The New York Times, Europe External Programme with Africa and Human Rights Concern Eritrea claimed that Eritrean refugees were forcefully returned to Eritrea during the Tigray War that started in late November 2020 from the Hitsats and Shimelba refugee camps.
[4] The New York Times stated that after Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) arrived in the Hitsats refugee camp in the Tigray Region on 19 November 2020 during the Tigray War, in addition to carrying out beatings and extrajudicial executions, the EDF forcefully took 40 Eritrean refugees back into Eritrea.
[3] HRCE stated that all the refugees remaining in the Hitsats camp were forced to walk to Sheraro starting 5 January 2021, which they did in two to three days.
[3] On 10 January 2021, Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) stated that refugees from Hitsats had been forced to return to Eritrea.
[4] As of 1 February 2021[update], neither the UNHRC nor the Ethiopian Agency for Refugee and Returnee Affairs had access to the Hitsats and Shimelba camps.