Eritrean refugees in Tigray, target of the army of the authoritarian regime

The Hitsats Eritrean refugee camp, run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has reportedly been controlled by Eritrean forces for weeks (Illustrative image).

© AFP / VINCENT DEFAIT

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2 min

Concern is growing around the fate of the Eritrean political refugees who are in Tigray.

When the conflict began in November, nearly 100,000 were living in Ethiopia after fleeing Asmara and its authoritarian regime.

For two months, many accounts have been told of abuses committed in the four refugee camps in Tigray by Eritrean soldiers, of whom we now have proof of their presence.

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Buildings belonging to the United Nations, a clinic, a school or even houses ... All destroyed in the Hitsats and Shimelba camps.

This is shown by satellite images presented by the Bloomberg agency.

These images are the only visual evidence of the destruction, as these two camps are still off limits for NGOs and journalists.

Only a few rare pieces of information filter through.

Apart from this destruction, we know that five humanitarian workers lost their lives and that there is a shortage of food and drinking water, considered very alarming by the UN.

Forcibly brought back to Tigray

Of the nearly 100,000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray, only a quarter have received humanitarian aid.

And those who were able to flee the fighting in November and take refuge in Addis Ababa were forcibly

returned to Tigray

, for their safety according to the Ethiopian government.

Some sources say the Hitsats and Shimelba camps have been under Eritrean control for weeks.

And in Asmara, the government is hostile to the UN.

A minister assured on Twitter that it was time to rectify "

 the malicious actions and the policy of depopulation of Eritrea carried out by the United Nations 

".

Other sources claim that many refugees have been forcibly returned to Eritrea.

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  • Ethiopia

  • Eritrea

  • Refugees

  • UN

  • NGO

  • Defense