The Ethiopian government has moved 70,000 indigenous people from the fertile western region of Gambella in order to clear the land for commercial farming and development . . . almost nine million acres have been leased to state-owned and foreign companies since 2008 and the government plans to lease an additional five million acres . . . the government claims the villagers are being moved to areas with better access to "social and economic services" and that all movement is voluntary . . . however, villagers reported being forcibly resettled and threatened with widespread human rights violations including rape, assault, and arrest, according to a report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch . . . this “village-ization” project is expected to encompass 1.5 million Ethiopians by 2013 . . . if Ethiopia is indeed forcibly relocating its citizens then Addis Ababa could see a cut in foreign  aid from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada . . . the land is believed to have been leased primarily to companies from China, Saudi Arabia, and India.