Introduction

‘Daniel’, an Addis Ababa businessman, community leader and father of three, was awakened at 5 a.m. in July 1998 by four armed policemen who forced their way into his home. Pointing their guns at him they said, ‘you have to go’. At the gate of his house four more armed officers joined the escort which took him to the police station. After several hours he and 20–25 other individuals were taken to the community hall and detained. When an official photographed us on the second day we said, ‘Why are you taking our pictures?’ He replied, ‘We have been ordered to do so. We are doing our job.’ I said, ‘Why are you arresting us? Tell us.’ He said, ‘Because you are an Eritrean.’ I replied, ‘I am not an Eritrean. I was born in Ethiopia. I’ve never been to Eritrea. If you want I can show you my passport.’ On the seventh day Daniel was put onto a bus and driven, together with 1,500 others, to the Eritrean border – a war zone – which they were forced to walk across at night. ¹