Saudi Arabian army raided a district populated by Ethiopian expats on Saturday, according to media reports.
Atleast two people have been killed and dozens of wounded in the raid conducted by the National Guard and special forces.
The news was reported today by a couple of European media who relayed the government version of the incident without seeking comments from the expats nor the poor human rights record, including police impunity and labor abuse of the gulf country.
It is not clear if the media’s “blame the victim” tone were influenced by the anti-immigrants current in Europe.
Read below excerpts from the news by DuetscheWelle, Reuters BBC and AFP today.
DuetscheWelle
The immigrants gathered in Riyadh on Sunday before being transferred by bus to an assembly center. They are then to be deported, just a week after their seven-month amnesty expired.
Overnight, immigrants of mainly Ethiopian origin rioted in the impoverished Manfuhah neighborhood of the capital. Police said they intervened after the immigrants attacked Saudis and other foreign expats with rocks and knives. The Manfuhah district is home to many illegal immigrants, most of whom come from East Africa.
“The rioting left two people dead, one of them is Saudi while the nationality of the other is not known yet,” said a security official in a statement, without explaining how they were killed. A further 68 people were wounded and in the unrest and 560 suspects were detained, the statement added.
Four days earlier, an Ethiopian man was killed in the same area while fleeing police during a security raid on undocumented workers. Authorities said the man was trying to grab a gun. [Read more: Immigrants surrender after Saudi government crackdown leads to deadly riots]
Reuters
Saudi Arabian police clashed with foreign workers in a poor district of Riyadh on Saturday, nearly a week into a visa crackdown in which thousands have been detained and one man killed by police.
Security forces in riot gear fired into the air and used truncheons to disperse large crowds as scores of men ran through the streets, some throwing stones and other objects at cars and police, according to Reuters witnesses.
Two people were killed of which one was a Saudi while the other one was unidentified, the Saudi police said in a statement late on Saturday after it detained 561 people involved in the disturbances in the Manfuhah neighborhood of southern Riyadh. Read more: Saudi police clash with foreign workers after visa raids
BBC
Two people have been killed and scores wounded as Saudi police clashed with protesting foreign workers in a district of the capital, Riyadh.
A police statement said hundreds of people were arrested in the Manfuhah neighbourhood. Video on social media websites showed security forces in riot gear using truncheons to disperse large crowds.
Last week police rounded up thousands of migrant workers after an amnesty linked to new employment rules expired.
Police said they intervened on Saturday after foreign workers in the Manfuhah district rioted, attacking Saudi and other foreign residents with rocks and knives.Manfuhah is home to many migrants, mostly from east Africa.
One of the two people killed was a Saudi while the other was unidentified, police said. About 70 others were injured and there were some 560 arrests, officials added. On Sunday, witnesses said police were surrounding the district while units from the National Guard and special forces were sent in. [Read more: BBC News – Saudi police in Riyadh clash with migrant workers]
AFP
Two people have been killed in clashes in Saudi Arabia amid a nationwide crackdown on illegal expatriates, police said on Sunday. They said they intervened on Saturday after foreigners rioted in the poor Manfuhah neighbourhood of Riyadh, attacking Saudi and other foreign residents with rocks and knives.
One Saudi and another person, whose nationality and identity remains unknown, were killed, said a police statement carried by the SPA state news agency. Another 68 people — 28 Saudis and 40 foreigners — were injured and 561 people were arrested.
The Manfuhah district of the capital is home to many illegal migrants, mostly from east Africa.
The Ethiopian government said on Saturday it was repatriating citizens who had failed to meet the deadline of a seven-month amnesty, citing reports that an Ethiopian had been killed by police. “They were trying to get them in the camp before repatriation and in that process… an Ethiopian has been killed with a police bullet, but we are verifying it,” foreign ministry spokesman Dina Mufti told AFP in Addis Ababa.
Saudi police said on Saturday illegal migrants in Manfuhah have been given the chance to come forward and that accommodation has been made available while their repatriation is arranged. [Read more: Two killed in Saudi clashes with migrants]
*************
To:
-Saudi Arabia Embassy, Addis Ababa – Ethiopia
-Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
-United Nation Permanent Mission of Ethiopia
-United Nation Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia
Subject:
The persecution of Ethiopians is in violation to the words of Prophet Muhammed.
Dear Mr/Ms,
Prophet Muhammed, seeing the sufferings of the Muslims, advised those who had no tribal protection to migrate to Abyssinia (present day Ethiopia). He told them that ‘there is a king in whose territory no one is wronged. Stay there until Allah makes circumstances favourable for you to return.’ These are the words of the Prophet demonstrating Ethiopia as a safe place for people of Saudi Arabia.
As the Prophet promised to them, Allah makes circumstances favourable for the people of Makkah. Today, Saudi Arabia is a prosperous kingdom where many Ethiopians migrate. They migrate with a dream to break the vicious circle of poverty that they encounter at home. Unfortunetly, Ethiopians are being hunted and killed by the same people who protected Muslims of Makkah from the persecutions of the Quraysh.
Dear Mr/Ms, I am writing this letter to remind you that the persecution of Ethiopians by the Ministry of Interior of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom is a violation if the words and teachings of Prophet Muhammad. Thus, the concerned bodies should be conscious of this Quranic truth in repatriating Ethiopian citizens.
I Thank you
Seyoum Teshome
[email protected]
Lecturer at Ambo University, Ethiopia
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