ERITREA/ETHIOPIA: ERITREANS DEPORTED FROM ETHIOPIA WELCOMED HOME скачать в хорошем качестве

ERITREA/ETHIOPIA: ERITREANS DEPORTED FROM ETHIOPIA WELCOMED HOME

(18 Jun 1998) English/Nat Hundreds of Eritreans deported from Ethiopia during the border conflict were warmly welcomed home on Thursday by countrymen waving flags and singing patriotic songs. Buses, army trucks and even tractors brought the 720 Eritreans back from Addis Ababa where they'd been held. Ethiopia claims the Eritreans were deported because they posed security risks as many of them had military training or were raising funds for the Eritrean war effort. It was a festive homecoming for the hundreds of Eritreans who were deported from their homes in Ethiopia. Many of them are well-educated professionals who have lived and worked in Ethiopia for years. In a well-organized ceremony, villagers lined the dusty streets, clapping, dancing and singing an insulting song about Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The deportees had to leave the trucks and walk across the border back into Eritrea. They carried few belongings and told harrowing tales of being hauled off to military camps from their beds, offices and in one case an airport. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I was taken from my home on Friday morning. Then I was taken to the police station. At the police station I was registered and on Saturday evening I was taken to Addis Ababa. We had to stay at the police garrison and then everybody was collected there and then the deportation started." SUPER CAPTION: Deportee The mostly male deportees feared for the safety of the wives, mothers and children whom they were forced to leave behind. Deportees says there are still hundreds of men aged from 18 to 30 who remain in Ethiopian camps. Cups of sweet tea, water and a traditional flatbread were quickly served to the travellers - Alem Ghabrab described the conditions he was held as being like a "concentration camp" Alem, who works at a printing press, says he suspected some Ethiopian official wanted his home. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I want my family alive. That is the only thing I want from them because I will make it again." SUPER CAPTION: Alem Ghabrab, Deportee The deportations have been fiercely criticized by Eritrea as a "witch-hunt," but Ethiopia claims the deportees posed security risks because they had military training or were raising funds for the Eritrean war effort. The deportees returned home as leaders of African nations began a diplomatic effort to resolve the 6-week-old conflict that has killed hundreds on both sides of the disputed border. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...