The Welkait Committee was established on 23 August 2015 by displaced with 25,000 signatures collection from Welkait people. They convened their first meeting. The committee sought to question the institutional state of Amhara people as well as preventing anti-Amhara discrimination in the disputed region. On 19 September, the committee conducted an inaugural conference at the Landmark Hotel in Gondar with approximately 450 Welkait Amhara in attendance. After forming 20 members, Colonel Demeke Zewdu has been the head of mobilization and Teshager Woldemichael as secretary.[2][3] On 17 December 2015, the Committee submitted complaint letters to the zonal, regional and federal offices. Each office blatantly rejected the letter, assuming the question pertained from matter of identity and border-related case. In July 2016, the Committee members were arrested and tortured for petitioning about Welkait Amhara identity.[4][5][1][6][7]
Amhara forces soon carried out a coordinated campaign of ethnic cleansing against Tigrayans in Western Tigray. In several towns across Western Tigray, signs were displayed ordering Tigrayans to leave, and local administrators discussed plans to remove Tigrayans in open meetings. By mid-December, they had established a provisional "Setit-Humera zone," covering the former Welkait, Kafta Humera, and Tsegede wereda. Humera, Addi Remets and Dansha were virtually depopulated, with numerous shops closed, some of them subjected to looting. Any traces of a Tigrinya-speaking administration were deliberately erased. Tigrinya-written signs, including those on private hotels and shops, were repainted. Many houses were destroyed during the fighting, however, others were deliberately set on fire after the conflict ceased. Many Tigrayan communities, facing intimidation, fled east, towards central Tigray. Officials from the provisional administration then actively encouraged people from Gondar areas to settle in, offering free houses to those with connections to the new administration.[8] In contrast to towns with majority Tigrayan populations, The New York Times reports that towns in the zone with majority Amhara populations were "thriving, with bustling shops, bars and restaurants."[9][10]