Ethiopia: Information regarding the penalty for illegal departure
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ETH5159 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ethiopia: Information regarding the penalty for illegal departure, 1 April 1990, ETH5159, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab6170.html [accessed 17 May 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. |
Leaving Ethiopia illegally is a serious offence reportedly punishable by five to 25 years' imprisonment or, in exceptional cases, by death. [
FootnoteS:
George T. Kurian, Encyclopedia of the Third World, Third Edition vol.I, ( New York; Facts On File, Inc., 1987), p. 665.] Illegally leaving or attempting to leave Ethiopia is considered to be an act of treason against the country, and the Constitution states that "treason against the Motherland is the gravest crime committed against the people, entailing severe punishment". [ Constitution, Part 2, Chapter 7, Article 53(2).] According to Amnesty International's 1988 Report, many Ethiopians were reportedly imprisoned for attempting to flee the country and some relatives of those who left the country for political reasons were arrested in reprisal. [ Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1988 (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1988), p. 38.]
Attached please find a copy of an excerpt from the Negarit Gazeta, published by the Ethiopian Government in Addis Abeba on 5 November 1981. The document contains the Revised Special Penal Code Proclamation No. 214 of 1981, addressing the issue of illegal departure.
