Petition Committee for Ethiopian Refugees in the Sudan

 Press release

 March 17,2001

Subject: Resumption of hunger strike

We, Ethiopian refugees whose refugee statuses are illeglly revoked by UNHCR will go on a hunger strike starting on March 18, 2001 in front of UNHCR branch offices in Khartoum and Port Sudan beginning at 9:00 am local time. This is a continuation of the hunger strike which was started on January 28 and discontinued on January 30, 2001 because of the insistence of the UNHCR officers to let the whole results of so called screening result is made known. Now the entire result of the flawed screening process is known. As expected it ended up by stripping the refugee status of the most volunerable refugees. All refugees with valid political reasons are denied protection. Even those EPRP members who survived the 1992 kidnapping from the Sudan by TPLF agents are denied refugee status .The Whole screening process result proved that the decision was a politically motivated move.

 UNHCR while denying to those who deserve its protections most, it has granted a refugee status for those(a) Pro- TPLF elements(b) registered to repatriate- some have already repatriated(c) have TPLF's pass ports and legall residence permits and can go to and come back freely from Ethiopia..

The main objectives of the hunger strike are to protest against :-

1/ UNHCR's decision to apply the cessaation clause on all pre-1991 Ethiopian refugees.

2/ The mechanism used to implement the errorneous decision- The flawed screening process and its results.

1/ Conserning the decision: We believe the premises used to take the decision are wrong. The decision to revoke our rights was made on the ground that the TPLF regime has made the Ethiopian situation better and that we,refugees,should go back. The decision.does not reflect the present day political reality of Ethiopia at all. Rather the decision is a politically motivated move which completely violates the Statute of the UNHCR given to it under the General provisions which states "The work orf the high commissioner shall be of an entirely non-political character; it shall be humaniterian and social... "

2/ Concerning the Screening : The screening is flawed for

(a) It is done after refugees were stripped of their refugee status

(b)the said experts are incompitent for the job as they are young, inexperienced, ill mannered and hostile to refugees

(c) among the interpreters employed to interprete for registration and the interview are TPLF agent ang pro-TPLF

(d) It did not give protection for those refugees who have geniune reasons. On the contrary, it exposed them to TPLF agents.

The Petition Committee will take this opportunity to catagorically deny the false statements made by the UNHCR country representative to the Sudan His Excellency Mr.W.R.Urassa and echoed by at least two UNHCR spokespersons who said that the interpreters are 'vetted' by the refugees. We say, using our tormenter as our interpretes is something shocking ,but to present them to the whole world as they were our choice is a crime to hide the injuctice done agaist us -the voiceless by these UNHCR officials.

Therefore, we call upon the UNHCR to reconsider its decision and also to investigate its flawed screening process under which our refugee status is revoked.

 We are Ethiopian refugees denied by the UNHCR the right to be a refugee for a well founded fear of peresecution !!

Finally, we would like to make it clear that the UNHCR is responssible for what follows the hunger strike. Our protests will be peaceful.

 Enclosed herewith you will find a letter to His Excellency the High Commissioner with all the details.