You may hear or read a claim by some Anuak saying that “๐ต๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ต๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐”.
This is both wrong and absurd. I am going to refute this claim with historical evidence of Nuer existence in Ethiopia, centuries before refugee migration. ย ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ค ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.
๐ ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ค ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. Nuer lived in Ethiopia years before no one could see refuge in Gambella itself.
Ethiopia first started hosting Sudanese refugees in Gambella in 1983, just 40 years ago, while Gambella town alone has 107 years history of establishment in 2023. ย Before a single Sudanese refugee entered Ethiopia, Thowath_Pal_Chay, from Nuer Majority, was a President (Chief) of Illubabor under Derge regime.
In the 1930s, 50 years before Gambella hosted Sudanese refugees, Koryum_Tut, a Gajaak Nuer, was appointed as a chief (Fitaurai) reigning from Kurthony, Lare.
Sir Chuol_Jock_Wie_Dup, proud Ethiopian Nuer, contributed to the defeat of Italians in the battle of Adwa, on Sunday, March 2, 1896. That is 87 years before refugees were to be hosted in Gambella.
Lueth_Met, and his brother Thon_Met, over 150 years ago, were a rulers over Makuey province of Gambella, Ethiopia, before word “refugee” was neither defined nor UN was founded.
Yes, in Gambella, we have Nuer refugees and Anuak refugees, but this doesn’t change the fact that there are Ethiopians Nuer and Ethiopians Anuak. In fact, many centuries, even before the Abyssinian Empire, Nuer of Ethiopia lived in Gambella; full article on this soon.
The claim by some Anuak brothers and sisters that Nuer are not Ethiopians but refugees is not only an incorrect assertion but a criminal offense.
This claim promotes a violence. Ethiopian Nuer are NOT leaving Gambella, now and forever. Rather, Gambella government and federal must enact a law to criminalize this illicit claim. I take this opportunity to ask anyone to only work for peace in the region. This tribal division and conflict between Nuer and Anyuak has no gain, it rather drags us backward.
