April 9, 2013

Mr. Antonio Guterres
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt Suisse.
Email: InfoDesk@ohchr.org; GUTERRES@unhcr.org

Subject: OSA’s Appeal Letter about Oromo Refugees in North Africa and the Middle East

Dear Mr. Guterres,

I am writing this letter on behalf of the Oromo Studies Association (OSA), a scholarly, multi-disciplinary, and non-profit international organization established to promote studies relevant to the Oromo people. We are gravely concerned over the situation of Oromo refugees in North Africa and the Middle East. The Oromo people are the single largest ethno/national group in the Ethiopian empire and in the Horn of Africa. Oromia, homeland of the Oromos in Ethiopia, covers a large geographical area, and the Oromo people have the ability to stabilize the Ethiopian Empire and the region at large. The current government in Ethiopia is controlled by the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a group originating from the Tigrayi regional state in the north that comprises only about 6% of the Ethiopian population.

[OSA] OSA’s Appeal Letter about Oromo Refugees in North Africa and the Middle East