Freed detainees return to Eritrea

Hundreds of Eritrean detainees released by the Ethiopian government arrived at the border bridge of Mereb, near the southern town of Adi Quala, on Friday, greeted by a handful of local officials and scores of cheering well-wishers. Officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said about 1,225 of the freed prisoners of war and civilian internees had chosen to return to the country. However, it said it could not give an exact count until every returnee was registered. The Ethiopian government released what it said were all remaining 1,568 Eritrean detainees on Tuesday. ICRC officials said approximately 240 Eritreans had opted to stay in Ethiopia however. On the Ethiopian side of the border, the former detainees were released to several dozen delegates of the ICRC, who then handed them over to Eritrean authorities once they crossed the border. “I am very happy to be home,” said 29-year-old Abdu Mohammed Nahir who spent over four years behind bars after being rounded up shortly after the border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia erupted in May 1998. “I never expected to be freed. Because of the conditions in the prison, I thought I would never get out.” “I’m so excited to be back,” added 37-year-old Mohammed Nur Omar, who was captured during heavy fighting near the western Eritrean town of Barentu, which was temporarily occupied by Ethiopian forces in 2000. “I can’t wait to see my mother and father. I’m so thankful they are still alive.” Many of the returnees were too tired to speak, while others were too overwhelmed by their new-found freedom to even smile until they were well within Eritrean territory. Others, despite an exhausting three day journey from the Dedessa internment camp in western Ethiopia were they had been held, shouted for joy as they arrived. “Greetings to the whole world!” one soldier roared in broken Italian as he danced across the bridge between the two countries before kneeling to kiss the ground when he reached Eritrean soil. “Thank God I am home!” For several dozen kilometres, hundreds of Eritrean schoolchildren lined the road to the capital of Asmara, joined by countless other well-wishers. They carried flowers, sang songs and threw popcorn as their newly freed countrymen made their way on 26 buses to the southern town of Mendefera where Eritrean authorities say they will spend several days being re-acclimatised before being assisted in returning to their families. In August, the Eritrean government released 27 Ethiopian civilians and 279 POWs, saying these were the last captives they had. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of holding onto more captives however, and had previously refused to return any more Eritrean detainees until it was informed of the whereabouts of Bezabeh Petros, an Ethiopian fighter pilot shot down by Eritrea in June 1998.