Oromo Democratic Front (ODF): Statement on the Mistreatment of Immigrants from Ethiopia in Saudi Arabia

A statement from the Oromo Democratic Front (ODF) …

November 22, 2013

We, members of the Oromo Democratic Front (ODF), strongly condemn all actions of brutality carried out against migrant workers from Ethiopia in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Leave alone our fellow Oromos, we do not wish such dehumanizing, barbaric, and vicious violence being inflicted on any human being whatsoever. Although officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have every right to ask foreigners to leave their country, it should be done in a civilized fashion where people are not dehumanized and abused. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the UN Charter, has an obligation to observe and protect human rights and treat immigrants in accordance to international law.

The anti-migrant outburst, currently being witnessed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, possibly serves as the symptom of the underlying explosive contradictions in the Kingdom’s political-cum-religious policies. The Kingdom that vests sovereignty in individual rulers prides itself as the protector and promoter of the purest form of Islam although only the Almighty Creator is Sovereign according to the tenets of Islam. The Kingdom interferes in the internal affairs of other countries in order to export its preferred version of Islam while invoking the doctrine of non-interference in internal affairs in its dealings with foreigners found on its home territory. Moreover, while pretending to pose as the bastion of worldwide brotherhood of the Umma, it allows its security personnel to brutalize and humiliate fellow Muslims from other countries without any compunction whatsoever. The country, with one of the highest number of educated females in the Arab/Islamic world, does not even allow women PhD holders to drive cars. These and other clearly contradictory practices constitute a highly explosive mixture, which the power holders are trying to contain by directing popular frustration against helpless foreign migrants.

Over the years, we have seen graphic images of brutality inflicted on our women migrant workers in the other Arab countries as well. Beatings, longer hours of work, denial of pay, and sexual abuses are common practices.

While we are extremely saddened by the brutality suffered by our compatriots in foreign countries, we would like to point out the underlying reasons which have caused the massive migration of our people to other countries. The reasons are twofold: the first is gross human rights violations and political persecution in Ethiopia; and the second is abject poverty. These are the twin enemies our people are running away from, taking enormous risks along the journey and exposing themselves to dehumanizing conditions at their destinations.

Democratic governance, which protects the rights of its citizens, as well as a government which creates an opportunity for its own people to live a dignified life on their land, is the only solution to curb the flight of people from their own country. The humiliating experience we have been experiencing will come to an end only when we drain the swamp that has forced people to flee their country.

On this occasion, the ODF would like to call upon all the Ethiopian peoples, the government, and political groups to come together and tackle the structural deficiency of democratic governance and alleviate poverty to restore pride and prosperity to our peoples.

Freedom & Justice for All!

=>gadaa

Racism and Hate Running Through the Streets; Ethiopian Migrants Victimized in Saudi Arabia

by GRAHAM PEEBLES

In the last 10 days persecution of Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia has escalated. Men and women are forced from their homes by mobs of civilians and dragged through the streets of Riyadh and Jeddah. Distressing videos of Ethiopian men being mercilessly beaten, kicked and punched have circulated the Internet and triggered worldwide protests by members of the Ethiopian diaspora as well as outraged civilians in Ethiopia. Women report being raped, many repeatedly, by vigilantes and Saudi police. Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT), has received reports of fifty deaths and states that thousands living with or without visas have been detained awaiting repatriation. Imprisoned, many relay experiences of torture and violent beatings.

Earlier this year the Saudi authorities announced plans to purge the kingdom of illegal migrants. In July, King Abdullah extended the deadline for them to “regularize their residency and employment status [from 3 rd July] to November 4th. Obtain the correct visa documentation, or risk arrest, imprisonment and/or repatriation. On 6th November, Inter Press Service (IPS) reports, Saudi police, “rounded up more than 4,000 illegal foreign workers at the start of a nationwide crackdown,“ undertaken in an attempt (the authorities say), to reduce the 12% unemployment rate “creating more jobs for locals”.

Leading up to the “crackdown” many visa-less migrants left the country: nearly a million Bangladeshis, Indians, Filipinos, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis are estimated to have left the country in the past three months. More than 30,000 Yemenis have reportedly crossed to their home country in the past two weeks,” and around 23,000 Ethiopian men and women have “surrendered to Saudi authorities” [BBC].

The police and civilian vigilante gangs are victimizing Ethiopian migrants, residing with and without visas; the “crackdown” has provided the police and certain sectors of the civilian population with an excuse to attack Ethiopians. Press TV reports that “Saudi police killed three Ethiopian migrant workers in the impoverished neighborhood of Manfuhah in the capital, Riyadh, where thousands of African workers, mostly Ethiopians, were waiting for buses to take them to deportation centers.” Hundreds have been arrested and report being tortured: “we are kept in a concentration camp, we do not get enough food and drink, when we defend our sisters from being raped, they beat and kill us,” a migrant named Kedir, told ESAT TV. Women seeking refuge within the Ethiopian consulate tell of being abducted from the building by Saudi men and raped. ESAT, reports that several thousand migrants have been transported by trucks to unknown destinations outside the cities.

Whilst the repatriation of illegal migrants is lawful, the Saudi authorities do not have the right to act violently; beating, torturing and raping vulnerable, frightened people: people, who wish simply to work in order to support their families. The abuse that has overflowed from the homes where domestic workers are employed onto the streets of the capital reflects the wide-ranging abuse suffered by migrant workers of all nationalities in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Gulf States.

Trail of Abuse

This explosion of state sponsored violence against Ethiopians highlights the plight of thousands of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. They tell of physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of employers, agents and family members. The draconian Kafala sponsorship system, (which grants ownership of migrants to their sponsor), together with poor or non-existent labour laws, endemic racism and gender prejudice, creates an environment in which extreme mistreatment has become commonplace in the oil-rich kingdom.

There are over nine million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, that’s 30% of the population. They come from poor backgrounds in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia and Ethiopia and make up “more than half the work force. The country would grind to an embarrassing stand still without their daily toil. “Many suffer multiple abuses and labor exploitation [including withholding of wages, excessive working hours and confinement], sometimes amounting to slavery-like conditions”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) states.

The level of abuse of domestic workers is hard to judge: their isolation combined with total control exerted by employers, together with government indifference, means the vast majority of cases go unreported. Until August this year there was no law covering domestic abuse. Legislation has been passed: however, the authorities, HRW reports “are yet to make clear which agencies will police the new law…without effective mechanisms to punish domestic abuse, this law is merely ink on paper.” All pressure needs to be exerted on the rulers of Saudi Arabia to ensure the law is implemented and enforced so victims of domestic violence feel it is safe to come forward.

Ethiopian Governments Negligence

Whilst thousands of its nationals are detained, beaten, killed and raped, the Ethiopian government hangs its negligent head in silence in Addis Ababa, does not act to protect or swiftly repatriate their nationals, and criminalises those protesting in Addis Ababa against the Saudi actions.

Although freedom to protest is enshrined within the Ethiopian constitution (a liberal minded, largely ignored document written by the incumbent party), dissent and public demonstrations, if not publicly outlawed, are actively discouraged by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) regime. In response to the brutal treatment meted out by the Saudi police and gangs of vigilantes in Riyadh and Jeddah, outraged civilians in Addis Ababa staged a protest outside the Saudi Embassy, only to be confronted by their own police force, wielding batons and beating demonstrators. Al Jazeera reports that police “arrested dozens of people outside the Saudi embassy [in Addis Ababa] in a crackdown on demonstrators protesting against targeted attacks on Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia.” A senior member of The Blue Party, Getaneh Balcha was one of over 100 people arrested for peacefully protesting.

The government’s justification, rolled out to defend yet another suppressive response to a democratic display, was to assert that the protest “was an illegal demonstration, they had not got a permit from the appropriate office”: petty bureaucratic nonsense, hiding the undemocratic truth that the government does not want public protests of any kind on the streets of its cities: effectively, freedom of assembly is banned in Ethiopia. The protestors, he said, “were fomenting anti-Arab sentiments here among Ethiopians.” Given the brutal treatment of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia, anger and anti-Saudi sentiment (not anti Arab) is, one would imagine understandable, and should be shared by the Ethiopian government.

The people of Ethiopia are living under a duplicitous highly repressive regime. The EPRDF consistently demonstrates it’s total indifference to the needs and human rights of the people. Freedom of expression, political dissent and public assembly is denied by a regime that is committing a plethora f human rights violations in various parts of the country, atrocities constituting in certain regions crimes against humanity. In fact, according to Genocide Watch, the Ethiopian government is committing genocide in the Somali region, as well as on the “Anuak, Oromo and Omo” ethnic groups (or tribes).Freedom of expression, political dissent and public assembly is denied by a regime that is committing a plethora f human rights violations in various parts of the country, atrocities constituting in certain regions crimes against humanity.

The recent appalling events in Saudi Arabia have brought thousands of impassioned Ethiopians living inside the country and overseas onto the streets. This powerful worldwide action presents a tremendous opportunity for the people to unite, to demand their rights through peaceful demonstrations and to call with one voice for change within their beloved country. The time to act is now, as a wise man has rightly said, “nothing happens by itself, man must act and implement his will”.

Graham Peebles is director of the Create Trust. He can be reached at: graham@thecreatetrust.org

=>counterpunch

Ajjefamaa, saamamaa fi madaa’aa jirra, Kan Iyyata Keenya Dhaga’uu Dhabne

Jaallannee Gammadaa

22.11.2013

WASHINGTON, DC — Bulchiinsa naannoo Oromiyaa Godiina Haraargee Bahaa aanaalee Minoo fi Mayyuu Muluuqqee keessa uummanni jiraatan kan Oromoo dhalatoota bulchiinsa naannoo somaaleetiin dararaan nu irra ga’aa jira jechuun Raadiyoo sagalee Amerikaaf ibsan.

Anaalee lameen keessa kan jiru gandeen 30 keessa uummanni jiraataa ture kan Oromoo ajjefamaa qabeenyaan isaas saamamaa fi humnaan godaansifamaa jira jedhu jiraattonni kanneen ol iyyaanaaf jecha gara Finfinnee dhufan.

Waggaa tokko keessatti oroomooti 59 ajjefamanii hedduun akka mada’an akkasumas qabeenyaan qarshii miliyoona kurnaan lakkaa’amntu barbadaa’ee.

=>voaafaanoromo

The people who lost their identity

By Bora Pawlos | November 23, 2013

Bora Pawlos

The question of why so many Ethiopians are forced to flee their own  country in the first place. Why are millions of Ethiopians suffering around the world as helpless refugees, undocumented aliens, and, in many cases, beggars?  What relegated Ethiopians to live a life of second-class, even third class citizens around the world is nothing but the repression, discrimination, and brutality they face in their own country in the hands of an ethnocratic regime well -equipped with the tools and arsenals of repression.

Millions are forced each day to choose between a wretched existence at home and uncertain search for hope in a strange land. Fed to the brutal whips of the unscrupulous and racist slave drivers in Saudi Arabia by their own government, Ethiopians cannot look for their leaders at home to come to their aid.  To those unwitting sympathizers of the criminal regime in Ethiopia, the continuing suffering of helpless Ethiopians at the hands of racist Arabs should come as a wakeup call. We should not only blame the perpetrators of the crime; we must also hold accountable those who made life unbearable at home for millions of Ethiopians.

A government that demonstrates no concern for the suffering of its people that it systematically drives to a life of exile, servitude and inhuman treatment should be held accountable, condemned, and ultimately removed. Today the blood of innocent Ethiopians colors Arab streets.  Let there be no doubt that their blood will not be spilled in vain. This tragedy should serve as a cause for action and for redemption. It is a call for action for those of us in the Diaspora and back home, who have served as apologists for the criminal regime, trading the time-honored Ethiopian pride and patriotism for petty material gains.

Today, Ethiopia is a country that is ruled by corrupt despots who have utter disregard for basic human rights. They are thugs that have no allegiance to the flag and depraved souls without eye of national and patriotic ethos. The sacred and time honored ethos  that were protected by the blood and sweat of generations of Ethiopian compatriots are being replaced by the callous deeds of morally debauched thugs who have condemned millions to a life of abject poverty, ignorance, disease and abysmal sense of hopelessness.

An Ethiopian worker holds his baby as he waits with his countrymen to be repatriated in Manfouha, S Riyadh, November 11, 2013

For those who have paid attention to the reality in Ethiopia, it is abundantly clear that the dehumanization and humiliation of our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia did not begin on Saudi streets. Many found themselves facing the brutality of the Saudi police after being forced to leave their country because of a similar form of brutality at home. The fact is that most young Ethiopians, besides facing high rate of unemployment, are subject to some of the most serious rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, incommunicado-detention, arbitrary arrest, torture, and inhumane prison conditions in Ethiopia.

Ethiopians must unite against the unscrupulous and decadent ethnocentric dictatorship that has condemned its citizens to a life of misery, dehumanization, repression both at home and in exile. We must hold those in power responsible for the tragic predicaments of our fellow citizens in Arab lands.  The ultimate remedy, therefore, is for all Ethiopians to unite in common cause to bring about freedom, democracy, hope and all the requisite social and economic conditions to lead a free and dignified life in our homeland.

=>ayyaantuu

S. Arabiyaa Keessatti Gochaa Sukkanneessaa Oromoo fi Saboota Biroo Irratti Raawatame Mormuun Oromoonni Oslo, Norway keessatti Hiriira Bahan

=>gadaa

The Oromos and other nation and nationalities of Ethiopia in Germany, Protest Killing of migrants in Saudi Arabia

UOSG | November 22, 2013

A Protest demonstration organized by the Union of Oromo Students in Germany (UOSG) in collaboration with the Oromo Community in Hessen and the Oromo Community in Munich and strongly condemns the mass killing, inhumanly killing, torturing, murdering, massacring, brutal treatment and being raping by Saudi citizens and security forces publicly more than ever. The protest took place on 21 November 2013 in front of the Saudi Arabia consulate in Frankfurt am Main, Germany with more than 60 peoples. The very active and emotional participation of the numerous members of the Union of Oromo Students and the Oromo nationals from all parts of Germany, gave a special glamour to it with slogans of Stop killing innocents migrants, Saudi Shame on you!!! Saudi you will pay the price!!!!!You are killer! Saudi Arabia you are terriorist, you are murderer, Free our brothers and sisters, you are rapper…raper…raper, Stop killing and Rape our sister and Brothers!!Enough is enough!!The blood of Oromo youths and Nation of Ethiopians cries out for justice’:

The call for the Demonstration including our demand letter was already sent to different organizations and diplomatic missions operating in Germany including City administration of Frankfurt, Aminist International EU and Human Right Watch.

–Full Report PDF

=>ayyaantuu

Yuunivarsiitii Amboo barattootni muummee AGRI BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING sirna mootummaa Wayyaanee dura dhaabbatan

Sadaasa 22,2013 Amboo

Dhiibbaan mootummaan Wayyaanee gaggeessaa ture daangaa hin qabu. Ilmaan Oromoo guutummaan gaaffiiwwan mirgaa kaasaa; wareegama barbaachisaas kaffalaa as gahan. Barattootni Oromoo addatti qabsoo fincila diddaa garbummaaf taasifamu keessatti qooda olaanaa bahaa turan. Yuunivarsiitii Amboo keessatti haalli kun itti fufuun barattootni gamtaan sirna mootummaa Wayyaanee dura dhaabbachaa jiran. Mootummaan wayyaanee barattootaa fi baajata barnootaan bittaa umrii isaa dheereffachuuf kan akeekkate irratti barattootni gamtaan dura dhaabbatanii jiran. Yuunivarsiitii Ambootti barattootni muummee AGRI BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING baratan sirni bulchinsa mooraa Yuunivarsiitii fi kabajaan barattootaaf kennamu hir’achuu irraa dura dhaabbannaa gaggeessaa jiran. Mootummaan wayyaanee diddaan kun irra deddeebbiin ka’uu irraa bulchinsa mooraa Yuunivarsiitii qorannoon rakkisaa jirti. Pirezedaantiin Yuunivarsiitichaa Dr. Mitikkuu Teessoos mootummaa Wayyaanee waliin tahuu irra barattoota waliin yoo taate kabajaa qabda jechuun qeerroon Yuunivarsiitii Amboo dhaamsa dabarsanii jiran.

=>qeerroo