World Council of Churches in Geneva Told 3,000 Lives, Mostly Eritreans, Perished in the Sinai
Last Updated on Monday, 14 November 2011 20:58 Written by EPDP Information Office Monday, 14 November 2011 20:51
enior officials of the World Council of Churches (WCC) were informed by the Eritrean priest, Father Mussie Zerai, on Monday 14 November, that in the last three years alone, 10,000 African refugees suffered brutalities by Bedouin human organ traffickers in the Egyptian Sinai and Sudan and that 3,000 of them perished without trace. The Catholic priest, Father Mussie, is the founder-manager of Agenzia Habeshia which has been engaged in advocacy on behalf of victimized Eritrean and Ethiopian asylum seekers in the Middle East and North Africa.
Assisting in the moving presentation of a human tragedy by Father Mussie Zerai at the Ecumenical Centre of WCC in Geneva was Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar, head of Foreign Relations Office for the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP).
Organized by Dr. Nigussu Legesse, WCC Programme Executive in charge of African relations, and Mr. Melaku Kifle, a veteran WCC official, the meeting was chaired by Dr. Mathews G. Chunakara, WCC Director of International Affairs. Others who attended the meeting included Ms. Christina Papazoglou, Programme Executive in WCC division for Human Rights and Global Advocacy; Ms Syndia Nduna, of the WCC Migration Office; two human rights officials of the Lutheran World Federation and WCC media staff who will give publicity to the human tragedy explained by Father Mussie Zerai.
ather Mussie explained in a very graphic manner the suffering of many Eritrean, Ethiopian and Sudanese asylum seekers in the hands of human traffickers in the region and accused Egyptian officials of continued failure to listen to appeals made to save lives from human organ traffickers in the Sinai and other parts of Egypt. He said the tragic situation started to receive press attention only two months ago but the brutal acts of the human traffickers are still continuing at the same rate as before.
Father Mussie said Sinai is the epicentre of this cruel business. About 30,000 asylum seekers tried to reach Israel since 2007. The majority of them were subjected to payment of huge amounts of money. However, those who had to pay the hardest were 10,000 souls, a third of whom have perished. Many of them died after their organs, including cornea, kidneys and livers, were brutally taken out of them.
Most of the Eritrean and Ethiopian victims were taken from UNHCR-administered refugee camps in eastern Sudan and northern Ethiopia, and the Sudanese mainly came from Darfur. The human organ harvesting, which is now a lucrative business involving hundreds of millions of dollars in Egypt, is handled by mobile clinics which work hand in glove with Egyptian hospitals like the one in Rafah.
Father Mussie also recounted about the suffering of thousands of asylum refugees in Egyptian prisons inside Cairo and other cities where many die because of medical neglect and cruel treatments. Egyptian police are free to shoot and kill asylum seekers trying to reach Israel The imprisoned refugees in Egyptian dungeons are not allowed UNHCR and Red Cross visitations. But the majority of them are holders UNHCR cards as refugees.
Father Mussie called on the WCC and its affiliates to make pressure bear on Egypt through all international human rights bodies, the mass media, and through appeals and visitations to the embassies of Egypt, the Sudan and Israel
The shocked audience to Father Mussie’s presentation commented on what should be done as a matter of urgency. Among those who expressed his profound shock and made suggestions for immediate and concrete action was Mr. Melaku Kifle who recommended the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, the World Federation of Churches (WFC) and the Vatican Nuncio in Geneva, Father Silvano Thomasi, to jointly do the following:
Urgently hold a tripartite meeting and review the situation of human trafficking in the Sinai and east Sudan;
Hold meetings with the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, the UNHCR, the International Committee of Red Cross and ask them what they know about this problem and what they did or could do about it!
To jointly visit the Egyptian, Sudanese and Israeli embassies and UN permanent representatives in Geneva and the failures for action by their governments;
Urge the UN, the EU and the WCC to jointly take appropriate action;
To send messages and emissaries to churches and mosques in Egypt to do advocacy work on behalf of the victims of human traffickers and the violation of refugee laws and conventions by the Egyptian government and its police.
In summing up the matter, the WCC Director of International Affairs, Dr. Chunakara, stated that the suggestions pointed out by Mr. Melaku Kifle will be helpful in working out solutions. He said the WCC will be able to issue in December its first statement on the matter, and the WCC Executive Committee meeting in February 2012 will further review this human tragedy. Dr. Chunakara added that the problem can be discussed at the African Peace and Security meeting in Geneva where over 90 African delegations will be attending. He asked the WCC administration to arrange an invitation for Father Mussie Zerai to attend the said African consultation meeting on African Peace and Security.
Dr. Chunakara thanks Father Mussie for bringing this important matter to the attention of WCC which will try to help soon. The WCC is a powerful church organizations which brings together 349 churches, denominations and church fellowships in more than 110 countries and territories throughout the world, representing over 560 million Christians and including most of the world's Orthodox churches, scores of Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches. While the bulk of the WCC's founding churches were European and North American, today most member churches are in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific.
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ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ኣብ ጀነቫ፡ መብዛሕታኦም ኤርትራውያን ዝርከብዎም 3,000 ሰባት ኣብ ሲና ከምዝሞቱ ገሊጹ
Written by ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ሰዲህኤ
ኣብ ዝሓለፉ ሰለስተ ዓመታት፡ 10.000 ኣፍሪቃውያን ስደተኛታት፡ ኣካላት ወዲሰብ ብዝነግዱ በደዊን ኣብ ምድረበዳ ሲናን ኣብ ሱዳንን ከም እተገፍዑ፣ ክሳብ 3000 ዝዀኑ ድማ ብዘይ ኣሰር ከምእተሰወሩ፡ ኣባ ሙሴ ዘርኣይ፡ ንሰበስልጣን ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ኣብ ጀነቫ ኣፍሊጦም።
ኣባ ሙሴ፡ ናይ’ታ ንመሰል ኤርትራውያንን ኢትዮጵያውያንን ስደተኛታት ኣብ ማእከላይ ምብራቕን ሰሜን ኣፍሪቃን እትጣበቕ፡ ኣጀንስያ ሓበሻ እትብሃል ሰብኣዊ ትካል መስራትን ኣካያድን ዝዀኑ ካቶሊካዊ ቀሺ ኢዮም።
ኣቶ ወልደሱስ ዓማር፡ ሓላፊ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣህጕራዊ ዝምድናታት ሰዲህኤ፡ ኣብ’ቲ ኣባ ሙሴ ንስምዒትካ ዘንቀሳቕስ ጸብጻብ ጸገማት ስደተኛታት ዘቕረብሉ ኣኼባ ሰበስልጣን ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ኣብ ጀነቫ ተረኺቡ ሓጋዚ ኣብሓበሬታታት ሂቡ።
እቲ ኣኼባ፡ ብዶክተር ንጉሰ ለገሰ፡ ፈጻሚ ፕሮግራም ኣፍሪቃዊ ዝምድናታት ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም፡ ከምኡ ውን፡ ብኣቶ መላኩ ክፍለ፡ ገዲም በዓል ስልጣን ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ዝተዳለወ ኰይኑ፤ ብኣቦ መንበርነት ዶክተር ማተውስ ገ. ቹናካራ፡ ኣካያዲ ኣህጕራዊ ጕዳያት ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ኢዩ ተመሪሑ። ኣብ’ቲ ኣኼባ ዝተሳተፉ ካልኦት ሰበስልጣን ከኣ፡ ወይ/ክርስቲና ፓፓዞግሉ፡ ፈጻሚት ፕሮግራም ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን ግሎባላዊ ጥብቅናን፣ ወይ/ሲንድያ ኑድና ናይ ኤሚግረሽን ቤት ጽሕፈት፡ ክልተ ሰበስልጣን ሉተራዊ ዓለማዊ ፈደረሽንን ነቲ ብኣባ ሙሴ ዝቐረበ ጸብጻብ ዘቃልሑ ኣባላት ማዕከናት ዜና ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስታያናት ዓለምን ነበሩ።
ኣባ ሙሴ፡ ነጋዶ ደቂ ሰባት ኣብ’ቲ ዞና ኣብ ልዕሊ ኤርትራውያን፡ ኢትዮጵያውያንን ሱዳናውያንን ሓተቲ ዑቝባ ዝፍጽምዎ ግፍዕታት ብስእላዊ መልክዕ ኣቕሪቦም። ሰበስልጣን ግብጺ ድማ፡ ህይወት ደቂ ሰባት ካብ’ቶም ኣካላት ወይ ናውቲ ወዲ ሰብ ዝሸጡ ነጋዶ ኣብ ሲናን ካልእ ቦታታት ግብጽን ንምድሓን ዝተገብረሎም ተደጋጋሚ ምሕጽንታታት ጸማም እዝኒ ሂቦሞ ክብሉ ከሲሶም። እዚ ኣሕዛኒ ተረኽቦ’ዚ ብጋዜጣታት ክቃላሕ ዝጀመረሉ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ 2 ኣዋርሕ ጥራሕ ኢዩ፤ እቲ ጨካን ተግባራት ናይ’ቶም ነጋዶ ግን ጌና ከም ቀደሙ’ዩ ዝቕጽል ዘሎ ኢሎም።
ኣባ ሙሴ፡ ሲና፡ ማእከል ናይ’ዚ ኵሉ ግብሪ እከይ ኢያ ክብሉ ገሊጾማ። ካብ 2007 ጀሚሩ ክሳብ 30,000 ዝዀኑ ሓተቲ ዑቝባ ናብ እስራኤል ንምእታው ፈቲኖም። መብዛሕታኦም ማእለያ ዘይብሉ ገንዘብ ኢዮም ከፊሎም። እቶም ዝኸፍአ ዋጋ ዝኸፈሉ ግን፡ እቶም ሓደ ሲሶ ወይ 10,000 ዝዀኑ ህይወቶም ዝሓለፉ ስደተኛታት ኢዮም ። መብዛሕትኦም ካብኦም ዓይኖም፡ ኰላሊቶምን ጸላም ከብዶምን ብኣረሜናዊ ኣገባብ ድሕሪ ምውሳዱ ኢዮም ሞይቶም።
መብዛሕቶም ግዳያት፡ ካብ’ተን ብላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ዝመሓደራ ኣብ ሱዳንን ኢትዮጵያን ዝርከባ መደበራት ስደተኛታት ዝተወስዱ ኤርትራውያንን ኢትዮጵያውያንን ክዀኑ ከለዉ፤ ካብ ዳርፉር እተሰዱ ሱዳናውያንን ውን ይርከብዎም። እዚ ንግዲ ናይ ኣካላት ወይ ናውቲ ደቂሰብ ብማእት ሚልዮን ዶላራት መኽሰብ ዝርከበሉ፡ ሓካይም፡ ተንቀሳቐስቲ ክሊኒካትን ከም’ታ ናይ ከተማ ራፋሕ ዝኣመሰሉ ሆስፒታላትን ተሓባቢሮም ዝዋፈርሉ ስራሕ’ዩ ኰይኑ ዘሎ።
ኣባ ሙሴ፡ ብዛዕባ’ቶም በሽሓት ዝቝጸሩ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ዝሳቐዩለንን ብስእነት ሕክምና ዝሞቱለንን ዘለዉ ኣብ ካይሮን ካልኦት ከተማታት ግብጽን ዝርከባ ኣብያተ ማእሰርቲ ውን ዝርዝር ጸብጻብ ኣቕሪቦም ኢዮም። ወተሃደራት ግብጺ፡ ናብ እስራኤል ክሰግር ንዝረኸብዎ ስደተኛ ተኲሶም ክቐትሉ ፍቓድ ተዋሂብዎም ኢዩ። ዋላ’ኳ መብዛሕትኦም እቶም እሱራት ናይ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ናይ መንነት ወረቐት ዝሓዙ እንተዀኑ፡ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ይኹን ቀይሕ መስቀል፡ ክበጽሖም ኣይፍቀደሎምን ኢዩ ኢሎም።
ኣባ ሙሴ፡ ንባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለምን ተሓባበርቱን፡ ብኣህጕራዊ ናይ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ማሕበራት፡ ብማዕከናት ዜና፡ ናብ ኤምባሲታት ግብጺ፡ ሱዳንን እስራኤልን ብዝቐርብ ምሕጽንታታት ኣቢሉ ጸቕጥታት ክገብሩ ጸውዒት ኣቕሪቦም።
በቲ ዝቐረበ ጸብጻብ ዝሰንበዱ ኣኼበኛታት፡ ብዛዕባ’ቲ ጕዳይ ብህጹጽ ክውሰድ ኣለዎ ዝበልዎ ስጕምትታት ሓሳባት ኣቕሪቦም። ሓደ ካብኦም ኣቶ መላኩ ክፍለ ኰይኑ፡ ነቲ ኣብ ጀነቫ ዝመደበሩ ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም፡ ንፈደረሽን ኣብያተ-ክርስትያን ዓለም፡ ንኣባ ሲልቫኖ ቶማሲ፡ ኣምባሳደር ቫቲካን ኣብ ጀነቫ ነዚ ዝስዕብ ጠለባት ኣቕሪቡሎም።
1. ሰለስቲኡ መንግስታት ተኣኪቡ፡ ነቲ ኣብ ሲናን ምብራቕ ሱዳንን ዝካየድ ዘሎ ንግዲ ደቂሰባት ክግምግም፤
2. ምስ ኮሚሽን ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣብ ጀነቫ፡ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራትን ኣህጕራዊ ማሕበር ቀይሕ መስቀልን ብምርኻብ፡ ብዛዕባ’ዚ ጕዳይ’ዚ ዘለዎም ኣፍልጦን ቅድሚ ሕጂ ዝወሰድዎ ስጕምታት ይኹን ንብድሕር ሕጂ ክውሰድ ኣለዎ ዝብልዎ ስጕምታት ምሕታቶም፤
3. ናብ ኤምባሲታት ግብጺ፡ ሱዳን፡ እስራኤልን ቀዋሚ ወኪል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣብ ጀነቫን ብሓባር ብጽሖት ክገብሩን መንግስታቶም ስጕምቲ ዘይወሰደሉ ምኽንያታት እንታይ ምዃኑ ከብርሁ ምውካሶም፤
4. ሕቡራት ሃገራት፡ ሕብረት ኣውሮጳን ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለምን ዝግባእ ስጕምቲ ክወስዱ ምጽዋዖም፤
5. ናብ መሳጊድን ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናትን ግብጺ ልኡኻት ብምስዳድ ንመሰል ናይ ስደተኛታት ክጣበቑ ምጥላብን ብመንግስትን ፖሊስን ግብጺ ዝፍጸሙ ዘለዉ ጥሕሳታት ኣህጕራዊ ውዕላትን ሕግታትን ምቅላዕን።
ኣብ መዛዘሚ ናይ’ቲ ኣኼባ፡ ዶክተር ቹናካራ፡ እቲ ብኣቶ መላኩ ዝቐረበ ሓሳባት፡ መፍትሒታት ንምርካብ ሓጋዚ ክኸውን ይኽእል ኢዩ ኢሉ። ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም፡ ኣብ ዝመጽእ ዘሎ ወርሒ ታሕሳስ ብዛዕባ’ዚ ጕዳይ’ዚ ናይ መጀመርያ መግለጺኡ ከውጽእ ኢዩ። እቲ ኣብ ለካቲት 2012 ዝካየድ ኣኼባ ፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ድማ ብዛዕባ’ዚ ኣሕዛኒ ተረኽቦ’ዚ ተወሳኺ ገምጋም ክገብር ኢዩ ኢሉ። ቀጺሉ፡ እቲ ጸገም ኣብ’ቲ ልዕሊ 90 ወከልቲ ኣፍሪቃ ዝሳተፍሉ ናይ ኣፍሪቃ ናይ ሰላምን ጸጥታን ኣኼባ ኣብ ጀነቫ ክዝረበሉ ይከኣል ኢዩ ኢሉ። ኣባ ሙሴ ኣብ’ዚ ኣኼባ’ዚ ንኽሳተፉ ዕድመ ክግበረሎም ክብል ነቲ ምምሕዳር ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ምሕጽንታኡ ኣቕሪቡ።
ኣባ ሙሴ፡ ነዚ ኣገዳሲ ጕዳይ’ዚ ኣብ ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ከቕርቡ ብምብቃዖም ዶክተር ቹናካራ ምስጋናኡ ገሊጹ። ኣብ ሓጺር ግዜ ዝከኣሎ ሓገዝ ከበርክት ምዃኑ ከኣ ተመባጺዑ። ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ 110 ዝዀና ሃገራት ዝርከባ፡ ንልዕሊ 560 ሚልዮን ክርስትያን ዝውክላ 347 ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዝርከብኦ ሓያል ባይቶ ኢዩ። እብ’ዚ ባይቶ’ዚ፡ መብዛሕትኡ ኣብያተ-ክርስታያናት ኦርቶዶክስ ሃይማኖት፡ ከምኡ ውን፡ ዝተፈላለዩ ናይ ፕሮተስታንት ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናትን ብዙሓት ናጻን ሕቡራትን ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናትን ይርከቡ። መብዛሕትኦም መስረቲ ናይ ባይቶ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት ዓለም ኣብ ኣውሮጳን ኣመሪካን ዝርከቡ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናት እኳ እንተዀኑ፡ ሎሚ፡ ኣባላቱ መብዛትኦም ካብ ኣፍሪቃ፡ እስያ፡ ካሪብያን፡ ላቲን ኣመሪካ፡ ማእከላይ ምብራቕን ፓሲፊክን ኢዮም።