Ethiopian migrants perish in Tanzania (video)
The endless Ethiopian nightmare
Author: Elias Kifle
43 Ethiopians suffocated to death in Tanzania
ARUSHA, Tanzania (AP) — Forty-three Ethiopians and Somalis who paid to be smuggled from their homelands in search of better living conditions died in the back of a crowded, suffocating truck, an official said Wednesday.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Pereira Silima on Wednesday said it was sad that so many people died from the illegal smuggling scheme.
Tanzania’s state television said the dead bodies were thrown off the truck and dumped in the bush after the driver of the truck realized on Tuesday that some of the people he was smuggling had perished. Some 70 people in the truck survived and are receiving medical treatment and being questioned by police.
Tanzania lies on a smuggling route Africans use to travel to South Africa, where there are more economic opportunities.
Area residents were the first to report the deaths because of a foul smell. The deceased have been taken to the hospital in Dodoma, Tanzania’s new capital city.
”It is extremely sad and unfortunate that people die by using wrong and self-torturing means to illegally transport themselves to other destinations,” Silima said.
The immigrants were said to be on their way to South Africa in hopes of finding better jobs. Many immigrants pay agents between $3,000 and $4,000 to reach Africa’s southernmost country. The illegal trip passes through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi or Zambia, Zimbabwe or Botswana and then into South Africa. The shipping containers that the immigrants are crammed into can be changed several times before reaching South Africa.
The latest smuggling tragedy came less than a week after an overloaded boat carrying about 60 immigrants from Ethiopia capsized in Lake Malawi’s waters. All aboard were feared to have drowned. Three Malawian human traffickers were arrested.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/27/3678461/43-ethiopians-somalis-suffocate.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
ESAT discussion on boycotting Al Amoudi festival in DC
ESAT discusses economic boycott against the Woyanne junta in Ethiopia, and particularly the boycott campaign that is currently underway against the Al Amoudi-sponsored blood money festival in Washington DC. The discussion is with Ethiopian Review editor Elias Kifle and Boycott TPLF Task Force member Hirut Dinku. Watch below:
Transitional council founding conference – Dallas, July 1 – 3
The founding convention of Ethiopian National Transitional Council will be held in Dallas, Texas, starting this coming Sunday, July 1. Delegates from close to 40 cities and countries around the world will start arriving in Dallas on Friday to participate in the historic meeting. Listen below:
[podcast]http://www.ethiopianreview.info/audio/ENTC_announcement_combined.mp3[/podcast]
More info: [email protected]
BBC interview with Ethiopian Review editor
The town of Awassa in a security lock-down
The Woyanne junta has sent thousands of heavily armed troops to the southern Ethiopian town of Awassa today to prevent a protest rally that has been called for tomorrow, Saturday.
Security check points have been set up at several places, buses have been ordered to stop services, and transportation in and out of the town has been restricted.
During the past few days, pamphlets have been distributed through out Awassa (called Hawassa by the Woyanne junta) calling for mass demonstration in opposition to some law that was recently passed. … stay tuned for more updates