This satellite photo combination, provided by Planet Labs, Inc. on Sunday, January 17, 2021, shows the destruction of UN World Food Program warehouses in the Shimelba refugee camp in the Tigray region of Ethiopia on January 5, 2021, bottom center left and before it was destroyed on December 10, 2020, above. Famine threatens the survivors of the fighting in Tigray, and authorities say more than 4.5 million people need emergency food. According to experts, food supplies have been a target in the conflict. (2021 Planet Labs, Inc via AP)
This satellite photo combination, provided by Planet Labs, Inc. on Sunday, January 17, 2021, shows the destruction of UN World Food Program warehouses in the Shimelba refugee camp in the Tigray region of Ethiopia on January 5, 2021, bottom center left and before it was destroyed on December 10, 2020, above. Famine threatens the survivors of the fighting in Tigray, and authorities say more than 4.5 million people need emergency food. According to experts, food supplies have been a target in the conflict. (2021 Planet Labs, Inc via AP)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – New satellite images from a refugee camp in Ethiopia’s controversial Tigray region show that more than 400 buildings have been severely damaged in what one research group says is the latest “deliberate attack” by fighters.
The report from UK-based nonprofit DX Open Network, shared with The Associated Press, says: “It is likely that the January 16 fire events are another episode in a series of military raids on the camp, as reported by (the United Nations Refugee Agency). “
The Shimelba camp is one of four to house 96,000 refugees from nearby Eritrea when fighting broke out between Ethiopian forces and those from the challenging Tigray region in early November. Fighting has spread through the camps and two of them, including Shimelba, remain inaccessible to aid workers. Many refugees have fled.
On Thursday, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi called recent satellite images of fires and other destruction in the two inaccessible camps as “concrete evidence of major violations of international law.”
On Sunday, the UN refugee agency urged access to the camps.
“Up to November there were 8700 refugees registered in Shimelba. We have no information on how many refugees were left in the camp last week, ”said UN refugee agency spokesman Chris Melzer in an email. “We still cannot access the two northern camps, Shimelba and Hitsats (25,248 refugees registered in November). We are demanding access because the refugees have been out of supplies for two and a half months and we are very concerned. We also saw satellite images and heard scary reports. But since we don’t have access, we can’t confirm them. “
The new report says the satellite images show “smoldering ruins, blackening of structures and collapsed roofs.” The structures, it said, ‘match the profile of mud-brick houses built by the refugees themselves. The attackers are likely split into multiple groups that go door to door setting fires in buildings, ”in keeping with previous attacks on the Hitsats camp, which is also inaccessible.
Neither the UN nor DX Open Network have blamed anyone for the attacks, but the presence of troops from Eritrea, a bitter enemy of the Tigray region’s now fugitive leaders, has raised alarm. Grandi noted “many reliable and first-hand reports” of abuses, including the forced return of refugees to Eritrea.
The day after Grandi’s statement, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel tweeted that “UNHCR appears to be once again indulging in another onslaught of unnecessary and irresponsible smear campaigns against Eritrea.” He said Eritrea “rejects the forced repatriation of ‘refugees’.”
Eritrea has been described by human rights groups as one of the world’s most repressive countries. Thousands of people have fled the country over the years to avoid a system of military service.
Fighting continues in parts of the Tigray region. Thousands of people have died and more than 2 million people have been displaced.