Ethiopia/Eritrea: Whether Ethiopia continues to deport persons of Eritrean heritage and, if so, their treatment by Eritrean authorities; Ethiopian deportation procedures and whether someone would be given time to sell their property prior to reporting back to the authorities for deportation; whether deportees are able to return to Ethiopia (1999)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 16 December 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ZZZ33395.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ethiopia/Eritrea: Whether Ethiopia continues to deport persons of Eritrean heritage and, if so, their treatment by Eritrean authorities; Ethiopian deportation procedures and whether someone would be given time to sell their property prior to reporting back to the authorities for deportation; whether deportees are able to return to Ethiopia (1999), 16 December 1999, ZZZ33395.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad8318.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The following information was provided during a 6 December 1999 telephone interview with a professor at the African Studies Center at Michigan State University, who last visited Ethiopia in 1998 and who maintains contact with persons in Ethiopia. He stated that the procedures used by Ethiopian authorities to deport Eritreans have remained fairly consistent since the war between the two countries began, but "the categories of people who have been targeted for deportation in any of the specific round-ups" have varied and that the deportations have occurred in waves. He said that some persons of Eritrean background who have friends in the government have been warned prior to agents arriving to deport them. This allowed some them to arrange their affairs in advance of their deportation. At other times, the professor said, the deportees receive no warning and "are surprised at all hours of the day and night with no notice." He stated that he himself knows of persons who have been deported.
There are numerous documentary reports of the deportation from Ethiopia of persons of Eritrean heritage, with the most recent occurring in November 1999. The 1999 Country Report of the U.S. Committee for Refugeesdescribes some of the methods used in these deportations:
Ethiopian authorities raided homes, businesses, and markets to apprehend individuals targeted for deportation. In many cases, families became separated when husbands and wives were deported at different times, or parents were often expelled without their children. Many were placed in detention before they were transported to the border on buses and trucks.
Many of those expelled from Ethiopia left behind thriving businesses and considerable personal property, leading to accusations that many of the deportations occurred for economic rather than security reasons.
The deportations continued at an average of 1,000 per week as [1998] ended (1999).
According to Human Rights Watch World Report 2000:
Ethiopia initiated as of June 1998 a draconian program of roundups and deportations of those Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin authorities deemed to be a threat to national security. Tens of thousands were affected.
On July 5 and 6 [1999], Ethiopia deported another three thousand people of Eritrean origin, many of them children and elderly people. They arrived in Eritrea weakened by many days of detention and a rough road trip, and complaining of the confiscation of their properties. Their arrival signalled the resumption of the mass deportations which had slowed to a trickle since hostilities resumed in February and brought the number of deportees until then to 60,000.
The judiciary appeared to have had no role in the deportation process. It reportedly provided no recourse to the victims to challenge their arrest and subsequent forcible deportation, to defend a claim to Ethiopian nationality, or to respond to the accusation of being national security threats. Incidents of torture or other deliberate physical harm during the deportations were limited in number, according to testimonies of the deportees (Dec. 1999).
In a 21 May 1999 report on the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Amnesty International reported that Ethiopia's deportation of persons of Eritrean heritage had continued until 6 February 1999 when fighting resumed between the countries. The report, which describes the deportations in detail, is available in Regional Documentation Centres and on Amnesty International's Website.
The following brief chronology, beginning in January 1999, provides further information on this subject. PANA reported that 1,501 Eritreans arrived in Eritrea on 31 March 1999, having been deported by Ethiopian authorities on 27 and 28 March 1999 (31 Mar. 1999). Eritrean authorities said that the majority were children and elderly and "that they had been detained for up to three months prior to their deportation" and that "they left family members behind, suffered from hunger and sickness and their properties were confiscated" (ibid.).
A 20 July 1999 report from Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) for Central and Eastern Africa of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stated that:
Thousands of Eritrean deportees from Ethiopia have arrived in Assab and Massawa since the start of July, with many disorientated, shocked or in poor condition after difficult sea passages and complaining to aid workers of their harsh treatment, humanitarian sources have reported. Close to 3,000 people were said to have arrived in Eritrea on 5 and 6 July, mostly from Addis Ababa, with many having lost virtually all their possessions.
A diplomatic source in Addis Ababa told IRIN of "substantial deportations" from Addis Ababa on the weekend of 10-11 July, mostly involving family members of Eritreans previously deported as "security risks". He said there was a view that Ethiopia had decided to put pressure on the Eritrean economy by stepping up on deportations. Meanwhile, humanitarian sources have spoken of fears that thousands of Eritreans still face deportation in the coming weeks.
A 12 August 1999 IPS article refers to a report by the International Red Cross that 25,000 Eritreans had been deported from Ethiopia between 10 August 1998 and July 1999. The Ethiopian government claimed that "it only deports Eritrean citizens who posed a 'security risk' to Ethiopia" (ibid.). The article also refers to claims by an Ethiopian woman "whose husband was deported in early July [that] three policemen came to their home at 5.00 o'clock in the morning to take her husband. 'When I opened the door they asked after my husband. I asked them if he could wash his face. They forcefully took him'." (ibid.).
In October 1999 Eritrean authorities told the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), which had been asked by the Ethiopian authorities to arrange for transportation, that its border with Ethiopia was "too dangerous" for the transfer of deportees from Ethiopia (AFP 20 Oct. 1999; ibid. 22 Oct. 1999). According to AFP the Ethiopian government had announced on 16 October 1999 "that it had made arrangements for the repatriation of 1,500 Eritrean nationals" (ibid.). On 22 October 1999 AFP reported that Eritrean authorities had "accused Ethiopia of planning to force 1,300 Eritrean deportees to walk to their country of origin in darkness through a potentially mined border area."
According to the ICRC spokesperson for Africa:
"We approached the Ethiopian authorities and said we did not agree with the trip and asked them to reconsider,"
"We are really concerned. They have decided to do this against our will. It's a violation of the Geneva Conventions and it is not acceptable,"
The ICRC said discussions with Ethiopia are continuing and that it is not too late to turn the buses around and bring the people back to Addis Ababa where they can be airlifted out (AFP 22 Oct. 1999).
AFP reported that 1,376 Eritrean deportees arrived in Eritrea on 25 October 1999, after being forced to cross through a "no-man's land" at the war front near Bure and that they followed the arrival of 271 Eritreans who had been deported on 23 October 1999 (25 Oct. 1999). AFP also reported that the ICRC had condemned these forced removals through an area where safety could not be guaranteed and that the organization had been trying to arrange for an airlift of the deportees (ibid.). Both AFP and ERINA reported the condemnation by the Eritrean government of these deportations and described the procedure as "dumping" the deportees at the war front (IRIN 29 Oct. 1999; AFP 25 Oct. 1999).
In November 1999 Eritrea accused Ethiopia of loading buses with 1,000 Eritreans on 9 November 1999 and taking them to an "unspecified border point" where they would be "dumped" (AFP 11 Nov. 1999). Referring to an ERINA report AFP said that 635 Eritreans arrived on a bus on 15 November 1999, after a six day journey from Addis Ababa and that another bus remained in the Ethiopian town of Dancha (15 Nov. 1999). According to ERINA, the deportees were charged between 6 and 18 dollars "for transportation and baggage handling" and that the ICRC had criticized sending the deportees without accompaniment of international observers (ibid.). In another ERINA report of statements made just after the arrival of these deportees, an Eritrean spokesperson is quoted as saying the following about Eritreans in Ethiopia: "The civilians are brutalized. Their assets are frozen, property and houses confiscated or burnt down" (IRIN 18 Nov. 1999).
A 15 November 1999 Mail and Guardian report refers to the transport of 1,700 Eritreans across the border near Bure which it described as "probably the least militarily sensitive crossing point along the border," but in a desert region where temperatures regularly exceed 40˚C. The deportees arrived at Asab on the Ethiopian coast which has no road connections to Eritrea and thus the deportees "faced a 24-hour journey on packed cargo ships to Massawa" (ibid.).
There are several reports of Eritrean authorities claiming that the Ethiopian authorities had confiscated the property of those persons that had been deported (Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea 5 Nov. 1999; Seven Days Update 25 Aug. 1999; Reuters 15 July 1999), as well as demands for compensation by Eritrean authorities (ibid.; Seven Days Update 25 Aug. 1999). Seven Days Update also stated that "over 800 million dollars of [Eritrean deportees'] property was confiscated by the [Ethiopian] government or left behind." (ibid.).
The Walta Information Centre, described by the BBC as "pro-Ethiopian government," referred to claims by an Ethiopian government representative that "the properties of the deported Eritreans had been placed in a legal way under the care of their assigned agents at the time of their deportation in line with the country's law" (16 Nov. 1999). IRN reported claims by Ethiopian authorities that "Eritrean citizens were 'not subjected to any form of inhuman treatment [and that] no property that belongs to any Eritrean citizen has been expropriated. Eritreans have been allowed to name legal agents of their choice to take care of their property'." (20-26 Nov. 1999).
However, on 2 December 1999 ERINA stated that the Ethiopian government had begun to take "legal action to recover debts from Eritreans who left the country." ERINA described an Eritrean government spokesperson as saying:
These people, whom they are claiming defaulted, were rounded up and deported often within hours. Through this process now, the government [of] Addis Ababa is attempting to legalize its confiscation of private property and investments.
The total value of goods and property they were forced to abandon is estimated to exceed 800 million US dollars (ibid.).
According to a 9 December 1999 AP report, the central bank of Ethiopia collected US$ 28.1 million of US$ 46.5 million in loans left behind by 386 deported Eritreans. Some of the money had been collected through public auction of property; the representative for the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia claimed that the "Eritreans deported had been allowed to hire legal representatives before their departure, and those whose properties had been auctioned off had been given 30 days' notice through their families or representatives" (ibid.). The Walta Information Centre reported on 1 December 1999 that "the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) disclosed that it has auctioned off a business organization that belonged to deported Eritreans in settlement of its claim of 90 m Birr (US$ 11.25 m) which the deportees had owed it."
There are also several references to Eritrean in Ethiopia as "waiting" to return to Eritrea. AFP referred to estimates by international aid agencies that 10,000 Eritreans were "awaiting safe passage back to Eritrea" (11 Nov. 1999; 25 Oct. 1999). In reference to Eritreans in Ethiopia the Mail and Guardian reported on 15 November 1999 that "more are still waiting to go the Eritrean committee in Addis Ababa said recently it had processed 4,500 applications". In its reportof Ethiopia sending "deportees" through a mined border area, AFP also stated that:
[An Eritrean presidential spokesperson] said he had been told by an Eritrean embassy official in Addis Ababa that the Eritreans had been forced to pay for their transportation and those who refused were sent away.
He added that when these people returned to their homes, they found their property confiscated by Ethiopian authorities (22 Oct. 1999).
No information on whether Eritreans in Ethiopia would be given time to sell their property prior to reporting back to the authorities for deportation, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
Agence France Presse. 15 November 1999. "More Than 600 Eritrean Deportees Arrive Home From Ethiopia."
_____. 11 November 1999. "Ethiopia Deporting 1,000 Eritreans: Asmara."
_____. 25 October 1999. "Second Group of Eritrean Deportees Cross Mined Front Line." (NEXIS)
_____. 22 October 1999. "Eritrean Deportees to be Forced Across Mined Area: Asmara."
_____. 20 October 1999. "Eritrean Returnees Can't be Guaranteed Safe Passage, ICRC Told."
Amnesty International. 21 May 1999. Ethiopia and Eritrea: Human Rights Issues in a Year of Armed Conflict. (AI Index: AFR 04/03/99). London: Amnesty International.
Associated Press (AP). 9 December 1999. "Central Bank Collects Millions of Dollars in Deportees Debts." (NEXIS)
Eritrean News Agency (ERINA). 2 December 1999. "Eritrea; Eritrean News Agency Daily Update." (Africa News/NEXIS)
Human Rights Watch (HRW). December 1999. World Report 2000.
Inter Press Service (IPS). 12 August 1999. Yemisrach Benaflew. "Rights: A Six-Month-Old Baby Among Those Deported From Ethiopia." (NEXIS)
Mail and Guardian [Johannesburg]. 15 November 1999. "Waiting for Deportation."
Pan African News Agency (PANA). 31 March 1999. "1,501 Deportees Arrive in Eritrea."
Professor, African Studies Center at Michigan State University, East Lansing. 6 December 1999. Telephone interview.
Reuters. 15 July 1999. Evelyn Leopold. "Eritrea Says Ethiopia Should Compensate Deportees."
Seven Days Update [Addis Ababa]. 25 August 1999. "Ethiopia: The Battle for Hearts and Minds." (Africa News/NEXIS)
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa (IRIN). 20-26 November 1999. "Ethiopia: Government Denies Mistreating Eritreans, Seizing Property."
_____. 18 November 1999. "Eritrea: Over 600 Deportees Arrive Home."
_____. 29 October 1999. "Eritrea: Deportation by Ethiopia Condemned."
_____. 20 July 1999. "Horn of Africa: IRIN News Briefs, 20 July 1999."
U.S. Committee for Refugees. 1999. Country Report: Ethiopia.
Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea [Asmara, in Tigrigna]. 5 November 1999. "Eritrea: Foreign Ministry Officials in Talks With Swedish Officials." (BBC Worldwide Monitoring 6 Nov. 1999/NEXIS)
Walta Information Centre [Addis Ababa, in English]. 1 December 1999. "Bank Auctions Firm Owned by Deported Eritreans in Debt-Settlement." (BBC 11 Dec. 1999/NEXIS)
_____. 15 November 1999. "Ethiopia Deported Eritreans for Posing 'Serious Security Threats' Official." (BBC Worldwide Monitoring 16 Nov. 1999/NEXIS)
