Eritrean News Agency (ERINA)

(Tel: ++291-1-117627, Fax: 127385)
ERINA Update

Wednesday, January 20, 1999

1. Eritrea has now received and registered over 50,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin who have, since June, been deported by the Ethiopian government. The latest figure comes in the wake of a series of deportations over the weekend in which 1,433 Eritreans were expelled. On January 17, 1,280 Eritreans picked up from Addis Ababa, Harar, Dire Dawa, and other towns arrived in Assab after being dumped off at the Burie front line. The deportees confirmed that 42 Eritreans who had served in the Ethiopian Air Force remain in detention in Sebategna prison camp in Dire Dawa.

Another 153 Eritreans arrived in the border town of Mai Mene yesterday from their village of Nebri Id. These deportees said that Ethiopian government officials ordered them to leave the country in 48 hours and warned them not to be on the wrong side of the border when the war started. The deportees--mainly women and children--said they were unable to bring or secure any of their property.

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