After 18 years of separation, an Ethiopian man finds his family in Eritrea

Two years later, as conflict raged in the trenches along the shared border, his wife, Nitslal Abraha, mysteriously disappeared with their two daughters. Addisalem, an Ethiopian public television journalist, has embarked on a frantic search.

A neighbor approached her a few days later and handed her a letter from Nitslal in which she said that she had left for Eritrea with Azmera and Danayt, who were then teens.

The letter did not explain its reasons but Addisalem suspected that she, like millions of others on both sides of the conflict, had been swept away by the patriotism and nationalism that engulfed both countries. as the bloodshed intensified.

"One day we can meet," reads the letter.

For 18 years they did not do it. There was no way to communicate – all the transport links, telephone and postal services had been broken since the beginning of the conflict.

But this month, a meeting became possible when the two governments – fierce enemies for nearly two decades despite a ceasefire in 2000 – signed a peace agreement that ended a generation of terrorists. # 39; hostility. After Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed shook hands and committed to re-establishing ties, Addisalem was among more than 400 passengers who traveled to Asmara on Wednesday for the first direct flight between neighbors from the Horn of Africa.

A few months ago, he had abandoned the hope of a meeting. Over the years, he had tried to reach out, including asking the International Committee of the Red Cross to find his wife's contacts, but to no avail.

He even considered traveling to Eritrea through Sudan with the help of smugglers, but was advised against the trip because of the exorbitant cost and risks to his safety.

"Everything discouraged you, I was wondering if I was going to be deprived of seeing my family again because I did not have enough money," said Addisalem, 58.

ULULATIONS AND TOOTHACHE

While his friends were tracking down his eldest daughter Azmera on Facebook and exchanging messages over the last two years, Addisalem was often distraught at his inability to talk to him in person.

"I collapsed and I collapsed one day," he told Reuters a day after arriving in Asmara. "I could not control myself, stopped talking to him because I could not stand it anymore."

While the promise to restore the links between Ethiopia and Eritrea accelerated and the possibility of a rapprochement developed during the months of June and July, he recontacted her.

They agreed to meet at a parent's home.

On Thursday, outside a small brick house in the Geza Banda district of Tilyan in Asmara, Addisalem was greeted with riots and cheers. The husband, wife and girls first kissed in 18 years. Initially, it was only a little conversation.

"I came in spite of a toothache," he told him.

"I'm also a little sick," said Nitslal.

He then broke down in tears as his daughters hugged him.

"It was years of darkness, separation and desire were unthinkable Imagine someone who just won the lottery, that's what I feel now," Addisalem said. , lamenting the long and bitter price paid by the conflict.

"It was useless, I lost my family because of that, we all fought one way or the other."

Her other daughter, Danayt, could hardly believe that she was seeing her father again. "He could be sitting next to me now, but I'm always horrified that I can lose him again," she said. Overcome by the emotion, Addisalem avoided any question about the past, including why his wife had gone with their two daughters, although their son stayed with him.

With the thaw between Ethiopia and Eritrea still stammering, it was unclear where the family would end up living.

Addisalem looks to the future. "I'm plugging in now," he says. "I turned my back on the past and will enjoy the future with my daughters."

(Report by Aaron Maasho, edited by Ed Cropley and Mark Heinrich)