Burayu

Burayu (Amharic: ቡራዩ; Oromo: Burraayyuu) is a town and woreda in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, located in the Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne in the Oromo Region, directly adjacent to the national capital, Addis Ababa.[2]

Burayu
Burayu Location in Ethiopia
Coordinates: 9°02′07″N 38°39′39″E
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Oromia Region
Population  (2007)[1]
• Total	48,876
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)

With the growth of the capital in recent decades and urban sprawl, the town has faced considerable economic and demographic pressures; its population leapt from around 10,000 in 1994 to an estimated 150,000 two decades later, as people, including many from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, migrated from the countryside looking for work, and Addis Ababa residents pushed outwards seeking cheaper housing.[3]

In 2012, more than half of residences were informal, as Burayu’s authorities failed to deal with the demand, according to a 2014 paper by academics from Ethiopian Civil Service University.[4] As a result, newcomers have been drawn into tension with the autochthonous Oromos; dispute over lands and coercive property transfers was a major contributing factor to the 2016 protests. In 2019 a pogrom targeted at migrants centered in Burayu killed between 58 and 65 people.

References

1. "Ethiopia: Cities & Towns". Citypopulation. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
2. Finfinne is the Oromo name for Addis Ababa.
3. Tasfaye, Ermias; Manek, Nizar (26 September 2018). "Mob killings split Ethiopians as political fault lines test Abiy's big tent". Ethiopia Insight. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
4. Bekele, Degu; Jafri, S.S.A.; Asfaw, Melese (2014). "Characteristics of Squatter Houses in Burayu Town Adjoining Addis Ababa, Capital City of Ethiopia". Civil and Environmental Research. 6 (8): 61–71.