UN Organization in Ethiopia Says the Government Took Over One of Its Refugee Centers

[africangear]

The takeover happened last week; hundreds of refugees who escaped violence in Tigray and were staying at the center have since been sent back.

In what appears to be an unprecedented move, the Ethiopian government has taken control of a refugee processing center run by the International Organization for Migration, a UN organization, in the country’s capital city, Addis Ababa. Whether IOM willingly ceded the facility, or whether it was seized by force, is unclear.

The center in question had become a makeshift shelter for Eritrean refugees previously housed at camps in the Tigray region, which has since become a war zone. Multiple sources confirm that since the Ethiopian government’s takeover of the centre, Eritrean refugees have been forced aboard buses that have since left for Tigray. According to Bloomberg, refugees were gathered from the center yesterday and forced to return to camps in Tigray.

Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3vzzx/ ... ee-centers