UN seeks 'immediate release' of detained Ethiopian staffers

Law enforcement officials say detentions are part of legitimate crackdown

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday called for the “immediate release” of 16 Ethiopians employed by the world body who were detained in a series of raids in Addis Ababa.

“The current numbers are that 16 national staff have been detained, while six have been released,” Mr Dujarric said in New York.

“We are of course actively working with the government of Ethiopia to secure their immediate release.”

The UN has 2,398 national and 1,077 international staff working in Ethiopia, Mr Dujarric said.

More than a dozen UN staff members were detained in the raids, aimed at ethnic Tigrayans and conducted under a state of emergency, the world body and humanitarian sources told AFP.

“Some of them were taken from their homes,” one source said.

A UN spokeswoman in Geneva said requests for their release had been submitted to the Foreign Ministry.

The government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a six-month nationwide emergency last week amid rising fears that fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and Oromo Liberation Army rebel groups could advance on the capital.

Human rights groups including Amnesty International have denounced the emergency measures, which allow for anyone suspected of supporting “terrorist groups” to be searched and detained without a warrant.

Lawyers say arbitrary detentions of ethnic Tigrayans – common during the war – have soared in the past week, affecting thousands.

Law enforcement officials say such detentions are part of a legitimate crackdown on the rebel groups.

Captive Ethiopian soldiers arrive at the Mekele Rehabilitation Centre in Tigray, Ethiopia, after a four-day journey from Abdi Eshir. All photos: AFP

Women welcome Tigray People's Liberation Front fighters as they return to Mekele after seizing control of the city in June 2021.

Ethiopians who fled the Tigray conflict wait to charge their phones at Um Raquba refugee camp in Gedaref, Sudan.

A member of the Afar Special Forces stands in front of the debris of a house on the outskirts of the village of Bisober in Tigray.

People hold candles and Ethiopian flags at a memorial service for the victims of the Tigray conflict in Addis Ababa.

An Ethiopian refugee who fled fighting in Tigray waits behind a fence in a camp in Sudan.

Refugees living in a camp in Sudan after fleeing violence in Tigray.

A woman walks among the remains of a destroyed factory in Ataye, Ethiopia, where more than 100 civilians died in a recent flare-up of violence.

Two members of the Amhara militia ride in the back of a pick-up truck. Amharas and Tigrayans were uneasy neighbours before the current fighting, with tension over land sparking violent clashes.

Militias from the Amhara region have been involved in the fighting in Tigray.

Tens of thousands of Ethiopians gather at a rally organised by the mayor of Addis Ababa to show support for the military's efforts in Tigray.

Zeleke Alabachew, farmer and militia fighter, tends to his land near the village of Tekeldengy, Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation.

People celebrate the liberation of opposition leaders in the city of Alamata, Ethiopia.

A family fleeing violence sit in a former classroom at May Weyni secondary school, now hosting 10,500 displaced people, in Mekele, capital of Tigray.

Ethiopian refugees travel to Sudan to escape violence in Tigray.

Ethiopian refugees gather to celebrate the 46th anniversary of the Tigray People's Liberation Front at Um Raquba refugee camp in Gedaref, Sudan. The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics before being ousted from their regional stronghold last year.

An Ethiopian refugee sets up a tent in a camp in the town of Gedaref, Sudan, after being transported from the border reception centre.

Pro-Tigrayan demonstrators display placards during a protest in front of the chancellery in Berlin.

The aftermath of heavy shelling in Wukro, a city north of Mekele, in Ethiopia.

Tension between Mr Abiy’s government and the UN have been high throughout the war, in which thousands have been killed, UN estimates show.

Hundreds of thousands have been pushed into famine-like conditions.

Last month, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry announced it was expelling seven senior UN officials for “meddling” in the country’s affairs.

Mr Abiy sent troops into Tigray in November last year to topple the TPLF, but by late June it had regrouped and retaken most of the region.

Since then, Tigray has been under what the UN describes as a de facto aid blockade.

UN security officers “have visited the detained colleagues”, a UN spokeswoman in Geneva told AFP on Tuesday.

“Notes verbales have also been sent to the minister of foreign affairs to request the immediate release of the detained personnel,” she said.

A representative for the UN in Ethiopia said the world body was “in the process of verifying and following up on the reports of arrests related to its staff members”.

“The safety and security of UN staff remain at the highest priority for the UN in Ethiopia,” the representative said.

Agencies contributed to this report