Saudi Arabia Doubles Down on Abuse

Dawit Giorgis is a Visiting Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former senior official in the Government of Ethiopia and David Andrew Weinberg is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation penned the following commentary on The National Interest's website last November following the violence against Ethiopian migrant workers by Saudi's Police and its vigilantes who took the law in to their hands.  

Last month, three Ethiopians were killed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, as well as one foreign worker from Sudan. They died amid vigilante violence and reports of police brutality after illegal immigrants in the slum of Manfouha protested against a massive campaign of deportations that the government launched this month. A similar demonstration was broken up in the city of Jeddah, and its organizers arrested.

Meanwhile, large groups of Ethiopians have been gathering for protests this week at Saudi diplomatic institutions across the United States, including in front of the Saudi Embassy in Washington, as well as the Kingdom’s consulates in Atlanta, Los Angeles and in many parts of the world.

What is this big controversy about?

Saudi officials claim that the Ethiopians

Ethiopians in Saudi-Arabia Feared for their Lives

Ethiopians and one journalist who wanted to be anonymous told the Ethiopian Satellite Television ESAT that an alleged SMS was sent to employers and landlords of Ethiopians at the end of last week which threatens them a 100 thousand Saudi Riyals unless they fire Ethiopians from their workplaces and/or expel from their houses. The situation is threatening for tens of thousands of documented and undocumented Ethiopians according to a post published in Amharic on ESAT's  FaceBook wall last week. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians are waiting in makeshift detention centers to be returned back home. The Ethiopian government assigned only 40 workforce to handle hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian returnees. These Ethiopians alleged that the Saudi government is indirectly instigating for all Ethiopians to be expelled from its territory. A journalist who wanted his name not to be disclosed told ESAT that if the current hate climate against Ethiopians continues as it is right now, nationals who reside in that country may face unimaginable danger in the near future. The journalist said the alleged SMS message which was sent last Friday should be a wake-up call for Ethiopians who live in Saudi-Arabia regardless of their legal status. He said the recent threatening SMS against Ethiopian migrant workers was allegedly sent by the Saudi government unofficially through its agents. The anonymous journalist blasted the Ethiopian government for trying to score a political point with the number of Ethiopians returnees

it brought back home instead of making a strong diplomatic efforts to bring back all of its citizens to safety. The journalist alleged that the number of thousands of Ethiopians who are desperately waiting to be returned in various concentration camps is more than twice of the ones who returned back home.

An Ethiopian who was sheltering nine Ethiopians who were expelled by their landlords told ESAT that one of the alleged victims came to Saudi legally eight months ago. The victim's father sold his house to send him to Saudi and live in rental house right now in Ethiopia. He said his life in Saudi-Arabia is endangered at the moment.   

Meanwhile an estimated three thousand detained Ethiopians who entered to Yemen from Saudi-Arabia are reportedly suffering from food-shortages, according a journalist who visited the detainees.

በሳውዲ አረቢያ የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ወገኖቻችን ህይወታችን አደጋ አንዣቦበታል ይላሉ

የኢትዮጵያ ሳተላይት ቴሌቪዥን ( ኢሳት )ባለፈው ሳምንት መገባደጃ ላይ ያነጋገራቸው ወገኖች እና አንድ ስሙ እንዳይጠቀስ የፈለገ በሳውዲ የሚኖር ጋዜጠኛ በሳውዲ አረቢያ የሚታየው ሁኔታ እጅግ አስፈሪ ነው ይላሉ። ከ40 ሺ በላይ ኢትዮጵያን በእስር ቤቶች ውስጥ ይገኛሉ። ወደ አገራቸው ለመመለስ የሚፈልጉ በአስር ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ዜጎች ቀናቸውን ይጠባባቃሉ። የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በመቶ ሺ የሚቆጠረውን ስደተኛ ለማስተናገድ የመደበው የሰው ሀይል 40 ብቻ ነው። የሳውድ አረቢያ መንግስት ደግሞ በተዘዋዋሪ መንገድ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከአገሪቱ ምድር ተጠራርገው እንዲወጡ እየቀሰቀሰ ነው። ሁኔታው በዚህ ከቀጠለ፣ በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ታይቶ የማይታወቅ አደጋ ሊፈጠር ይችላል ብሏል አንድ ስሙ እንዳይገለጽ የፈለገ ጋዜጠኛ።
አርብ እለት  በተለያዩ የሳውዲ ከተሞች በተንቀሳቃሽ ስልክ የተበተነው አጭር መልዕክት ህጋዊ ለተባሉትም ሆነ ህገወጥ ለሚባሉት ኢትዮጵያውያን የማስጠንቀቂያ ደወል ነው ይላሉ እኝህ ጋዜጠኛ።
የተበተነው የተንቀሳቃሽ ስልክ አጭር መልዕክት ኢትዮጵያውያንን ቀጥራችሁ የምታሰሩ እንዲሁም መኖሪያ ቤት ያከራያችሁ ሁሉ በአስቸኳይ እንድታስወጡ፣ ይህን ባታደርጉ ግን 100 ሺ ረያል ትከፍላለችሁ የሚል እንደሆነ ያነጋገርናቸው ኢትዮጵያውያን ገልጸዋል። ይህን መልእክት ተከትሎ በርካታ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከተከራዩበት ቤት ተባረዋል። 9 ኢትዮጵያውያንን ወደ አስጠጋው ኢትዮጵያዊ በመደወል መታሰቢያ ቀጸላ አነጋግራቸዋለች። እርሱ እንደሚለው መልክቱ መተላለፉን ተከትሎ ጓደኞቹ ከቤታቸው እንዲወጡ ተደርጎ በእርሱ ቤት ተጠልለዋል
ከቤታቸው ከተባረሩት መካከል አንዱ ከ8 ወራት በፊት አባቱ ቤታቸውን ሸጠው ፣ በኪራይ ቤት እየኖሩ በህጋዊ መንገድ እንደላኩት ይናገራል። አሁን ቤትክን ለቀህ ውጣ ተብሎ ህይወቱ አደጋ ላይ ወድቋል
የሳውዲ መንግስት በይፋ እንዲህ አይነት መልክት ያስተላልፍ እንደሆነ የጠየቅነው ጋዜጠኛ፣ መንግስት በቀጥታ እንዲህ አያደርግም ነገር ግን እርሱ ባሰማራቸው ሰዎች አማካኝነት መልክቶችን እንደሚሰድ ይታወቃል ብሎአል።
የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ጠንካራ የዲፕሎማሲ ዘመቻ በማድረግ በመቶሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵያውያንን ህይወት መታደግ ሲችል በቀን ይህን ያክል ሰው አስመጣሁ በማለት ፕሮፓጋንዳ ይነዛል የሚለው ጋዜጠኛው፣ በሳውዲ የቀረው ኢትዮጵያዊ ወደ አገር ቤት የተመለሰውን በብዙ እጥፍ ይበልጣል ሲል በአገሪቱ ያለውን እውነታ አስረድቷል።
በሌላ በኩል ከሳውድ አረቢያ ወደ የመን የገቡ 3 ሺ ያክል ኢትዮጵያውያን በምግብ እጥረት ተጎሳቁለው እንደሚገኙ እስር ቤት ድረስ በመሄድ ጋዜጠኛ ግሩም ተክለሀይማኖት ጎብኝቷቸዋል።

Saudi Arabia Must Stop Violence Against Ethiopian Migrant Workers: Human Rights Watch

“Now the Saudi government needs to rein in Saudi citizens who are attacking foreign workers.” : Joe Strok, deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch condemned the ongoing  violence against defenseless Ethiopian migrant workers by Saudi's uniformed police and the Shabab (young men). The Right group made the urge today after interviewing Ethiopian victims and witnesses from Manfouha neighborhood of southern Riyadh, where Ethiopian residents make up a majority of residents. Human Rights also blamed Saudi officials and state controlled media's Xenophobic smear campaign against migrant workers branding them as criminals months before the crackdown which resulted unprecedented level of assault, killings and rapes on these groups especially Ethiopians since November 4/2013. The right group also urged Saudi authorities to immediately investigate assaults on Ethiopian and other migrant workers by security forces and Saudi citizens, and hold those responsible for violent crimes to account. Saudi and Ethiopian authorities should work to speedily repatriate undocumented foreign workers waiting in makeshift holding centers, if they have no fear of returning home, and ensure that they get adequate food, shelter, and medical care. Last but not least, Human Rights Watch has once again called on the Saudi government to abolish aspects of the kafala or “sponsorship” system that create conditions for abuse, including rules requiring a worker to obtain permission from his or her employer to change jobs or leave the country. These rules leave foreign workers with little option for redress in cases of abuse or labor violations and force them into under-the-table work.  To read the full report click here.