- Title: [SW News] (Oromia Online News) Refoulement of Oromo refugees from Somaliland An
Inhuman Act to be condemned Oromo Liberation Front - Press Release
- From:[]
- Date :March 21, 2000[]
Oromo Liberation Front March 21, 2000
<A HREF="http://www.oromo.com/Oromia_Online_News.htm">Oromia
Online News</A>
Press Release
(March 17, 2000)
Refoulement of Oromo refugees from Somaliland An Inhuman Act
to be condemned
Nobody leaves his/her country and become a refugee without encountering
fundamental problems that are beyond his/her control. The basic reasons
behind fleeing from ones country is to escape from those problems and live a
safe and guaranteed life. This is not being so for Oromos refugees. The
harassment, suffering, persecution and ill-treatment of Oromos is crossing
international boundaries. Oromos are taking refuge in neighboring countries
because of national persecution and their political belief. Since the last
two years famine and forceful conscription to the Ethiopian army has added to
the number of refugees fleeing and entering neighboring countries. These
Oromo refugees are supposed to get refugee protection and assistance as
enclosed in the Geneva Convention for Refugees of 1951. But this is not the
case in Djibouti and Somaliland.
On March 15, 2000 Somaliland government rounded up over 300 Oromo refugees
from Hargeisa and other smaller towns and deported them against their will to
Ethiopia. Those deported on 15/3/2000 are currently in the town of Jijiga.
The rounding up of Oromo refugees in Somaliland is continuing. This hideous
act of the Hargeisa government is not the first of its kind. The Somaliland
government had deported over 750 Oromo refugees to Ethiopian in the last two
years. All of the refugees that were handed over to the Ethiopian government
were detained, tortured and some were killed. It is sad that the Hargeisa
government knowingly or unknowingly is fulfilling the interest and policies
of the Ethiopian government.
This act of Hargeisa government, which we think is intended to impress the
Ethiopian government, has to be condemned by all human right activists, peace
and freedom loving individuals and organizations. Oromos, as any other
peoples in the world, are entitled to get refugee protection and assistance
from government and UNHCR offices. However, Oromo refugees are being
harassed, intimidated, detained, deported and killed in the countries they
took refuge. In South Africa four Oromos refugees were killed last year by
terrorist gangs organized by the Ethiopian government. In Kenya, Nairobi,
Colonel Jatani Ali was shot dead by assassin squad of TPLF government in
1992. Thousands of Oromos were rounded up in Djibouti and detained in the
desert around Dikhil and later deported to Ethiopia. What is very agonizing
and lacerating our hearts is that all our appeals and pleas to international
organizations and neighboring governments were fruitless. This leaves us,
Oromos, with one alternative alone, that is to pull all our energies and
resources to defend ourselves from all harassments and persecutions any where
and any time. We want to remind the Hargeisa government officials that at one
time hundreds of thousands of Somaliland people took refuge in our country
and the Oromo people did not deport or maltreat them, rather gave them
helping hands. Even today, there are many Somaliland refugees in our country.
A historical fact is that the Somaliland peoples and the Oromo people are
neighbors who share many things in common. As neighboring people we should
work on fostering good neighborliness both for the present and coming
generations. Such acts of refoulement of refugees from Somaliland by the
present government in Hargeisa, if not stopped, will leave deep scar between
our brotherly peoples that will be very difficult to heal.
Once again the OLF wants to caution the Somaliland government to refrain from
such acts that contravene International Laws and Regulations concerning the
well being of refugees, and spoil the good relationship between neighborly
peoples. Above all, the OLF likes to remind the Oromo people to be aware of
the hard fact facing us as a nation and work in unison for our liberation. In
addition, we call upon all Oromos around the world to do whatever is possible
to bring the plight of Oromo refugees in Djibouti, Somaliland, Yemen, Sudan,
and Kenya to the attention of the world community. It is unfortunate that
neighboring countries and UNHCR have failed to protect the rights of Oromo
refugees in the Horn region.
Victory to the Oromo People!
OLF National Council.
[ News] |
