Ethiopian Review

(SMNE) — We have just heard some very good news; the Japanese government has now released the last of the 17 known Ethiopian asylum-seekers being detained at Japanese Immigration Detention Centers in Japan—some of whom were being held for over two and a half years! In fact, one of the officials from the Japanese Minister of Justice’s Office, with whom Ethiopian community leaders in Japan and I had met in May, contacted me on August 31, 2010; personally informing me that all the Ethiopians being held in detention have now been released!

In a world where many governments often do not respond with such quick action, I highly commend the office of the Japanese Minister of Justice for their attention to this matter. The credit also goes to the Ethiopian community and its leaders in Japan for their efforts on behalf of these detainees; all of whom were thrilled with the release of their family members, friends and fellow community members. It was only four months ago when they had made arrangements for me to go there to help address this and other issues facing Ethiopians in that country.

During my time there, some of us had visited six of the Ethiopians being held in Mho-Shi Ushiku Immigration Detention Center, located 100 miles outside of Toyko. I clearly remember how emotionally moved I was during individual interviews as each of the six pressed his hand to mine; separated into different worlds only by the glass. We all had tears in our eyes as they told me of the hardship on the inside and how they felt so abandoned by the outside world. Now, they and others are all free and I thank God for this.

Reportedly, since 1986, over 3,500 people have applied for refugee status and only 100 or fewer have been accepted. Without the right documents as asylum seekers—which must be renewed every three months at a cost to them of approximately $50, one cannot obtain working papers enabling these people to work. It is also difficult to obtain housing since you must have a working permit, a job and have a Japanese citizen co-sign for you. To go to school, you also must have the proper document as well as know the language. Movement within the country is also difficult because those who cannot afford the paper renewal fees are afraid to use public transportation as this is where authorities often check their papers; resulting in arrests and detentions. While I was there, I asked for an Ethiopian community meeting; not for me to give a speech, but instead, for me to meet other Ethiopians and to better understand the challenges they faced.

Many who shared were younger Ethiopians, under the age of 45, who should have been in their most productive years; but yet, because of their non-status, they were unable to do anything. One Ethiopian journalist Ato Yohnnes Alemayehu stated, “Our future is being wasted away. I have been here for over three years and I am not working or going to school. Instead, I am spending the whole day doing nothing and I am not sure how long this will continue.” A seventeen-year-old young man shared how he lived in constant fear of being taken into detention; saying, he would rather die than end up there.

One Ethiopian woman who had been in a car accident was still in a wheelchair. She told how she had been taken to the hospital, but because she could not cover the costs of her treatment, had been discharged without receiving needed treatment. She tried to control her emotions as she tearfully told how difficult it was to care for herself in this condition. Others in the audience started crying. As she hesitated, while trying to regain control of her emotions, one man said, “Look, please say what is in your heart. Obang is here now to hear this. Don’t hold anything back. Don’t be ashamed.”

After she then proceeded to finish her story, another woman shared her experience of repeated detentions resulting from her ongoing difficulties in getting her papers renewed. She told how she had become sick during her detention and had been unable to get medication. Instead, she had been given sleeping pills rather than treatment.

Another lady shared a similar testimony about a long detention in jail; where she also had become sick and had been given a medication that she had negatively reacted to; causing her to pass out. Because she could not read the language, she still does not know what it was. She went on to speak of being taken by authorities to the airport for deportation, which only was avoided when she was given the opportunity to call a Japanese official she knew who was connected to the government. This person successfully advocated for her; but to date, she still has been unable to obtain her papers.

Ethiopians end up dying in places like Saudi Arabia; where recently, five Ethiopian detainees died of suffocation due to overcrowded conditions in a Saudi detention center where they were being held, ready for deportation. Others seeking a better life end up being sexually trafficked or in domestic jobs in the Middle East where so many of our people have been forced into servile labor with some even being killed or raped. Some have been shot by Egyptian border police while trying to escape from Egypt to Israel while others die as they try to cross the deserts in their efforts to reach a safe haven. Others languish in detention centers in Libya where they are also mistreated. In Tanzania, some are rounded up and placed in detention centers while trying to reach South Africa. Many from the Ogaden are dying as they try to run away from the ongoing Meles-led genocide going on in the Ogaden region of southeastern Ethiopia. In Kenya, other Ethiopians are rounded up by Kenyan authorities for not having the proper documents. Some of my own ethnic group—the Anuak—are dying in Sudan; living in exile ever since the massacre of December 13, 2003 in Gambella by their own government who is supposed to protect them. This is all in addition to the many Oromo and others that drown in the Red Sea as they try to reach Yemen; while some of those who do, can be deported back to Ethiopia and face execution, imprisonment or simply disappear. Our people are dying trying to run away from our home. This is going on as we speak.

If people do not demand it, Meles and his TPLF government will never offer it! It will not come without much work and sacrifice! Even the TPLF, who are trying to sustain control by dividing and repressing the people, have only done so by working very hard; even if it is for all the wrong reasons. We cannot succeed in making Ethiopia a better place without taking action ourselves or by supporting those who are working from both inside and outside of Ethiopia.

A recent study put Ethiopia at the top in terms of how many of its people would choose to migrate if they could—a total of 46%! How many Japanese are seeking safe haven elsewhere? When I was in Japan, I was so impressed, even with the city of Tokyo, where millions of people live. It was one of the most clean and beautiful cities I have ever seen and I was struck with the impression that the country appears to have a government that really cares for their own people; however, in Ethiopia, we have had a series of governments that seem to only care about maintaining their own power and providing benefits to themselves and their cronies.

For the entire article please read the link and also link to the PDF:

http://www.solidaritymovement.org/100903SMNENewsAlert.php

http://www.solidaritymovement.org/downloads/100903SMNENewsAlert.pdf

I am appealing to each of you to forward it to all your friends. If you do, you will not just be giving a voice to our beautiful people, but you would be doing justice.

Thanks so much for your never-ending support. Keep hope alive. Don’t give up. Keep your focus on the bigger picture and reach out to others and listen! Take a moral inventory, be courageous and do right. Care about those who are suffering. Help create that new Ethiopia where humanity comes before ethnicity and where we are not content until all are free.

Kindest regards always,

Obang Metho;
Executive Director
Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
E-mail: obang@solidaritymovement.org
solidaritymovement.org/