{"id":2871,"date":"2021-12-07T10:34:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T10:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.munkhafadat.net\/?p=2871"},"modified":"2021-12-08T09:38:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T09:38:09","slug":"dual-agenda-in-ethiopias-civil-war-eritreas-army-exacted-deadly-vengeance-on-old-foes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.munkhafadat.net\/index.php\/2021\/12\/07\/dual-agenda-in-ethiopias-civil-war-eritreas-army-exacted-deadly-vengeance-on-old-foes\/","title":{"rendered":"Dual Agenda – In Ethiopia\u2019s civil war, Eritrea’s army exacted deadly vengeance on old foes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT<\/span><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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When Eritrea sent troops into the Tigray region, the secretive nation seized a double opportunity: It detained thousands of Eritrean refugees as it battled Ethiopia\u2019s former rulers. Spearheading the bloody campaign: a colonel nicknamed \u2018Son of Bread\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By\u00a0AYENAT MERSIE<\/a>,\u00a0GIULIA PARAVICINI<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0KATHARINE HOURELD<\/a><\/p>\n

Filed\u00a0

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ADDIS ABABA<\/p>\n

Over two decades, Eritreans poured across the border into Ethiopia, fleeing forced military service, torture, and prison in one of Africa\u2019s most repressive states. By last November, around 20,000\u00a0of them were living at two refugee camps here in Ethiopia\u2019s Tigray province, finding haven in their more prosperous neighbour.That month, rebellion\u00a0broke out in Tigray, pitting the region\u2019s rulers against Ethiopia\u2019s central government. The Eritrean military sent in tanks and troops to aid its ally, Ethiopian leader Abiy Ahmed \u2013 and to settle old scores.Within days, truckloads of soldiers from the 35th Division of the Eritrean Army arrived at the two refugee camps, Hitsats and Shimelba. The soldiers had lists of names.In Hitsats, where undulating hills wrapped around the camp\u2019s white tents and corrugated iron shacks, soldiers called refugee leaders to a meeting. The 20 or more who complied were detained, said more than a dozen witnesses, one demonstrating how the men\u2019s elbows were pinioned behind their backs. They were held for two days at a church building in the camp, then loaded onto trucks by Eritrean soldiers and driven away, the witnesses said. Reuters has confirmed the names of\u00a017 of the men. Their families haven’t heard from them since.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Hitsats refugee camp in Ethiopia\u2019s Tigray region used to be home to thousands of Eritrean refugees. Natalia Paszkiewicz\/Handout via REUTERS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Refugees in Hitsats built small windowless homes. Some set up small restaurants or kept animals. Natalia Paszkiewicz\/Handout via REUTERS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Similar scenes played out in Shimelba, about 15\u00a0kilometers (9 miles) from the Eritrean border. \u201cThey were looking for members of the opposition. They had a list,\u201d said a Shimelba refugee leader.<\/p>\n

The Eritrean soldiers detained around 40 people there, some of them women,\u00a0said the refugee leader. Like most others interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition that his name be withheld to protect his family in Eritrea and for his own safety in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

The arrival of the Eritrean troops marked the beginning of a months-long ordeal for thousands of Eritrean refugees \u2013 first hunted by the Eritrean military, then attacked by Tigrayan fighters who accused the refugees of conspiring with the enemy.<\/p>\n

Reuters spoke to more than\u00a060 refugees. These interviews revealed the role of the Eritrean Army division and commander who led the campaign to force the refugees back to Eritrea. Eritrean soldiers then destroyed the camps.<\/p>\n

The refugees told of a systematic military operation: At a border town, Eritrean soldiers set up a COVID-19 quarantine centre, staffed by Eritrean doctors; soldiers then bussed thousands of refugees into Eritrea. Some went at gunpoint; others said they went voluntarily, swapping the perils of Tigray for the uncertainties of their homeland. The refugees also told for the first time how, once in Eritrea, some of their number were jailed or forced into military service.<\/p>\n

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When war broke out in Tigray last year between Ethiopia\u2019s central government and the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front, Eritrean refugees were caught in the fighting. Above, Eritrean refugees protest in Addis Ababa in July against attacks on refugees in the Hitsats and Shimelba camps. REUTERS\/Tiksa Negeri<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201c(The Eritrean soldiers) were looking for members of the opposition. They had a list.\u201d<\/p>\n