Ethiopia: Forced Conscription Resurfaces Across Oromia As Ethiopia Continues to Grapple With Security Crises

Addis Abeba — Reports of forced conscription are resurfacing in several parts of Oromia, including the Sheger City area surrounding the capital Addis Abeba, with families alleging that young people have been taken against their will and, in some cases, that money has subsequently been demanded for their release.

The latest accounts, gathered by Addis Standard from residents in East Hararghe and East Bale zones, come amid heightened security tensions across Ethiopia, including renewed confrontation between federal authorities and forces aligned with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the continuing conflict between federal forces and Fano fighters in Amhara region, and insecurity in parts Benishangul-Gumuz regional state.

Two families interviewed by Addis Standard said relatives had disappeared after travelling outside their home areas. Their accounts could not be independently verified, and it was not immediately possible to establish whether those taken were recruited into the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), regional militia structures, or another armed formation.

A businessman from Mekenisa Kebele in Chinaksen, East Hararghe Zone of Oromia regional state, said his younger brother "disappeared for three days" while travelling to Dire Dawa City Administration last week to assist with his business. The family subsequently received an anonymous call demanding 500,000 birr for his release.

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Our mother is ailing and is in bed for the last two years; and the news is distressing her

"When I asked if this was an abduction they told me he was conscripted for the army but he can be released if I paid the money," the businessman told Addis Standard. "I don't know where he is being kept. They said they will send instruction on the payment."

He said the disappearance has placed additional pressure on his family, particularly because their mother has been bedridden for two years.

"Our mother is ailing and is in bed for the last two years; and the news is distressing her," he said.

Media freedom advocacy In a separate case, a mother from Laga Hidha Woreda in East Bale Zone of Oromia region said her son, a second-year student at Jimma University, was forcibly taken while visiting relatives in Assasa, in Arsi Zone.

The mother said her son had travelled home in May after becoming seriously ill with a kidney infection and had subsequently recovered following treatment in Robe City, Bale Zone. He had also obtained a semester break before the university's summer closure, she said.

"I received a call telling me that he was forcibly taken at night from Assasa. I don't know where he is now," she said.

The accounts come against a broader backdrop of longstanding practice of coercive recruitment and arbitrary detention in Oromia.

In December 2024, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reported cases of forced conscription, arbitrary detention and extortion in four Oromia locations: Adama, Bishoftu, Jimma and Shashamene. The investigation, conducted after the commission received complaints from residents and families, found that individuals had been detained against their will under the pretext of military recruitment. Some were allegedly held until their families paid money for their release.

The commission documented cases involving minors. One family in Adama told investigators that its 16-year-old son had been detained while at work and that authorities demanded 30,000 birr for his release. The EHRC said its findings included victims as young as 11.

The commission subsequently said it had opened an investigation into allegations of forced conscription and met senior ENDF officers in April 2025 to discuss complaints it had received. The outcomes have not been made public.

Similar practices have also extended beyond recruitment into the federal army.

An Addis Standard investigation published in September 2024 documented reports from farmers in Horro Guduru Wollega that participation in militia training under the regional Gachana Sirna system was being imposed through coercive measures.

Gachana Sirna was established through an Oromia regional proclamation that came into effect in March 2022. The framework describes the system as a mechanism for organizing communities to protect their interests, peace and security and to provide militia training.

However, residents interviewed by Addis Standard described a markedly different experience. One farmer said police detained five members of a group of seven people travelling from a market and subsequently transported them to Shambu, where they were informed they had been conscripted for militia training.

"After three days there, we were transported to Shambu City," the farmer said. "Upon our arrival, we were informed that we had been conscripted for militia training."

The training, initially described to him as lasting several weeks, was eventually extended to two months, he said, leaving his farmland uncultivated during the planting season.

Another farmer said agricultural inputs had effectively become a condition for participation in militia training.

"I have 23 hectares of land that I prepared for planting grains in the current harvesting season," he said, explaining that an agricultural office told him he needed to undergo militia training before receiving fertilizer and improved seeds.

A human rights lawyer and researcher interviewed for the investigation said farmers who refused to participate faced imprisonment, coercive training, denial of agricultural inputs and, in some cases, torture in detention.

Ethiopia's Defense Forces Proclamation No. 1100/2019 states that the Ministry of Defense may recruit people "fit and willing for military services," while recruits are required to conclude a contract of employment.

The Constitution also protects citizens against arbitrary detention and prohibits forced or compulsory labor, while recognizing limited exceptions, including certain services connected to emergencies and conscientious objection.

This legal framework makes the allegations of people being seized from roads, workplaces or homes and subsequently compelled to undergo military training particularly significant, rights advocates say.

The allegations nevertheless come amid a wider deterioration in Ethiopia's security environment.

Tensions surrounding Tigray have intensified since the 2022 Pretoria cessation of hostilities. A day-long fighting broke out in western Tigray early this month amid unresolved political tensions between federal and Tigrayan authorities. Federal government forces have also carried out drone strikes in southern Tigray on Monday, 10 August, with conflicting reports emerging over casualties and the alleged targets.

Political science courses Similarly, the federal government continues to face armed resistance in Amhara, where fighting between government forces and Fano has persisted since 2023.

Despite repeated claims by the military, federal and regional officials that the conflict has been reduced to low-level clashes involving "remnants" of the armed group, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) reported as recently as June this year that "230 Fano fighters" were killed during what it described as a week-long "law enforcement operation" across parts of the Amhara region.

In Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, authorities said on 11 August that security forces in Metekel Zone had repelled an alleged attempt by armed groups to enter Gilgel Beles town early Tuesday morning. The zonal administration said groups operating in forested areas and identifying themselves as the "Gumuz Force," allegedly acting in alignment "with Fano," attempted to enter the town at around 6:00 a.m. "to inflict harm on citizens."

The statement appears to suggest possible coordination between armed groups operating in Benishangul-Gumuz and Fano, the armed group active in neighboring Amhara Region.

For families such as those interviewed by Addis Standard, however, the immediate concern is more personal: locating relatives whose whereabouts remain unknown.

In the East Hararghe case, the family says it has not been given a formal detention location or documentation establishing where the missing man is being held. Instead, they have received an anonymous ransom demand alongside the assertion that he was "conscripted for the army."

The absence of independent confirmation leaves an important question unresolved: whether the cases represent a renewed state recruitment drive, coercive regional militia mobilization, criminal abduction carried out under the cover of military recruitment, or a combination of these practices.

The Oromia regional government and federal defense authorities had not, at the time of publication, publicly responded to the latest reports of renewed forced conscription.

The Oromia regional government has previously rejected allegations of widespread forced conscription and related abuses, characterizing such reports as "unfounded propaganda" and defamation intended to undermine security forces.

The recurrence of similar allegations, however, underscores the need for authorities to clarify recruitment procedures, disclose the whereabouts of people detained for alleged military recruitment, and ensure that any mobilization is conducted according to law.

Read the original article on Addis Standard.