OCTOBER 11/2004

UPDATE ON THE PLIGHT OF REFUGEEES IN SWITZERLAND

Ethiopian refugee Emou Moges is hospitalized, as of October 7, in Berne, Switzerland, after a long hunger strike protesting the Swiss government decision to deport her after it had refused her asylum rights. The young woman went on a hunger strike on September 5 when her asylum request was refused and she was forced out of the foyer/ shelter she was living in. She had been working and taking care of herself when the rejection of her demand befell her on April 1/2004.

The plight of Emou Moges is but one example of the suffering of Ethiopian refugees who had made their way into Switzerland to seek asylum. Increasingly, the demands for asylum have been rejected with expulsion from shelters coming after that. Threats of deportation are hanging over the heads of the refugees. The internal political climate of Switzerland also shows that anti refugee political forces are gaining ascendancy in the overall European tendency of turning the continent into a fortress. Most refugees flee from Ethiopia because they could not live safely in their own country due to the repressive and ethnic discriminatory politics of the ruling EPRDF. Sad to note once again that the UNHCR which is supposed to protect the Ethiopian refugees (but has not done so effectively) has its HQ in the Swiss capital, Geneva.

SOCEPP calls on the Swiss government to put an end to its policy of denying deserving Ethiopian refugees their asylum rights. It calls on the UNHCR too to live up to its objectives and protect the refugees who are being exposed to deprivation, possible deportation and more such as Emou Moges whose plight has not been adequately appreciated. SOCEPP calls on Ethiopians in Switzerland to stand in solidarity to demand and,get and protect their basic rights. Ethiopians in the Diaspora should address letters of protest and concern to the nearest Swiss embassy or consulate and to the UNHCR.

SOCEPP