Addis Ababa - Ethiopia will issue national identity cards for the nearly 1 000 Rastafarians who long have been seen as stateless in the East African nation, the government announced on Thursday. "These individuals have long been unable to enter and leave the country easily," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Meles Alem told The Associated Press. Close to one thousand Rastafarians live in Ethiopia, especially in the capital, Addis Ababa, and a southern town called Shashamane. "We are overjoyed," said Ras King, a prominent member of the Rastafarian community who first came to Ethiopia in 1982. The foreign ministry said the thousands of people who will be issued the new identity cards still cannot take part in elections or engage in the country's security and defense sectors.

Source: Ethiopian News July 28, 2017 04:07 UTC