Africa-Press Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s government has said it is returning Eritrean refugees to camps in the northern Tigray region, a move criticised by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) as “absolutely unacceptable”.
In a statement on Friday asserting that the fighting in Tigray is over, the Ethiopian government said its military offensive against the now-fugitive regional government “was not a direct threat” to the nearly 100,000 Eritrean refugees registered in Ethiopia – even as international aid groups said four of their staffers had been killed, at least one in a refugee camp in Tigray, which borders Eritrea.
The refugees are being taken from the capital, Addis Ababa, back to two camps they had fled from during the five weeks of fighting between federal troops and forces loyal to Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) because it is now safe and stable in Tigray, the statement said.
“A large number of misinformed refugees are moving out in an irregular manner,” it added. “The government is safely returning those refugees to their respective camps”, adding that “transportation of food to the camps is under way”.
The UN has expressed concern over reports of continued clashes in the region.
“We have not been informed by the government or any other authorities or other partners about a planned relocation,” Babar Baloch, a spokesman for UNHCR, said at a news conference in Geneva.
He called the reports “alarming” and said, “Any planned relocation would be absolutely unacceptable.”
Frustration remains among the UN and other humanitarian organisations as the Tigray region remains largely sealed off from the outside world since fighting began in early November.
Ethiopia’s government has made clear it intends to manage the process of delivering aid to Tigray, and it has rejected “interference” as fighting is reported to be continuing despite its declaration of victory. On Friday, Ethiopia said it had begun delivering aid to areas in Tigray under its control, including Shire and the Tigray capital, a city of half a million people.
“Suggestions that humanitarian assistance is impeded due to active military combat in several cities and surrounding areas within the Tigray region is untrue and undermines the critical work undertaken by the National Defense Forces to stabilise the region,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said, adding that sporadic gunfire should “not be misconstrued as active conflict”.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s government for nearly 30 years before Abiy came to power in 2018 and sidelined it.
The central government accuses the Tigrayan leaders of revolting against central authority and of having attacked federal troops in the town of Dansha. The rebels say Abiy’s government has marginalised and persecuted Tigrayans since taking office.
