UN experts call on Ethiopia to stop deporting, detaining Eritreans

 

                          A general view of Hitsats refugee camp in the Tigray region of Ethiopia

On Thursday, a panel of UN investigators and experts urged Ethiopia to stop deporting Eritreans and holding their refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in arbitrary detention.

 

Additionally, the group denounced Ethiopia's "summary expulsion of hundreds of Eritreans" at the end of June.

“Collective expulsions are prohibited under international law,” they said in a statement. “Deporting migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers without conducting an individual and objective risk assessment of their exposure to human rights violations, including torture and enforced disappearance, upon return is refoulement.”

 

The concept of non-refoulement ensures that no one should be sent back to a place where they would suffer mistreatment or punishment under international human rights law.

 

On June 24, the official Human Rights Commission of Ethiopia announced that it was keeping an eye on the forced return of roughly 200 Eritreans.

 

Last month, the Ethiopian Refugees and Returnees Service said that the individuals deported were not refugees or applicants for asylum, which the UN experts claimed was in conflict with other trustworthy sources.

 

“According to several credible sources, the group included both registered and unregistered refugees and asylum seekers,” the experts’ statement said.

 

Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Al Jazeera.

 

Neighbouring Eritrea’s government has for years subjected its population to repression, including forced labour and conscription, and imposed harsh restrictions on freedom of expression and religion, causing many to flee.

 

Ethiopia and Eritrea are historical adversaries, though Eritrean troops fought alongside their Ethiopian counterparts and allied militias in a recent two-year conflict that pitted Addis Ababa against Tigrayan forces (TDF) in the Tigray region.

 

In November, the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan forces (TDF) signed anagreement to end the hostilities.