ETHIOPIA: REFUGEES SHOT OUTSIDE KEBRIBEYAH AND MY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 000250 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/AFR (JANET DEUTSCH),AF/E (JOEL WIEGERT),AF/RSA (LEARNED DEES),AND DRL (SIMONE JOSEPH) GENEVA FOR RMA BRUSSELS FOR POL/REF E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2015 TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV PHUM ET SO SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: REFUGEES SHOT OUTSIDE KEBRIBEYAH AND MY AYNI CAMPS Classified By: Inga Heemink, Refugee Coordinator, for reasons 1.4 (b) a nd (d). ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Since December 21, there have been three separate incidents involving Government of Ethiopia (GoE) security personnel near Kebribeyah and My Ayni refugee camps. On December 21, police arrested eight Somali refugees in Kebribeyah camp near Jijiga and three were subsequently found shot and killed. On January 1, another Somali refugee was killed in Kebribeyah camp. Security personnel fired on and killed a female Eritrean refugee and seriously wounded two others from My Ayni refugee camp when their vehicle failed to stop at a police check point. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has asked the Administration of Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) for formal investigation on all incidents. UNHCR has also repeatedly requested and has been denied access to the arrested refugees believed to be held in Jijiga. End summary. -------------- SHOOTINGS OUTSIDE KEBRIBEYAH CAMP -------------- ¶2. (SBU) UNHCR reported that on December 21, Ethiopian police entered into Kebribeyah refugee camp, arrested eight male Somali refugees, including one 14 year old and one 17 year old, and turned them over to Ethiopian security personnel (Note: It is currently unclear which branch of the police arrested the refugee and if the refugees were turned over to the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) or local militia. End note.). Three of the refugees were shot and killed, allegedly by the military/militia. Their bodies were discovered by locals on December 21 in Gilo village approximately thirty kilometers from the camp. UNHCR believes that the remaining five refugees are detained in Jijiga. The GoE initially told UNHCR that the individuals arrested were internally displaced Ethiopians (IDPs) and not refugees. When shown proof from the UNHCR Progress database that the eight individuals were indeed registered refugees, the authorities claimed that they were Ethiopians posing as refugees. Further investigation by UNHCR revealed that the arrested refugees had lived in the camp for years and one of the eight individuals was born in the refugee camp. According to UNHCR field staff, local authorities alleged that the refugees might have been loosely linked to the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF),but they provided no evidence to this effect. ¶3. (CO) On December 30, UNHCR issued a formal letter of protest to the Administration of Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) and the GoE, requesting an investigation and report of the circumstances that led to the death of Hashi Hassan Cadare (age 27),Mohammed Abdi Omer (age 14),and Mohamed Omer Mohamed (age 23),and insisting that due process be carried out for those in detention. When the Refugee Coordinator (Refcoord) asked about the status of the investigation, ARRA Deputy Director Ato Ayalew Aweke claimed that "the appropriate government body" was investigating the incident but would not divulge any details on which government agency was involved. UNHCR Deputy Country Representative Cosmas Chanda reported that the arrested refugees have not appeared in court and, while they are believed to be detained in Jijiga, UNHCR does not know if they are in Jijiga prison, in one of the secret prisons, or in another location. Despite repeated UNHCR requests to visit the refugees, local authorities have refused, with no explanation provided, to grant access to date. ¶4. (SBU) In a separate incident on January 1 a Somali refugee named Hasim Ali Daiar was shot and killed, allegedly by a police offer, in Kebribeyah town about 100 meters from the UNHCR Filed Office (Note: The camp is located in the town of Kebribeyah and it is difficult to differentiate the two. End note.). ARRA is investigating the shooting but has not provided UNHCR any additional information to date. -------------- ADDIS ABAB 00000250 002 OF 002 SHOOTING OUTSIDE MY AYNI CAMP -------------- ¶5. (CO) During the night of January 18, Ethiopian security personnel (currently unclear if they were police or ENDF) fired on a vehicle which failed to stop at a checkpoint six kilometers from the village of Embamadre in Tigray region. Eight Eritrean refugees from My Ayni camp were in the vehicle and one female refugee, Yohana Gebreyohannis Kahsa, was killed. Two other refugees were seriously injured and admitted to a nearby health facility. The incident is still under investigation as it remains unclear whether there was an exchange of gunfire between the security personnel and occupants of the vehicle when it failed to stop. Preliminary reports from UNHCR and ARRA indicate that the vehicle may have been part of a trafficking scheme to take refugees to third countries such as Sudan and Egypt (Note: GoE policy requires all refugees reside in camps, but many Eritrean refugees choose to pursue secondary migration to Europe and the Middle East in lieu of staying in the isolated My Ayni camp with no prospects for further education or employment. End Note). According to International Rescue Committee (IRC) staff who work in My Ayni camp, ARRA is very concerned and embarrassed about this incident as it has long advocated for preferential treatment of Eritrean refugees and does not want any negative publicity. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (CO) ARRA Deputy Director Ato Ayalew Aweke was clearly uncomfortable and hesitant to discuss these incidents when the Refcoord brought up the subject during a January 27 meeting to express USG concern and to underscore the need for a formal investigation and UNHCR access to the detained refugees. The GOE has historically been welcoming to refugees and has rarely entered camps to arrest or otherwise molest refugees. The occurrence of two fatal incidents in Kebribeyah camp in one month, especially with the allegations of ONLF involvement, suggests an increase in targeting refugees in violation of the GoE obligations as party to the 1951 Refugee Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 OAU Convention on Refugees. The Refcoord will follow up with ARRA and UNHCR on these incidents and reiterate to the GOE that all levels of their government need to understand and follow international humanitarian law on the protection of refugees. YATES