ADDIS ABABA: Clashes between Ethiopian federal forces and militias in the northwest of the country are putting Sudanese refugees at “grave risk”, Human Rights Watch warned Thursday.
The Amhara-based Fannu militia is among several regional groups that have been fighting the federal government since vowing to crush armed groups in April 2023.
The government emergency in Amhara, which has a population of 23 million, expired in June, but unrest continued as a large contingent of federal troops was deployed in September.
The area is located next to Sudan, which has been witnessing a civil war between the Rapid Support Forces and army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since 2023, displacing tens of thousands.
Leticia Bader, assistant director of Human Rights Watch for Africa, said: “Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia have been targeted for more than a year by various armed actors.”
“These refugees have fled horrific abuses in their country and are in urgent need of protection, not further threats to their lives.”
Human Rights Watch reported that “militants and militias committed killings, beatings, looting, and kidnappings in exchange for ransoms and forced labor” near two camps.
Violations have been ongoing since June 2023, according to Human Rights Watch, which interviewed 20 refugees in three camps and transit centres by phone earlier this year.
The rights group also accused the Ethiopian government of setting up camps in areas where local skirmishes have been taking place since before the war broke out in Sudan, but not providing “limited” security measures.
A 45-year-old refugee told Human Rights Watch, “We wanted to feel safe when we left Sudan but the beatings and robberies (in Ethiopia) are beyond our ability to bear.”
“My children were crying,” the refugee said, recounting how army and police forces beat refugees in front of their children.
“They started insulting us and saying that if we don’t want to stay in Ethiopia, we have to go back to our country, to Sudan,” he said.
The person, who asked not to be identified out of fear for his safety, noted that “every time (the Ethiopian authorities) pledge something, nothing changes.”
Human Rights Watch reported that it sent the report’s preliminary findings to the Ethiopian Refugee Service, which acknowledged that the camps were “relatively close to conflict zones” but stressed that “appropriate security” measures were in place.
Amhara clashes led to the closure of the Olala and Kumer camps in July, it said.
Source :(AFP) Arabic
