Six Somaliland journalists are held at Addis Ababa Airport in Ethiopia for the third day. The journalists were on their way to Nairobi to attend a workshop for journalists held by a Dutch organization.

Below is an article published by Somaliland Press:

The group was told that their visas were rejected by the Kenyan authorities. “We were told by the workshop organizers to go to Uganda and come to Kenya by road” Said Mr. Abdiqani, one of the journalists. At Kampala’s Entebe airport the Ugandan administration held the journalists and rejected to give permission to enter the country. They deported the group back to Addis Ababa and handed over their passports to the Ethiopian Immigration office who are currently dealing with the issue.

One of the six Journalists is the Somaliland press reporter, Mr. Abdiqani Bainah. Others are from hadhwanaag news, Ogaal newspaper, Hargeisa Cable Tv, Space Channel TV and Oodweyne news website.

The journalists say they were treated badly in Uganda and were not allowed to go for food while at the custody. “We were treated badly, we were held for eight hours with no food and water. They did not allow us to call or contact anybody” Said one of the journalists. “They were very harsh on the Somalis” he concluded.

There are ongoing efforts to end the problem. There is no official statement from the Somaliland government about the issue.