10 September 2015: SOCEPP has addressed letter to South African leaders (Malawi, Zambia, South Africa) calling on them to stop tormenting Ethiopian refugees.

In South Africa, refugees continue to be killed by xenophobic mobs or thugs. In Zambia and Malawi (with some others also in Namibia), Ethiopian refugees are jailed and subjected to harsh treatment. A case in point is the condition of Ethiopian prisoners in Malawi’s hell holes in Maula (where more than 160 refugees who have finished their prison terms are still being held), in Chicheri and other prisons. Lack of food, overcrowding, horrible health conditions are the fate of these prisoners. The refugees are smuggled to Southern Africa by traffickers linked to the ruling officials in Addis Abeba.

SOCEPP has reminded the South African leaders to live up to their responsibilities and to respect human rights. It has also reminded these same leaders that Ethiopia stood on their side in their times of bitter struggle for liberation. The mistreatment of Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers is a travesty of justice, a violation of basic rights contrary to Africa’s Human Rights Charter. It has to be stopped and all those illegally detained should be released without delay.