Africa-Press Ethiopia<\/p>\n
Ethiopia\u2019s government said on Friday it was returning Eritrean refugees to camps they had fled in the northern region of Tigray, a move that alarmed the United Nations refugee agency after a month-long conflict that is believed to have killed thousands of people.<\/p>\n
The United Nations and other aid agencies say they have been denied access to some 96,000 refugees in Tigray since fighting erupted on Nov. 4 between the government and a rebellious regional force. They believe food is running out at refugee camps there, and have expressed concern about reports of continued clashes in some areas.<\/p>\n
The government says it has now defeated forces loyal to the region\u2019s former ruling Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF), and it is safe for refugees who fled to the capital Addis Ababa to return to Tigray.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large number of misinformed refugees are moving out in an irregular manner,\u201d the government said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government is safely returning those refugees to their respective camps,\u201d the statement said, adding that food was being transported to the camps.<\/p>\n
TPLF leaders say they are fighting back on various fronts. Claims by all sides in the conflict are near-impossible to verify because most communications to Tigray are down and the government tightly controls access.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the traumatic events to which refugees say they were exposed in Tigray, we believe Eritrean refugees should have the opportunity to receive protection and assistance outside of the region,\u201d said Dana Hughes, regional spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR).<\/p>\n
FRANTIC CALLS<\/strong> \u201cPlease come, please come, the buses are here!\u201d one woman yelled as children wept in the background.<\/p>\n Another woman said Eritreans faced mounting hostility from Tigrayans who accuse Eritrea of sending troops into Ethiopia to help Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed\u2019s government battle the TPLF.<\/p>\n Both countries deny this, although the U.S. State Department said on Thursday it believes reports of Eritrean military involvement in the conflict in Ethiopia are \u201ccredible\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSome Tigrayan people beat up my husband,\u201d the refugee said. \u201cPeople there were saying \u2013 \u2018your country is coming here and attacking us. So you – we will kill you too.\u2019 We were getting so scared.\u201d<\/p>\n A Reuters witness saw three buses depart on Friday from a centre where refugees were being housed in Addis Ababa.<\/p>\n TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said in text messages to Reuters this month that Eritrean soldiers had raided two camps in Tigray and abducted some residents, but provided no evidence. Eritrea denies this.<\/p>\n The presence of Eritrean troops on Ethiopian soil would alarm Western allies and risk further inflaming the conflict.<\/p>\n Eritrea has long faced accusations of large scale rights abuses. It accuses Western powers of smear campaigns and luring Eritreans abroad, which they deny.<\/p>\n FOOD FOR REFUGEES<\/strong> The UNHCR was not informed of any planned relocation of refugees in Ethiopia, Babar Baloch, a UNHCR spokesman, told reporters in Geneva. He called the reports \u201calarming.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cWhile we cannot speculate at this time, any refoulement would be absolutely unacceptable.\u201d Refoulement means forcing refugees to return to the country they fled from.<\/p>\n Ato Addisu, deputy head of Ethiopia\u2019s state-run Agency for Refugee and Returnee Affairs, said, \u201cA return to Eritrea would never happen unless they request by themselves \u2013 this is against international law\u201d.<\/p>\n Around 580 refugees were on the buses to Tigray, he told Reuters.<\/p>\n The United Nations has been unable to visit any of the camps since the conflict began.<\/p>\n The prime minister\u2019s office dismissed concerns that the war was preventing aid reaching civilians.<\/p>\n \u201cSuggestions that humanitarian assistance is impeded due to active military combat … within the Tigray region is untrue and undermines … work to stabilise the region,\u201d it said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Africa-Press Ethiopia Ethiopia\u2019s government said on Friday it was returning Eritrean refugees to camps they had fled in the northern region of Tigray, a move that alarmed the United Nations refugee agency after a month-long conflict that is believed to have killed thousands of people. The United Nations and other aid agencies say they have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[241,236],"class_list":["post-606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press-ethiopia","tag-tigray"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nReuters received frantic calls from refugees in the capital who had been told they would be bussed back to Tigray but feared they were being taken back to Eritrea – the neighbouring country they originally fled.<\/p>\n
\nThere are four main camps for Eritrean refugees in Tigray – Shimelba, Hitsats, Mai-Ayni and Adi Harush.<\/p>\n