Ethiopian refugees exposed to police attack [Archives:2007/1077/Front Page]
By: Amel Al-Ariqi
SANA'A, August 15 ) Dozens of Ethiopian refugees threatened that they will carry out a series of peaceful sit-ins, starting next week, outside headquarters of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sana'a. They stated that they will remain indefinitely until their demands are met.
The threat came despite Yemeni security interference of the last Ethiopian sit-in, which took place on Sunday in Front of UNHCR's office In Sana'a. “We will carry out our peaceful strikes and hanger sit-ins until we get a clear and tangible solution,” stated one of the refugees Daniel Gezahegen, who also talked about violence the refugees faced during the last sit in. He confirmed that strikers who began gathering at the headquarters around 10 a.m. on Sunday, were exposed to violence from the Yemeni police force who also closed all the roads while refugees conducted an interview with reporters of Yemen Times and Yemen Observer. The police forced the strikers to end their sit-in at 4 p.m. “They attacked us in attempt to disperse the demonstration. An Ethiopian widow who has HIV was beaten until her nose bled, although we warned the police officer of her situation. They also beat me with the back of their gun,” said Gezahegen.
The refugees raised signs that stated, “Let the Yemeni government to interface in our serious problems,” “We are innocent and peaceful refugees,” and ” We have no protection. We are orphans of freedom, justice and human rights. We are in a pit of darkness.”
According to the refugees, the police arrested some of them and forced them to write commitments to not strike again. “My husband was arrested with others. They were taken to detention where they were forced to give their names and names of other strikers. They also were forced to write a commitment that they wont come back to protest. My husband agreed to sign this paper because he is sick and cannot stay for long in custody whereas the others refused to sign so they stayed arrested,” an anonymous female refugee stated.
A security source who wanted to remain anonymous revealed that UN officials called them saying that some refugees were threatening them. The source confirmed the release of all refugees who were arrested. He did not deny or confirm that refugees were beaten during the sit-in.
UNHCR's protection officer was on leave so no one was authorized to comment.
This is not the first demonstration arranged by Ethiopian refugees in front of the UN refugee office. The refugees, who have lived in Yemen since 1991, have arranged many protests demanding citizenship in Yemen as well as resettlement in another country.
“We feel that we are exposed to social and racial discrimination in Yemen. We are not allowed to travel from one region to another. Even if we want to integrate into the Yemeni society it's difficult without the citizenship, but the Yemeni government said that the refugees can continue living in Yemen under refugee status but did not show interest in offering the refugees citizenship. So the only option that we have is resettlement in a third country,” Gezahegen stated.
UNHCR officers in Sana'a have stated many times that the refugee agency cannot offer citizenship to refugees. It is the responsibility of a host country. Additionally, they confirmed that the UNHCR cannot offer a refugee resettlement status because that decision rests on the shoulders of another country.
——
[archive-e:1077-v:15-y:2007-d:2007-08-16-p:front]
