Month: November 2011

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Events

REFUGEES OROMIA-SOMALILAND

Oromia-Somaliland: The Frustrating Situation of Refugees in Somaliland

November 13, 2011 at 3:07 pm · Gadaa.com The following statement is the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA).

 

HRLHA Appeal and Urgent Action

Your Excellency, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud,
President of the Republic of Somaliland.

Dear Honorable President,

First of all, the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) would like to express its appreciation to the people of the Republic of Somaliland, and to its government for their hospitality and kindness towards thousands of refugees who have fled their homes to escaped government persecutions in Ethiopia, Eritrea and other neighboring countries, and now living in Somaliland.

However, what has been happening to refugees in Somaliland over the past two and three weeks is contrary to the expectations of the HRLHA and those of international communities.

According to information obtained by HRLHA through its correspondents in Hargeisa, Somaliland, the refugees in the country, most of whom are from Ethiopia, have been subjected to different kinds of harassment and intimidation in a very unsafe situation. According those reports, the refugees have been (and are being) indiscriminately evicted from their rented temporary shelters; and, as a result, more than 700 refugees have been forced to live on the streets. They are temporarily gathered at a place known as the Social Welfare Centre near the UNHCR office in Hargeisa. At this place, only those who could afford to buy, are using tents while those, who could not, are living in open air. Confiscations of properties, documents in particular, take place along with kidnappings at their temporary shelters on the streets.

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Events

Abba Mussie – Egyptian Ambassador

Fr. MUSSIE ZERAI ENGAGES AMBASSADOR TO THE HOLY SEE

ABOUT ERITREAN IN EGYPT

Today, November 10, 2011 a meeting was held at the Egyptian Embassy to the Holy See, between  Aly Hamada MEKHEMAR, AMBASSADOR OF EGYPT TO THE HOLY SEE, Mr. Ahmad Raafat, Embassy’s second secretary, the Hon. Savino Pezzotta, President of the Italian Council for Refugees, and Fr. Mussie Zerai, Chairman of the Habeshia Agency. In the encounter, issues were raised concerning the Eritrean refugees in Egypt, including captivity in the Sinai, the trafficking of organs, and the deportatiion of Eritrean refugees, in violation to  the Geneva Convention of 1951 which protects the right of asylum, of which Egypt is a signatory.

Arrest and indefinite detention of Eritrean asylum seekers and refugees (already recognized by UNHCR office in Sudan and Ethiopia ) due to their illegal entry/exit of the country, was one of the requests presented to the Ambassador.

Even in the understandable right of Egypt to protect its borders and to halt individuals entering/exiting the country illegally, it is a duty of the GoE to guarantee the right of asylum to those individuals  requesting it,  as per Art  31 of  the 1951 Refugee Convention, which asks states not to penalize asylum seekers for their illegal entry. “The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.”

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Sudan, Threat of War

Civil War Threatening the Sudans, Warn Bishops

Conflict Worsening at New Border Region

KHARTOUM, Sudan, NOV. 7, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Violence is spreading in Sudan and the newly formed South Sudan, such that a civil war is threatening if the international community doesn’t intervene, according to the countries’ bishops.

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Sudan, Threat of Civil War

Civil War Threatening the Sudans, Warn Bishops

Conflict Worsening at New Border Region

KHARTOUM, Sudan, NOV. 7, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Violence is spreading in Sudan and the newly formed South Sudan, such that a civil war is threatening if the international community doesn’t intervene, according to the countries’ bishops.

The Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference, which serves Sudan and the world’s newest country, South Sudan, released a communiqué Oct. 28 titled “The Church God Wants Us to Be.”

As reported by Aid to the Church in Need, the statement speaks of spreading violence in Blue Nile State, South Kordofan and Eastern Equatoria, as well as ongoing violence in Darfur.

The bishops urged an immediate international response, stressing how the conflict in oil-rich Abyei has been “militarized,” and how the Lord’s Resistance Army continues plaguing Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal.

“We have constantly warned of the danger of a return to hostilities if the legitimate aspirations of the people of those areas were not met,” the bishops stated.

Enough

Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok Kur of Khartoum told Aid to the Church in Need today, “If you consider the many conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan, they will almost certainly create a situation in which one side or the other will say, ‘Enough is enough. We need to do whatever is necessary to clear away the problem.’

“The government of Sudan may say that if there are [hostile] soldiers on their border, we will need to react; the government of South Sudan may say that it has to hunt down the militia including going into the territory of Sudan. This of course will provoke a reaction from Sudan. One or other of these things is quite likely to happen.”

The bishops’ statement made a plea for the opening of humanitarian corridors to assist some 200,000 displaced people from South Kordofan and Blue Nile State, both on the contentious border between Sudan and South Sudan.

Stating that “corruption is unacceptable,” the bishops call on the governments of both Sudans to be transparent and democratic.

Still united

The statement was issued after a 10-day plenary assembly at which the prelates decided to retain one bishops’ conference despite the creation of South Sudan in July.

“The Church in the two nations will continue to be in solidarity due to our shared history and the very real and practical and human links between us,” the communiqué affirmed. The conference will create two secretariats, one in each capital, to implement policies at the local level.

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Events

IT CANNOT GET ANY WORSE

IS THIS TRUE AND NO ONE IS STOPPING IT? . . . (FROM HTTP:HABESHIA.BLOGSPOT.COM)

Aswan, 31 ottobre 2011 – At the police stations in Aswan, and the military camp of Shelal, about 300 Eritrean refugees are currently being detained, in appalling hygienic conditions and subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.

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