ADDIS ABABA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The number of Eritrean refugees entering Ethiopia reached a record high of more than 600 in November, Ethiopia's government said on Friday.

Haile Selassie Gebre Mariam of the state-run Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs said the rate of arrivals had more than doubled from a monthly average of about 300 last year.

"Some 617 Eritrean refugees fled an ordeal in their country and crossed into Ethiopia in Nov.," he said in a statement. "Of the total who sought asylum ... 289 are Eritrean army members."

Some 25,000 Eritreans are sheltering in Ethiopia, he said.

Relations between the two Horn of Africa nations are at their lowest since a 1998-2000 border war killed 70,000 people. Eritrean officials were not immediately available to comment. (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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