IROB Community in North America
May 5, 1999
Eritrean government and Ethnic cleansing
The Irob people are Saho speaking Christian ethnic minority in north Eastern Tigray, Ethiopia. It is now one year since Eritrea invaded Ethiopian territories of Badime,
Zalanbesa and the Irob District. From the outset we the Irob Community in North America has condemned the atrocities against innocent civilians of this war. During the first month of the invasion, we had informed the world of the
destruction that was to be unleashed against innocent ethnic Irob Ethiopians. We have warned the international community that the Eritrean invasion would lead to the destruction of the region, or worse, an ethnic cleansing of the
minority Irob people. The Eritrean government's claim to the Irob district is preposterous. In our previous letters, we have presented historical defense proving beyond any doubt that we have always been Ethiopians
and shall remain so in the future. The Eritrean military's treatment of our people make it self evident that we are truly Ethiopians. Planting mines all over Irob District is a further proof of their sinister agenda. We the Irob
community in North America and the Irob people all over the world would prefer peace to war. We also believe that a lasting and fair peace must include the repatriation of our people to their land and reconstruction of our region
by the Eritrean government, which is solely responsible for all the destruction. The atrocities of the Eritrean army have been widely reported by Churches and foreign visitors in the area. Dr. Anne Waters-Bayer
with ISWC and others who had direct information from the area have testified that the Eritrean army has destroyed and looted houses, Churches, Schools, and clinics to devastate the infrastructure of the Irob District. The report
also shows that the Eritrean military has been involved in raping girls and women. The Eritrean occupying army has struck at the heart of what the Irob people consider their most sacred institution by dismantling the religious
institutions. They have imprisoned and beaten priests, nuns, and elderly. Priests are forbidden from visiting the sick and were not even allowed to give the last right to the dying and the dead can not be properly buried according
to the Christian tradition. The Eritrean government has revoked their Ethiopian citizenship and a forced them to take Eritrean citizenship to control their movement, intimidate and humiliate the Irob people. During
the last two months, the Eritrean army has taken hundreds of Irob people to Senafe town about twenty five kilometers from Zalanbesa and forced them to donate blood for the Eritrean soldiers. Most recently, we have learned that the
Eritrean military has rounded up and forced men under their control into military services to force them fight against their blood brothers on the Ethiopian side. Few individuals who tried to escape the military conscription are
still at large and their captivity is certain as no one has paid any attention to the crimes against people in that part of the world. The Eritrean army has banned all agricultural activities in Irob region. The
destruction of the farm, planting mines all over the region and above all the creation of concentration camps has made the already meager food security worse and left Irob people exposed to starvation. According to those who were
able to manage a dare escape, Irob people are not receiving the food aid that has been donated by the International donors. It would be too naive to think that Eritrean government would feed the Irob people that it is
systematically trying to uproot. In Waratle, and other villages that have become concentration camps, people are dying of starvation daily. Those who tried to escape are trapped in the middle not being able to reach the safely to
the Ethiopian controlled area because of the mines that the Eritrean army has planted all over the land. Several people have already been killed or maimed trying to escape through such mine infested areas. The medical
situation in the Irob region has completely deteriorated. The Eritrean occupying army has looted the few clinics in the area, leaving the population exposed to all kinds of disease. Women, children and elderly are dying of
malnutrition,
The most urgent need in the Irob District at the present is drinking water. The Irob region is a semi desert to begin with, and this year's rain season has been the worst in many years, leaving the region totally dependent on very few wells and some major rivers. The Eritrean army has totally controlled all the water sources for its army and the population is left with no water to drink. Many elderly and children have already vanished of lack of water.
The ICRC that has been so vocal about middle class Eritreans being deported from Addis Abeba has not uttered a word about the Irob ethnic group that has been the subject of ethnic cleansing by the Eritrean army since May of 1998. We hope that the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations will reconsider and will not let the continuation of the second Kosovo in East Africa.
We have learned that the Eritrean army has created a rape camp of women and girls in the Waratle and other villages in the area. While the reaction to this horrendous crime in any Western country would have caused uproar from the world community, when it occurs in a developing country it is hardly noticed. The eyewitnesses we spoke to stress that rape by the Eritrean army has been taking place since May of 1998, but the creation of rape camps has intensified during the last two months. Rape camps are recognized as the most sinister method of an ethnic cleansing. The Irob community in North America, in collaboration with individuals who have taken our cause, religious institutions and our government representatives is in a process of collecting data that unequivocally proves that the Eritrean government has committed atrocities against the Irob people. We intend to carry out our moral obligation and legal right in attempting to bring those who have committed such heinous crimes against our people to justice
According to the Irob representative in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopian, the Eritrean president has gone on a record stating that there are no such people called Irob. We of course disagree with that statement, and want the world to know that the Eritrean president's statement is more of a prophecy to his intentions rather than the historical reality of Irob people. We ask the world community to stop the ugly Eritrean prophesy from becoming a reality.