A/HRC/4/9/Add.3 page 11 30. Important contributing factors include the relocation into the Gambella region of highlanders and a porous border with troubled Southern Sudan, which has had a major impact on the region. Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) fighters have used Gambella and there has been an influx of refugees from the Sudanese conflict. The Oromo Liberation Front has been accused of infiltrating fighters into Ethiopia via Gambella’s Sudanese border. Heavily armed Sudanese Nuer groups (the Lou Nuer) have migrated into the region resulting in conflict with local Nuer groups, who have been forced from their traditional lands into Anuak areas, resulting in a breakdown of traditional land-sharing arrangements. Armed Anuak groups active prior to December 2003 were blamed for ambushes and killings of highlanders. 31. Most elders articulated the underlying problems behind the conflict as being about land issues and the encroachment on weaker groups by stronger or better armed groups. Regional politicians were accused of being too concerned with power struggles and achieving political power, and of working only for the interests of their own people. Despite warning signs and rising tensions, regional authorities failed to act to avert the incidents of December 2003. An influx of small arms contributed to rapidly escalating violence as previously unarmed groups also sought to protect themselves. An Anuak community elder in Gambella town stated that: “Many highlanders came and many SPLA from Sudan. Lots of people were killed. Since then we have not felt protected by the Ethiopian Government. We do not think that they are our Government.” 32. Gambella region is uniquely impacted by events and the civil war in Southern Sudan, which have had a significant role in its relative instability. Under the Derg, it was claimed that regional police and military bases protected the border, stopping groups such as the Lou Nuer entering from Sudan and preventing escalation of ethnic tensions. The present Government, however, has reportedly abandoned regional police stations and evacuated military bases, resulting in the free movement of people and rising tensions that have been allowed to escalate unchecked. 33. Lack of investment in roads in the region makes it difficult to prevent or remedy problems in remote areas, even for the military. Community elders pointed out that development in the region had been seriously underfunded or neglected, or that money had disappeared. Gambella remains desperately in need of roads, infrastructure, schools, hospitals and clinics, electricity provision, and numerous other services which would contribute to peace and stability in the region. Such developments would provide much needed jobs that could benefit all communities. These issues demonstrate a strong developmental component to the ongoing conflicts in Gambella. 34. Interviews revealed perceptions that highlanders are politically and economically dominant, despite an ethnically mixed regional government. There was also a strong sense of skin colour bias, as highlanders demonstrated racist attitudes and used derogatory names toward Anuaks, Nuers and others. The independent expert was informed that if members of “black groups” wish to open a shop or business “it will be closed down”. The events of December 2003 have heightened such perceptions and also led to claims that the military is dominated by highlanders, and present in the region to protect only highlander communities. The belief was commonly expressed that the military and political actors have provoked inter-ethnic conflict to safeguard highlander interests, divide political opposition, and clear communities from land for oil exploration.