Many Rastas Were Chased Away, But Were Determined To Remain: Ethiopias Religious Community Under Threat

Rastafarians who sought a spiritual homeland in Shashamene face eviction and arrest for flying flag of Haile Selassies empire In 1999, Ras Paul, a west London DJ born to Jamaican parents, sold part of his voluminous vinyl collection to buy a plot of land and build a house in Shashamene, 125 miles south of Ethiopias capital, Addis Ababa. Seven years earlier, he had become a Rastafarian, around the time of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, whom the religion reveres as the Messiah. As an Ethiopian descendent, I wanted to come home, he says. Its the place I felt I belong.