ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR ETHIOPIAN AND SEVEN ERITREAN CIVILIANS WERE REPATRIATED OVER THE WEEKEND UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS THROUGH THE MEREB RIVER BORDER CROSSING, THE ICRC SAID MONDAY. ICRC DELEGATES AND RED CROSS AMBULANCE TEAMS FROM THE TWO COUNTRIES ACCOMPANIED THE REPATRIATED PEOPLE TO THE MEREB RIVER BORDER CROSSING BETWEEN RAMA IN ETHIOPIA AND ADI QUALA IN ERITREA. THE GERMAN NEWS AGENCY 'DPA' QUOTED THE ICRC AS SAYING IT HAD ASSISTED IN THE REPATRIATION OF TENS OF THOUSANDS SINCE JUNE 2000, INCLUDING PRISONERS OF WAR AFFECTED BY THE BORDER CONFLICT FROM MAY 1998 TO DECEMBER 2000.
