March 13, 2001

 SOCEPP CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL AID TO THE THOUSANDS OF AMHARAS FORCED OUT OF EASTERN WELLEGA

THOUSANDS of Amharas who had lived for decades and more in Eastern Wellega have been forcefully chased out of Eastern Wellega in an ethnic discriminatory and violent campaign orchestrated by the EPRDF government. More than 12,000 people, with their farms and properties confiscated or burnt have been forced to flee into Bure (Gojjam) while scores of people, including women and children, have been killed in a pogrom-like campaign supervised by the local EPRDF cadres and officials.

Not only has the government caused the suffering of the people but it has completely ignored their plight in the bare shelters where the displaced are faced with lack of food, medication, etc...SOCEPP has vigorously condemned the ethnic discrimination and violence against Amharas which the government pursues as a matter of policy.

 SOCEPP calls on international aid agencies and friendly governments to intervene quickly not only to call for the cessation of the violence against Amharas but to assist those who have been forced to flee into Bure and need immediate help in face of the neglect and abandon by the government in place. SOCEPP also calls on Ethiopians in the Diaspora to be in the forefront of the campaign to expose the government sponsored violence and to help the thousands displaced and turned into refugees in their own country.

SOCEPP