Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Two weeks ago some representatives from the Ethiopian diaspora came to talk to me in Fremantle about the dire human rights situation facing people from the Oromia and Ogaden ethnic communities in Ethiopia, including the recent violent crackdown by the Ethiopian security forces on peaceful protests in Oromia.

On 25 April, university students in Ambo started protests against the Ethiopian government's proposed Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan, which will extend the municipal boundaries of the capital to include more than 15 communities in the surrounding Oromia region. This will displace local farmers and communities.

The protests in Ambo reportedly grew to include approximately 27,000 people from the surrounding region. The Ethiopian security forces responded to the protests by opening fire on unarmed groups, beating protestors, and taking them from the streets and campuses to places of detention.

The Ethiopian government has reported the death toll at nine. Given the restrictions on independent media and human rights monitoring in Ethiopia, it is difficult to corroborate the exact figures. However, witnesses told the BBC and Amnesty International that the number is more likely to be close to 50, with at least 70 people wounded and children as young as 11 among the dead.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for the Ethiopian government to investigate, to release those detained arbitrarily and to ensure accountability for the violations of human rights. Australia has an embassy in Addis Ababa. I urge the Australian government to raise these serious issues formally with the Ethiopian government.

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