Ethiopia sees highest Eritrean refugee influx

December 14, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — The number of Eritrean refugees entering Ethiopia reached a record high of more than 600 in November, Ethiopia’s government said on Friday.

Haile Selassie Gebre Mariam of the state-run Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs said the rate of arrivals had more than doubled from a monthly average of about 300 last year.

“Some 617 Eritrean refugees fled an ordeal in their country and crossed into Ethiopia in Nov.,” he said in a statement. “Of the total who sought asylum … 289 are Eritrean army members.”

Some 25,000 Eritreans are sheltering in Ethiopia, he said.

Relations between the two Horn of Africa nations are at their lowest since a 1998-2000 border war killed 70,000 people. Eritrean officials were not immediately available to comment.

(Reuters)