ENDA ABASIMON, Eritrea, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Eritreans have made a perilous crossing of the rain-swollen Mereb River to escape the hostility which flared against them in Ethiopia when the Horn of Africa neighbours went to war in May, officials on the Eritrean side of the frontier said on Monday.

There has been no major fighting in the border conflict since mid-June but both countries complain that citizens living on the other side have been mistreated and driven out.

Around 500 Eritreans have made the crossing here, according to the head of militia in the Enda Abasimon region, who identified himself as Mebrahtu. At least two died in the attempt, he said.

One young man told Reuters he had crossed because he feared arrest or conscription by the Ethiopian authorities.

``After my brother left, the Ethiopian army came and asked me if I was with the EPLF (Eritrean People's Liberation Army), I said 'no' so they said I would have to fight, if not I would be arrested, so I left,'' he said. He was reunited with his brother after he crossed the river.

Eritrea was ruled by Ethiopia from 1952 to 1993. Its independence was achieved with Ethiopian consent, but only after decades of guerrilla war that contributed to the downfall of both the Ethiopian monarchy and the subsequent Marxist dictatorship.

Since the conflict began, Ethiopia has expelled thousands of Eritreans citing security reasons, while Ethiopians sacked from jobs in Eritrea streamed in the opposite direction.

The Mereb River, which marks a stretch of border about 150 km (100 miles) west of the main Asmara-Addis Ababa highway, is now swollen by rains which gush down mountain streams.

On many days it is too dangerous to cross, local people said. But between spates, Eritreans try to sneak across, often at night. It was not clear on the Eritrean side whether Ethiopians were trying to cross the other way.

``Being there (in Ethiopia) was more dangerous than crossing the river,'' said 18-year-old Zarome, who crossed the river three days ago.

``Many people in the village were being arrested. My parents are too old to cross the river, we will wait until the water goes down.''

When the Eritreans reach home soil, conditions are still difficult.

``After we left they (the Ethiopian authorities) took everything that we owned,'' said Hewit Russom, who had lived in Ethiopia for 12 years. ``We need everything, clothes, grain, farming materials, blankets for the cold.''

Further to the east, thousands of villagers from Gelaba, just outside the border town of Zalambessa, have moved into white tented camps which dot the hillsides, safe from the threat of bombardment.

Zalambessa was the scene of heavy fighting in early June, and villagers said they still occasionally hear shelling from both sides.

``When the bombings started we left as we were, with the clothes on my back. Everything we have was burnt and destroyed,'' said Lemlem, an old woman.