Ethiopia's foreign ministry said Friday it will issue identification cards to Rastafarians, granting rights to a community that has long complained of living in limbo in their "promised land". But the community shrank after Haile Selassie's overthrow and eventual murder in the 1970s. These days, the Rastafarian community in Shashamane numbers in the hundreds, but the religion's adherents complain that they can't own property, send their children to university or work because they're not Ethiopian citizens. "There were questions for them to recognise their presence in the country, so that is what the government did," Meles said. Under the revised guidelines, the cards will also be available to foreigners who have contributed to the country's development and to Israelis of Ethiopian descent, Meles said.

Source: Ethiopian News July 28, 2017 10:52 UTC