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Illegal Mass Deportations from Ethiopia
The
treatment of civilians in war situations is governed by the conventions
and covenants of the United Nations. Mass deportations from Ethiopia
are the product of a deliberate and declared policy which was
spelled out by Prime Minister Melles Zenawi as the incontestable
right of his government. 4 However, our data reveal that the deportation
of ethnic Eritreans and the manner it is being carried out violates
the UN Charter on Human Rights, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the ri~hts
of the Child and the Geneva Conventions.
In contrast to the mass deportations from Ethiopia, Eritrea has
a declared policy of not harassing or expelling the large Ethiopian
population that lives in its territory. When Ethiopia placed an
embargo on Eritrean ports in May 1998 -- ports which were, until
then, Ethiopia's principal outlets to the sea -- the very large
Ethiopian population living in the port of Assab became unemployed
and began to return to Ethiopia. Since some of these returnees
were falsely claiming that they had been harassed, robbed, raped
and forcibly expelled from Eritrea, the country asked the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to oversee the entire process
by which Ethiopians voluntarily depart from Eritrea. That procedure
has been in operation for several months, since August 1998. Ethiopia
later claimed that a similar procedure was in force on the Ethiopian
side but ICRC, in a message addressed to the Eritrean ambassador
in Addis Ababa, stated that there was no such procedure which
they have been allowed to oversee."
The Uprooted II by Citizens for Peace in Eritrea February 22,
1999
The peace agreement signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia allowed the
vast majority of the 300,000 Eritreans who were internally displaced
during the war to return to their homes. Close to 65,000 internally displaced
persons (IDPs), however, have not been so lucky. Some 50,000
people, most of whom are women and children, are still living in ten
camps in Gash Barka and Debub regions and another 15,000, mainly
from the Om Hajer area, are still unable to return and are being hosted
by area communities.
The majority of IDPs are women and children.
50,000 IDPs still living in makeshift camps.
Those who have already returned to formerly occupied territories are finding
very little of their former lives remaining. Their communities
have been devastated by the realities of war and by willful destruction.
Productive farmland, fields, and roads have been mined, with reports
of children being maimed or killed coming in often.Yet the remaining
65,000 IDPs are desperate to return to their homes to try and
rebuild their former lives and to start again. This is a marked
shift away from straight dependency upon endless relief assistance
and a very positive trend towards rehabilitation. Given the proper
tools, the displaced can and will rebuild their communities. They
will rebuild what was destroyed and regain control of their lives
and their livelihoods.
What You Can Do to Help
The Eritrean Development Foundation (EDF), is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to assisting in the reconstruction
and development of Eritrea. EDF's primary objective is to alleviate poverty and human suffering by supporting projects
related to education, health and agriculture.
Visit EDF online at www.edfonline.org