Ethiopia has disputed a recent report issued by a rights group that said it is mistreating thousands of Tigrayans deported from Saudi Arabia.

Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Dina Mufti described the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report as an irresponsible move to undermine the government’s efforts.

“The report is not only unsubstantiated but an irresponsible move that aimed to discredit all the efforts that the Ethiopian government has been doing to relieve the pains of our citizens that have returned from Saudi Arabia.

“We have repatriated more than 40,000 Ethiopians from Saudi Arabia in just a couple of months regardless of which ethnic group that they belong to,” Mr Dina said.

HRW on Wednesday said hundreds of Tigrayans who had been deported from Saudi Arabia, where they had sought work, were arriving at Addis Ababa airport only to be detained in congested and squalid conditions.

Mr Dina claimed the government was in fact ensuring the group is not returned to a war zone.

“On the other hand, the Government of Ethiopia is aware of the ongoing plights of Ethiopians in various detention centres in Saudi Arabia.

“Cognisant of this fact, a committee that comprises high-level government officials, religious leaders, and various stakeholders is finalising preparations to head to Saudi Arabia to discuss measures in this regard,” Mr Dina added.

The rights group said that in January 2021, the Ethiopian government announced it would cooperate in the repatriation of 40,000 of its nationals detained in Saudi Arabia, beginning with 1,000 a week.

According to HRW, 40 percent of the returnees from Saudi Arabia between November 2020 and June 2021 were Tigrayans.

The group added that deportations increased significantly between late June and mid-July, with over 30,000 reportedly deported.

“The surge in repatriations coincided with an increase in profiling, arbitrary detentions, and forcible disappearances of Tigrayans by Ethiopian authorities in Addis Ababa following the withdrawal of Ethiopian federal forces from the Tigray region and an expansion of the Tigray conflict,” said HRW.

In November 2020, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said three Ethiopian peacekeepers on a mission were withdrawn and deported to their country without due procedure.  

This was after reports had emerged that three Ethiopian soldiers from the Tigray ethnic group had been taken back to their country ostensibly to cull their influence.

Officials at the UNMISS said the deportation could have violated their human rights if it was based on their ethnic background.