MARCH 15/2008

URGENT NOTICE

SUDAN STEPS UP HARASSMENT OF REFUGEES

THE Sudanese authorities have stepped up their harassment of Ethiopian refugees, especially in Khartoum. Recently, police have raided at night the houses of refuges  and taken away a number of them. Ato Dereje Ayele, a refugee who refused to open his door, was taken out by the UNHCR officials called in by other refugees but was handed over to the Sudanese police by the UNHCR officials. It is not known where he has been taken. The same fate has fallen on Weizero Almaz Mitiku and At Genanaw Mengistu. The acting chairman of the Refugees’Association, Wondimagegn, is still being held in an unknown prison. There is a serious and legitimate fear that the detained refugees and others may all be deported back to Ethiopia to be victims of repression there.

 SOCEPP again calls on the UNHCR to give proper protection to the Ethiopian refugees and demands the cessation of this illegal action by the Sudanese authorities. Ethiopians in the Diaspora are asked to write protest letter to the Sudanese authorities and to the nearest Sudanese embassy or consulate.

SOCEPP