Protesting Ethiopian refugees detained [Archives:2004/722/Front Page]

Ethiopian refugees camping out next to the headquarters of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sana'a were forced to end their sit-in by Yemeni authorities on Friday morning, said a Yemeni Government official.
The Government source said that Yemeni officials approached the refugees and told them to end the protest and cooperate with UNHCR to fulfill their demands. When the refugees refused, policemen forced over 100 protesters to leave the area by loading them up in buses and taking them to prison.
It is also reported that a number of Ethiopian women and children went to the UN building later that morning to inquire about the whereabouts of the refugees removed. According to one Ethiopian refugee, over 40 Ethiopian women were jailed.
The government official said that UNHCR closed its headquarters last week due to security concerns during the sit-in. He added that UNHCR being closed has affected other refugees in Yemen who need assistance from UNHCR.
“The Yemeni authorities felt UNHCR must operate, so the refugees were removed by force,” said the government official.
The government official said that the refugees have been detained but will be released shortly.
There are mixed reports on how the removal of the refugees took place. According to one Ethiopian refugee who was participating in the sit-in, Yemeni policemen used batons, water hoses and tear gas to force the refugees to end their protest. He said that a number of the refugees were beaten, and several men and women were carried away severely injured.
But other witnesses claim that while the Government Authorities gave refugees several warnings, the protesters yelled at the policemen and threw rocks which provoked the forced removal of the protesters.
Representatives of the refugees involved in the sit-in, which lasted over five weeks, previously stated that the purpose of the protest was to gain citizenship in Yemen or in another country. They chose to protest next to UNHCR's headquarters because after living in Yemen for 13 years with no clear future in sight, they wanted UNHCR to find them a solution.
UNHCR said that it is a facilitator to offer assistance to refugees receiving basic rights and freedom in Yemen and to encourage the Yemeni government to offer them citizenship or help them gain resettlement elsewhere.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has a department dealing with African refugees, said that the Ethiopian refugees can remain in Yemen under refugee status. UNHCR attempted several times to begin the process of helping the refugees find another country to gain citizenship, but the protesters refused to cooperate and demanded UNHCR to find their permanent location.
The refugees who were involved in the sit-in are members of Ethiopian Naval and Civilian Refugees which represents around 600 Ethiopians that defected their country in 1991. When they arrived in Yemen, they handed over 14 warships to the Yemeni Government.
Many believe that dealing with refugees who were once in the military is considered a sensitive issue by most governments.
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