23,000 undocumented Ethiopians surrender to authorities

Around 23,000 illegal Ethiopian workers have surrendered to the Riyadh police, with the Saudi authorities now arranging for their repatriation, the Ethiopian ambassador told Arab News on Tuesday. 

Muhammed Hassan Kabiera said the Ethiopian mission had intervened because many illegal workers were unsure about how to proceed when the amnesty ended.

“So our mission had discussions with the Saudi authorities and made arrangements to enable such citizens to hand themselves in,” the ambassador said.

Under the agreement, Kabiera said the workers would be kept at various holding centers until they could get exit visas. “We have been informed that so far about 23,000 Ethiopians have handed themselves in.”

The Ethiopian Embassy assisted 38,199 workers to correct their employment status during the amnesty period, which ended on Nov. 4, he said.

The envoy said the embassy’s officials and volunteers, with various Saudi government agencies, were working to get the workers travel documents.

“Ethiopia was one of the first countries to request an extension of the initial amnesty so that citizens would benefit and correct their status.” He said the extension “was gracefully accepted.”

However, when many workers could not rectify their status, the embassy began preparations for them to go home.

Referring to the incident in Manfouha on Saturday, where three people including a Saudi was killed, the envoy said it was unfortunate that clashes occurred between some Ethiopian nationals and Saudi youths. He sent his condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives.

He said the clashes occurred because the illegal workers were frustrated they did not have a way to surrender to the police. They then took to the streets to voice their concerns, which led to clashes with some youths in the neighborhood.

“Such confrontations and clashes are unacceptable.” He said the safety and human rights of all people should be respected.

=>arabnews

Oromo Studies Representation at African Studies Annual Meeting

African Studies Association (ASA) will hold its 56th annual meeting under an encapsulating theme "Mobility, Migration and Flows" in Baltmore, Maryland, November 21-24, 2013. 

Qeerransoo Biyyaa, host of Oromo Press Radio (OPR), spoke to Bonnie Holcomb, the founding mother of Oromo Studies Association and co-author with Sesai Ibsa of Invention of Ethiopia: The Making of Dependent Colonial State in Northeast Africa about the line-up of events leading up to and during the ASA conference. From the feature interview OPR conducted with Qabbanee, two Oromo Studies panels and several individual presentation slots have been secured at ASA. 

A panel on the history and achievement of the Oromo Diaspora rightly identified as, "Past and Present Oromo Diasporas: Experiences, Identities and Achievements," will be chaired by a renowned Oromo Sociologist Professor Mekuria Bulcha.  Sandy Shell will fly in from the University of Capetown in South Africa in time to present a doctoral research  on liberated Oromo slaves in South Africa under this panel. The title of Sandy's work is  The Oromo Children of Lovedale, South Africa: A Prosopography of African Slavery and its After-Effects. 

Many in the Oromo diaspora and Oromia know Sandy Shell for authoring a  popular  article titled, "How an Ethiopian [Oromian] slave became a South African teacher" for BBC-Africa.  This article has not only been shared thousands of times online, but it also generated immense interest from the Oromo as well as from Oromo rivals who wished to suppress the story. Our sources say Abyssinians tried to discourage Sandy by heckling her and sending vitriolic messages to her employers. Far beyond the BBC article, she wrote a doctoral dissertation by investigating the details of the subject noted above. 

An Oromo Studies Association-sponsored workshop will be conducted to honor and introduce Sandy Shell and her much anticipated work to the Oromo Community residing in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. Veteran OSA scholars Mekuria Bulcha and Guluma Gemeda will join Sandy at at the pre-ASA meeting workshop in Washington DC.  If you can't have enough of Sandy Shell, a 30-persons RSVP-based event that exclusively features Sandy Shell is going to be held at Georgetown University in Washington DC on November 19 from 11-12:30pm prior to  the workshop and the ASA conference. Try to make it by all means. If she comes all the way from the South Africa, you can surely make a short metro trip on one of DC's colored lines.

Asebe Regassa,  a new Oromo Studies  face and an independent researcher from Germany, will also be speaking at the ASA conference on the topic of land grabbing in Oromia. Mardaasaa Addisu, a veteran  advocate for Oromo refugee rights is expected to speak on the devastation of environment in Oromia as the leading cause of of Oromo migration or exodus out of the land of repression. 

Review excerpts from ASA schedule below to see the panels, topics and  panelists representing the Oromo nation and the Horn of Africa at the 56th convention of the African Studies Association. 

The Oromo Studies Panels at African Studies 

1) Past and Present Oromo Diasporas: Experiences, Identities and Achievements 
Chair: Mekuria Bulcha, Malardalen UniversityOromo Diaspora Institutions in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area: A Glimpse into a Transnational Sociocultural Field Zakia Posey, Michigan State UniversityDiasporic Contributions to the Development of Oromo Studies Mekuria Bulcha, Malardalen UniversityThe Oromo Children of Lovedale, South Africa: A Prosopography of African Slavery and its After-Effects Sandy Shell, University of Cape Town (UCT)The Significance of the Oromo Diaspora in Europe for the Beginning of Oromo Studies in the 1840s Guluma Gemeda, University of Michigan-Flint

 2) Oromo On and Off the Land 
Chair: Bonnie Holcomb, The George Washington University
Competing Notions of Nature: The Guji Oromo Ecological Wisdom and its Encounter with State Conservation Discourse, Asebe Regassa, IndependentEnvironmental Destruction in Ethiopia: A Leading Factor in Oromo Migration Mardaasa Addisu, Macha Tulama Cooperative and Development, USALand and Environment: The Oromo in the Horn of Africa Daniel Ayana, Youngstown State UniversityOromo Religion and Ecology Bonnie Holcomb, The George Washington UniversityDiscussants: Ezekiel Gebissa, Kettering University

=>oromopress

Illegal workers surrender in Saudi as 3 Ethiopians die

Riyadh (AFP) - Thousands of Africans, mostly Ethiopians, surrendered to Saudi authorities for a second day on Tuesday as Addis Ababa announced the death of three citizens during clashes in the Gulf kingdom.

The men, women and children could be seen lining up under the blazing sun in the poor Manfuhah neighbourhood of the capital waiting to be packed into buses to carry them to deportation centres.

"We were forced to sell our furniture for very low prices and, in our haste, had to give away much of it," said one of the Ethiopians sitting on the ground in despair.

A fellow citizen who also spoke to AFP said he was being deported despite having valid documents.

"Some of us have a legal residency permit, but our sponsors have disappeared with the money" paid to legalise their employment status, he said.

Saudi Arabia announced this year that migrants can only work for their sponsors, even those of them who have residency permits.

On Monday, the ultra-conservative kingdom began rounding up thousands of illegals following the expiry of a final amnesty for them to formalise their status.

Among them are foreigners who overstayed their visas, pilgrims who have sought jobs, and migrants working under one sponsor trying to get jobs elsewhere.

Having an official sponsor is a legal requirement in Saudi Arabia and most other Gulf states.

Buses have been transporting illegal immigrants to assembly centres near the capital Riyadh where authorities are finalising procedures to deport them.

These centres have received some 17,000 foreign workers during the past few days, Saudi media reports said on Tuesday, quoting a police spokesman.

In Addis Ababa, Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti told reporters that three Ethiopians had been killed in Saudi Arabia during the police crackdown on illegal immigrants in the Gulf state.

"The act of killing innocent civilians is uncalled for, we condemn that," Mufti said.

Saudi police on Saturday said they intervened following riots in Manfuhah neighbourhood after foreigners attacked Saudis and other foreign expats with rocks and knives.

One Saudi and another person, whose nationality and identity remains unknown, were killed Saturday, said a police statement carried by the SPA state news agency.

Ethiopia announced last week it would repatriate its citizens illegally living in Saudi Arabia after the seven-month amnesty period expired.

Mufti said the government had called for an investigation into the deaths, adding a delegation had been sent to Saudi Arabia to help the repatriation process.

Nearly a million migrants -- Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Indians, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis among them -- took advantage of the amnesty to leave.

Another roughly four million were able to find employers to sponsor them.

Expatriates account for a full nine million of the oil-rich kingdom's population of 27 million.

The lure of work, even in low-paid jobs as domestics or construction workers, has made the country a magnet for migrants from Asia as well as from poorer Arab states.

Despite its huge oil wealth, Saudi Arabia has a jobless rate of more than 12.5 percent among its native population, a figure the government has long sought to cut.

=>yahoo news

“ABOn lola ittisaa irraa gara jijjiirraa fiduutti tarkaanfachaa jira,” Jaal Daawud Ibsaa

(Oromedia, 12 Sadaasa 2013) Ayyaana FDG bara 2013, Canada, Torontotti kabajame irratti karaa toora skype sududaan dhiyaatanii ibsa kallattii haala ABOn keessa darbee fi yeroo ammaa keessatti argamu kan kennan Hayyuduree ABO, Jaal Daawud Ibsa, ABOn duula badiinsaa itti aggaammatame karaa hedduu ofirraa qolachuun qabsoo hidhannoo fi diplomaasii jijjiirraa hundee fidu gaggeessuutti akka jiru yaadachiisaniiru.

Keessayyuu, baroota 1990moota keessa duulli itti baname kan sadarkaa olaanaatti jireenya dhaabichaa qormaata keessa galche ta’uu kan ibsan Jaal Daawud, haleellaa fi shiroota sadarkaa addunyaatti ABO dhabamsiisuuf itti baname ofirraa deebisuun qabsoo of-ittisuu irraa gara jijjiirraa fiduutti tarkaanfachaa akka jiru illee hirmaatotaaf mirkaneessanii jiru.

=>oromedia

Sadaasa 9, Guyyaa FDG Ilaalchisee Ibsa Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo

Finfinnee, Oromiyaa

Gabaasaa Galmee Sabboontota Oromoo Kanneen Bara Tokko Keessatti Hidhaman, Ajjeefamanii fi Bakka Buuteen Isaanii Dhabamee

(Sadaasa 2012 Irraa Hanga Sadaasa 2013)

Uummatni Oromoo sirna bittaa Wayyaaneef tole jedhee guyyaatti gabrummaa of irratti ilaale hin qabu. Uummanni Oromoo diddaa sirna cunqursaa kanaaf wareegama baroota 21 keessatti baase kan lakkaawamee dhumu miti. Oromiyaa keessatti sabboontota gaaffii mirgaa kaasan yeroo irraa yerootti mootummaa Wayyaaneen adamfamanii mana hidhaa adda addaa keessatti ugguramuun aadaa bulchiinsa EPRDF ta’uun beekama.

Bara tokkoo as Sadaasa 9, 2012 irraa eegalee hamma Sadaasa 9,2013 waggaa tokko keessatti sabboontotiin Oromoo FDG gaggeessaa jirtu jechuun mana hidhaatti ukkaamfaman lakkoofsaan hedduu ta’anis, gariis ajjeefamanii, gariin ammoo bakka buuteen isaanii dhabame. Walumaa gala Sadaasa 9/2012 irraa hanga sadaasa 9/2013tti FDG hedduun guutuu biyyaatti gaggeeffamaa bahe. Wayyaaneenis darara hidhaa fi ajjeechaa gaggeessaa ture. Bara kana keessa qabsoo bilisummaa Oromoof jechaa kanneen hidhaman, ajjeefaman yaadachuu fi sabni keenya adduunyaa irra jiru mirga qabsaawota kanaa bakka hundatti akka falmuuf jecha Sochiin Dargaggoota Oromoo Biyyoolessaa (Qeerroo Bilisummaa) galmee qabsaawota hidhamanii, ajjeefamanii fi bakka buuteen isaanii dhabamanii yeroo fi bakka irraa hidhaman waliin akka armaa gadiitti gabaasa.

- Dokumenti Guutuu

=>gadaa

Letter on Attach on Refugees and Laborers in Saudi Arabia

Mardaasa Addisu

Secretary of Macha Tulama
Cooperative and Development Association, USA

 November 12, 2013

Dear Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud
Ministry of Interior
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Minister of Agriculture
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

My name is Mardaasa Addisu My name is Mardaasa Addisu, an Oromo American, who is part of an international group advocating for Oromo rights. Oromo people are an ethnic group that makes up 50% of the population in Ethiopia but are being persecuted by the Tigrayan dictatorship. The Abyssinians (Tigray and Amhara) have committed Genocide on all Cushitic people to acquire resources and reduce the indigenous populations. As a result, Oromo (and all other Cushitic people) are displaced in mass numbers around the World.

More than 40% of Oromo are Muslim, with some seeking refugee in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia. Many flee persecution in Ethiopia in hopes of finding refuge whereby they can practice their faith without Government interference. We are aware that a large number of people are also using the Ethiopian domestic labor agencies to reach Saudi Arabia.

Recently, Oromo advocates learned of your government ending the Kafala System of sponsorship for labor, which is believed to bypass Saudi Labor laws.

Human Rights Watch has been critical of the Kafala System in recent times stating:

“Saudi Arabia should get serious about regularizing the status of its workers and do away with an abusive labour systems that force migrants into illegal employment”

Although the changes are reform based, Saudi police are using brutal measures on foreign workers are severe human rights abuses, and are contrary to international norms. The deaths and attacks of laborers and refugees are direct human rights violations. It is also understood that many that are attacked are ether from East Africa or Asia.

Those from East Africa, particularly who have fled Ethiopia are primarily Oromo and or Ogadeni Somalia. Oromo and Ogadeni flee due to the overwhelming oppression in Ethiopia.

Oromo advocates are concerned with the planned deportation of Oromo and Ogaden refugees and laborers who fled from their countries in fear of persecution. While other countries can peacefully return their people to their native land, Oromo and Ogadeni run the risk of being thrown in jail in Ethiopia. Human Rights Watch documented Ethiopia’s prison abuses, particularly Oromo people in the following report:

–Full Letter in PDF

=>ayyaantuu

Ethiopians say: SomeoneTellSaudiArabia

Foreign workers leave the Manfuhah neighbourhood of the Saudi capital Riyadh on November 10, 2013, after two people were killed in clashes between Saudi and other foreign residents the previous day, according to the Saudi police. AFP/FAYEZ NURELDINE

Ethiopians online are condemning Saudi Arabia's crackdown on migrant workers after clashes between Saudi police and foreigners in southern Riyadh left at least two dead and many more injured. Policeidentified one of the dead as a Saudi national and did not identify the other victim. An Ethiopian man waskilled in a separate visa raid the previous week.

The clashes come during a visa crackdown on undocumented workers intended to reduce illegal sources of cheap labour and provide more jobs for Saudi nationals. Hundreds of thousands of foreign workers departed Saudi Arabia in the last seven months, during which they were required to resolve their visa status without penalty or leave the country. Police have arrested thousands since the amnesty period expired on November 4. 

 

The video below appears to show the clashes in the Manfuhah neighbourhood, with men in plain clothes beating and arresting others. The Stream cannot independently verify this video. 

=>stream.aljazeera