Zecharias Fassil former or current members of the Eritrean liberation front. The Ethiopian authorities moved almost immediately to carry out arrests and to expel Eritreans and those of Eritrean origin in a manner that became increasingly indiscriminate over time. No meaningful steps were made to determine “risk” on a case-by-case basis – or to distinguish between those who had formally assumed Eritrean nationality and Ethiopian nationals distinguished only by their Eritrean origin. The first wave of arrests and deportations began on June 12, 1998, targeting people of Eritrean origin in Ethiopia who were prominent in business, politics or community organisations. In conjunction with this campaign, the Ethiopian government revoked business licenses and ordered the freezing of assets of thousands of individuals of Eritrean origin. Those with bank accounts were informed that their accounts had been frozen and were inaccessible. The government provided no avenue for affected individuals to challenge these actions. The main targets of the deportation campaign after June 1998 were tens of thousands of ordinary people who were deported and dispossessed on the sole basis of their national origin. In a June 18 broadcast, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin had already put members of the Eritrean-Ethiopian community on notice that their citizenship was to be put to the test. “[I]f the Eritreans are innocent citizens and if they appeal in unity, if they condemn the aggression...[and] raise their voices together with the [Ethiopian] people for the achievement of peace, they will not be under threat.” As can be seen, the action of the government was politically motivated and based on a nonexistent criterion for determining the citizenship of Eritreans to justify its actions. This brought criticism of the Ethiopian government from human rights groups and the international community. The fact that a more progressive constitution existed in Ethiopia did not inhibit the right of nationality from being violated. This could be due to the fact that the legislators were not proactive enough to issue the necessary secondary legislation to give effect to the aspirations of the constitution. Eritrea took a step-by-step approach to expelling Ethiopians in Eritrea. The expulsions from both countries resulted in not only violations related to citizenship rights but most importantly to individual stories of human rights abuses and violations ranging from limiting freedom of movement to the violation of the right to life. 5.4. The Ethiopian-Eritrean Claims Commission Following the ceasefire in 2000, an Ethiopian-Eritrean Claims Commission was established to rule on the claims of each state. Both countries justified their actions and also demanded redress for damage sustained. The Ethiopian government defended its expulsion and denationalisation of Eritreans by arguing that persons who had participated in the referendum on Eritrean independence in 1993 were no longer Ethiopians and had lost Ethiopian nationality. The counter-argument raised by Eritrea was that this was not a tenable argument as there was no Eritrea as such in the time that the referendum took place. On this core issue, the Claims Commission stated Nationality is ultimately a legal status. Taking into account the unusual transitional circumstances associated with the creation of the new State of Eritrea and both Parties’ conduct before and after the 1993 Referendum, the Commission concludes that those who qualified to participate in the Referendum in fact acquired dual nationality. They became citizens of the new State of Eritrea pursuant to Eritrea’s Proclamation No. 12 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/9- © 2020 Author(s)