November 22/2006

Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan have gone on hunger strike in front of the UNHCR office in Khartoum to protest the violation of their rights by the Sudanese government. The government of General Omar al Bashir has unleashed its police against the refugees, rounding thousands and deporting hundreds via Metema. In the on going campaign, refugees have been raped, beaten, robbed and subjected to indignities of all sorts.

The Sudanese government is once again violating the rights of Ethiopians in the Sudan and its blatant assertion that Ethiopians have no right to be refugees goes against the reality of repression and human rights abuse that prevail under the regime of Meles Zenawi, an ally of General Beshir. Ethiopian refugees in the Sudan are being sacrificed at the altar of political dealing by the two regimes. SOCEPP strongly denounced a few months ago the forceful deportation of four Ethiopian political exiles who have now been "disappeared" by the Meles regime. Once again, deportation can mean death, torture, long-term imprisonment and more to the Ethiopian refugees.

SOCEPP supports the demands of the refugees on hunger strike and calls on the government of the Sudan to stop the illegal and brutal action against the refugees. The police action and the deportations must stop. The asylum right of the refugees should be respected. SOCEPP calls on the UNHCR and international human rights organizations to raise their voices against the illegal actions of the government in the Sudan.