UNPO: Ogaden: Refugee Council Requests Extra Protection during Upcoming Elections

Head of the Ogaden Refugee Council, Mr Ahmed Sadik, has urged Kenyan authorities to exercise extreme vigilance during upcoming Ethiopian elections on 15 May 2015. There are fears that cross-border persecutions of Ogaden refugees will increase as was seen in the run-up to the 2010 Ethiopian elections, and Mr Sadik has requested tighter security for the Ogaden refugees currently residing in Kenya.

Below is a report published in Waagacusub Media:

Mr Sadik called on the government of Kenya to be aware of Ethiopian assailants and those conspiring with them to ensure that they would not harm anyone on Kenyan territory.



The Kenya-Ogaden Community is taking all possible precautions as they have one eye on the upcoming Ethiopia elections on [15 May 2015].

Eng. Ahmed Sadik, Head of the Ogaden Refugee Council, has urged the communities and refugee leaders in Kenya to be extremely cautious.

He said, "It is time for the communities and refugee leadership to be vigilant," he said on Wednesday [28 January 2015].

Speaking with Radio Xoriyo, also known as Radio Freedom, he said Ethiopia exports its domestic problems to the neighboring countries like Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia. "Ethiopia does not hesitate to attack refugees, mainly Ogaden, Anuak and Oromo community leaders, which have fled from the brutality of its army, as was the case during the 2010 elections."

He continued, "When Ethiopian elections were happening in 2010, Ethiopian Security Forces attempted to kill activists, opposition figures and community leaders from the Ogaden region, Oromia and Gambella".

Mr Sadik added that the EPRDF-dominated government will undoubtedly control the voting and that nothing good can be expected to happen in the May 2015 election.

Human Rights Watch has accused the Ethiopian government of systematically cracking down on media ahead of the May 2015 election.

According to Africa Intelligence, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to act as mediator between the government and the ONLF, taking advantage of Erdogan's visit to Ethiopia.