WORLD REFUGEE DAY: THE PLIGHT OF ETHIOPIAN REFUGEES HAS WORSENED

June 20/2011

WORLD REFUGEE DAY:  THE PLIGHT OF ETHIOPIAN REFUGEES HAS WORSENED

From Yemen to Lampadusa,from Libya to Norway the plight of Ethiopian refugees has worsened. Hundreds have died trying to reach safe harbors, hundreds are in squalid prisons all over the world, many more are facing deportation threats and a substantial number have been victimized, beaten and raped by human traffickers.

Much as it may come as a surprise to the Western powers cuddling the Meles Zenawi regime, it is one of the most repressive regimes in the region and thousands are fleeing from it. War, persecution, fear, total insecurity and ethnic discrimination have all pushed Ethiopians to leave their country. More than 35,000 political prisoners languish in dungeons and labor camps all over the country, far too many have been disappeared since 1991; dissent is repressed and ethnic discrimination rampant. The latest example of massacres and State terror is Ogaden but there were many examples over the years. Many journalists have either been jailed or forced into exile. Sale of children for dubious adoption and trafficking of young girls for modern slavery in the Middle East is on the increase.

There are by far too many very valid reasons for Ethiopians to flee from their land. However, their legitimate asylum demands have been rejected more and more not only in neighboring countries but also Europe (including Norway that had a positive reputation the past). SOCEPP calls on all democratic forces and human rights bodies to support the Ethiopian people’s yearning for the respect of their rights and to give due assistance and support to the refugees who are fleeing repression and persecution of all sorts.

INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS INJUSTICE EVERYWHERE

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