KHARTOUM (ST) — Sudanese Police are reported to have began a series of crackdown on the neighborhood of Ethiopian and Eritrean refugee communities in the capital, Khartoum.
Since July 5, truckloads of Sudanese police along with government security forces have raided homes and refugees-owned business centers of hundreds of Ethiopians and Eritrean refugees confiscating properties of their restaurants and homes.
Some refugees on condition of anonymity said that some women and children were beaten and raped by members of the joint force.
UNHCR protection officer in Khartoum Teresa Ongaro confirmed to VOA that there was a series of raids of “refugees and illegal workers over the weekend.” But the UN officer said that she has not heard any reports of police raping women and children.
There are about 30 thousand refugees in Khartoum and about 100 thousand in Eastern Sudan bordering Eritrea.
Many go to Khartoum to find a better life, but are exposed occasionally to ill treatment. She said UNHCR personnel and lawyers have interviewed 314 victims of the recent raid, and determined that 91 fit the UNHCR qualifications for refugees. She said these refugees were freed the next day.
The refugees say more than 50 have already been deported.
Similarly, southern Sudanese authorities are carrying out crackdown in all the Southern Sudan’s ten states, targeting illegal immigrants whose influx has now been blamed on the worsening insecurity in the region.
Local authorities have blamed a number Kenyan refugees for increased insecurity in the region, most of whom are perceived to be part of several heavily armed gangs that have been terrorizing residents of Juba city and its environs especially at night.
Last month, the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) directed security agents to firmly deal with rising cases of insecurity that have also seen a number of foreigners lose their lives in attacks by gangs.
ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s regime has suspended the operations of 42 non-governmental organizations allegedly involved in activities that are “out of their mandate” in the Southern region of the country.
Ethiopia’s Southern regional state justice office chief Mr Yilma Meresa told this writer that those NGOs were out to interrupt the peace and development of the region.
Mr Yilma refused to disclose the name of the suspended organizations. However, he hinted that most of them were local NGOs.
The Nation has learnt that international humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and two local gender rights organizations are among the suspended NGOs.
The Ethiopian government moved to revoke the license of the NGOs following accusation of their alleged involvement in reporting human right abuses in the rural areas.
Ethiopian government publicly accused some NGOs of supplying “inaccurate” information to the United States’ State Department, which was published in March 2009.
Food aid
Meanwhile, United Nations humanitarian office in Ethiopia has warned that the number of people who need food aid in Ethiopia will increase to 6.2 million unless more food aid can be secured.
The recent number of people requiring food aid has been 4.9 million and now the country needs additional 390,000 metric tonnes of emergency food aid for the coming three months.
Ethiopia leads the region by registering an average 10 per cent annual economic growth, has been avowed to end hunger but has achieved less success.
Landlocked Ethiopia is also facing port congestion at port Djibouti which delays the flow of food aid to the country.
Recently, World Food Program (WFP) urged Ethiopian authorities to prioritize the transport of food aid rather than agricultural fertilizer, which is equally important for the second most populous African nation at 85.2 million (UN, 2008).
According to WFP, Ethiopia government agreed to prioritize transporting food aid and allocate more berths for ships to offload available food aid at port Djibouti.
Asmara – A total of 3 defecting Ethiopian soldiers who arrived recently in Eritrea opposing the TPLF regime’s racist policy said that the regime is increasingly taking harsh measures against members of the country’s Army who, embittered by the ethnic-based atrocities spoke up for their rights.
The soldiers are Mohammed Negeyo Suleiman, Alemeshet Zemenfeskudus, and Zele’alem Ejigu.
Private Zlealem stated that the TPLF regime gives promotion only to those Army members who are considered to be “trustworthy (loyal)” which in turn resulted in mistrust among members of the Army.
Meanwhile, private Alemeshet disclosed that the regime’s attempt to muffle the Eritrean mass media by expending millions of dollars has proven to be a futile effort and that the Ethiopian people in general and the Army in particular are able to follow the Eritrean media with clear frequency.
CAIRO (Reuters) — Egypt’s water needs will surpass its resources by 2017 because its population, now around 76 million, is still increasing fast, the state-run news agency MENA said yesterday.
The agency cited a recent report by the cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Centre as saying the Arab world’s most populous country would need 86.2 billion cubic metres of water in 2017 while resources would be only 71.4 billion cubic metres. Egypt’s water resources stood at 64 billion cubic metres in 2006, of which the River Nile provided 55.5 billion cubic metres, or 86.7 percent, the report said. By 2017 the Nile is expected to supply only 80.5 percent of Egypt’s resources.
Egypt is heavily dependent on river water as it has little rainfall.
A 1929 agreement between Egypt and Britain, acting on behalf of its then east African colonies, gave Cairo the right to veto projects higher up the Nile that would affect its water share.
A 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan, supplementing the previous agreement, gave Egypt the right to 55.5 billion cubic metres of Nile water a year.
The agreements have created resentment among other Nile states and calls for changes to the pact, resisted by Egypt.
Ministers from all 10 Nile basin countries are expected to meet in Egypt later in July to discuss water allocation issues.
Egypt’s Water Resources Ministry has said it aims to fight water poverty by tackling wasteful farming practices and looking for alternative sources such as desalination of sea water. Egypt’s water supply is equivalent to an allocation of 860 cubic metres per capita per year, well below the water poverty line of 1,000 cubic metres per capita a year.
Police in Khartoum began a crackdown on Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees in the past few days. The Amharic service’s Tizita Belachew interviewed leaders of the refugee community in Khartoum on Thursday and Friday who said the raids began on July 5 and each day since then truckloads of police and other Sudanese government security have raided the homes and business of Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees, confiscating the contents of their restaurants and homes and beating and raping women and children.
All refugees who spoke on the air did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals.
UNHCR protection officer in Khartoum Teresa Ongaro confirmed that there was a series of raids of “refugees and illegal workers over the weekend.” She said she has not heard any reports of police raping women and children.
“There are about 30 thousand refugees in Khartoum and about 100 thousand in Eastern Sudan bordering Eritrea. Many go to Khartoum to find a better life, but are exposed to ill treatment from time to time. She said UNHCR personnel and lawyers have interviewed 314 victims of the recent raid, and determined that 91 fit the UNHCR qualifications for refugees. She said these refugees were freed the next day. The refugees say more than 50 have already been deported.
We are currently working on a documentary titled The Market Maker and wanted you to be part of a live web discussion following the premiere of the film this week.
The film follows Eleni Gabre-Madhin, a charismatic Ethiopian economist who, in an effort to end hunger in her famine-plagued country, designs the country’s first commodities exchange, which she hopes will
revolutionalize an ancient market system whose inefficiencies have been partly responsible for the country’s persistent food shortages.
The film premieres on Wednesday, July 22 at 10:00 p.m., but broadcast times vary from region to region, so check your local listings for air times by clicking here:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/schedule/
As an additional feature to the film, we will be hosting a live web discussion, during which you can join in a conversation with Gabre-Madhin, Wide Angle host Aaron Brown, and the filmmakers, Eli Cane
and Hugo Berkeley.
The talk will be hosted live on Thursday 23rd July 11:00 am EST at www.pbs.org/wideangle
Given your dedicated interest in raising awareness about the region, we thought you’d be interested in being a part of this interactive chat.
The number you can call to participate live is (718) 506-1351.
We would love to have as many people involved in this discussion. And you can help us spread the word! If you would post the information about this chat, including the date, time, and call-in number, on your blog, we’d be most appreciative.
Please feel free to write or call with any questions:
