At least 14 Blue Nile refugees are missing at Bambasi camp in Ethiopia, according to a community leader Wednesday.
A sheikh who preferred anonymity said the missing refugees were abducted at Teiba area after searching for alternatives to meet household expenses. He said that eight persons among the abducted refugees are feared dead.
The sheikh alleged the refugees were abducted by Sudanese security agents under the pretext that they support the SPLA-N. He said they were submitted to the Sudanese authorities in Geisan locality. He also accused the Ethiopian community of complicity with the Sudanese Military and Intelligence Service in handing over the refugees.
The sheikh pointed out that the incident occurred outside the camp. He identified some missing refugees as El Tayib Musa, Abaker Ahmed, El Saeed Khalil, Karar El Nur, Adam Suleiman, Nai El Dowi, Khadija Bade, and Amna Nasir, as well as a person called Safiya.
The leader also disclosed that Amna Ahmed and El Nur Ahmed were beaten to death after resisting security agents along the Ethiopian-Sudan border.
The sheikh said the abductions began in early September and continued until now. Radio Tamazuj has not been able to independently verify involvement of Sudanese security agents in these disapearances.
Dire conditions
Separately, the sheikh said the refugees were experiencing deteriorating humanitarian and health conditions at the camp. He said they are being persecuted by local community for breaching laws banning cutting down of trees in the area.
He said a refugee carrying firewood was almost shot and killed yesterday by local authorities, adding that the cooking fuel being distributed by organizations is inadequate.
“Because the situation is bad due to a lack fuel, we were obliged to cut the trees for firewood,” he said, calling upon the humanitarian organizations operating in the area to provide them enough fuel.
The Bambasi camp accommodates over 18,000 Blue Nile refugees who were driven by the conflict in Blue Nile state between the Sudanese army and SPLM-N rebels.
File photo: Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia (UNHCR)