DATE=7/10/98 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-40897 TITLE=ETHIOPIA / ERITREA DEPORTEES BYLINE=CAROL PINEAU DATELINE=ASMARA

INTRO: ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA HAVE BEEN EXPELLING EACH OTHER'S CITIZENS AS PART OF THE BORDER WAR BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES. SOME OFFICIALS SAY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DEPORTED -- LEAVING FAMILIES SEPARATED, POSSESSIONS LOST, AND LIVES IN DISARRAY. CAROL PINEAU WAS IN ERITREA'S CAPITAL, ASMARA, WHERE NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS ORGANIZED LUNCHEONS AND DINNERS TO WELCOME HOME ERITREANS WHO WERE FORCED TO LEAVE ETHIOPIA.

TEXT:
/// MUSIC -- FADE UNDER ///
THERE WAS PLENTY OF MUSIC AND DANCING, AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL STEWS AND LOCAL BEER. BUT DESPITE THE GAIETY, THE DEPORTEES TELL HEART-WRENCHING TALES.

TESFAI ASRESEHEI, A LONG-TIME RESIDENT IN ADDIS ABABA, HAD TO LEAVE HIS THREE CHILDREN WITH THE BABYSITTER. ALL TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES WAS CUT EARLY IN THE WAR, SO MR. TESFAI HAS BEEN NOT ABLE TO CONTACT HIS CHILDREN.

/// FIRST TESFAI ACT ///
AT ABOUT QUARTER TO SIX, 12 ARMED MEN CAME TO MY HOUSE, AND THEY TOLD ME THAT I AM WANTED AT THE POLICE STATION. EARLY IN THE MORNING THEY BROUGHT SOME BUSES AND DROVE US TO NORTHERN ETHIOPIA. WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK, WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO MOVE.

/// OPT /// SOMETIMES WE HAD PEOPLE WHO WERE ON DIURETICS, AND THEY HAD TO URINATE EVERY NOW AND THEN, AND THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED. /// END OPT ///

THE FIRST NIGHT, WE HAD TO SPENT THE WHOLE NIGHT IN THE BUS SITTING. THE SECOND NIGHT, WE WERE KEPT IN A SMALL CELL WITH NO MATTRESSES TO SLEEP ON. AND THE THIRD DAY, THERE WAS NO WATER, EVERYBODY WAS CRYING OF THIRST. AT LAST, THANK GOD, IT RAINED. IT WAS RAINING (DRIPPING DOWN) FROM THE BUS, AND WE HAD TO DRINK THAT.
/// END ACT ///

ANOTHER MAN, WHO ASKED NOT TO BE IDENTIFIED, SAYS HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN WERE OUT OF TOWN. HE NEVER GOT TO SAY GOODBYE TO THEM.

/// MAN ACT ///
THEY CAME, FOUR SOLDIERS, AND THEY PUSHED ME STRAIGHT TO THE CAR. I WAS IN MY PAJAMAS. I TOLD THEM I WANTED TO CHANGE MY CLOTHES. AND THEN THEY LET ME IN, BUT THEY CAME TO THE BEDROOM, AND THEY SAW ME NAKED WHILE I CHANGED MY CLOTHES. IT WAS VERY HASTY. MY WIFE AND CHILDREN, THEY WORRY ME A LOT.
/// END ACT ///

/// OPT /// ANOTHER DEPORTEE, MESFIN TESFASSILASI, ALSO SAYS SHE WAS TAKEN FROM HER HOME WITHOUT ANY WARNING.

/// OPT // MESFIN ACT ///
THEY CAME IN MY HOUSE AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING AND THEY WANTED TO SPEAK WITH ME, AND WITHOUT ANY DRESS I WAS GOING WITH THEM TO THE POLICE STATION. I HAVE TWO CHILDREN, THEY NOW HAVE NOT ANY HELPER. THEY ARE IN ADDIS NOW, I THINK, BUT I DON'T KNOW.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///

MOST OF THE DEPORTEES LIVED IN ETHIOPIA FOR DECADES. THE SAY THEY WERE FULLY INTEGRATED INTO ETHIOPIAN LIFE, EVEN ETHIOPIAN POLITICS. ETHIOPIA SAYS THE ERITREANS IT EXPELLED WERE SECURITY RISKS.

/// OPT /// WHEN ASKED WHY THEY THINK THEY WERE EXPELLED, MOST OF THE DEPORTEES SAY THEY CAN FIND NO REASON.

/// OPT // VARIOUS ACTS ///
NOTHING, I WAS IN FACT THEIR HELPER. I EVEN WORKED FOR THE PEACE AND STABILITY COMMITTEE OF E-P-R-D-F (ETHIOPIA'S RULING PARTY). I WAS A MEMBER OF THE DISTRICT COUNCIL. I MEAN I USED TO HELP THEM. MY ONLY CRIME WAS THAT I WAS CREATED ERITREAN. I HAVE LIVED IN ADDIS FOR 40 YEARS. THIS EXODUS PUZZLES ME A LOT, BECAUSE I HAVE NO INVOLVEMENT WITH THE ERITREAN COMMUNITY IN ADDIS. I HAVE THE RESPECT OF THE PEOPLE AND THEY LIKE MY WRITINGS IN THE NEWSPAPERS. THIS WAS REALLY AMAZING FOR ME TO LEAVE ADDIS.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///

MANY OF THE DEPORTEES SEE THEMSELVES AS HELPLESS PAWNS IN THE GAME OF WAR. SOLOMON GEBREHIWOT, A REPRESENTATIVE OF AN ORGANIZATION OF DEPORTEES, SAYS THE EXPULSIONS WERE DONE AS A RETALIATORY MEASURE.

/// SOLOMON ACT ///
I THINK THE E-P-R-D-F (ERITREA'S RULING PARTY) STARTED THE WAR AND THEY LOST IT ON ALL FRONTS. AND IT WAS A RETALIATION. IT WAS JUST A MERE RETALIATION. THEY KNOW THAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS VERY INTERESTED IN ITS PEOPLE, SO IT'S JUST A RETALIATION TO OUR GOVERNMENT.
/// END ACT ///

/// OPT /// THE ERITREANS LEFT IN ETHIOPIA HAVE BEEN TOLD TO SELL ALL THEIR PROPERTY AND LEAVE WITHIN A MONTH. BUT ETHIOPIA'S CURRENCY IS TIGHTLY CONTROLLED. EVEN IF BUYERS COULD BE FOUND, THE MONEY GAINED THROUGH SALE OF PROPERTY COULD NOT BE TAKEN OUT OF ETHIOPIA. MR. SOLOMON SAYS THE ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT KNOWS THE ERITREANS LEFT IN ETHIOPIA WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SELL THEIR PROPERTY.

/// OPT // SOLOMON ACT ///
NO, WITHIN ONE MONTH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. THEY WILL JUST COME EMPTY HANDED LIKE US. LEAVING THEIR PROPERTY BEHIND. THAT IS THE WHOLE IDEA. /// END ACT // END OPT ///

THE HEAD OF THE U-N HUMAN RIGHTS AGENCY, MARY ROBINSON, HAS SHARPLY CRITICIZED ETHIOPIA FOR EXPELLING THE ERITREANS. SHE CALLS THE ETHIOPIAN ACTION A "SERIOUS VIOLATION" OF THE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS GUARANTEED IN TREATIES THAT ETHIOPIA HAS SIGNED.

ETHIOPIA REJECTED MRS. ROBINSON'S STATEMENT, CALLING IT "BASELESS."

ERITREA SAYS IT BELIEVES ETHIOPIA WILL EXPEL AS MANY AS 50-THOUSAND ERITREANS. ETHIOPIA SAYS ERITREA HAS ALREADY EXPELLED FOUR-THOUSAND ETHIOPIANS. THE NUMBERS HAVE NOT BEEN CONFIRMED. (SIGNED)

NEB/CP/JWH
10-Jul-98 7:36 AM EDT (1136 UTC)
Source: Voice of America