The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday expressed deep concern over reports that soldiers had taken hundreds of people from IDP camps in the war-torn Tigray region of Ethiopia earlier this week, saying such places should be a safe haven. .
Three aid workers and a doctor told Reuters this week that Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers forcibly detained more than 500 young men and women from four camps for displaced people in the northern region of Shire on Monday night.
“We reiterate our call on all parties to ensure the protection of civilians, including those forcibly deported. It is crucial that all parties to the conflict recognize the civilian and humanitarian nature of the displaced,” said Babar Baloch, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). , told a news briefing in Geneva.
Some had been released after the UNHCR raised the issue with Ethiopian authorities, he said, giving no figure.
“The situation is traumatic and worrying not only for the relatives of the missing but for all the displaced communities living in Shire,” he added.
It was not immediately clear where the remaining youth were imprisoned, he added.
Thousands of people have been killed since the conflict broke out. About 2 million have been forced out of their homes and 91% of the population of almost 6 million need help, according to the latest report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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