ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <!-- saved from url=(0056)http://ena.gov.et/ENGLISHNews/2007/dEC/21Dec07/46001.htm --><HTML xmlns:asp><HEAD><TITLE>Eritreans fleeing to Ethiopia in an alarming rate: Ministry</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16481" name=GENERATOR> <META content="Visual Basic .NET 7.1" name=CODE_LANGUAGE> <META content=JavaScript name=vs_defaultClientScript> <META content=http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5 name=vs_targetSchema><LINK href="../../../../Style/ENA.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet><LINK href="../../../../../vg.css" type=text/css rel=STYLESHEET></HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff MS_POSITIONING="GridLayout"> <P>&nbsp;</P> <TABLE id=Table1 style="Z-INDEX: 102; LEFT: 8px; WIDTH: 984px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 8px; HEIGHT: 24px" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width=984 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 976px" vAlign=center align=middle> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><IMG src="Ministry_files/Logo.gif"> &nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG src="Ministry_files/ENALogo.gif"></P></TD> <TD vAlign=center align=middle> <P>&nbsp;</P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 976px" vAlign=center align=middle bgColor=#cc3399></TD> <TD vAlign=center align=middle></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR><BR> <TABLE> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 622px" vAlign=top> <TABLE id=Table2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px solid; BORDER-TOP: 0px solid; Z-INDEX: 103; LEFT: 11px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px solid; TOP: 97px" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 588px; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; BORDER-BOTTOM: darkgray 1px solid; HEIGHT: 1px" vAlign=bottom align=middle bgColor=white><SPAN id=lblHeading style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: larger; WIDTH: 580px; COLOR: royalblue; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Visual Geez Unicode; HEIGHT: 24px">Eritreans fleeing to Ethiopia in an alarming rate: Ministry</SPAN></TD></TR> <TR style="PADDING-RIGHT: 12px; PADDING-LEFT: 12px; LEFT: 20px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 12px; MARGIN-LEFT: 6px; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; PADDING-TOP: 12px"> <TD style="WIDTH: 588px; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Visual Geez Unicode; HEIGHT: 17px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: ghostwhite" vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#f8f8ff><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Addis Ababa, December 21, 2007 (Addis Ababa) - The Eritrean people cannot bear the burden of the dictatorial regime any more because it has allied itself with terrorists and has driven them to great poverty and endless suffering, the Ministry of Information said. <P> <P>In a statement it issued on Friday the ministry said countries committed to the global war on terrorism are also expected to join hands and fight regimes such as the one in Eritrea that are openly supporting terrorists. <P> <P>The Ministry said the endeavors of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa countries to accelerate economic development can become fruitful only if reliable peace and security are ensured. <P> <P>The Ministry said due to human rights violations against its citizens currently Eritrea is recognized as the African nation with the worst human right record. <P> <P>The Eritrean government is paying a leading role in the detention, imprisonment and killings of innocent people ,the ministry said and added that despite condemnations from various quarters, human rights violations are worsening. Eritreans are imprisoned, killed and intimidated for their political and religious beliefs. <P> <P>The Ministry said many are fleeing their country and each month more than 600 Eritreans are crossing the border into Ethiopia to seek refuge. The figure increasing alarmingly, it said. <P> <P>The Ministry called up on the international community and all governments to put pressure on the terrorist regime in Asmara and help the Eritrean people overcome the terrible situation they are in. <P> <P>Some Eritrean have managed to flee the grip of the ruthless Eritrean government in order to save themselves, the ministry said and added the rest of the people have no alternative than leading their lives in fear and oppressions. <P> <P> <P>---END--- <P></SPAN></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD> <TD style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; WIDTH: 657px" vAlign=top> <TABLE> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 366px"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 366px; HEIGHT: 4px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: cornflowerblue; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-FAMILY: Trebuchet MS">Headlines</SPAN></STRONG></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="FONT-SIZE: smaller; WIDTH: 366px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Visual Geez Unicode'"><IMG src="Ministry_files/grn_arrow.gif" ?><A href="http://ena.gov.et/ENGLISHNews/2007/dEC/21Dec07/46001.htm">Eritreans fleeing to Ethiopia in an alarming rate: Ministry</A><BR></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: whitesmoke; TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: #006699; FONT-FAMILY: Trebuchet MS"><STRONG>(c) The Ethiopian News Agency</STRONG></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BODY></HTML>