Oduu Haaraya

The desperate plight of Ethiopians at home and abroad

 

NOWHERE TO RUN!!!

 

Lelisa Hika

Krome Service Processing Center | ICE

Miami, FL

Broward Transitional Center | ICE

Pompano Beach, FL

ABDU UMAR ABDULKADIR

AHMED FARAH OSMAN

SHIMELIS TEKA BIREDA

TADIOS YOHANNES WORK

TESHOME BEREKET ARUSSI

HEIRU ZEYNE SABIR

MELAKU GEBRE WOLDE

SAMUEL TESFAYE KASSA

ESHETU ABRAHAM

MESFIN ALEXANDER

SENBET NASSIR

DESTA TESFATSION

ABOKOR IBRAHIM

WOLDENKIDAY KEBED

TIBEBU K. GEBREMARIAM

ISAIAS B.KASAYE

 

The terror is real and the time to act is now.  Today’s Ethiopian government is by far the worst its people have ever seen; driven by tribalism, money, power, and run by thuggish, incompetent bureaucrats, indifferent to the suffering they bestow.  Without immediate action and unity of Ethiopian political factions and civic groups, Ethiopia’s citizens will continue to sustain torture, evictions from their own lands, and death under the brutality of a ruthless regime.

 

Ethiopia’s government has been terrorizing its people for decades, and the atrocities do not end at the nation’s borders.  Left powerless and impoverished, citizens are forcibly evicted from their land, detained, tortured and killed; practices seen daily in every part of Ethiopia – most notably in Oromia region.  While the Ethiopian regime is busy committing its own massacre throughout the country, hundreds have been slaughtered in the Gambella region, and children whose families were executed have been taken hostage by South Sudan terrorist groups.  The disregard of Ethiopian officials for the plight of its people is unmistakable, and taken advantage of by these terrorist groups.

 

Ethiopians attempting to flee are tossed carelessly between Tanzania and Kenya without any assistance from their “Country”.  Just last week, Tanzanian officials dumped 74 Ethiopians on the Kenyan-Tanzanian border, after detaining them for years for illegally crossing the border and due to their government’s refusal to allow or take them back to Ethiopia.  In January of this year, 83 migrants were detained in Tanzania; found severely dehydrated in the back of a truck/lorry.  Also in recent years, 45 Ethiopians were found too late- dead from suffocation- in the same region of Tanzania.  Amidst this suffering, other refugees who fled and travelled thousands of miles, buried their loved ones in wilderness, and reached the United States, are actively retrieved to be punished, and others are murdered and kidnapped around the globe to strengthen the network of Wayyaanee’s reign of terror on its citizens.

 

The stories of suffering and loss go on and on and on.  Hundreds have lost their lives in past weeks on their perilous journeys throughout Africa, South America, and Asia- 500 recently identified in the Mediterranean.  There are reports of daily killings of Ethiopians and Ethiopian business men in South Africa. Still others disappear without a trace; perished or taken by drug lords on their quest for freedom.

 

Without a country to protect them, Ethiopians are tortured, enslaved, and murdered throughout the Middle East.  According to the BBC, women are raped daily, while men are burned alive, enslaved and forced to work in camps in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.  A Yemeni farmer was quoted by the news source, saying, “they [Ethiopians] walk into our yard and we capture them and use them as slaves.”  The Ethiopian regime does not address the migration crisis, and certainly does not attempt to save its people.  

 

While 14 million of its citizens are in need of international food aid, it has been reported that Ethiopia paid millions of dollars to South Sudan to kidnap the former Gambella region’s president along with other Ethiopian refugees in South Sudan.  Government officials instigate further atrocities; kidnapping supposed enemies in Kenya, Djibouti, Yemen, and many more, waging war on innocent civilians proclaimed as terrorists, all while lobbying western governments to align with their faux democracy.

 

One can become overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of horror, and shocked at the ongoing trampling of human rights.  Sadly, western nations turn a blind eye to the terror, and continue to align themselves with the Ethiopian government as, ironically, an ally in the war against terror.  With ISIS and Al-Shabab as a common enemy, the West fails to see that Ethiopians are victims of terror at home as well as at the hands of the known terrorist groups.  In fact, it was Egyptian forces who stepped forward to save Ethiopians from ISIS in Libya in 2015, with President Al-Sisi greeting survivors upon their arrival to safety.  With no regard for its countrymen’s safety in Africa, it seems odd that the Ethiopian government lobbies to bring home its immigrants detained in the US.  The importance of maintaining a façade of democracy and denying the existence of mass migration is strong motivation to silence those who have fled to the west.

 

DETAINEES AT KROME DETENTION CENTER

MIAMI, FLORIDA

ABDU UMAR ABDULKADIR

AHMED FARAH OSMAN

SHIMELIS TEKA BIREDA

TADIOS YOHANNES WORK

TESHOME BEREKET ARUSSI

HEIRU ZEYNE SABIR

MELAKU GEBRE WOLDE

SAMUEL TESFAYE KASSA

DETAINEES AT BROWARD TRANSITIONAL CENTER

POMPANO BEACH, FLORIDA

ESHETU ABRAHAM

MESFIN ALEXANDER

SENBET NASSIR

DESTA TESFATSION

ABOKOR IBRAHIM

WOLDENKIDAY KEBED

TIBEBU K. GEBREMARIAM

ISAIAS B.KASAYE

THERE ARE MORE DETAINEES NOT LISTED HERE. WE WILL HAVE THEM ON OUR NEXT ARTICLE.

 

Those listed above are Ethiopian detainees in Florida who have spoken extensively to Ethiopian media outlets, ESAT, OMN, and other online publications.  They account their own torture at the hands of the Ethiopian government, and the murder of their family members.  In Ethiopia, these individuals held respected positions: successful businessmen, a judge, teachers, university students and graduates; all brutally targeted due to their opposition of the vengeful regime.  The refugees traveled thousands of miles and suffered immeasurable loss, only to be victimized and intimidated here in the United States by Ethiopian Embassy representatives.  There are no words to express the terror they feel, and the trauma they have suffered; and it is unthinkable what they will be forced to endure if deported to the country from which they fled.

 

In that very country, 22 citizens, including Obbo Bekele Gerba, were recently charged under the Anti Terrorism Proclamation (ATP).  Mr. Gerba is a prominent member of the peaceful opposition movement, and an internationally respected promoter of democracy- now charged with preposterous articles in the name of anti-terror.  Included in their crimes are listening to US based ESAT (Ethiopian Satellite Television) TV and Radio, OMN (Oromia Media Network) TV, membership of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), and support of opposition groups and banned political organizations.  For such activities: listening to opposition radio, reading articles on banned opposition websites, and publicly speaking against the atrocities of the government; one can be tortured or killed in Ethiopia.  Shockingly, Gerba and the Oromo defendants were simply calling for freedom, respect for law, peaceful dialog and democracy for their people in their own country!!!!

 

The media in the United States is shockingly negligent in its coverage of the violation of human rights in Africa and the Middle East.  “Supposed” respectable journalists for MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and PBS do not spare a mention to the horrors occurring in Ethiopia.  While the passing of entertainer Prince is covered endlessly in the news, the tragic deaths of over 500 Ethiopians in the Mediterranean received mere seconds of attention on only one station.  While terrorist attacks or death of drug addicts in the west are given 24-hour coverage for weeks, Ethiopians killed by a terrorist regime and Nigerian children bombed in schools by Boko Haram terrorists are deemed unworthy for these nauseating news outlets.

 

  • Obbo Kefyalew (Real Hero!!! has been helping all detainees alone: sponsored two, bailed more, welcomed the freed to his house, like father figure for all: left, Miami),
  • Rashaad (former detainee of 11 months at Broward Transitional center, freed April 22nd: center),
  • Obbo Amaanu’eel (Oromo Community of Florida: right)

 

The Oromo Community of Florida and the Ethiopian community members in Florida are dedicated to bringing the terror to light, and are leading the fight against the deportation of Ethiopian immigrants currently detained in the US.  The campaign has gained strong support from The Global Alliance for the Rights of Ethiopians led by Tamagn Beyene, Ato Shibabaw of Tampa, St Thomas University School of Law, and many Oromo and Ethiopian communities throughout the US and Europe.  Supporters have rallied; providing much needed financial support for legal fees and bonds for the individuals at risk.

 

Special thanks are in order to law students Ivan Ascencion and Monica Twombly, Professor Michael Vastine, and Secretary Yanick Laroche.  These individuals have spent countless hours researching and presenting cases on behalf of these detainees.  The Oromo Community of Tampa Bay, Ethiopian Communities in Florida, and Supporters of this campaign are deeply grateful for their incredible dedication to our desperate brothers. Special thanks also to Kefyalew Fekade of Miami, who dedicated his life supporting these detainees for months, Muluken Zenebe and Wolde Bireda of Ethiopian Community of Tampa Bay for the critical role they are playing in uniting people from different backgrounds and views for this common cause.

St Thomas University School of Law Professor, Michael Vastine, St. Thomas University School of Law Student, Monica Twombly St Thomas University School of Law student:   Ivan Ascencion St Thomas University School of Law Secretary Yanick Laroche

 

Today, there are 19 verified and 4 other Ethiopian refugees in Florida detention centers, various women and men in Texas centers, and still more in ICE detention centers throughout the United States.  All Ethiopians, and all in favor of human rights, are urged to support and contribute to this cause through their local communities and The Global Alliance.  Every day that passes is another day of suffering for victims of the Ethiopian regime.  Now is the time to take action and to right these terrible wrongs.

 

You can contact Ethiopia Community Secretary in Tampa, Mr. Muluken Zenebe: neroet@yahoo.com, Kefyalew Fekade kefyalew@bellsouth.net,  and Lalisaa Hiikaof Florida Oromo Community FOCA Tampa Bay focatampabay@gmail.com for further questions and the developments.

 

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