But just what prompted the mass demonstrations and what has kept them going in the face of a harsh government crackdown? The protestsMass protests erupted in Ethiopia's populous Oromia region - home to the Oromo, Ethiopia's largest ethno-national group - in 2015 after a master plan was unveiled to expand the boundaries of the capital, Addis Ababa. {articleGUID}The Oromo protesters' first demand, therefore, was to cancel the master plan outright, explained Felix Horne, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. The questions being raised today by Oromo protesters are "very much rooted in the history of the country, where Oromo were seen in Ethiopia as its Other", Etana told Al Jazeera. {articleGUID}The Oromo have a handful of historical demands that have been amplified since the protests broke out three years ago.

Source: Ethiopian News February 20, 2018 16:30 UTC