Nairobi, Kenya (AP) – Ethiopia said in a United Nations development report on Friday that it was returning thousands of refugees fleeing war in its Tigris region camps and putting them back on buses in the border area. Along with Eritrea, the country from which the refugee originally fled.
The United States has said it believes Eritrean troops are active in Ethiopia since the news broke, calling it a “serious development.”
“We are aware of credible reports of Eritrean military involvement in Tigre,” a State Department spokesman said in an email. “We urge that any such troops be withdrawn immediately.”
The Ethiopian government says its full military action against the current fugitive Tigre regional government is off, not a “direct threat” to the 1,000,000,000 “misinformed” Eritrean refugees – international aid groups also say four of their staff were killed, at least one in one Refugee camp there.
The head of the UN refugee agency recently warned that the report targets Eritrean refugees, if confirmed, would be “in violation of international standards.” Residents of Tigre, who fled to Sudan, insisted that the firing came from Eritrea as soon as the conflict began.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this week that Prime Minister Abi Ahmed, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, had “assured me that (the Eritrean army) had not entered the Tigris region.”
Eritrea, described by rights groups as one of the most oppressive countries in the world, has remained almost silent on the Tigre conflict and is a bitter enemy of the fugitive Tigre government.
“We received alarming messages from Eritreans living abroad and when we examined them we checked that buses had been put up this morning to return to the Tigris region for hundreds of years,” the UN refugee agency said on Friday. “We were not notified in advance by the government.”
Seeing this trauma, refugees say they have witnessed Tigre, they should be kept safe outside the region, the agency said. It also noted that refugee camps have not had access to services and supplies for more than a month.
Aid groups say thousands of Eritrean refugees have fled the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and the Tigris capital, Macaulay. The Ethiopian government says its “uncontrolled movement” makes it difficult to ensure their safety and aid.
Their camps are now stable and under “full control” in Ethiopia, the statement said.
But communications and transport links with Tigre are so challenging that the International Rescue Committee said it was trying to confirm details surrounding the killing of an employee at Shire City’s Hitts refugee camp, which is the basis of humanitarian operations for refugee camps.
Separately, the Danish Refugee Council said three workers working as guards at a project site were killed last month. It was not clear where they were killed, but the group also supports Eritrean refugees.
“Unfortunately, due to the lack of communication in the area and the ongoing insecurity, it has not yet been possible to reach their families,” he said.
European Union Crisis Management Commissioner Jens Lenarcે condemned the killings, saying “there is more urgency than ever before to stop all hostilities.”
Frustration persists in humanitarian organizations, as the Tigers are largely closed to the outside world five weeks after fighting erupted between the Ethiopian government and the Tigers following months of power struggles.
The Ethiopian government has made it clear that it intends to manage the aid delivery process, and has refused to “intervene” as reports of fighting continue. On Friday, Ethiopia said it had begun delivering aid to areas of Tigre under its control, including the capital of Shire and Tigre, a city of half a million people.
“Suggestions that humanitarian aid is being disrupted due to active military combat in some cities and surrounding areas in the Tigre region are untrue and undermines the critical work being done by the National Defense Forces to bring stability to the region,” the PM’s office said He added that sporadic shootings “should not be misunderstood as an active conflict.”
The governments of Ethiopia and Tigre consider each other illegitimate, with months of escalating friction resulting in Abi taking power in 2018 and excluding the once dominant Tigre People’s Liberation Front. The fighting, which began on November 4, is believed to have killed thousands and threatened to destabilize the Horn of Africa.
Tigre is home to about 6 million people, and about 1 million are now thought to be displaced. The UN human rights chief said the impact on civilians had been “terrible” This week.
Trucks full of supplies waited weeks at the Tigris border. The Ethiopian government says it is responsible for ensuring the safety of humanitarian efforts – although many ethnic Tigris have remained wary of government forces due to conflict and related ethnic tensions.
The UN emphasizes the need for neutral, unfettered access. “Meal rations for the displaced in Tigre The UN humanitarian office has tweeted.
This week, the Ethiopian government said its forces fired on UN staff and detained them soon. Assessing their first safety in Tigre, the crucial step in delivering aid. Ethiopia said they broke checkpoints trying to get to where they were not allowed to go.
Meanwhile, about 100,000 Ethiopians have fled to Sudan as refugees and are now seeking refuge in remote areas with few resources.
Babur Baloch, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, told reporters that groups coming from deeper areas inside Tigris were coming weak and tired, with some reports saying they had spent two weeks running in Ethiopia as they were heading for the border. “They have told us huge accounts of being stopped by armed groups and their property being looted. Many have spent time hiding in the fields and bushes to avoid being dragged. “
Without entering Ethiopia, he said, “We cannot verify these disturbing reports.”
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