Ethiopian community turns to SA for help

04/02/2006 (SA)
ELIJAH MOHOLOLA

A small Ethiopian community has appealed to the South African government to intervene and stop their persecution by the Ethiopian government.

About 500 members of the Orumo people living in South Africa converged at the Union Buildings in Pretoria to seek assistance from South Africa .

The tired-looking crowd had endured the blistering heat as they trudged slowly down Park Street, carrying placards and singing as they made their way to the Union Building.

Oromia is the largest regional state in Ethiopia . The Oromo people constitute more than 40 percent of Ethiopia's population.

While a few among the 500-member crowd, clad in similar T-shirts, could afford some smiles, the situation for their countrymen back at home is no smiling-matter.

Oromo leader in SA Abdil Lammii said the Oromia state had been plagued by killings of innocent demonstrators for a long time.

He said a number of protesters and political fighters had been detained without being charged by the government.

Lammii said the killing of Oromos had been as a result of a number of public demontrations and strikes that they embarked on, protesting against the violation of basic human rights by the Ethiopian government.

"We are gathered here today to condemn the killings of innocent civilians and the detention of thousands of our compatriots by the Ethiopian regime simply for peacefully demonstrating against the violation of their human rights," said Lammii.

Lammii added that a number of schools, colleges and universities have been closed down by the government and countless students arrested.

Another refugee, Ahmed Haji, who has been living in SA for six years, said he fled his country as a result of the worsening situation there.

"These killings have been going on for a very long time. We are surprised the international community has turned a blind eye," Haji said.

He said that from a young age, he used to witness people being killed on a daily basis.

"I came to this country to save my life."

Haji said that it was high time the South African government raised alarmbells about the treatment of the Oromo people.

According to a BBC report this week, more than a thousand members of the Oromo ethnic group have been arrested over the past three months in Ethiopia.

The Oromo memorandum was received by a high ranking official in the presidency. City Press News