Ethiopia digital ID prompts fears of ethnic profiling

Displaced people queue for food at the Tsehaye primary school, which was turned into a temporary shelter for people displaced by conflict, in the town of Shire, Tigray region, Ethiopia. — Reuters

Birhanu Degefa was visiting family in the Ethiopian city of Shire in November, when soldiers suddenly began rounding up men on the street, accusing them of being rebels, and demanding to see their identity papers.

War had just broken out in the northern region between Tigrayan rebels and government forces, and Tigrayans like Birhanu were at high risk of being profiled and arrested, or worse.