Ethiopian crisis: Ethiopia suspends three humanitarian NGOs for three months
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The Ethiopian government on Wednesday announced the suspension for three months of three humanitarian NGOs for "for breaching rules of the nation and operating outside of their mandate".
The NGOs are MSF Holland, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Al Mektoum Foundation, according to the state-owned Ethiopian News Agency (ENA).
The activities of the organisations will be suspended during the period until a final decision is made, ENA said.
The official Ethiopian Current Issues Fact Check said the NGOs, which have been engaged in different humanitarian operations in Ethiopia, have been identified to have violated rules of the country.
It alleged that MSF Holland and NRC have been "disseminating misinformation on social media and other platforms outside of the mandate and purpose for which the organisations were permitted to operate".
The Ethiopian Fact Check said all three organisations employed foreign nationals without the appropriate work permit from the Ethiopian government for more than six months.
MSF Holland is said to have illegally imported and is using satellite radio equipment which was not authorised by the relevant Ethiopian authority. Its employees were thus apprehended by the security forces for "using the equipment for illegal purposes".
"Despite repeated discussions with the executives of all the three organisations, they were unable to fix the situation," the statement said.
-0- PANA MA 4Aug2021
