Eritrea complains of “deportations”

Eritrea has complained to the UN Security Council that Ethiopia deported a group of 722 people, in violation of international humanitarian laws and human rights conventions. In a letter dated 28 June, the permanent representative of Eritrea said most of the deportees were “women, children and old people... some suffer from serious disability.” The letter complained that most of the deportees were “rounded up from their homes and working places in Tigray (northern Ethiopia) and imprisoned in various places of detention for days before being deported”. It said some had been detained for as long as three years “including in places which were never visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross”. The group arrived at Mereb River, on the disputed border, on 25 June, the letter said. The Eritrean government called on the international community and the partners of the peace process to condemn the deportations.