Press Release
Ethiopian Government Refuses To Receive Its Nationals

The government of Eritrea was notified today by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that the authorities in Ethiopia have "refused" to accept the return of 1,100 of their nationals through an ICRC-sponsored repatriation mission scheduled for 21 July 2000 along the Adi Quala - Kisad Ika road. The Ethiopian government, previously informed of the intended mission and route, agreed to tomorrow's repatriation but is now, at the last minute, shutting down the project indefinitely and unilaterally.

Yet again, the Ethiopian government has created matters to complicate and deter the requested repatriation of its citizens to their home country. By doing so, the regime in Addis Ababa persists in violating the individual rights of its own citizens as well as major international laws and conventions protecting these people's rights as citizens of that state.

This latest demand by the Ethiopian government to change the safest and most successful route for the repatriation, the Adi Quala - Kisad Ika road, holds no validity but only serves to stall the entire process. Just last week, this same route was traveled by Eritreans deported from Ethiopia who were safely received by the ICRC once on Eritrean soil.

The government of Eritrea finds this latest demand to be ungrounded with apparent ulterior motives at play. The continued human rights violations committed by the regime in Ethiopia can not go on unchecked. The Ethiopian government must be pressured by the international community to stop its blatant disregard for international laws and conventions if the suffering of both the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia is to be eliminated.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara, 20 July 2000