Rights group focuses on plight of thousands expelled during war

The New York based advocacy group, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has called for nearly 100,000 citizens expelled by both Eritrea and Ethiopia during their 1998-2000 border war to be allowed to return home and to have their citizenship restored. A report by HRW says that the plight of citizens of both countries who were uprooted and deprived of their residence and nationality during the war has yet to be resolved. HRW says some 75,000 ethnic Eritreans were living in Ethiopia when the war broke out in 1998. The Ethiopian government summarily deported tens of thousands of them to Eritrea. Their Ethiopian citizenship was revoked and their identity documents were marked "Expelled-Never to Return". The report says that during the expulsions many ethnic Eritreans were detained under harsh conditions and some were tortured. People were also forced to leave behind their families, and many lost all their property. The report says that Ethiopians living in Eritrea suffered in a similar way. A few months after the war broke out, the Eritrean government interned some 7,500 Ethiopians and deported thousands. The deportees also complained of abuses. A peace agreement between the two countries in December 2000 ended the fighting and established a boundary commission to settle their dispute. Final demarcation of the border is due to take place this year. But the agreement failed to address the situation of those who had been deported. "There is no justification for the horrendous treatment these people suffered in 1998," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of HRW's Africa division. "What is worse is that, despite all the international assistance since the war's end, they still have no resolution: property claims remain unresolved, families are still separated, and many now have no nationality," he said. [Click here for full report]