Waiting Falash Mura languish in squalor
Thousands of Ethiopian former Jews have been waiting more than 10 years in disease-ridden camps in Ethiopia for the Israeli government to take them to Israel, NGOs say. About 16,000 of the Falash Mura – Jews who converted to Christianity, and some who reverted back - live in squalid conditions in immigration compounds in the capital, Addis Ababa, the city of Gondar in north-western Ethiopia, and in villages. In these compounds, tuberculosis and hepatitis are rife and children routinely die of preventable diseases such as measles, according to Falash Mura who have made it to Israel and specialists who have visited them. ( Source: IRIN, Feb 27, 07 )
Ethiopia urged to assist Eritrean opposition to replace Afewerki
A member of the Eritrean opposition alliance which held a meeting in Addis Ababa last week, was openly calling for Ethiopia’s intervention to help oust President Isayas Afewerki from power. Rezene Habte, who formerly fought against the Ethiopian government forces as an Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) fighter, told The Ethiopian Reporter that the opposition forces must be assisted to topple the government led by President Isayas which he labelled, "a government made up of bandits." He accused the US and Ethiopia for failure to help the opposition in their bid to remove the Eritrean president.
( Source: SudanTribune, Feb 25, 07 )
Fears for Ethiopia's crumbling churches
As a boy, Mulugeta Melesse and his friends used to play around the ancient rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in the Ethiopian highlands. Now a man, he guides tourists around the churches that were carved out of living rock by order of King Lalibela at the end of the 11th Century and the beginning of the 12th. Ethiopians believe he was helped by angels. Over the years Mulugeta has seen the churches, which many Ethiopians consider to be a second Jerusalem, crumble and crack. The roofs of some of the ancient churches have even started to collapse.
( Source: BBC News, Feb 23, 07 )
Israel capping Ethiopian aliyah?
In a sign that Israel is taking steps to cap the number of future Ethiopian immigrants, the Interior Ministry has begun delivering rejection notices to Ethiopian petitioners deemed ineligible for aliyah. Since 2004, Israel has been bringing 300 Ethiopian immigrants to Israel each month from among a pool of several thousand Ethiopian aliyah petitioners. The mid-February change marks the first time Israeli officials have issued a substantial number of denial notices. In Addis Ababa, members of 385 Ethiopian families whose immigration applications were denied responded angrily and somewhat violently to mail couriers seeking to deliver rejection notices. ( Source: Florida Jewish News, Feb 23, 07 )
Ethiopian death sentences upheld
The Ethiopian supreme court has upheld death sentences on five people convicted of attacks that killed 29 people and wounded 18 others during the past 11 years, state television reported. "The criminal bench of the Federal Supreme Court upheld death sentence on Mohamed Mahamoud Farah, Mohammed Hassan Mahmoud, Ibrahim Hussein Nalaye, Mohammed Almi Liben and Mohammed Ibrahim," the television report said."(They) were convicted of terrorist attacks at various times and places in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa since 1996." A sixth person was sentenced to 25 years in jail. The court said it did not find "extenuating circumstances" to mitigate the rulings passed by the lower court. ( Source: TVNZ, Feb 23, 07 )
Kenya repatriates 1 000 Ethiopians
The Kenyan government has repatriated about 1 000 Ethiopians who fled their land after recent violent tribal clashes, according to reports. The Ethiopians, members of the Gabra and Borana tribes who have been fighting recently over cattle, grazing land and water resources, were apparently sent back after the Ethiopian government assured the fleeing people their land would be secured. They crossed into Kenya four days ago and the group of mostly women and children was residing near the border town of Moyale. ( Source: Mail & Guardian, Feb 22, 07 )
Ethiopians delay ruling in trial of ex-NSU professor
An Ethiopian court Monday postponed to March 5 a ruling in the trial of Yacob Hailemariam, a former Norfolk State University professor arrested after protests broke out over election results there in 2005. More time was needed to translate evidence and documents and collect election reports, according to Ethiomedia.com, a news and opinion Web site that promotes fuller democracy in the east African country, and Tegist Hailemariam, the professor’s wife. Tegist Hailemariam received her information from the couple’s daughter, Seyenie Yacob, who attended a court hearing Monday in Ethiopia.
( Source: SudanTribune, Feb 21, 07 )
680 dead in Ethiopia in suspected cholera outbreak, say aid groups
More than 680 people in Ethiopia have died in a suspected cholera outbreak that has also affected neighbouring countries, officials said Wednesday. Some 60,000 people have been infected, but the country's Health Ministry is resisting pressure to declare an emergency despite a UN warning that the disease is an epidemic. "The fact that it is spreading to new areas in the country is cause for serious concern," said Paul Hebert, head of the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia. "The full extent of this needs to be addressed." ( Source: Canada.com, Feb 21, 07 )
Trial of opposition activists adjourned again
The Federal High Court in Ethiopia has once again adjourned the trial of 111 opposition activists and journalists, including more than 70 defendants who have been held in custody since November 2005 on charges of instigating unrest to overthrow the government. Federal High Court Judge Adil Ahmed on Monday adjourned the trial until 5 March, saying a speech allegedly made by one of the defendants - the leader of the country's main opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), Hailu Shawl - in the US Congress before his arrest needed to be translated from English into Amharic, Ethiopia's official language. ( Source: IRIN, Feb 20, 07 )
Fighting malaria in Oromiya
The dozens of Ethiopian women gathered at Birbissa Doloma health-centre in Oromiya had brought their children to be immunised against measles. They also went home with a mosquito net. "Of the 27 million people living in Oromiya state, 18 million are at risk of malaria infection," Zenebech Yadete, deputy head of Oromiya Health Bureau, said. "Between 1.5 and two million cases are reported each year in our clinical facilities," she added. "Malaria accounts for 24 percent of total morbidity in the region and is the first cause of hospitalisation for children under 14." ( Source: IRIN, Feb 20, 07 )
Nineteen Ethiopians have turned their cameras onto their own lives and invite you to share their very personal perspectives. From diverse backgrounds and different parts of the country, their photographs give a rare insight into life in Ethiopia now. Find out more
Source : ethiolives.net
