Eritrea reportedly abducting 4,000 Eritreans from Sudan

By Tesfa-alem Tekle

December 25, 2007 (MEKELLE, Ethiopia) — The Eritrean government’s cross-border abduction of Eritreans in Sudan is significantly in a bigger scale than originally, reported the Eritrean opposition awate.com website.

“About 4 thousand Eritreans, mostly recent escapees from the mandatory national military service are picked up from some temporary refugee centers in Sudan over the past few weeks and loaded in vehicles forcibly back to Eritrean border” the source said.

Eritreans are continuously abducted and secretly loaded back home by some Eritrean government agents under a cover trick says Andu Mana, Eritrean Kunama Democratic Front’s Chairman here in Mekelle.

“This is not the first or second time report of such action by the government but Eritrean spies have been repeatedly abducting Eritreans who has been fleeing to Sudan seeking safety.”

He also said that the refugees are lured by the government agents who promise them better jobs in Khartoum and other Sudanese business cities.

“Eritrea is breaching the international law on refugees as it wishes, and Sudan is turning a blind eye from stopping the crime.” Andu added.

After several years of support of their respective opposition parties, relations between Sudan and Eritrea have now very excellent relations since 2005.

Some Eritrean refugee rights advocates have already began complaining to UN commission on human rights over what is happening, the website said.

Many Eritrean politicians in Mekelle, Ethiopia agree that the cross-border mass abduction from Sudan by Eritrean Special Forces is believed to be the main reason for the current increase in the number of Eritreans fleeing to Ethiopia where there is relatively no risk of cross-border abduction by Eritrean spies.

Recently Eritreans fleeing to neighboring Ethiopia has reached high on record.
“An average of 600 Eritreans cross to Ethiopian borders every month” the north Ethiopia military command post says.

This figure is double compared to 3 to 4 months ago.

“One-third of the total Eritreans fleeing to Ethiopia are, Eritrean military members” the command post said adding “12 Eritrean air force and navy members have also crossed to Ethiopia after new Ethiopian millennium turns in.”

(ST)