ADDIS ABABA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government has in recent weeks returned home a total of 875,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs), spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said on Thursday.
Speaking to local and foreign journalists, Seyoum said the 875,000 IDPs who returned home are originally from an estimated 2.3 million Ethiopians that had been displaced in recent years by conflict and climatic volatility.
Seyoum also said the Ethiopian government is working to rehabilitate the remaining internally displaced people and bring to justice individuals suspected of having a hand in the displacement crisis.
"Ethiopian government has identified 2,517 suspects involved in unrest that displaced thousands of Ethiopians and killed scores of others across various parts of the country including the western Benishangul Gumuz regional state, Burayu town near Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa city council in eastern Ethiopia," said Seyoum.
Seyoum also said the Ethiopian government is currently undertaking activities to prevent the possible occurrence of conflicts across the country, successfully aborting a potential conflict in Gambella regional state, located in the southwestern part of the country.
She also said the Ethiopian government is working to ensure the prevalence of the rule of law across the country and is reforming government institutions to enable them to deal with conflicts that occur in various parts of Ethiopia.
