December 5/1999
ETHIOPIAN REFUGEES IN THE SUDAN FACING GRAVE THREATS Improved relations between the governments in Addis Abeba and Khartoum has led to the increase in the threats that Ethiopian refugees have been forced to face in the Sudan over the years. Recently, Sudanese officials have been heard making official declarations to the effect that "there is no reason for Ethiopians to be refugees now and they can all go back to Ethiopia". Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan have been facing difficulties for long. What makes the present situation alarming is the fact that the government of the Sudan seems to be working hand in glove with the EPRDF. · In Khartoum,Gedaref,Basonda, Hsaisaa, etc... several refugees have been jailed on the explicit demand of the EPRDF embassy officials. · EPRDF security agents have been given freedom to harass the refugees in Kartoum and other places; · There are reports that the mails of refugees singled out by the EPRDF embassy are being intercepted and handed over to the EPRDF embassy and that this could even endanger the lives of their kin back home; · forced repatriation is a looming danger. · exiled dissidents could be assassinated as had happened in Nairobi where EPRDF gunmen murdered Jatene Ali and Afewerk Alemseged in the early 90s. In other words, Ethiopian refugees are becoming political sacrificial offerings for the warming relations of the two governments. · SOCEPP calls on the UNHCR to give due and prompt attention to the dangers facing Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan. · SOCEPP calls on the government of the Sudan to stop all the violations of the rights of Ethiopian refugees. · SOCEPP calls on Ethiopians abroad to mount a serious campaign to publicize the plight of the refugees and to call on the Sudanese government (through its embassies) to respect their rights.
SOCEPP
