Ethiopia: Forced Conscription Resurfaces Across Oromia As Ethiopia Continues to Grapple With Security Crises

What the report says

Reports of forced conscription have reappeared in parts of Oromia, including the Sheger City area near Addis Abeba, according to an Addis Standard analysis published through AllAfrica on 13 August 2026. Residents and family members described young people being taken without consent, with some relatives saying they later received calls asking for payment to secure their release. The accounts could not be independently verified, and the report said it was unclear whether those taken were being sent to the federal army, regional militias or another armed group.

The article highlighted two recent allegations from East Hararghe and East Bale zones. In one case, a businessman said his younger brother vanished while traveling for work and that callers later demanded 500,000 birr. In another, a mother said her university student son was taken at night while visiting relatives and she did not know where he was being held. The report also noted that similar complaints have emerged previously in Oromia, including claims of coercive recruitment linked to detention and extortion.

Addis Standard placed the allegations in the context of Ethiopia’s wider security crisis, including conflict in Tigray, fighting in Amhara and insecurity in Benishangul-Gumuz. The piece also pointed to earlier findings by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and to Ethiopia’s legal framework, which bars arbitrary detention and forced labor while allowing only limited exceptions. That background, the report said, makes the allegations particularly serious for rights advocates and families in affected areas.