He wasn't beaten, his stay in jail was relatively short and civil, and he wasn't put on a dangerously overcrowded bus whose journey to the border lasts more than a day. Most of the 1,100 Eritreans expelled from Ethiopia after the two countries went to war in May over a border dispute were forced to leave their homes and jobs, detained in camps where they were beaten, and sent back to Eritrea without a penny. Their business licenses have already been revoked. Eritrean Foreign Minister Amdemikael Kahsai asked as a second batch of roughly 800 Eritreans were welcomed to Asmara by a crowd of 150,000 June 22. The United Nations top human rights official, Mary Robinson, urged Ethiopia last week to stop the expulsions.
Ethiopian officials insist there is no policy of automatic expulsion of Eritrean nationals.
There are more than 500,000 Eritreans in Ethiopia. Many of them are highly educated and either own businesses or have been appointed to high-level posts in government and civil administration and consequently fit Ethiopia's description of those who should be expelled. It has become absolutely clear that Ethiopia is responsible for serious human rights violations.