The head of the UN refugee agency says he has received “credible and corroborated reports of reprisal attacks, abductions, arrests and violence meted out against Eritrean refugees for their perceived affiliation with one side or the other throughout this bloody conflict”.
Filippo Grandi expressed his concern about widespread attacks against refugees committed by numerous armed players in the Mai Aini and Adi Harush refugee camps, primarily at night.
Hundreds of Eritreans have been arrested in Shire in the last week and he demanded clarification from the authorities in Mekelle, as well as the immediate release of the refugees and asylum seekers.
Mr Grandi urged the federal government and the Tigray Regional Government to initiate formal investigations into all credible allegations.
Ethiopian forces have been battling the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the region since November.
Despite calls for ceasefire in region, Tigrayan rebel forces launched a new offensive in the northern region of Ethiopia and seized major towns including Korem and Alamata.
Clashes have also erupted near the refugee camp, which is home to thousands of refugees, according to the AFP news agency.
Mr Grandi has called for an end to the violence and intimidation directed at Eritrean refugees, as well as the use and manipulation of refugees for political benefit.
The UN refugee chief has urged for the opening of the Shire and Mekelle airport and all land connections into Tigray, to aid Eritrean refugees and other displaced people in Tigray.
Close to 100,000 Eritrean refugees have been living in camps in the Tigray region. They fled political persecution and compulsory military service, long before the current conflict.
Thousands of them fled to Addis Ababa and other regions of Ethiopia as a result of the fighting in Tigray, and thousands more are still missing.
