The Stateless Oromo Persecuted at Home, Harassed Abroad – Announcing March for Oromo Refugees (May 1, 2015)

Statement of the Australian Oromo Community Association in Victoria Inc.

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Australian Oromo Community Association in Victoria Inc
A.B.N. 52 554 165 204
225 Bourke St; Melbourne VIC 3000
P.O.BOX 2123; Footscray, VIC 3011
Tel: + 61 3 9663 9092
Email: ocaustralia@gmail.com
Web: www.oromocommunity.org.au

1 May 2015

PRESS RELEASE

The Stateless Oromo Persecuted at Home, Harassed Abroad

The Australian Oromo Community in Victoria will be gathering at Spring Street and the corner of Treasury Place, next to the Victoria Parliament in a bid to express our grave concern and appeal to the recent tragedies on Oromo and other refugees from the Horn of Africa.

The recent killings of Oromo refugees in Libya and South Africa, and displacements of Oromo refugees in Yemen due to the war are heartbreaking. Oromo refugees, who have escaped the dire situation in their home country, where they had faced daily terror at the hands of the Ethiopian regime, have fled from the widespread extra-judicial killings, abductions and disappearances, removals from their ancestral land, tortures and constant humiliations that have been going on for years. Hence, many Oromo refugees have been forced to flee from their homeland.

However, the intimidation and harassment of Oromo refugees have continued to the extreme. On Sunday, the 19th of April 2015, the terrorist group ISIS in Libya released videos of men being beheaded, and another group of men being shot. As a community, we describe the executions of those innocent refugees is absolutely barbaric and unacceptable. Similarly, the current situations of Oromo refugees in Yemen and South Africa gravely concern us. As the result of the war and conflicts in Yemen, and the widespread anti-immigration sentiment in South Africa, the current situations of Oromo refugees are terrifying. It is very disheartening to hear about these developments of communal hatred on our refugee population, and the intolerance and politicization of religion.

Oromo refugees are experiencing agonizing dreadful of human rights violations in countries where they are seeking UNHCR protection as refugees. The Ethiopian government is hunting these refugees in Yemen, even in the refugee camp while they are under UNHCR – to forcefully take them back to Ethiopia by bribing security forces in the host country.

Ethiopia’s human rights abuses are well documented by Human Rights watch and the U.S. State Department, and the current Oromo protests have renewed support to launch an international investigation to bring the responsible perpetrators to justice.

In response, more than 10 international cities, including Washington, Toronto, Oslo, Frankfurt and London, have staged mass peace protests, picking up interest globally and trending heavily on social media. Many Oromo community members have also established emergency appeals and fundraising to support people who are in need.

On Friday, the 1st of May 2015, the Australian Oromo community will call on the Australian government to urgently consult UNHCR and other international aid agencies to rescue Oromo refugees, particularly in Libya, Yemen and South Africa. It will also appeal to the Australian government to set an example by using its influence in the United Nations to put political, economic and diplomatic pressures upon the Ethiopian government to stop its continued attacks on Oromo lives, their political organisations, educational establishments and their right to self-determination.

Members of Australian Oromo community in Victoria will be gathering at Spring Street and the corner of Treasury Place, next to the Victoria parliament in Melbourne on Friday, the 1st May 2015, at 10am.

For information, please call Yadata Saba (0412 795 909)

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