Ethiopian refugees | Gallery

Abdi Harboury was the first Oromo to be attacked by a group of Egyptian youth over the Blue Nile dam project. He was beaten and his back still bears scars from burns.

An Oromo woman listens as members of the Oromo community discuss their meetings with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

A group of Oromo men are told that the UN cannot provide shelter or food for the hundreds of refugees who have camped out front of the UNHCR building in Cairo for the last week.

Many of the refugees are forced to sleep on scraps of cardboard, while sewage water leaks into the grass nearby.

Gutama Gallatobati still bears the scars of his past in Ethiopia, where guards in the prison sliced off flesh from his leg.

Nadia Ibrahim holds the blue United Nations refugee application card. Many of the asylum seekers have only been in Cairo for less than a month.

Hussein Ahmed says he was attacked by two Egyptians while outside the UNHCR building. Many refugees have complained about harassment while protesting.

Requests for medication have also been turned down, so the Oromo collect money from the community to purchase the drugs needed.

Anwar and his family were recently evicted from their home, a move he says was motivated by his Ethiopian origin.

The refugees have brought many of their belongings with them, uncertain when they will be able to return home.

The Oromo make up 40 percent of the Ethiopian population, however, the minority Tigray government has persecuted them.