Ethiopia detaining Tigrayans deported from Saudi Arabia, rights group says
Human Rights Watch urged Ethiopia to release the arbitrarily detained Tigrayans and called on Saudi Arabia to stop its deportations.
Thousands of ethnic Tigrayans deported from Saudi Arabia have been detained, mistreated and forcibly disappeared in Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch said in a new report Wednesday.
The New York-based rights organization also accused Riyadh of holding the Tigrayans in “abhorrent conditions.” The report called on the kingdom to help provide international protection rather than deport the migrants to their home country, where they risk persecution.
The Ethiopian government announced in January 2021 that it would repatriate 40,000 of its nationals. Of those returned between November 2020 and June 2021, 40% were Tigrayan.
“Tigrayan migrants who have experienced horrific abuse in Saudi custody are being locked up in detention facilities upon returning to Ethiopia,” said Nadia Hardman, HRW’s refugee and migrant rights researcher.
