Ethiopia detains thousands of Tigrayans deported from Gulf, report says

A group from the Tigrayan diaspora in Washington protest about the conflict in Ethiopia (Alex Brandon/AP)

Officials in Ethiopia have arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared thousands of ethnic Tigrayans who were recently deported from Saudi Arabia, a new Human Rights Watch report says as the country’s deadly Tigray conflict continues.

This is the latest report citing witnesses who have described mass arrests of ethnic Tigrayans. Ethiopia’s government says it is targeting people suspected of supporting the Tigray forces who have fought the government since November 2020, but pulled back into their region weeks ago.