Africa-Press-Ethiopia
The Ethiopian Army has accused the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of backing the soldiers who refused to go back home after their time with the mission was over.
An Ethiopian army general also called out the Tigrayans soldiers working with members of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces who were part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan who refused to board a plane back home calling them traitors backed by the UNHCR and Tigrayans working in the UN.
The director of indoctrination at the Ethiopia National Defense Forces (ENDF), Major General Mohammed Tessema, said that the 15 soldiers were ethnic Tigrayans who represent the TPLF.
On Monday, members of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces who were part of UNMISS refused to go back home saying that their lives could be in danger as they were Tigrayans ethnic group.
He said their refusal to go home was an attempt to entice violence at Juba airport while accusing them of trying to use the media to defame and betray their country.
According to the ENDF general, they created chaos at the airport “by shouting and rolling on the ground” to attract the attention of the international community and “defame the image of Ethiopia”.
Major General Mohammed Tessema also said they were backed by “ethnic Tigrayans working with the UNHCR and other radical diaspora Tigrayas who live in the region.”
He urged UNHCR to admit that what it did was wrong and offer an apology.
“The sense of unity among the ENDF exposed the actions of the ‘destructive force’”, he said, adding “The army will continue to maintain peace and sovereignty of the country.”
Last year three Ethiopian peacekeepers on a Mission in South Sudan from the Tigray ethnic group were withdrawn and deported to their country without due procedure.
