Premier Abiy confers with Ethiopian Diaspora in Minnesota, USA

Minesota July31/2018 As part of his working tour in the USA, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed yesterday conferred with Ethiopian diaspora residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Prime Minister was welcomed by members of the Coalition of Ethiopians in Minnesota. This visit code named “Break the wall; build a bridge" jointly organized by a committee specially formed for this purpose hosted a government delegation headed by the Premier. In his visit to Minnesota, Prime Minister Abiy particularly focused his message of unity, love and promotion of peace and forgiveness. He pointed out that a consular office of the Ethiopian Embassy in the US will be built by the joint efforts of the Ethiopians and citizens of Ethiopian origin as a symbol of unity and solidarity among all Ethiopians in the diaspora. While in Minnesota, the Premier requested all the participants of the meeting to hug each other as a gesture of making peace and fostering forgiveness among all Ethiopians in the Minnesota area. During the massive meeting in which members of the Ethiopian community in Minnesota and other states in the USA at Target Center, the Prime Minister responded to various issues and questions including recent clashes between Ethiopia's Oromo and Somali communities, which have left hundreds dead and thousands displaced. Earlier over the previous week, Minneapolis City Council Member Abdi Warsame introduced a resolution asking Abiy to end the recurrent conflict in the border areas between Oromia and Ethiopia Somali Region. Maria Burnett, an associate director of Human Rights Watch's Africa Division who was in Minnesota to attend the meeting said "Abiy has made some really important steps," she said, "but there's a lot of concrete work to be done to reform laws and hold abusers accountable and move forward if this is going to be a new chapter." One of the participants on the meeting noted that “Abiy has done the impossible, everything is changing," and adding that "I hope it stays like that." Star Tribune a local media outlet observed that “During his visit to Minnesota, video footages showed people sold bracelets, key chains and even umbrella hats depicting the Prime Minister’s image. Some wore T-shirts with the Prime Minister's slogan: "Break the wall, build a bridge” as a reference to re-establishing connections with his nation's scattered people. Shirts sporting his image read "We support U," or simply "The Legend." It is to be recalled that Prime Minister Abiy has also called upon diaspora to contribute their part in the Diaspora Trust Fund. In the meantime, The City Council of Washington has declared July 28 as Ethiopia Day while Los Angeles has reportedly declared July 29 to be marked annually as “Ethiopia Day”. Prime Minister Abiy has earlier paid similar visits to Washington and Los Angeles.