Addis Ababa, April 15, 2022 (Walta) – Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA) dismissed today the report disseminated by some media outlets about the attack on the Dabat refugee camp in North Gondar Zone of Amhara Regional State.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs Director-General Tesfahun Gobezay recalled that Eritrean refugees, who had been living peacefully in four camps in the Tigray region before the conflict, were attacked repeatedly by the terrorist group TPLF.
To prevent attacks on Eritrean refugees, the government worked hard to ensure the safety of the refugees by moving them to the temporary shelters built in Maitsebri and Dabat, he added.
According to him, the refugees near Dabat town have subsequently been hosted with love by the community.
The director-general stressed that the reports disseminated by some international media outlets about the attack on an Eritrean refugee camp in Dabat are incorrect and far from the truth.
The agency has filed a complaint against the organization that gave the wrong information to BBC Amharic, which was later exaggerated by the Deutsche Welle ( DW) that reported the death of one person.
The incident occurred following group-to-group conflict among the refugees, and distorting this fact to mislead the international community is unacceptable, Tesfahun underlined.
Although details of the incident are under investigation, he said nobody was killed. Five people were injured and three of them were immediately treated and returned to the camp, while two are undergoing treatment.
Ethiopia is a country that has a reputation for accepting refugees, participating in joint projects, and providing vital services and banking services.
At present, it is hosting more than 900,000 refugees from primarily South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, and other countries in 25 camps.
The country has ratified international treaties relating to refugees and makes an integral part of the law of land and is a party to the OAU Convention governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa.