ICERAS

As conflict escalates in Tigray, Eritrean refugees are finding themselves caught in the middle, subject to increasing abuse and violence from armed forces. Refugees have reported that their camps are being targeted not only by Tigrayan militias, but also by the very military forces which caused them to flee Eritrea in the first place. According to Laetitia Bader at Human Rights Watch, the “horrific killings, rapes, and looting against Eritrean refugees in Tigray” are “evident war crimes.”

Before the conflict, around 50,000 Eritrean refugees lived in one of four camps in Tigray, according to the United Nations. Since conflict broke out in November 2020, hostile Eritrean and Tigrayan forces have alternatingly occupied several of these camps. Two of the camps, Hitsats and Shimelba, have been destroyed by the violence, scattering their residents to the surrounding areas. As of August 2021, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reports, 7,643 of these camps’ 20,000 residents are still unaccounted for. readmore