Frustrated Eritrean soldiers are defecting in their droves to Ethiopia through the Afar region, it was learnt. Eyewitnesses told The Reporter that the young soldiers, who are poorly fed, cross the border into the Afar region. Some 30 km inside the Ethiopian border there is a small Afar village called Hamedela hear Dallol where there is an Ethiopian military post. The Eritrean soldiers and young civilians who had travelled long distances in the desert fell down from exhaustion right after crossing the border. Some of them who are too weak to cross the border had left behind their bare belongings. Civilians too are also trickling to Hamdedela.

According to eyewitnesses, 20-30 Eritrean soldiers and civilians are defecting to Hamedela village every day. “They are too weak to even speak to us. Some of them collapse before crossing the border,” a member of the Ethiopian defense forces told The Reporter. The Ethiopian soldiers are taking good care of the Eritrean soldiers and civilians and hand them over to the UNHCR. On November 2, six Eritrean Civilians crossed the border to Hamedela and reported that 22 youngsters were unable to cross the border as they were exhausted and thirsty. On November 5, 17 Eritrean soldiers made it to Hamedela.

According to the Ethiopian government, each month 1,500 Eritrean soldiers and civilians enter Ethiopia. At present 64,000 Eritrean refugees are sheltered in five UNHCR camps in Tigray and the Afar regional states. The Eritrean government is being accused of mass detention, torture and killings.

EthiopianReporter