The following statement was sent by IFE to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Find the PDF document here.
Dear Madam, Dear Sir,
In light of the dramatically worsening security situation in the North of Ethiopia and the region of Tigray, we, the concerned European-Eritreans, are urgently calling for the safe exit of Eritrean refugees who are currently in refugee camps in the North of Ethiopia to a stable and secure part of the country.
The Eritrean refugees in Tigray, the majority of whom are children and women, fled the massive human rights abuse in Eritrea. Yet, they are once again facing an extreme degree of violence in a country in which they had initially sought refuge and safety.
According to aid workers, approximately 100,000 people currently live in four different refugee camps in Tigray where the hostilities are taking place. The lack of basic necessities, medical supplies in the middle of a pandemic, in addition to the shutdown of all phone and internet communication considerably worsened their already precarious living conditions. Also, families in the diaspora are left anxious and powerless given the interruption of most money transfer services.
For all the reasons stated above, we call upon the international community to advocate for all parties of the conflict to respect international law.
A humanitarian corridor is needed in order to immediately evacuate the refugees and allow the safe transit of humanitarian aid in and out of the conflict zone.
Temesghen Kubrom, Political scientist, Germany
Veronica Almedom, Co-Director of Information Forum for Eritrea, Switzerland
Mussie Calmerfalk Ephrem, Political scientist and constitutional lawyer, Sweden
Dr. Beimnet Abraha, Sweden
