Press Release
Washington, DC, November 11, 2013
SMNE Calls on the Saudi government to stop this brutal and inhumane treatment of the Ethiopian migrant workers immediately And on the TPLF/ERPDF regime to Protect Ethiopian Citizens in Saudi Arabia
The Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), a non-political and non-violent social justice movement of diverse people that advocates for freedom, justice, good governance and upholding the civil, human and economic rights of the people of Ethiopia, without regard to ethnicity, religion, political affiliation or other differences, is highly disturbed by reports, pictures and video footage of the violence being perpetrated against Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. Please take a look at the video links
here,
here and
here.
Since the November 3, 2013 deadline in Saudi Arabia, which marked the end of the amnesty period during which all undocumented foreign workers were required to legalize their status or face deportation, Ethiopians working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) have faced beatings, torture, rape, and serious injury.
Please take a look at the pictures
here. Although many of the over 16,000 migrants who have been arrested are Ethiopians, workers from other countries, such as the Philippines, are also represented.
Graphic pictures of blood, injury and death are circulating on websites and in the social media. We in the SMNE have received countless phone calls, emails, pictures, videos and messages telling about and showing Ethiopians who have been victims of these crimes. One was a heartbreaking picture of a young Ethiopian man who was shot dead on the street, the blood from his wounded body flowing onto the pavement. Eyewitnesses to his murder report that this man was shot in the head as he tried to run away. He may have feared arrest or the brutal treatment at the hands of Saudi police. In one reported case, a handcuffed man, already contained, was still beaten by the police. In another video clip, Saudi civilians can be seen beating up other men. According to reports to the SMNE from Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia, a total of 7 Ethiopians have been killed, 218 have been injured and over 368 are missing. This brutality is outrageous.