JUNE 20/2005

Since the 1969 singing in Addis Ababa of the Convention on the Protection of Refugees, the world has observed Refugees Day on June 20 and it is an occasion for SOCEPP to highlight the sad situation of Ethiopian refugees all over the world.

The human rights situation in Ethiopia continues to worsen and many have been forced to flee out of Ethiopia. However, they have not been given due protection be it by the UNHCR or but the host countries. The plight of refugees in the Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya, and even South Africa leaves much to be desired. Ethiopian refugees who make it to Europe have also been subjected to denial of rights and asylum. There seems to be the wrong assumption that the regime in Addis Abeba is not repressive but democratic. SOCEPP has time and again tried to explain the real situation that prevails in Ethiopia, to indicate that the regime in place violates the rights of the people routinely, that it persecutes dissent, kills its opponents or disappears them, etc. Ethiopians flee their country for a reason and in most cases the reasons are political. Several political organizations such as the EPRP, the OLF, Medhin, ARDUF, TAND have been declared illegal and their supporters and members are hounded.

Article 15 of the UN Convention on Refugees states that that refugees not only deserve asylum but protection and opportunities at all levels so as to live a decent life. Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti lead a very precarious existence and the fat of their compatriots in Europe is not also that much better. Recently, Ethiopia refugees in Switzerland have demonstrated to bring their plight to the attention of the world. Ethiopia, as an African country, produces refugees due to mal governance and violation of rights. The solution lies not on denying refugees their rights on the thoroughly false ground that the regime is democratic but by helping the struggle of the people to have their rights respected and to assure democratic governance.