Eritrean women who went missing six months ago while in the hands of smugglers have left their families in anguish as they wait for news on their fate.
In an interview, Rahel Merhawi, the father of one woman, said he last spoke to his daughter on the phone in March. She said she and her friend Selmawit Ambasser had left Ethiopia and were in Moyale, a Kenyan town, on their way to join him in Nairobi, Kenya.
Rahel Merhawi said as he sobbed, “She dialed my number and informed me she was in Moyale. Just when I was expecting her to arrive in Nairobi, she vanished.”
“I went to Moyale to search for my dear daughter in the mountains and valleys but couldn’t find her,” he added.
Selmawit’s brother recalled a similar state saying, “When I lost communication with my sister, I contacted the lady who was bringing her to Nairobi… she kept insisting she was coming.”
Her brother had to travel to Moyale to look for his sister because she did not arrive, but he could not locate her.
The two Eritrean women were living as refugees in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia before the war broke out in November. The fight broke out between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Federal forces, initially based in Tigray but spread to neighboring regions.
The Eritrean Refugee Network shared more information about the women facing deportation in a tweet. About 100,000 Eritrean refugees lived in Tigray when the conflict erupted, forcing many to flee to save their lives, including Rahel and Selmawit.
Michelle Bachelet, a Chilean politician who has served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights since 2018, stated that civilian suffering was widespread. He accused Ethiopian government forces and their allies of mass detentions, killings, sexual violence, systematic violence, looting, forced displacement, and civilian detention.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also alleged that Tigrayan forces were recruiting child soldiers, attacking civilians in neighboring regions, and causing mass displacement. She also urged all parties to end hostilities immediately and without preconditions to negotiate a lasting ceasefire.
However, Ethiopian officials accused Tigrayan fighters of killing 119 civilians in the neighboring Amhara region. Ato Sewnet Wubalem, the administrator of Dabat, said 119 bodies had been recovered, but residents said some people were still missing.
The officials also stated they discovered two mass graves in the Dabat district, and that the killings took place over two days earlier this month. Residents of Chena village, located 10 kilometers (six miles) north of Dabat in North Gondar, reported heavy fighting and the reburial of bodies at a church compound.
He added that the victims “were innocent farmers, priests, children and women.”
According to local officials and witnesses who spoke to a broadcaster, rebel fighters committed the atrocity after losing territory during a 10-day battle. And the TPLF rebels have not responded to allegations that their soldiers killed civilians.
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