Stranded family allowed home

A family stranded for months in no-man’s land between Ethiopia and Eritrea has finally been allowed home, the UN has said.

The Haileselassie Bekre family has spent three months in limbo after being refused entry by both countries. But the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said they were now on Ethiopian territory in the northern town of Adigrat. There, the Ethiopian authorities are considering whether they are Ethiopian nationals.

Elio Tamburi, a human rights officer with UNMEE, said their tale is a “hangover” from the bitter two-year war between both countries. The family was among thousands deported from Ethiopia
to Eritrea after being accused of constituting a security threat during the 1998-2000 war.

On arrival in Eritrea, they insisted they were Ethiopian and asked aid agencies if they could help them return. But when the International Committee of the Red Cross tried to repatriate the family to Ethiopia in May, the authorities refused.

"When they were repatriated to Ethiopia, the Ethiopian authorities went back to their initial documentation and they saw that these people had been taken to Eritrea on security grounds," Tamburi said. “Therefore, they were not given entry into Ethiopia.”

They were ordered back to Eritrea, but once they reached the other side they were forced back, he said. However, the Ethiopian government was now considering their application.

Tamburi said the government had been “cooperative” and a decision was expected soon.