OSA Open Leter to Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz

November 20, 2013

Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz,
Minister of Interior,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
PO Box 11134
Riyadh – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Your Excellency,

We, the Oromo community associations in North America and the Oromo Studies Association, write this letter in relation to the situation in the kingdom of immigrant workers, refugees, and asylum seekers from Ethiopia, specifically concerning the Oromo people from Ethiopia. We heard and observed with disbelief and a profound sense of grief the awful news coming from Saudi Arabia. The graphic images and videos of indiscriminate beatings of defenseless immigrant workers, ostensibly at the hands of Saudi Arabian law enforcement officials and vigilantes, has clearly shocked and enraged us. Law enforcement officials have randomly rounded up, kept tens of thousands of the immigrants in concentration camp-type facilities, and deported many thousands more to Ethiopia without regard to individual cases and needs.

We cannot establish with certainty which party is responsible for the inhumane treatment of Ethiopian immigrants in your country. Notwithstanding the evidence of the images, we find it difficult to accept that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condones or sanctions the dehumanizing treatment of human beings, whether they are legal or illegal. Regardless, the indiscriminate and wanton acts of cruelty perpetrated against our compatriots in Saudi Arabia have violated all boundaries of human decency and respect for human dignity.

The Oromo communities in North America are alarmed by the saga of refugees resulting from the rush and cruel measures taken by the law enforcement officials of your country. As human beings, we cannot avoid having a sense of fellow feeling when other human beings are subjected to indescribable suffering. In our view, the heavy-handed approach fails to take into account that all members of the human family are entitled to some inalienable and fundamental rights, including those your government has categorized wholesale as “illegal” and “unwanted.” Worse yet, the approach does not solve the fundamental socio-economic problems Saudi Arabia is trying to resolve in spite the high human toll it causes. We believe that your government does not endorse acts of indiscriminate violence being meted out on any human being. Even those who are found guilty of violating the laws of your country deserve a measure of respect and lawful treatment.

Your Excellency,

While we have sympathy for all Ethiopians who have been subjected to untold suffering, we like to call your attention to the unique case of Oromo immigrants in your country who are lumped together with all Ethiopians and subjected to arbitrary measures. The Oromo people, the single largest nation in the Horn of Africa, constitute about 40 percent of the population of Ethiopia. They are also found in Kenya and Somalia in significant numbers. In Ethiopia, despite their numeric superiority, the Oromo have always been treated as a minority group, perpetually subjected to political, economic, and cultural depredations and dispossessions. It is no wonder a large chunk of the refugees from Ethiopia in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia come from the Oromo nation. Although we know that the majority of the refugees in the Kingdom are migrant domestic workers looking for better opportunities, we like to bring to your attention that the vast majority of the Oromo in your country are refugees and asylum seekers who fled political and religious persecutions in Ethiopia.

Your Excellency,

We do not question that Saudi Arabia has a duty to provide opportunities for its citizens, and has the right to deport individuals who violate its laws. We are keenly aware that your Kingdom is not party to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, and the attendant Protocol of 1967, we would like bring to the attention that the Kingdom has obligations under the United Nations Charters and the Universal Declarations of Human Rights (UDHR). In addition, your Kingdom’s Basic Law of 1992 states that “the State will grant political asylum, if so required by the public interest.”  As one global family, we believe that extending protection to the refugees and asylum seekers who might be harmed upon their return to Ethiopia is in the best interest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is moreover incumbent on the government to fulfill the international norms it has accepted as a responsible member of the international community to assure the rights of immigrant workers, refugees, and of asylum seekers.

Your Excellency,

We emphasize that the Oromo in your country are political and religious refugees who have sought your generous protection. They deserve being spared the ravages of the dragnet of law enforcement that is rounding up and deporting them in a wholesale manner to Ethiopia.  After all, these are people who sought your protection from the capriciousness of a repressive regime in Ethiopia.

In light of this fact, the Oromo community associations in North America and the Oromo Studies Association, appeal on humanitarian grounds that Saudi officials treat the case of Oromo refugees and asylum seekers with particular attention as they endeavor to enforce the country’s laws. While we respect your government’s right to promulgate and enforce suzerain laws within its territories, we appeal to your conscience to reconsider the status of Oromo refugees and asylum seekers and obviate their further victimization by the indiscriminate roundups and deportations. We urge the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to respect the basic human rights and refugee protection norms under the international law.

We trust that your government will respond positively to our entreaties and keep the Oromo refugees and asylum seeks under its protection. If, however, your Kingdom does not want to host those refugees, we ask that they be provided opportunities for resettlement in a third country than simply resorting to deporting them to Ethiopia, where they are likely to end up in prison or be subjected to other wanton human rights violations.

We, therefore, request and urge your Kingdom to:

• thoroughly reconsider the status of Oromo refugees and asylum seekers in the process of the haphazard roundups and deportations;
• ask international refugee organizations to resettle Oromo refugees and asylum seekers to a third country if your Kingdom does not want to host them any longer;
• respect basic human rights and afford them refugee protections under the international and Saudi laws;
• provide basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical attention, and allow international refugee and humanitarian organizations to visit in detention.