Ethiopian authorities have banned refugees in the Ethiopia-based refugee camps at Bambasi, Tango and Kubri Khamsa from talking to the media about both the challenges and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the camps.
Several refugees at Bambasi, Tango and Kubri Khamsa camps have expressed discontent about what they term “tough measures” recently taken by the Ethiopian authorities. A large number of Blue Nile refugees in the Ethiopian camps confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that whoever is heard talking on the radio is subsequently summoned by the Ethiopian security.
An Omda at Tango camp said he has been summoned by the authorities because he used to talk to the media. “I was interrogated about the issue of refugees taken to the minefields on the Ethiopian-Blue Nile borders,” the Omda explained. On 5 November, a refugee reported that Sudanese authorities with Ethiopian assistance had taken 60 Blue Nile refugees from the camps, allegedly to mining fields.
“Blue Nile refugees are being pursued every day by the authorities,” he added.
An Administration for Refugee Affairs (ARA) used to observe whoever in the camps talks to radio stations, especially Radio Tamazuj and Dabanga, according to a source.
The Federal Republic of Ethiopia accommodates thousands of refugees from Sudan’s Blue Nile state since the war intensified between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Sudan People’s Liberation Army North (SPLAN) in 2011.
Related: 60 Blue Nile refugees in Ethiopia taken by Sudanese authorities (5 November 2013)
File photo: Sudanese refugees from Blue Nile state (by UNHCR)