Ethiopian refugees in Sudan protest lack of protection

On Monday, the Ethiopian refugees in Khartoum organised a rally in front of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) buildings, demanding a swift address to their refugee’s status.

During the protest, the refugees claimed that some of them have been living in Sudan for more than 30 years without being granted the protection of refugee status, naturalisation, or resettlement to a third country.

All segments of the Ethiopian refugees in Khartoum participated in the rally. They claimed that they don’t have refugee protection rights so they cannot obtain a nationality by naturalisation or resettlement. They said the ID cards have been withdrawn from some refugees.

“We demand the UNHCR return the withdrawn refugee ID cards to the unprotected refugees, and the implementation of the naturalisation programme or resettlement program for registered refugees to third countries,” the protestors said.

“We will escalate our demands to the UNHCR offices in Geneva if the Khartoum office does not respond,” they added.

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