Satellite images show the destruction of United Nations’ facilities, a health-care unit, a high school and houses at two camps sheltering Eritrean refugees in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, belying government claims that the conflict in the dissident region is largely over.
The eight Planet Labs Inc images are of Hitsats and the Shimelba camps. The camps hosted about 25,000 and 8,000 refugees respectively before a conflict broke out in the region two months ago, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“Recent satellite imagery indicates that structures in both camps are being intentionally targeted,” said Isaac Baker, an analyst at DX Open Network, a U.K. based human security research and analysis non-profit. “The systematic and widespread fires are consistent with an intentional campaign to deny the use of the camp.”
DX Open Network has been following the conflict and analyzing satellite image data since Nov. 7, three days after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiiy Ahmed declared war against a dissident group in the Tigray region.
Ethiopia’s government announced victory against the dissidents on Nov. 28 after federal forces captured the regional capital of Mekelle. Abiiy spoke of the need to rebuild and return normalcy to Tigray at the time.
Calls and messages to Redwan Hussein, spokesman for the government’s emergency task force on Tigray and the Prime Minister Abiiy Ahmed’s Spokeswoman Billene Seyoum were not answered.
In Shimelba, images show scorched earth from apparent attacks in January. A World Food Programme storage facility and a secondary school run by the Development and Inter-Aid Church Commission have also been burned down, according to DX Open Network’s analysis. In addition, a health facility run by the Ethiopian Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs situated next to the WFP compound was also attacked between Jan. 5 and Jan. 8.
In Hitsats camp, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) away, there were at least 14 actively burning structures and 55 others were damaged or destroyed by Jan. 5. There were new fires by Jan. 8, according to DX Open Network’s analysis.
The UN refugee agency has not had access to the camps since fighting started in early November, according to Chris Melzer, a communications officer for the agency. UNHCR has been able to reach its two other camps, Mai-Aini and Adi Harush, which are to the south, he said.
“We also have no reliable, first-hand information about the situation in the camps or the wellbeing of the refugees,” Melzer said in reference to Hitsats and Shimelba.
Eritrean troops have also been involved in the fighting and are accused of looting businesses and abducting refugees, according to aid workers and diplomats briefed on the situation. The governments of both Ethiopia and Eritrea have denied that Eritrean troops are involved in the conflict.
The UN says fighting is still going on in several Tigray areas and 2.2 million people have been displaced in the past two months. Access to the region for journalists and independent analysts remains constrained, making it difficult to verify events.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on May 11, 2017
Christian converts living in German refugee camps are reporting more cases of violent physical and verbal attacks from Muslim asylum seekers living among them.
But despite the huge personal risks involved, thousands more are converting from Islam to Christianity, Deutsche Welle reported, citing church leaders.
At the same time, the attacks on Christian converts have increased since 2015 even with fewer refugees entering Germany, according to the same German news outlet in a separate report.
Gottfried Martens, a pastor at the Protestant Trinity independent church in Berlin, revealed that with the increasing attacks on Christian converts, refugees who come to his congregation can no longer live in their shelters without being bothered by others.
“Right now we have five people with us who have been assaulted. One has lost some of his teeth and one of the others has a wound that had to be sewn up,” Martens said.
Advertisement
He said German authorities are not doing anything to stop the attacks and harassments in the refugee camps. Most of the time, he said the security personnel even side with the attackers.
Martens said Christian converts are forced to secretly sneak out of the refugee camps to attend church services. They also hide the cross necklaces they receive after baptism, he added.
At the refugee camps, Muslim residents reportedly harass Christian converts with insults and accusations. There have been reported cases of Christians being threatened with death and openly attacked with knives by Muslims.
The Muslims openly conduct their intimidation and persecution campaign on their fellow Christian refugees, even scrawling messages like “It’s time to kill the non-believers” on the walls of the camps, reports said.
Christian converts are also discriminated against in the use of facilities like showers and bathrooms. For instance, the entrances to the facilities would have words like “The impure cannot enter,” according to Deutsche Welle.
In some cases, the death threats have actually been carried out. A 38-year-old Afghan mother, for instance, was recently stabbed to death by a “very religious” Afghan man, the report said.
Last year, Open Doors provided numbers to show the extent of persecution among Christian converts in German asylum centers.
In its report, the nonprofit Christian persecution watchdog said 617 of the 743 respondents included in its survey were assaulted multiple times, with 416 of them subjected to violent attacks, 314 received death threats, and 44 sexually assaulted.
Moreover, 674 respondents said the attacks were carried out against them by Muslims who were also refugees in the asylum center. Other respondents said the Muslim guards assaulted them.
Open Doors said the interviews it conducted among the Christian converts showed that the attacks were religiously motivated.