Ethiopia reports influx of Eritrean refugees fleeing oppression

22 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Ethiopia claimed on Saturday it was receiving an influx of around 600 Eritreans fleeing political oppression in their country every month.

"The ministry said many are fleeing their country and each month more than 600 Eritreans are crossing the border into Ethiopia to seek refuge. The figure is increasing alarmingly," Ethiopia's information ministry said in a statement.

"The Eritrean people cannot bear the burden of the dictatorial regime any more because it has allied itself with terrorists and has driven them to great poverty and endless suffering."

The Horn of Africa neighbours have been at war or on the brink of it for years and an unresolved border dispute left over from their deadly 1998-2000 conflict is threatening to flare up again.

In the statement, Ethiopia criticised Eritrea's human rights record and urged "countries committed to the global war on terrorism" to unite and challenge Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki's regime.

Addis Ababa itself has a dubious rights record but enjoys support from the United States and Western countries, notably in its ongoing military intervention to oust Islamist militia in neighbouring Somalia.

Eritrea is accused of supporting Muslim extremists in Somalia and elsewhere and has been warned by Washington that it could soon be listed as a state sponsor of terrorism, alongside nations such as Cuba, Iran and North Korea.

There was no immediate comment from the Eritrean government.

Eritrea is Africa's youngest nation, having acquired its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after almost three decades of a deadly conflict.