Ethnic Federalism and Dispersed Minority in Ethiopia in the Post 1991: Constitution and Institutional Status Quo to Protect Dispersed Minorities

Following the adoption of ethnic based political arrangement, Ethiopia ratified new constitution in 1995. Inter-ethnic clashes, internal displacement, and ethnic tensions have become protracted security challenges of Ethiopia. Particularly, dispersed minorities are principal victims of these challenges. Furthermore, dispersed minorities are invisible in the political process and power sharing specially in regional states. Accordingly, this article delved in to the impacts of national and sub-national constitutions and institutional set up on dispersed minority rights and security. Based on this objective, qualitative method was employed and both primary and secondary data sources were used from multiple sectors and multi-levels including victims (internally displaced persons (IDPs1) in Burayu). Accordingly, the results of the study supposed that national constitution, sub-national constitutions that designed pursue the national constitution are not safeguarding the minority but galvanizing sources of ethnic conflicts and intolerance provided that other factors like ethno-linguistic regional autonomy and its poor implementations, including regional special forces are still contributing for protracted ethnic conflicts and social instability that usually result in minority insecurity and conflict induced internal displacements. Unless Ethiopia amends both federal and regional states constitutions and dissolve Special Forces of regional states, maintaining peace and security, assuring human rights, sustaining horizontal integration among regional states, raising accountability of regional governors and assuring equality and justice of citizens will become a long-drawn-out challenges for national government.