Eritrea Online / Dehai Homepage
ERINA Update
(Eritrean News Agency,
Tel: ++291-1-117627, Fax: 127385)
Tuesday, December 29, 1998
1. One thousand Eritreans deported from Ethiopia arrived in Assab on the 27th of December. The deportees, who were dumped at the Burie frontline, were rounded up from their homes in Addis Abeba and many other towns in Ethiopia. Many of the deportees were women, children and elderly and reports from Assab indicate that infants as young a two weeks were deported as well. All of the deportees have said they were detained from long periods including some who were in detention for up to six months.
The deportees said that the situation for Eritreans in Addis Abeba is becoming desperate. They said that thieves and government officials alike are robbing Eritreans of property and cash and that military police threaten to imprison and deport Eritreans who do not turn over their valuables. One deportee, Habte Selassie, said he was forced to pay US$2,900 to officials in military clothing before being detained and deported. Over 45,000 Eritreans have been deported from Ethiopia to date.
Veronica Rentmeesters, Information Officer
Embassy of Eritrea to the US
1708 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington DC 20009, USA
TEL: 202 319 1991 FAX: 202 319 1304
E-M: veronicX@embassyeritrea.org