Ethiopia: Reports of Ethiopians being harassed or detained by authorities when returning from abroad, either as failed asylum seekers or deportees (2006 - current)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa |
| Publication Date | 12 March 2007 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ETH102459.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ethiopia: Reports of Ethiopians being harassed or detained by authorities when returning from abroad, either as failed asylum seekers or deportees (2006 - current), 12 March 2007, ETH102459.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/47d6544f23.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Reports of Ethiopians being harassed or detained by authorities when returning from abroad, either as failed asylum seekers or deportees could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
However, the Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP), based in Germany and Canada, issued press releases on 22 November 2006 and 11 January 2007 claiming that four Ethiopian refugees deported from Sudan back to Ethiopia had reportedly been "disappeared" by the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. According to its own Web site, the SOCEPP is "a non sectarian, non-political, non profit humanitarian organization" established to bring attention to Ethiopian political prisoners (SOCEPP Mar. 2003). However, the SOCEPP also lists pressuring the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government to "respect the rights" of Ethiopians as one of its objectives (ibid.).
Corroborating information about this claim could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
A 2 May 2006 Amnesty International (AI) report entitled Ethiopia – Prisoners of Conscience on Trial for Treason: Opposition Party Leaders, Human Rights Defenders and Journalists notes the following:
As a consequence of these widespread human rights violations against opposition party members since the elections, including mass arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment, extrajudicial executions and unfair trials, a new flow of Ethiopian refugees to neighbouring countries and other parts of the world, consisting of CUD [Coalition for Unity and Democracy] members and supporters, as well as human rights defenders and journalists is starting.
Amnesty International believes that CUD activists and suspected activists at national or local levels, as well as civil society activists and journalists who had criticized the government, who have fled the country on account of experienced or threatened human rights violations, would be those who are at risk of arbitrary and indefinite detention, possible torture or ill-treatment, unfair trial or even extrajudicial execution, if forcibly returned to Ethiopia.
Moreover, Reporters Without Borders notes in its 2007 annual report for Ethiopia that "[a] number of [Ethiopian] journalists and opposition figures or organisations, were charged while out of the country and tried in absentia" (1 Feb. 2007).
In September 2006, an article published on the Ethiomedia news Web site condemned the deportation of Ethiopians abroad, alleging that deportees face the possibility "of being tortured or imprisoned, or even being killed" (27 Sept. 2006). According to its own Web site, Ethiomedia, based in Everett, Washington, was established in 2002 and, among its goals, aims to "oppose the current regime's political philosophy and economic policies" (Nov. 2002).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Amnesty International (AI). Ethiopia – Prisoners of Conscience on Trial for Treason: Opposition Party Leaders, Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. (AFR 25/013/2006)
Ethiomedia [Everett, Washington]. 27 September 2006. "TPLF Regime Has No Legal Right to Inter a Deal Over Us."
_____. November 2002. "Ethiomedia's Mission Statement."
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF). 1 February 2007. "Ethiopia." Annual Report 2007.
Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP) [Berlin, Germany and Toronto, Canada]. 11 January 2007. "Denounce the British Authorities for Deporting Solomon Abera."
_____. 22 November 2006. "Stop Violating the Rights of Ethiopian Refugees in the Sudan."
_____. March 2003. "Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP) Statutes."
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sites, including: Ethiopian News Agency, Ethiopian Review, ethiogermany.de, Debteraw, European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH), Freedom House, Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Kinijit Ethiopia, Kinijit North America, Refugees International, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Kingdom Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, United States Department of State, Voice of America, World News Connection (WNC)/Dialog.
