Update: Somali Refugees
After over a week of being unable to contact my Somali contacts, and there always being police around their protest, we went today and found out that the police had dispersed all the protestors yesterday after over a month of protesting. The two streets surrounding the UNHCR building once filled with hundreds of refugees (see prior photos in our Sanaa album) was completely empty except for police. According to one of the guys who works in the restaurant that we frequent near the protest, protestors resisted by throwing things, and the police used riot gear, probably tear gas (my Arabic is not good enough to know for sure), etc. to remove all the protestors. Surprisingly the Yemeni restaurant worker was very supportive of the Somali cause, citing that they were poor and had nothing to eat. Yesterday we helped him help them write a sign in English for their protest. We’ll try to find out more of what happened and what they plan to do next if I can get a hold of my contacts. I know some of the leaders in the past had been put in jail. We’ll see . . .Update 12/22/05: Please read the article in the comments by a human rights group telling in more detail what happened to the Somalis.
That reminds me, I forgot to mention what happened to our Arabic teacher a couple weeks ago. He got in a car accident, which is a frequent occurence here, and although he was not at fault, it’s typical for Yemeni police to keep all the drivers in jail until the status of all those injured is figured out. Without car insurance, the drivers are required to pay the medical expenses of those hurt and fix any damage made to public property, and the vehicles. Most interesting was his description of Yemeni prisons. They are crowded and cold, full of people there for all sorts of reasons. However if you have money it’s so easy to bribe the guards for special priveleges. He told us how a rich Yemeni man bought qat and a nice dinner for everyone there, basically receiving all the comforts of his home.
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Raxeye Human Rights groups(RHRG)
E-mail address Raheye2008@yahoo.com
Massacered and hidden: Yemen refugees
Lately in Sana’a Yemen Somali refugees have been staging a sit-in outside the UNHCR’s premises. The refugees have been peaceful and they were demanding fair treatment from the commission of the refugees. The protesting refugees included children, men and women and they set makeshift tents outside the UNHCR premises. Though the press was off-limit to the protesting refugees who remained under watchful eyes of security men, the local newspapers had run stories about the refugees plights and demands. The refugees were accusing UNHCR branch office for neglecting them.
In Yemen refugees are not given the rights to run business in the country and the urban refugees depend on menial jobs which may sometimes not meet their basic needs. As a result, single mothers are in vast number after their husbands illegally immigrate to the neighboring Saudi
Arabia to seek for greener pasture. The UNHCR office which also relatively lucks the needed staff rarely helps the refugees. Almost all the protesting refugees had an appointment from the commission which dates back 2004 and some even 2003- an evidence of negligence. The refugees could not travel and they fall prey to the corrupt police after their UNHCR identification card expired a year ago. Though when the refugees had the cards were also being harassed by the police they were better than non. In short refugees were demanding peacefully from the commission a fair treatment or a resettlement to a third country as an option.
The commission tried to negotiate the refugees on the 39th day of their protest in a bid to disperse them. According to the refugees the commission asked them to disperse and promised to do something for the vulnerable refugees including those who had the old appointments. Then the refugees suggested to continue with their protest while they peacefully wait for the
promised good-will met- an idea that was never welcomed by the commission.
The day after the negotiation the commission reportedly reached a decision to disperse the protesting refugees using force. The decision was brewed up after the middle east UNHCR representative met Yemen interior minister over the refugees issue. On 18th December 2005 in the afternoon exactly at 2:30 the local time the refugees were attacked by a huge number of police in full compact gear. Then a bloody clash was the impact of the commissions underestimated plan in the presence of the middle east UNHCR’s representative. The police used an excessive force to disperse the
refugees of which some refugees also attempted to defend themselves by throwing stones. Mothers, some with children strapped on their backs were among the dozens who have died or seriously wounded. The press, general observers and the public were banned from the scene of the massacre and it seems hard to determine the number of causality. According to eye witnesses some corpses of the killed refugees were put into sacks, loaded into a big lorry and possibly dumped. Therefore misery surrounds the number of the killed refugees and there is a contradiction over the killed, even in the local newspapers. No one has come for the help of these poor refugees and many are held behind bars and some are missing. At the Somali community centre many refugees are screaming after they couldn’t trace the whereabouts of their missing relatives, though they have even checked all the jails but all in vain
(counted to be dead). No one knows them dead or alive and no one is ready to help in tracing them!.
One hundred and one refugees are being held by the police including 14 women and three children some wounded and in critical conditions. At least 50 refugees are in hospitals receiving no proper medications due to financial inabilities and they receive no help from anywhere. Women who are held in jails are reportedly raped by the police after they picked them out of the jail at the late times of the night. Though foreigners who are non-Somalis are not given access to the refugees who are held behind bars RHRG(Raxeye Human Rights Groups) could visit almost
all the jails. Yemen jails are in poor conditions, crowded and cold with minimal food distribution and the prisoners receive food from their next-of-kin. However, refugees may not have such privileges.
Human right organization is also indirectly pressured not to involve in the plight of these refugees. RHG which is unregistered self -appointed humanitarian body has received threats after running stories in the local newspapers that criticized UNHCR actions over the refugees. As a result, RHRG has one of its members behind the wall of prison and two are being sought by the police after they were spied of filming the refugees.
RHRG would like to welcome individuals and the organizations who defend human rights to plead for these poor refugees. RHRG is ready to cooperate with human rights activist in providing all that can be used as an evidence to the planned massacre. RHRG has filmed secretly the wounded
refugees who are held in jails.
Sincerely yours,
RHRG spokesman
moktar
Comment by moktar — 12/22/2005 @ 9:29 am
Today 12/22 2005 the refugees wanted to reorganize themselves to stage a sit-in again, but now according to them demanding the release of the wounded refugees held in jails. At least one hundred refugees are held behind bars some wounded. The refugees second protest mission was stopped by the police when the Somali community centre was ( as they said) accused for incitement by the police. According to the refugees, police some in plain clothes guided by Somali informers are looking for the actual organizers of the refugees protest in the first place. Therefore, some of the leaders who survived the police sweep and were updating (Raxeye human right group ) are now reportedly hiding themselves to avoid the police and their informers .
Surprisingly, UNHCR office is yet to involve itself in helping the refugees held behind bars. According to UNHCR’s social worker they were not given access to talk to the prisoners and in turn they wrote an official letter to the head office.
Refugees who are held in jails still continue their hunger strike, but some in critical conditions are not participating in the strike owing to their deteriorating health conditions.
Refugees identification cards though promised to be issued the first days of their sit-in was supposed to be issued tomorrow. However according to rumors coming out from the UNHCR office it was postponed again, UNHCR office couldn’t confirm this to our ognization (RHRG).
The refugees plight seems hidden in a plain view and your influence and pleading is highly welcome and may help bail out the wounded refugees from the jails and taken to hospitals instead.
Raxeye human rights group
Raxeye2008@yahoo.com
Comment by Moktar — 12/23/2005 @ 4:31 pm