Border people in limbo

2005-02-14 14:01

Adikeshi Camp, Eritrea - Almaz Tela wants to return to her old ways, farming millet, sorghum, corn and tending to cows, goats, sheep and chickens. The only problem is her farmland is in a buffer zone that separates Eritrea and Ethiopia, and she has to live in a homeless camp.

Eritrea stopped fighting Ethiopia over their thousand-kilometre-long border four years ago. But like Almaz, 45, whose farming ambitions are on hold, Eritrea itself is in a state of limbo.

Government officials and diplomats say it has postponed long-term work to diversify its economy until resolution of the stalemate over the border - a "temporary security zone" whose status looks increasingly long term.

In April 2002, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission - part of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration - made a ruling on the border as agreed under the peace deal.

But the physical demarcation of the border has been postponed indefinitely because of Ethiopia's refusal to accept the decision. It objects to the awarding of the disputed town of Badme to Eritrea.

For the past six years, Almaz has been in Adikeshi Camp, about 160km west of Asmara. She fled her home in the border village Mukuti after the border war erupted in May 1998.

Almaz grabbed her two children and her neighbour's ten children and began a week-long trek through southern Eritrea's mountainous land and then further north to the camp.

"I thought half the children would die on the way," Almaz said. "The youngest was four years old and the oldest was sixteen," she said. They all survived.

Her husband, Solomon, was taken prisoner by the Ethiopians and held for a year. When he was freed, Solomon made it to Adikeshi Camp and found his family.

Eritrea, which broke away from Ethiopia in 1991 after a protracted war, maintains an army of at least 100 000 troops, up from 34 000 before war broke out with Ethiopia in May 1998, said Yemani Ghebremeskel, director of President Isaias Aferwerki's office. Because of the threat of war, Yemani admits, "the government is not truly, fully dedicated to development."

"We have labour tied up in the army. We didn't know whether they (Ethiopia) are going to attack," said Yemani.

Meanwhile, Eritrea faces famine due to its fourth straight year of drought which has created severe shortages of bread, sugar and milk.

Yemani said there were also fuel shortages caused in part by increased consumption by the military. He said the government makes sure public transport vehicles do not lack fuel, while it rations fuel for private cars.

Eritrea and Ethiopia have not held direct talks since they signed a cease-fire deal in December 2000. Yemani said 19 000 Eritreans died in the war; Ethiopian deaths are estimated in the tens of thousands.

As part of the peace agreement reached in December 2000, Eritrean and Ethiopian generals meet regularly under UN auspices to assess how the cease-fire and temporary security zone between the neighbours are holding.

- AP