September 6, 2010

Tesfa-Alem Tekle

(ADDIS ABABA) – Some 1,458 Eritrean refugees from various camps in Ethiopia were resettled to the United States (US) recently, the Ethiopian State Administration for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA) disclosed.

Last week, a group of 130 Eritrean refugees, after years of exile in Ethiopia, were flown to the US as part of the ongoing resettlement operation. They are among of the 6,800 Eritrean refugees, the US accepted to receive.

Ethiopia’s ARRA, an implementing partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), had plans to resettle 3,100 Eritrean refugees to a third country for the current Ethiopian year (which ends on 11 September) but has so far managed to resettle less than half of them.

The Ethiopian Administration’s Law and Protection Head, Estifanos Gebremedhin said that “the Ethiopian Government is providing all the necessary assistance to the refugees, due the firm stance it has for peace and its commitment to build positive ties with its neighbors.” He expressed his hope for the day when Eritreans would no longer have to flee their country and would be reunited with loved ones.

The third-country resettlement operation is being carried out by the Ethiopian Government in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UNHCR.

Since the program began in 2006, 7,280 Eritrean refugees have been resettled in different western countries where they have begun new lives.

Currently there are 51,700 Eritrean refugees in five Ethiopia camps near the border with their homeland. Sudan Tribune learnt that on average, every month 1,800 Eritreans cross border to Ethiopia. 45% of them are members of the Eritrean Defense Force (EDF) and the majority of them are young.

According to the United Nations, the tiny Red Sea nation of Eritrea, with a population of around 5 million, has same the proportion of its citizens as refugees as can only be found in countries at war.

According to a state ARRA report received by Sudan Tribune a few months ago, despite tight border controls, which, according to arrivals in Ethiopia includes a shoot-to-kill policy, last year 11,653 Eritreans made it to Ethiopia. Among these, over 4,000 were soldiers from the EDF.

Reports indicate that, the influx of Eritreans to neighboring countries has sharply increased in the the past few years due to repression, gross human rights violations and forced conscription.

Recently the Ethiopian government reviewed its refugee policy and allowed Eritrean refugees to live outside refugee camps and settlements.

The newly introduced scheme, which came into force after talks between the Ethiopian government and the UNHCR, allows Eritrean refugees residing in camps to live anywhere they chose in Ethiopia, provided that they can sustain themselves financially.

The move was lauded by Eritrean refugees and exiled political groups who said “it opens a new chapter in mending people to people ties between the two countries.”

Ties between Ethiopia and Eritrea remain at tense after the 1998 border war, in which 70,000 people were killed.

September 4, 2010

NAIROBI, Kenya — African Union peacekeepers say they have established nine new bases in Somalia’s capital over the last several months.

The announcement Friday follows days of bloody clashes in Mogadishu that have claimed dozens of lives.

The deputy head of the AU commission on Somalia says the peacekeepers have established nine new bases over the past five months.

Wafula Wamunyinyi says the bases have helped secure a key road linking government buildings with Mogadishu’s port and airport. The area has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent days and Wamunyinyi estimated around 300 insurgents have been killed.

Fighters with al-Shabab, a militia that has links with al-Qaida, are trying to overthrow the weak Somali government.

September 1, 2010

AMY FORLITI

MINNEAPOLIS — A group of elders in the Minneapolis Somali community on Wednesday publicly denounced al-Shabab, making it clear that they do not support the terror group they say is responsible for “sinister” acts of recruiting young Americans to fight in Somalia.

The elders made the statement shortly before a closed-door meeting with a representative from the local office of the FBI. The goal of the meeting was to keep an open dialogue with law enforcement — to allow elders to ask questions and air concerns, and give the FBI a chance to educate the group.

Abdirizak Bihi, a community activist who helped get the group together, said the elders are highly respected in the Somali community. To have them come out against al-Shabab is a big step, he said, “because if the elders validate our points of contention, it will be a very important issue for the community to get involved completely.”

Supervisory Special Agent E.K. Wilson said during a dinner break that he listened to the elders’ concerns about al-Shabab, gangs and other issues affecting Somali youth, and explained that the FBI is there to protect their children.

“We’re really dependent on them to carry that message forward to the community at large. These guys are who the community looks up to, and respects, and will listen to,” Wilson said.

It was the first time some of the elders involved had met with the FBI, which has increased its outreach efforts in the community since roughly 20 young Somalis left Minneapolis in recent years to fight with al-Shabab, a violent group that seeks to establish an Islamic state in Somalia.

The U.S. has declared al-Shabab to be a terrorist group with ties to al-Qaida.

Bihi’s nephew, Burhan Hassan, was just 17 when he left Minneapolis to go fight in Somalia. His family said he was killed in the Horn of Africa country.

The statement from the elders said al-Shabab has inflicted sinister acts on the fragile Somali community by brainwashing and recruiting some American youths. It also said al-Shabab inflicts daily carnage on the Somali people in Somalia.

“We want to state that al-Shabab kills, maims and victimizes us in the Somali Diaspora, wherever we are,” Bihi said, reading from the statement.

The statement also said the Somali culture is based on peace, coexistence and working hard to obtain the “American dream.” It thanked those community members who have cooperated with law officers.

A total of 19 people have been charged in Minnesota in connection with the Minneapolis investigation, facing a host of charges. Two others have been charged in Alabama and California with helping al-Shabab.

Wilson said the investigation is ongoing.

September 3, 2010

September 3, 2010

AUSTRALIA will soon open an embassy in Ethiopia in what is widely seen as an attempt to bolster the campaign to win a prized seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Senior foreign affairs officer Lisa Filipetto is expected to take on the job as ambassador to Ethiopia in the coming months.

The new diplomatic post will be located in the capital, Addis Ababa, and is a crucial location to lobby countries from across Africa. Addis Ababa is also the headquarters for the African Union, the 53-nation organisation that represents the continent. Winning support from this African bloc is critical to Australia’s hopes of winning a Security Council seat in a 2012 vote at the UN and Ms Filipetto will also be designated ambassador to the African Union.

But opening a new embassy poses an awkward challenge for the government amid criticism that the campaign is too costly.

It also follows a series of cuts to the Foreign Affairs Department – including Labor’s pledge this election to scrap 20 diplomat positions overseas. The Coalition has promised to abandon the Security Council bid should it take office, after complaining Australia has been forced to sacrifice policy positions and buy votes with extra foreign aid.

In 2008, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said ”when it comes to costs, for example, we’re not going to be opening a post here or there just to buy a vote”. He continues to reject the accusations. But close observers say having a presence in Addis Ababa is essential to winning the backing of African nations.

La Trobe University foreign affairs specialist Nick Bisley said yesterday there was no other reason for Australia to open an embassy so far from its region while at the same time cutting back the foreign service. But he doubted Australia would ultimately succeed in its Security Council bid.

Australia did briefly open an embassy in Addis Ababa in 1984 – around the time of its last successful tilt for a Security Council seat – but closed the post again in 1987. Ethiopia does not have an embassy in Australia and is represented by its ambassador to Beijing.

Mr Smith flagged the plan to open an embassy in Ethiopia in May, saying it ”will be a potent symbol of Australia’s renewed commitment to Africa”.

He also said Australia would base a new defence attache at the new Addis Ababa embassy to build security and defence co-operation with the African Union and African countries.

Rejecting the commitment to Africa was short term, Mr Smith said more than 150 Australian companies had projects spread across 40 African countries.

Labor has opened two other embassies since 2007, at the Vatican and in Peru. Australia must secure the backing of 128 countries to beat either Luxembourg or Finland for one of two temporary seats on the council.

An international survey by The Age last year showed Australia had so far won support for its bid from a number of countries including the Netherlands, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

A spokeswoman for Mr Smith last night said any announcement on the new ambassador was a matter for the incoming government.

Ms Filipetto was high commissioner to Kenya until this year. She also was ambassador in Cambodia and speaks Italian, Indonesian and French.

September 2, 2010

KAMPALA — Uganda said Thursday it can provide up to 10,000 troops for deployment to Somalia where it already has soldiers in the African Union mission protecting the country’s embattled government.

“We have the capacity, as the army leadership has indicated, to raise up to 10,000 soldiers to fill up the gap,” army spokesman Felix Kulayigye told AFP.

The African Union pledged to boost its forces in the Horn of Africa country in the wake of the July 11 deadly suicide bombings in the Ugandan capital which left 76 people dead and were claimed by Somalia’s Shebab rebels.

The AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) currently numbers around 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers, some 2,000 troops short of its intended full strength.

The forces are the only hurdle between the Al Qaeda-linked Shebab and their total takeover of Mogadishu, where they have waged relentless battles with the AU troops to oust the transitional government.

“All those that have pledged assistance to AMISOM, including America, should deliver as soon as possible so that we are able to carry out our mandate,” Kulayigye said.

But the he did not say the size of force the United States is ready to support for deployment.

“We have the capacity to raise a big force including calling up the reservists but the challenge is logistics which we hope America will look into. “Should the assistance come in time, I can assure the world we can raise 10,000 soldiers for deployment in Somalia in a short time,” said Kulayigye.

September 2, 2010

Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia on Thursday rejected criticism of its massive hydropower dam projects and vowed to push ahead with plans to boost its power generating ability from 2,000 MW to 10,000 MW within five years.

The Horn of Africa nation’s ambitious dam building programme has drawn fire from human rights groups as well as from Egypt and other Nile River countries.

“We have a plan to reach 10,000 MW within the coming five years,” mines and energy minister, Alemayehu Tegenu, told Reuters in an interview. “Most of the energy we plan to generate will come from hydropower.”

Ethiopia is overwhelmingly reliant on dams for its energy needs and has opened three over the last year, bringing the total number in the country to seven.

Another two are being built, including the huge Gibe III — a project that foreign charities say could leave more than 200,000 people reliant on food aid.

Rights groups, spearheaded by Survival International, have started an online campaign against the dam, which would generate 2,000 MW, and are lobbying international lenders not to contribute to its 1.4 billion euro cost.

“These organisations do not want Ethiopia to develop,” Alemayehu said. “Criticising countries like Ethiopia is their source of income. They have no reason to attack our dams. We have environmental and social plans in place.”

The European Investment Bank (EIB) said last month that it had decided not to help fund the project but did not say why it had made that decision.

Alemayehu said it was possible the EIB had been pressured by rights groups.

“But I don’t know their reason,” he said. “It’s not a big problem for us. We have other options. And the funding at the moment is coming from our government.”

“NO NILE WAR”

Ethiopia’s hydropower plans are also closely watched by Egypt and Sudan who fear more dams on Ethiopia’s stretch of the Nile could leave them thirsty.

After more than a decade of talks driven by anger over the perceived injustice of a previous Nile water treaty signed in 1929, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya signed a new deal in May without their northern neighbours.

The five signatories have given the other Nile Basin countries — Egypt, Sudan, Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo — one year to join the pact but the countries have been split by behind-the-scenes rows since the signing.

Under the 1929 deal, Egypt, which faces water shortages by 2017, is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic metres a year, the lion’s share of the Nile’s flow of 84 billion cubic metres. Some 85 percent of the Nile’s waters originate in Ethiopia.

The nine countries are due to meet again in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November.

“What we will construct on the river will never cause any problems for the Egyptians,” Alemayehu said. “But the Egyptians always stand against Ethiopian development. They need to understand better what we are planning.”

Alemayehu, however, ruled out the possibility that war could erupt over the Nile.

“That will never happen,” he said. “Never.”

Ethiopia plans to export power to neighbouring Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya as soon as it meets its own growing energy needs, Alemayehu said.

Ethiopia rationed power for five months this year with outages every second day, which closed factories, hampered exports and fuelled a currency shortage.

“We should have no need to ration power in 2011 with our new dams,” Alemayehu said. “We are now building interconnectivity infrastructure with Sudan and Djibouti and that should be finished within six months.”

Power demand in Africa will rise by 150,000 MW between 2007 and 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

August 30, 2010

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A boy carries water at the Shimelba refugee camp in northern Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA – Kibrom Sebhatu, 45, is among hundreds of Eritreans expected to benefit from a recent Ethiopian government ruling allowing Eritrean refugees to live outside the camps.

“I am happy that UNHCR [the UN Refugee Agency] and the government of Ethiopia agreed to let us live outside the camps. I hope this will open a new era in Ethiopia-Eritrea relations,” Sebhatu said. He joined the Shimelba Refugee camp, along the border with Eritrea, in 2006, after serving in the Eritrean army.

The new policy will allow Eritrean refugees to live in urban areas, improving their access to services and helping to build stronger ties with Ethiopians, the legal and protection officer at the agency for the Administration of Refugees and Returnees’ Affairs, Estifanos Gebremedhin, told IRIN.

Under the “out-of-camp” scheme, Eritrean refugees can live in any part of the country, provided they are able to sustain themselves financially or have a relative or friend who commits to supporting them. Sebhatu is relying on support from relatives living in the US.

Critics have warned that the move may pose a risk to peace in Ethiopia but the government disagrees. “We are not worried that the Eritrean government will use the refugees to infiltrate Ethiopia for two reasons. Firstly, we will do proper screening of the refugees before we let them out of the refugee camps.

“Secondly, the infiltration of Ethiopia by Eritrean [refugees] is not the most cost-effective or efficient way to infiltrate Ethiopia and the Eritrean government knows that,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told journalists recently.

The UNHCR representative to Ethiopia, Moses Okello, said: “Refugees are not subversive people. The issue related to security is one for government to deal with.

“We look at refugees as persons who need international protection. There is no reason why Eritrean, Sudanese, or Somali refugees should be seen in any other light other than that they are refugees. Branding them in one way or another is not fair. We have lived with them, we know them; they are refugees and nothing else.”

Eritrean refugees in Ethiopian camps without a criminal record are eligible under the policy, which according to UNHCR, “is also a response to refugees’ wishes and needs for strengthened… relations between the two countries”.

Eritrea and Ethiopia were a single political entity before a 1993 referendum in which Eritreans voted almost unanimously for independence. A 1998-2000 border conflict led to the displacement of thousands of civilians in both countries. Ethiopia expelled an estimated 77,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin it deemed to be a security risk, while Eritrea interned around 7,500 Ethiopians living there and deported thousands more.

At least 60,000 Eritrean refugees have crossed into Ethiopia since the border conflict, with more than 36,000 living in three camps and two community centres, according to UNHCR.

Sebhatu said: “Now my dream has come true, God is so gracious. We [Ethiopians and Eritreans] are relatives. We were brothers and sisters but we killed each other for nothing… Thanks to the government of Ethiopia and donors, I am enjoying life in Addis.”

August 30, 2010

Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA – More than a quarter of a million Ethiopians are risk from severe flooding next month when heavy rain is expected in the country, according to government estimates issued by the United Nations on Monday.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 19 people were killed in mudslides after flooding last week and nearly 12,000 people had been displaced since then.

“Some 270,000 people could be affected by flooding in the (Amhara region),” OCHA said in a statement, quoting a contingency plan issued by regional authorities.

Flooding often affects Ethiopia’s lowlands during the rainy season between June and September. In 2006, more than 1,000 people were killed and more than 300,000 made homeless.

“New flooding has been reported in recent days, including in the eastern Amhara lowlands and in northern Somali Region,” it said.

The plan says $6.8 million would be needed to respond to such an emergency.

The country’s disaster management office gave a lower estimate, saying 153,000 people were likely to be affected by next month’s floods, of whom 25 per cent could lose their homes.

“Good contingency planning needs to be in place,” an aid worker monitoring the flooding told Reuters. “According to data from the meteorological office, the heavy rains will continue through September.”

Almost 5,000 people who fled to higher ground are now stranded and inaccessible to local authorities, according to the OCHA statement.

Significant flooding damages the country’s agriculture-based economy, washing away thousands of cattle, ruining crops and submerging roads.

Four African Union peacekeepers were killed when a mortar hit Somalia’s presidential palace, officials say.

It is not clear if any Somalis were hit by the shells, fired as Islamist insurgents continue to battle government forces.

Those killed were from Uganda, one of just two countries to have sent troops to Somalia to help the government. Last month, at least 76 people were killed in Uganda in bombings which a Somali group said it had carried out.

The battle for control of Mogadishu has intensified in the past week.

Last Monday, a suicide attack on a hotel killed at least 32 people, including six MPs.

The Islamist group al-Shabab said it had carried out the attack. Last month, al-Shabab said it was behind two bombings in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in which more than 70 people died.

Al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda, controls much of southern and central Somalia, while the government is confined to a few pockets of the capital.

Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in 1991.

August 30, 2010

Photo: AP
Somali government forces walk outside the Muna Hotel which was stormed by a suicide bomber and a gunman in Mogadishu, Somalia, 24 Aug 2010

Somalia’s government is urgently appealing for more help as insurgents threaten to seize full control of the capital, Mogadishu.

The appeal Monday came on the eighth straight day of fighting since militant group al-Shabab launched an offensive aimed at toppling the government.

A mortar attack on Somalia’s presidential palace killed four Ugandan African Union peacekeepers and wounded at least eight. Fighting elsewhere in the city killed six other people.

In a statement Monday, Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed called for “urgent international support.” He said Somalia alone can not contain what he called the “evil al-Qaida al-Shabab alliance.”

The African Union already has about 6,000 troops in Mogadishu helping the government, and has promised to send more.

Sources in Mogadishu tell VOA that nearly a thousand foreign fighters are fighting alongside al-Shabab.

The militant group is trying to seize the Muka-Mukarama, a key road that links government-held positions. Witnesses say al-Shabab took control of the road for a brief time on Saturday.

Last week, the United States, Norway and five international entities, including the Arab League and European Union, issued a statement of support for the government.

The statement said the insurgents will not succeed, but did not promise any new military or financial help for the beleaguered government.

President Sharif’s administration controls only a few parts of Mogadishu, while al-Shabab and another Islamist group, Hizbul Islam control large parts of the capital and southern Somalia.

The insurgents have vowed to topple the government and establish an Islamic state in Somalia. The groups have already imposed a harshly conservative form of sharia, or Islamic law, in the areas under their control.