March 3, 2003

PLIGHT OF ETHIOPIANS IN ERITREA

 Following the deadly war that cost the lives of some one hundred thousands of people, the ruined relations between the political groups ruling Ethiopia and Eritrea have worsened the plight of the ordinary people. While hundreds of people have been brutally expelled from Ethiopia (on the grounds that they are Eritreans), the Eritrea regime has also retaliated by making the plight of Ethiopians even worse than it was before.

 Ethiopians in Eritrea, that is to say those who are not born of an Eritrean mother and Eritrean father, have not only been purged of the administration, expelled from their jobs and subjected to all kinds of discrimination and harassment but they have been denied the right to leave Eritrea. Since the Ethiopian embassy in Asmara has been closed, those declared Ethiopians by the Asmara authorities have not been able to acquire the necessary document and are stranded. Many elderly Ethiopians who need medical treatment are thus in a dire situation as they cannot get medical care in Eritrea and cannot leave for Ethiopia or abroad as they have no documents. Scores of Ethiopians are still languishing in Eritrea's prisons with no one demanding due process for them. Reports of Ethiopians who had been summarily executed have not been verified though there are enough geounds for demanding an inquiry.

The Eritrean authorities have categorized as Ethiopian anyone who "does not have a fully Eritrean mother an father". This affects far too many people and their families. The regime in Addis Abeba have failed to protect the rights of such people and they are thus suffering without any respite. SOCEPP calls on the Eritrean authorities to let these Ethiopians leave without a ny preconditions and to halt the repression against them. SOCEPP also calls on the EPRDF in Addis Abeba to seriously follow the condition of these Ethiopian and to assure their welfare by making it possible for them to leave Eritrea. The EPRDF should also end its gross violations of the rights of those it labels "Eritrean and in league with Asmara" merely because of their ethnic background.

SOCEPP