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Eritrean Repatriates Cross Ethiopian Border Safely: ICRC
Some 976 released Eritreans Saturday crossed the Ethiopian border safely to their motherland under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an ICRC press release said.
Of the voluntary repatriates, more than 910 people who were detained as a consequence of the Ethio-Eritrean conflict started their trip from Dedessa internment camp on January 3.
After the crossing of the border, the Eritreans were taken care by ICRC delegates based in Eritrea and helped by volunteers of the Eritrean Red Cross Society and finally handed over to the Eritrean authorities, the release said, adding the ICRC will continue to assist persons affected by the Ethio-Eritrean border conflict.
The Ethiopian side said early this week that the repatriation of Eritreans constituted the second phase of the prisoner exchange operation, which was undertaken according to a comprehensive peace agreement the two countries signed on December 12, 2000 in Algiers, Algeria.
According to the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry, more than 200 persons of Eritrean origin have opted not to go back to their motherland, but to stay in Ethiopia or seek asylum in a third country.
Ethiopia and Eritrea began exchanging prisoners of war on December 23, 2000.
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