Africa-Press Ethiopia<\/p>\n
Ethiopia\u2019s 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 \u201cabsolutely unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cwas not a direct threat\u201d to the nearly 100,000 Eritrean refugees registered in Ethiopia \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF) because it is now safe and stable in Tigray, the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large number of misinformed refugees are moving out in an irregular manner,\u201d it added. \u201cThe government is safely returning those refugees to their respective camps\u201d, adding that \u201ctransportation of food to the camps is under way\u201d.<\/p>\n
The UN has expressed concern over reports of continued clashes in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not been informed by the government or any other authorities or other partners about a planned relocation,\u201d Babar Baloch, a spokesman for UNHCR, said at a news conference in Geneva.<\/p>\n
He called the reports \u201calarming\u201d and said, \u201cAny planned relocation would be absolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia\u2019s government has made clear it intends to manage the process of delivering aid to Tigray, and it has rejected \u201cinterference\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuggestions 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,\u201d Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed\u2019s office said, adding that sporadic gunfire should \u201cnot be misconstrued as active conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia\u2019s government for nearly 30 years before Abiy came to power in 2018 and sidelined it.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s government has marginalised and persecuted Tigrayans since taking office.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Africa-Press Ethiopia Ethiopia\u2019s 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 \u201cabsolutely unacceptable\u201d. 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[241,244],"class_list":["post-573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press-ethiopia","tag-unhcr"],"yoast_head":"\n