Eritrea / Ethiopia : 250 civilians repatriated
08-11-2002 News Release 02/45
A total of 250 Ethiopian civilians were repatriated from Eritrea to Ethiopia under ICRC auspices on 8 November.
They crossed the border on the Mereb bridge, between the towns of Adi Quala, in Eritrea, and Rama, in Ethiopia.
Accompanied on the first leg of their journey by ICRC delegates based in Eritrea, the group was met on the bridge by ICRC delegates based in Ethiopia before being placed in the care of the Ethiopian authorities. Volunteers from the Eritrean and Ethiopian Red Cross Societies also took part in the operation, handing out food and water on their respective sides of the border.
The ICRC will continue to assist people affected by the recent armed conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia and strive to ensure that the rules and principles of international humanitarian law, in particular the 1949 Geneva Conventions, are respected and applied.