Document #1301444
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Background information on the ELF and its
various factions, including the ELF-RC, can be found in the
attachments to Responses to Information Requests ERT18918.E of 8
november 1994 and ERT23574.E of 11 April 1996, as well as in the
attached documents.
During the armed struggle between the
Eritrean rebels and the Ethiopian government in the 1960s and the
1970s, thousands of civilians lost their lives (Revolutionary and
Dissident Movements, 85, 86). However, among the sources consulted
by the DIRB, no reference was found to the ELF deliberately
targeting civilians. According to Revolutionary and Dissident
Movements, "joint ELF-PLF operations were carried out against US
citizens in Ethiopia in retaliation for the supply of American arms
to Ethiopia's armed forces" between March and June 1975, but it is
not clear whether these US citizens were civilians (85).
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Reference
Revolutionary and Dissident Movements:
An International Guide. 1991. Edited by Henry W. Degenhardt.
London: Longman.
Attachments
Ammar, Wolde-Yesus. 1992. Eritrea: Root
Causes of War and Refugees. Baghdad: Sindbad Printing Co.
Revolutionary and Dissident Movements:
An International Guide. 1991. Edited by Henry W. Degenhardt.
London: Longman.
Other Sources Consulted
Ethiopia: A Country Study. 1993. Edited
by Thomas P. Ofcansky and La Verle Berry. Washington, DC:
Department of the Army.
The Europa World Year Book 1993. 1993.
Vol. 1. London: Europa Publications.
The Long Struggle of Eritrea for
Independence and Constructive Peace. 1988. Edited by Lionel Cliffe
and Basil Davidson. Nottingham: Spokesman.
Political Parties of Africa and the
Middle East. 1993. Edited by Roger East and Tanya Joseph. The High,
Harlow, Essex: Longman Group UK.
IRB and UNHCR databases.
This list is not exhaustive. Some
country-specific books available in the Resource Centre are not
included.