ERINA Update
Wednesday, July 15, 1998
1. Over 600 Eritrean deportees were dumped by the Ethiopian government this morning at the no man's land separating the Eritrean and Ethiopian armies on the road to Assab. The deportees, who included a large number of women and children, had to walk four kilometres ( 2 1/2 miles) in a temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Hundreds of others are expected in Eritrea in the next two days. Meanwhile, Ethiopia continues to deport Eritrean farmers from villages across the Ethiopian border. The flow averages fifty deportees daily. To date, over 9,000 Eritreans have been deported from Ethiopia. 2. The Ethiopian government has rejected an appeal from the ICRC to release 85 Eritrean university students who have been detained at Fiche camp for nearly a month. The students had been studying in Addis Ababa on an exchange program between the two countries. When the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia broke out, the Ethiopian government detained them claiming ridiculously that they pose a security threat to Ethiopia. Despite repeated protests from humanitarian agencies and the international community at large against this gross violation of human rights and pleas for their release, the Eritrean students remain in detention. They are among the over 1,000 civilian detainees at Fiche. In stark contrast to Ethiopia's violation of the human rights of the Eritrean students, the 46 Ethiopian students who were studying in Asmara University on the same exchange program remained free with all their rights and privileges respected until they were transported by air two weeks ago. 3. President Isaias Afwerki left Asmara yesterday evening for an official state visit to Malaysia. President Isaias is scheduled to meet with His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The two countries are expected to sign an agreement on economic and technical cooperation during the visit and explore the prospects for enhanced trade and investment.
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