ICRC, who also brought some blankets and plastic sheets. But the food is not enough because everyone gets only 12 kg. A couple of days ago, we only got 2 kg for each person so now we are facing hunger. Q: Do you think the resettlement programme is a good idea? A: If I get fertile land, water and some basic services then the resettlement is good. But as we have not got sufficient water or food, how can we say it is good. Also it takes around six months to build a house from the local materials so we will be living under these plastic sheets until then. This land is cattle grazing land, not farming land, it is savannah grassland.