Ayele Endetebay, Ethiopia

“I grew up in the Gojjam region of northern Ethiopia and come from the Amhara ethnic group. I worked as an aircraft technician for 12 years at Ethiopian Airlines, which is state controlled. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party dominated by the Tigray ethnic group, discriminated against Ethiopians from all other ethnic groups, especially Amharas. The TPLF detained and tortured me for speaking out against this discrimination. I still feel anxiety thinking about my country’s people, who are killed and tortured by the ruling government. That is why I came to the United States in 2016 and applied for asylum.
In the United States, I work as a technician with a transit company in Washington DC. I like my job—there is no discrimination and a strong local union. But I continue to suffer from the stress of waiting almost six years for the Asylum Division of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to interview me. USCIS interviews people who applied for asylum in the last few years before people like me who applied five, six or seven years ago. This is so unfair.

The projected picture shows priests from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church carrying the tabot, a tablet where the Ten Commandments and the words of Jesus are written. Timkat is probably the most colourful festival in Ethiopia. It is a time of great spiritual significance and represents my identity as member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The Ethiopian flags demonstrate my support for a united Ethiopia. It shows my hope for a country at peace which represents the Amharas and all other Ethiopian ethnic groups too.”