1) The status of the Ogaden area, regarded by the Ethiopian government as belonging to its eastern region, has been disputed by the successive governments of Somalia since that country's independence in 1960. Somalia regards the Ogaden as a Somali-inhabited region under Ethiopian colonization, whereas Ethiopia takes the position that it is an integral part of its territory. [ENDNOTES
Alan J. Day, ed., Border and Territorial Disputes (London: Longman Group UK Ltd., 1987), pp. 126-132. ]
As the Horn of Africa observed, "sandwiched between two competing claimants to the barren, drought-stricken region, the mainly nomadic population has been all but decimated by the rivalry over who will control them and their land." [ "Ogaden: The Land But Not The People", Horn of Africa, Vol. 4, No.1, 1981, pp. 42-45.] Thus, while the people inhabiting the Ogaden region are predominantly from ethnic Somali origin and have deep-rooted social, cultural and economic ties with Somalia, their land is legally part of Ethiopia. [ Ibid.]

In 1975, the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) was founded with the aim of uniting the Ogaden region with the Somali Republic. Backed by regular Somali forces, the WSLF launched a major offensive against Ethiopian government troops in 1977 that led to a direct year-long battle between Ethiopia and Somalia. During the Ogaden war and particularly following Somalia's defeat, hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Ogaden fled to Somalia and Djibouti for fear of the Ethiopian government's reprisals. [ United States Committee for Refugees, Beyond the Headlines: Refugees in the Horn of Africa, Washington, 1988, p. 22.]

Precise details of the Ethiopian government's current treatment of the ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden are not known to IRBDC. In general, ever since Ethiopia entered a period of revolutionary change in 1974, thousands of people have been arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of association with dissident movements, including the liberation fronts such as the WSLF. [ George Thomas Kurian, ed., Encyclopedia of the Third World,
3rd ed., Vol. 1 (New York: Facts on File Publications, Inc., 1987), p. 665. ] In principle, the 1987 Ethiopian Constitution provides for the equality of all Ethiopians irrespective of nationality and religion, among others, and stipulates that such equality is to be ensured through equal participation in political, economic, social and cultural affairs. [ Albert P. Blaustein and Gisbert H. Flanz, eds., Constitutions of the Countries of the World: The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, Inc, 1988), Part 2, Chapter 7, Article 35.] In practice, however, this equality is not ensured. For example, almost all senior government and political figures are Christians, although approximately 50 percent of the country's population is Muslim (ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden are
all followers of Islam). [ U. S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988 (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1989), p. 118]

2) As discussed above, persons born in the Ogaden in 1969, or before and after, are considered to be Ethiopian nationals of ethnic Somali origin. Also, according to the Ethiopian Constitution, "any person with both or one parent of Ethiopian citizenship is an Ethiopian." [ Constitution, Part 2, Chapter 6, Article 31.]

3) Leaving Ethiopia illegally is a serious offence reportedly punishable by five to 25 years' imprisonment or, in exceptional cases, by death. [ Kurian, p. 665.] Illegally leaving or attempting to leave Ethiopia is considered to be an act of treason against the country, and the Constitution states that "treason against the Motherland is the gravest crime committed against the people, entailing severe punishment". [ Constitution, Part 2, Chapter 7, Article 53(2).] According to Amnesty International's 1988 Report, many Ethiopians were reportedly imprisoned for attempting to flee the country and some relatives of those who left the country for political reasons were arrested in reprisal. [ Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1988 (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1988), p. 38.]