Eritrea expels six NGOs
2006-02-16 22:37
Asmara - Eritrea has asked six Italian
charities to leave the country, saying they did not meet the
requirements of a law regulating non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), aid workers said on Thursday.
One of the poorest countries in the world with a gross
domestic product per capita of about $130 per year, the Red Sea
state has repeatedly expressed its desire to be self-reliant and
independent of foreign aid.
It has also expressed an increasing frustration with the
international community, which it says has not done enough to
enforce Ethiopian compliance with a "final and binding"
independent ruling on the Ethiopian-Eritrean border.
In a sign of such frustration, national staff who work with
UN peacekeepers were arrested at the weekend.
Last year, the US agency for international development
and western UN peacekeepers who monitor the border
with Ethiopia, were also expelled.
The May law increases the reporting requirements of foreign
and local NGOs, requires a minimum size, prevents direct UN
funding of them and taxes imports of aid.
A letter from the ministry of labour and human welfare was
sent to all six organisations, thanking them for their
contributions to relief and rehabilitation in Eritrea, but
informing them they had not met the registration requirements.
"Yes, we received the letter earlier this week, asking us to
terminate our activities," said one aid worker.
The NGOs asked to leave were CESVI, GVC, Manitese, NEXUS,
COSVA, and COOPI.
The government has said the law is intended to guarantee the
rights and transparency of NGOs.
Several other international NGOs - including two Italian
NGOs - have been registered under the terms of the proclamation
and are working normally, aid workers said.