UNPO: Ogaden: Swedish Prosecutors To Investigate Human Rights Abuses In Ethiopia

Ogaden: Swedish Prosecutors To Investigate Human Rights Abuses In Ethiopia

Prosecutors from Sweden recently started to document numerous cases of human rights violations committed by the Ethiopian authorities in the Ogaden Region.

Below is an article published by Ogaden Online:

After years of human rights abuses in Ogaden region without international independent investigation, Ogaden region seems to finally have a good news story. Sweden will be the first European country that is investigating what Swedish Prosecutors say a serious human rights abuses committed at Ogaden region.

"I absolutely welcome the good news of holding those who committed the atrocities and human rights abuses in occupied-Ogaden responsible”, said Mohammed Hared, a 31 year-old Somali activist and an active member of Ogaden Youth and Students Union, OYSU-North America.

Established in Denmark in June 27th, 2010,The Ogaden Youth and Students Union or OYSU is a non-governmental, non-profit Organisation as the name refers to OYSU consists of youth educators around the Globe that their mission is advocate for the rights of the youth, Students, children in diaspora and in Ogaden Region as well as promoting and advocating for justice, Freedom and a lasting peace in Ogaden Region

Early of this year, the Organization extended its role and waged a campaign to draw the attention of the International Community what it says "The Ignored Hidden Genocide in Ogaden" in the last couple of years. Two great events are about to held in South Africa and North America between November 27 and 29 [2013].

Despite well-documented evidences by the Rights Groups, the Ethiopia Government has been denying any wrong doing for the last 7-8 years when it times to human rights abuses committed at Ogaden region, but now nothing is ever hidden from the International Community. 

"I don't really think the atrocities committed at Ogaden have ever been hidden from the international community. It is just that many countries around the World chose to ignore the plight of the Somali people in occupied-Ogaden", said Mr. Hared,in an email response.

Rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Genocide Watch have been collecting a large number of testimonies for the war crimes and crimes against humanity"

Documenting and recording for Evidence after evidence of rapes, detentions, tortures, and extra-judicially killings of the civilians as well as villages razing to the ground by the Ethiopian Army and the notorious paramilitary force known as Liyu Police.

Now an Ogadeni whistle blower, Abdullahi Hussein,that is making very difficult to Ethiopia to keep hiding such human rights violations against Somalis in the Ogaden region has defected to Sweden bringing what he says is over 100 hours of filmed evidence. Stellan Gaorde is a lawyer at international commission of jurists. He says Swedish authorities can take action based on the material.

It has come a time that International prosecutors are now following up the case. The Preliminary inquiry about serious crimes against international law was started on the 24th of October.

Swedish Prosecutors are currently working on particular cases-and frequently asking questions for the victims of the notorious Liyu Police, Militia, Ethiopian Army, Regional administration, and judiciary (federal or regional).

Hence, the prosecutors started to talk to more Somalis from Ogaden Region that have specific points of interest on certain issues. And those have some particular cases-very bad experiences, interesting, or an usual will collaborate with the Court.

The Regional Commentators believe that the investigation will likely to be brought in front of Justice all those involved in the case including in the Ethiopian appointed Chief Abdi Mohammoud Omar known as Abdiiley, his vice Chairman Abdullahi Yusuf werar aka Abdullahi Ethiopia, General Abraha Waldo and Alias Quarter who are a close ally of Abdi Iley.

The Oil-rich Ogaden Region is home to 8-10 million ethnic Somali pastoralists, and it borders Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia. The region was Italian and British-colony, but in 1954, Britain handed over the region secretly to Ethiopia, a decision rejected by the Ogaden Somali population who have since fought for full independence.

- See more at: http://www.unpo.org/article/16610#sthash.um51BwSK.dpuf

Ethiopians demonstrate outside Saudi embassy in London - YouTube

Ethiopians demonstrate outside Saudi embassy in London - YouTube: ""

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Aremenian Ethiopian " inhuman and shameful treatment of Ethiopian migrants living in Saudi Arabia" - Garbis Korajian

Such inhuman and shameful treatment of Ethiopian 

migrants living in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States 

should be stopped immediately.

 I am a fourth generation Ethiopian-Armenian and, like 

many Armenians who lived in Ethiopia, my grandparents 

took refuge in Ethiopia after the Armenian Genocide. Those 

Armenians who were fortunate enough to have escaped

the Turkish atrocities and mass murders of the early 20th 

century repatriated to different countries around the world. 

Ethiopia was a country that provided unconditional support 

and welcomed Armenians with open arms. We lived and 

prospered in Ethiopia where we maintained our institutions 

such as our churches, schools and community centers 

without any interference from the Government of Ethiopia 

and its citizens. We were treated as brothers and sisters 

and lived a good life. Although I now live in Canada, I still 

have a lot of love for Ethiopia and the

Garbis Korajian 

people. Therefore, I find it necessary to say a few words about the current mistreatment of Ethiopians in 

the Gulf States including Saudi Arabia which has been the focus of despicable mistreatment of 

Ethiopians. For various reasons, mostly economic, today’s young Ethiopians are traveling abroad looking 

for better opportunities of life through employment. For women, this is mostly domestic help and for 

men, it would be construction or any other job they can find. Needless to say, life for Ethiopians looking 

for work and to survive in these countries is not easy. On top of these hardships, the Ethiopians who are 

law abiding and hard working members of society are facing persecution beyond anyone’s imagination. 

There is no justification for such cruel behavior. 

It is important to remember that one day, the citizens and its descendants from the countries that are 

committing such atrocities on helpless Ethiopians may very well seek refuge in Ethiopia as was done 

1500 years ago. As always, what goes around always comes around. Do not forget your history vis-a-vis 

Ethiopia and stop mistreating our Ethiopian brothers and sisters living in your country. Start treating

them with decency and respect.

Garbis Korajian

Tarikuwa Lemma's difficult journey from Ethiopia to Maine | wcsh6.com

NECN) -- Most stories of adoption are happy ones. Parents willing to open their hearts to a child who needs a family. But adoption is also a business-- one that isn't highly regulated.

States have different laws-- and when it comes to international adoption the rules vary by country. That lack of oversight can prove to be a disaster for some children who fall through the cracks.

Tarikuwa Lemma's journey started in her home country of Ethiopia. When her mother died, Tarikuwa says her widowed father struggled financially to care for her and her siblings. It made him vulnerable to brokers who profit when they provide children to adoption agencies. Tarikuwa's father agreed to send her and two of her sisters to America.

What none of them understood was he had given them up for adoption.

They were adopted by a family in Virginia who thought they were saving orphaned children.

Tarikuwa was 13 when she came to America. Old enough to understand she had been betrayed by an adoption system that can be corrupt, especially in poor countries like Ethiopia. Adoption advocates say fault lies with unscrupulous brokers and agencies that often look the other way.

Maureen Flatley has been an adoption advocate for more than 20 years. She says while stories like this represent a small number of adoptions, it is a growing problem.

"Growing in part because we have been less discriminating about which countries we do business with," said Flatley.

Confused and angry, Tarikuwa rejected her adoptive parents and their attempts to create a new family. While her younger sisters finally acclimated, Tarikuwa did not. After 8 months of struggling her adoptive parents sent her to Iowa to visit her adoptive grandmother. Two weeks later they told her not to come back.

In the adoption world it is called re-homing. Giving an adopted child to someone else. A recent investigation by Reuters and NBC shed light on what has largely been an underground practice. In some cases, children are offered up on the internet to complete strangers.

Tarikuwa spent five years with her adoptive grandmother. Life was better, but she was never really happy. In her senior year of high school she left and went out on her own.

Eventually, she landed in Maine. She now lives with a family she chose.

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Ethiopians protest in Aotea Square - National - NZ Herald News

6:16 PM Thursday Nov 21, 2013

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Teklay Zinaw protests alongside fellow Ethiopians in New Zealand outside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Auckland denouncing Saudi Arabian crimes against their people. Photo / Richard Robinson

About 100 Ethiopians gathered in Auckland's Aotea Square this afternoon for a lunchtime rally to protest against Saudi Arabian "crimes" against Ethiopians.

Saudi authorities last week began a clampdown on illegal migrant workers which led to clashes in its capital, Riyadh, where at least five people have been killed.

"Ethiopians in Auckland hereby demand the immediate halt of the barbaric act in general, the killings, the gang-rape and mistreatment," a statement distributed at the protest said.

"We are shocked by the atrocities, cruelty, killings, rape and beatings of Ethiopian immigrants by Saudi security forces and police-backed thugs called shebab."

Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs Minister Tedros Adhanom said he had information that three Ethiopian citizens had been killed in the clashes.

But Saudi authorities said three Saudis were among the dead, along with two foreign nationals.

The Auckland protest was part of rallies held worldwide against the attacks, with demonstrations in Switzerland, the UK, Norway and the US.

▶ Online videos show continued brutal crackdown against Ethiopians in Saudi - YouTube

▶ Online videos show continued brutal crackdown against Ethiopians in Saudi - YouTube: ""

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‘The blood of Ethiopians cries out for justice’ -- New Internationalist

‘

By Chris Matthews | 3

© Chris Matthews

Cries of ‘shame on you’ rang around Curzon Street in London on 18 November as more than 300 Ethiopians gathered outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy to protest against the treatment of migrant workers in the country.

Waving flags, singing in unison and holding placards adorned with slogans demanding action – ‘The blood of Ethiopians cries out for justice’, ‘Stop the torture’ and ‘Being poor is not a crime’ – hundreds of London’s Ethiopian diaspora crowded the usually busy west London street.

The protest, in response to Saudi authorities clampdown on migrant workers, came after several migrants, including at least two Ethiopian nationals, were killed during violent clashes with security forces in the oil-rich Gulf State last week.

Sunday 3 November saw an end to a seven-month amnesty demanding that all migrant workers without legal status in the country be deported, resulting in the mass demonstrations and riots seen across the country and in the capital Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia is home to an estimated nine million migrants workers, many from Ethiopia and neighbouring East African nations, and authorities argue that the clampdown will reduce growing unemployment levels among Saudi nationals.

However, there are widespread accusations of abuse towards migrant workers in the Kingdom, with numerous reports of murder, rape and torture against members of the foreign population.

Zelealam Tesdema, one of the organizers of the London protest, urged the Saudi Arabian government to take action and called for those responsible for such acts to be brought to justice.

‘This protest is part of a global movement to stop the brutality, the rape and the murder of migrant workers. The government needs to stop the violence and bring the security forces and authorities to justice,’ Zelealam Tesdema said.

As numbers swelled and voices became louder and more fervent, a police cordon formed in front of the protesters, barring any advances to the gates of the Saudi Arabian embassy.

Zelealam Tesdema said it was vital people had the opportunity to ‘voice their concerns’. A petition calling on the ‘Saudi government to stop the brutal and inhumane treatment’ of Ethiopians was delivered to the embassy.          

More than 23,000 Ethiopians, who were living illegally in Saudi Arabia, have now surrendered to officials there, and the Ethiopian government has already started repatriating those ordered to leave the country.

The UN Refugee Agency said that in excess of 51,000 Ethiopians have made the journey across the Gulf of Aden this year alone.

Another of the protest’s organizers, Bekele Woyecha, who has lived in London for six years, fears that many of those on return flights to the capital Addis Ababa will now be left with nothing.

‘A lot of people who left Ethiopia in the first place were doing so because of economic or political problems and so for them returning it will be difficult. These people have nothing now – the authorities in Saudi Arabia have taken everything that they have.’

In a country where labour laws are routinely abandoned and workers’ rights systematically ignored – highlighted by images of maltreatment against migrants circulating online in recent days – an environment of abuse has festered and Adam Coogle, Middle-East Researcher for Human Rights Watch, believes such malpractice is likely to continue.

‘Many migrant workers are unaware of the official rights available to them. Saudi Arabia will still be dependent on migrant workers for many years to come – the labour laws provide conditions in which abuses can take place.’

The large number of undocumented workers in the country has created a vast under-the-table economy and Coogle says that many employers have ‘complete power’ over migrant workers, often confiscating travel documents and preventing workers from changing jobs once they begin working for an employer.

And although such treatment of migrants is a problem not unique to the Arabian Peninsula, the tragic events of recent weeks have a shone an alarming light on the darkness that pervades in the country. The protest on the streets of London has helped bring awareness to the human rights violations and ongoing plight of migrant workers within the Saudi state a little more into focus.

- See more at: http://newint.org/blog/2013/11/19/saudi-embassy-protest/#sthash.g6crlHsH.dpuf

Radicalism as a challenge to Ethiopia - The Hindu

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RESISTANCE: Muslims in Addis Ababa protesting government interference in religious affairs, in a file shot. Photo: By Special Arrangement

TOPICS

politics

government

religion and belief

islam

unrest, conflicts and war

civil unrest

Sporadic outbursts of violence across Ethiopia show how state intervention in religion has alienated sections of Muslim youth and generated the kind of anti-regime sentiments the government had hoped to defuse

A knock on the door well after midnight. Mohammed Hassan Abdalla opens the door to find that a posse of policemen have come for his elder brother, Sheikh Abdulsalam Abdalla, a preacher in the local mosque in this rural settlement of Wabe, 300 km southwest of the Ethiopian capital, of Addis Ababa.

The sheikh is away, so the police arrest Mohammed and Abdul Qadir Turah, a disciple staying in the house, and take them to Sheikh Abdalla’s paternal home where they arrest his wife. As dawn breaks over the low hills surrounding Wabe, residents returning from the first morning prayer spot the police and their captives.

An agitated crowd gathered, an eyewitness recalled: “We chanted, ‘release our children, what was their crime’?” The crowd threw stones, the police opened fire, and two young men in the crowd, Habib Wabe and Jamal Adam, fell to the asphalt highway and bled to death from their bullet wounds.

By four in the afternoon, the confrontation between the crowd and the police had moved to the neighbouring town of Kofele; four more civilians died and 62 were arrested before order was restored.

Radicalism & alienation

Sheikh Abdalla is in hiding, as are three other senior clerics from Kofele: Mohammed Gamadi, Haji Qasim Mereso, and Tabesso Gamachu. Residents say little of their absence, except that their sheikhs have been persecuted for resisting the government’s attempt to alter the beliefs of Ethiopia’s approximately 30 million Muslims.

Government officials maintain that the men are wanted for calling for a violent jihad against the Ethiopian state.

The violence in Wabe and Kofele “was ignited by Sunni Muslim jihadist groups probably linked with al-Qaeda and world number one terrorist groups,” says Desta Bukulu, Kofele’s most senior administrator. “These conservative groups have been working for a long time in this area.”

The recent attack on a mall in Kenya by al-Qaeda-affiliated militants has East African governments worried that the battle between African Union forces and the hardline Islamist Somali militia, Al Shabab, could radicalise Muslim youth in neighbouring countries.

Yet, sporadic outbursts of violence across Ethiopia illustrate how state intervention in the realm of religion has alienated sections of the Muslim youth and, analysts say, produced the kind of anti-regime sentiments the government had hoped to defuse.

In the summer of 2011, a delegation of Lebanese clerics headed by Samir Qadi, vice-president of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (AICP), addressed a conference of nearly 1,300 participants in Harar, a historic centre of Islamic learning in eastern Ethiopia, on “religious extremism.” The AICP, commonly known as Al Ahbash or “The Ethiopians,” was established by Sheikh Abdallah Muhammad al-Hariri, an Ethiopian imam who left Harar for Lebanon in the 1940s after he fell foul of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Al Ahbash promotes a controversial form of Islam that draws from both Shia and Sunni theology, urges its followers to steer clear of politics, and emphasises Sufi practices such as shrine worship. The sect is also devoted to combating what it claims are “extremist” sects like the Wahhabis, the Salafis, prominent across Ethiopia, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

After the meeting, Muslim clerics said, the government began to actively promote Al Ahbash ideology in mosques across the country by organising “training sessions” for imams and sheikhs. “The police, government officials, zone administrators, were all present at the training,” said an imam in attendance. The teacher, he said, was an Al Ahbash instructor who described the teachings of his sect.

In earlier meetings, officials told imams they were free to leave if they didn’t agree with the teachings. In subsequent sessions, policemen stopped the attendees from leaving, fearing poor attendance. Soon, Al Ahbash became a major talking point at mosques across the region. The government and officials have denied all knowledge of Al Ahbash. They agree that training sessions for clerics were organised, but insist that the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, not Al Ahbash, addressed the imams.

By most accounts, Sheikh Soudi Ahmed was not a violent man. He learnt the Koran in his teens and became an itinerant preacher in his twenties before a mysterious illness laid him low for seven years. When he recovered, his brother Qadir Ahmed said, Sheikh Soudi turned irritable and sometimes spoke to himself. “We thought he might have been possessed.” At the close of prayers one Friday last year, Sheikh Soudi stood up at his local mosque in Asasa, not far from Kofele, and addressed the gathering. “He said, ‘Al Habash is here, so we must organise a demonstration to ask the government’,” Mr. Ahmed said.

“He said: ‘why are the Muslims silent?’ and the people rose up with him,” said an eyewitness. “‘You have to start jihad because the government has brought a new religion called Al Ahbash’,” said Adam Hussein, head of Administration and Security at Asasa, “[Earlier] he said, the time for jihad has begun, you have to prepare for jihad.”

If what Sheikh Soudi said is open to debate, what followed wasn’t. The police arrested him outside the mosque, a crowd gathered and destroyed part of the police station and a post office. The police opened fire, killing at least one person, though Asasa residents say the toll was much higher. “One militia man was killed and 16 police officers were injured,” said Mr. Hussein.

Sheikh Soudi was charged under the controversial anti-terrorism proclamation of 2007, and sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison. Forty-three protesters were handed down sentences ranging from one to 11 years, Mr. Hussein said. Government officials said they had no evidence to prove that Sheikh Soudi and the four clerics of Kofele were terrorists.

“We do not have such information,” said Mr. Desta, the Kofele administrator, “But what they did was mobilisation to make a religious government in this country. Mobilisation against the Constitution is a crime.”

Policy backfires

Yet, arresting prominent and respected figures in the Muslim community is proving counterproductive. Government support for the allegedly “non-political” and “moderate” Al Ahbash sect had actually resulted in the politicisation of large sections of the Muslim youth, explained Dr. Terje Østebø, a Professor of religion at Florida University.

The move to promote Al Ahbash, according to Dr. Østebø, reveals a shift from a policy of “containment” in the 1990s, when the government restricted Muslim political expression, to “governmentalism”, where the regime tinkered with Islamic practices and beliefs in Ethiopia. The policy seems to have backfired.

His research reveals a complex history of resistance in Asasa that spans questions of religion, ethnicity, land, and a collective memory of battles ranging back to expansion of the Imperial Christian kingdom in the mid-19th century. “When you have Al Ahbash coming in and the government is heavy-handed and arrests people, all these underlying grievances and memories become activated,” he said.

Of late, Al Ahbash training sessions have stopped, suggesting that the government has acknowledged its missteps. The community is now focussed on the plight of sheikhs like Sheikh Soudi and Sheikh Abdallah and the many imprisoned young Muslims. Activists are also demanding that the madrasa at the Awoliya mosque in Addis Ababa, closed by the government in 2012, be reopened.

“When people raise the cases of those arrested, the officials don’t listen,” said an imam from nearby Shashamane, “They say, it is the law that imprisons them and the law that shall frees them.”

The government denies it is targeting Muslim leaders. “These are not Muslim leaders, they are leaders of their own extremist groups,” said Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, “I think you should appreciate the government’s stand of fighting extremism and terrorism.”

Back in Asasa, local officials claim to have resolved all outstanding problems with their constituents. Mr. Hussein said the government had organised a public meeting on the violence around the arrest of Sheikh Soudi. “Now people know that the problem is not with the government,” he said.

Human Rights abuses in Ogaden gets International Attention – Somalia and Horn of Africa

By Ahmed Abdi

After years of human rights abuses in Ogaden region without International independent investigation,Ogaden region seems to finally have a good news story.Sweden will be the first European country that is investigating what Swedish Prosecutors say a serious human rights abuses committed at Ogaden region.

“I absolutely welcome the good news of holding those who committed the atrocities and human rights abuses in occupied-Ogaden responsible”,said Mohammed Hared, a 31 year-old Somali activist and an active member of Ogaden Youth and Students Union,OYSU-North America.

Established in Denmark in June 27th, 2010,The Ogaden Youth and Students Union or OYSU is a non-governmental,non-profit Organisation as the name refers to OYSU consists of youth educators around the Globe that their mission is to advocate for the rights of the youth, Students, children in diaspora and in Ogaden Region as well as promoting and advocating for justice,Freedom and a lasting peace in Ogaden Region

Early of this year,the Organization extended its role and waged a campaign to draw the attention of the International Community what it says “The Ignored Hidden Genocide in Ogaden” . Two great events are about to held in South Africa and North America between November 27 and 29.

Despite well-documented evidences by the Rights Groups, the Ethiopia Government has been denying any wrong doing for the last 7-8 years when it times to human rights abuses committed at Ogaden region,but now nothing is ever hidden from the International Community.

“I don’t really think the atrocities committed at Ogaden have ever been hidden from the international community.It is just that many countries around the World chose to ignore the plight of the Somali people in occupied-Ogaden”, said Mr. Hared,in an email response.

Rights groups such as Human Rights Watch,Amnesty International, and Genocide Watch have been collecting a large number of testimonies for the war crimes and crimes against humanity”

Documenting and recording for Evidence after evidence of rapes,detentions,tortures,and extra-judicially killings of the civilians as well as villages razing to the ground by the Ethiopian Army and the notorious paramilitary force known as Liyu Police.

Now an Ogadeni whistle blower,Abdullahi Hussein,that is making very difficult to Ethiopia to keep hiding such human rights violations against Somalis in the Ogaden region has defected to Sweden bringing what he says is over 100 hours of filmed evidence. Stellan Gärde is a lawyer at international commission of jurists. He says Swedish authorities can take action based on the material.

It has come a time that International prosecutors are now following up the case.The Preliminary inquiry about serious crimes against international law was started on the 24th of October.

Swedish Prosecutors are currently working on particular cases-and frequently asking questions for the victims of the notorious Liyu Police,Militia, Ethiopian Army,Regional administration,and judiciary (federal or regional).

Hence,the prosecutors started to talk to more Somalis from Ogaden Region that have specific points of interest on certain issues.And those have some particular cases-very bad experiences,interesting,or an usual will collaborate with the Court.

The Regional Commentators believe that the investigation will likely to be brought in front of Justice all those involved in the case including in the Ethiopian appointed Chief Abdi Mohammoud Omar known as Abdi iley,his vice Chairman Abdullahi Yusuf werar aka Abdullahi Ethiopia, General Abraha Waldo and Alias Quarter who are a close ally of Abdi Iley.

The Oil-rich Ogaden Region is home to 8-10 million ethnic Somali pastoralists,and it borders Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia.The region was Italian and British-colony, but in 1954, Britain handed over the region secretly to Ethiopia, a decision rejected by the Ogaden Somali population who have since fought for full independence.

Ahmed Abdi

Halgan85@yahoo.com  

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23,000 undocumented Ethiopians surrender to authorities | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.

• 
  

Around 23,000 illegal Ethiopian workers have surrendered to the Riyadh police, with the Saudi authorities now arranging for their repatriation, the Ethiopian ambassador told Arab News on Tuesday. 

Muhammed Hassan Kabiera said the Ethiopian mission had intervened because many illegal workers were unsure about how to proceed when the amnesty ended.

“So our mission had discussions with the Saudi authorities and made arrangements to enable such citizens to hand themselves in,” the ambassador said.

Under the agreement, Kabiera said the workers would be kept at various holding centers until they could get exit visas. “We have been informed that so far about 23,000 Ethiopians have handed themselves in.”

The Ethiopian Embassy assisted 38,199 workers to correct their employment status during the amnesty period, which ended on Nov. 4, he said.

The envoy said the embassy’s officials and volunteers, with various Saudi government agencies, were working to get the workers travel documents.

“Ethiopia was one of the first countries to request an extension of the initial amnesty so that citizens would benefit and correct their status.” He said the extension “was gracefully accepted.”

However, when many workers could not rectify their status, the embassy began preparations for them to go home.

Referring to the incident in Manfouha on Saturday, where three people including a Saudi was killed, the envoy said it was unfortunate that clashes occurred between some Ethiopian nationals and Saudi youths. He sent his condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives.

He said the clashes occurred because the illegal workers were frustrated they did not have a way to surrender to the police. They then took to the streets to voice their concerns, which led to clashes with some youths in the neighborhood.

“Such confrontations and clashes are unacceptable.” He said the safety and human rights of all people should be respected