ESAT News
March 04, 2015
The Ethiopian Embassy in Genève, Switzerland has refused to renew a passport to an Ethiopian citizen whom the Embassy suspects of being a supporter of Ethiopian opposition groups.
Fiorela Romano, an Ethiopian citizen, who lived in Switzerland for the past 13 years, said to ESAT that she had travelled to the Embassy from Zurich to renew her passport but was refused any service by the Embassy staffer “who identified her as an Ethiopian opposition activist.” Fiorela said that after she filed an application and attached her photographs, a staffer of the Ethiopian Embassy in Genève, who goes by the name Goytom asked her what she had done in the past 13 years for her country.
Goytom then said “we know you very well. We have stopped renewing passports for the time being.” The Embassy also refused to give her a letter stating that she had applied for passport renewal, Fiorela added. She reported the issue to the Switzerland police.
Fiorela said she told the Embassy that it was her right to support or oppose the government and that should not be a reason to bar her right to get a passport but was reportedly told by the Embassy to “go and say this on ESAT TV”.
She said that many Ethiopians are in the same situation as her denied passports for supporting opposition movements and has vowed to take the proper legal measures against the Embassy together with other victims.
