ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – The United Nations said Wednesday that Ethiopia had detained 72 drivers working for the World Food Program (WFP) in the country’s conflict-torn north.
The news, which came a day after the UN reported the arrests of 22 employees in the capital Addis Ababa, is likely to further inflame tensions with the government following a decision in September to expel seven senior UN officials for “meddling” in the country’s affairs.
A UN spokesperson said the new detentions had occurred in the capital of Afar province, on the only functional road leading into famine-threatened Tigray.
“We confirm that 72 outsourced drivers contracted by WFP have been detained in Semera. We are liaising with the Government of Ethiopia to understand the reasons behind their detention,” a UN spokesperson said.
“We are advocating with the government to ensure their safety and the full protection of their legal and human rights,” the spokesperson added.
Officials last week announced a six-month nationwide emergency amid rising fears that fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebel groups could advance on the capital.
Lawyers say arbitrary detentions of ethnic Tigrayans -- commonplace during the war -- have surged since then, ensnaring thousands, with the new measures allowing the authorities to hold anyone suspected of supporting “terrorist groups” without a warrant.
Law enforcement officials describe such detentions as part of a legitimate crackdown on the TPLF and OLA.
The UN on Tuesday said 22 Ethiopian staff had been detained in Addis Ababa.
Six were freed while the remaining 16 were in custody Tuesday night, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at the world body’s headquarters.
Information on the ethnicity of the drivers detained in Semera was not immediately available, though the UN has in the past hired ethnic Tigrayans to transport food and other aid into Tigray.