The Ethiopian government claims the conflict in Tigray has ended. This is very far from the truth. Violence and war crimes against helpless Eritrean refugees continue on a massive scale. And the perpetrators have been clearly identified as Eritrean military personnel, who do not have the slightest justification for being there. However, their presence has been repeatedly denied by the Ethiopian authorities
Virtually no information is being allowed out of Tigray: all communications are shut down. But even the UNHCR, which has been excluded by the Ethiopian government from two of its own camps, knows that terrible things are happening in the Shimelba and Hitsats Refugee camps, where tens of thousands of starving and helpless Eritrean refugees have been held. Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, issued this statement on 14th January:
Shimelba Camp: Human Rights Concern-Eritrea has received eye-witness accounts of the killing of unarmed civilians and refugees at Shimelba camp and forced removal of all the camp’s inhabitants.
When the war began in November 2020, two senior Eritrean Military officers had entered the camp and told the refugees that they were pardoned and should return to Eritrea, but the refugees refused to return as they feared for their lives. Then, to terrorize them, eight Tigrayans who were suspected of supporting the Tigrayan People Liberation Front (TPLF) were brought into the camp and shot in front of the refugees.
Four Eritrean refugees from the Kunama tribe were also shot by Eritrean forces inside the camp. Three died instantly; one of them, although wounded, managed to run and tell others what had happened. However, he had lost a lot of blood, and due to lack of medical care, he also died. Those killed were identified as Masi Nati Kalifa, Moli Shiri Badumme, Dumam Adanno, Agaro, and Aroda Mantay
It is clear that these murders terrified the occupants of the Shimelba camp, who realized that the same would happen to them if they disobeyed military instructions. It was then that the removal of all refugees at gunpoint from the camp began, with horrific forced marches, to Sheraro. Once there they were loaded into trucks which took them, against their will, back to the very country they had fled from.
It is reported that the whole Shimelba camp has now been deliberately burned to the ground. The burning of this camp is confirmed by satellite images.
Hitsats Camp:
On 23rd November, 2020, in the morning, some refugees from Hitsats camp were going to St. Mary Church when armed militia started randomly shooting at them. Ten died immediately, and more than forty were wounded. The wounded refugees stayed in the camp without any medical care, and on the third day, were loaded onto a military truck and with wounded Eritrean soldiers were taken to Eritrea.
On 5th January, 2021, Eritrean military forces ordered all the refugees in the camp to start a journey by foot towards Sheraro. Pregnant women, children, the elderly, the disabled, all had to start walking. It took two full days walking for the able-bodied to reach Sheraro, and three days for those who were sick and weak. When they arrived in Sheraro, they were loaded onto military vehicles and taken to Eritrea. It is believed that Hitsats camp has also been burned to the ground.
Human Rights Concern -Eritrea was able to obtain this information because some of the refugees managed to escape, risking their lives while doing so.
Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE), issues the following statement: –
“It is a tragedy that the world has moved its attention away from Tigray, because Ethiopia is hiding the dreadful crimes it is allowing to happen in two of the four UNHCR Refugee camps in Tigray. It is denying the presence of Eritrean military and deliberately blocking the UNHCR from accessing Shimelba and Hitsats Camps, while it allows Eritrean army forces to do whatever they wish, and to remove entire refugee populations of these camps to Eritrea.
The Eritrean military is using the communications blackout to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity against helpless, unarmed Eritrean refugees and civilian Tigrayans, killing and executing with impunity. It is deporting tens of thousands of refugees at gunpoint against their will to the very country they fled from in danger of their lives. HRCE wishes to point out that the Eritrean military forces consist mostly of young conscripts who have been forced to fight in Tigray against their will.
HRCE calls on the Ethiopian government to ensure that all Eritrean military forces leave Tigray at once and that action is taken to prevent their return. HRCE calls on the government of Ethiopia to ensure full protection for the two other refugee camps at Mai Aini and Adi-Harush, and to guarantee that no Eritrean military forces are allowed to enter them.
The UN Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights in Eritrea has already found evidence of crimes against humanity committed by the Eritrean authorities within Eritrea. Crimes against Humanity have been committed in Tigray since November 2020.
HRCE calls on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into these crimes immediately.
HRCE calls upon all members of the United Nations to take immediate note of the appeals of the UNHCR concerning the Camps at Shimelba and Hitsats, and to make urgent requests to the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to put an end to the “major violations of international law” in Tigray by Eritrean military or other militias. It is a matter of life and death. Member countries of The United Nations must speak out now against these crimes before many more thousands of Eritrean refugees in Tigray are either killed or forcibly deported.”
HRCE condemns the widespread looting, rape, and killing of civilians which have been occurring in Tigray region. HRCE must also condemn the entirely unacceptable Ethiopian government policy of depriving the Tigrayan people of humanitarian aid, food, electricity, public transport, telephone services, and the “freezing” of all bank accounts.
Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE)
