Land mines in Ethiopia and the war with Eritrea
Ethiopia-Eritrea, Politics, 6/22/2000

Local papers in North Ethiopia said that more than 3500 hectares of the agricultural lands in the northern areas of Zala Anbesa and Eirope at the central front are full of landmines.

SANA quoted AFP reporting that the papers quoted the local administration as saying that these anti-personnel and vehicles landmines are preventing some 50,000 farmers from carrying out their activities during the rain season expected after several months.

One official at the engineering weapon in the Ethiopian army said it takes at least two months to completely clean up the region from mines.

Last Monday the Ethiopian army withdrew from Teseini and its surrounding to station to the south near the borders between the two countries, when a cease-fire agreement was signed in Algeria between Addis Ababa and Asmara.

Meantime, Ethiopia said yesterday in a statement "Five hundred Ethiopian nationals who had been residing in Eritrea arrived in Ethiopia this week after leaving Eritrea on June 19. Thousands of Ethiopian citizens, many of whom were abused by the Eritrean authorities, have in the past been prevented from leaving the country despite their appeals. Conversely, well over 41,000 Ethiopians have been deported from Eritrea against their will. While the Eritrean government denies the deportations (arguing that Eritrea does not have an official deportation policy), calling the forced expulsions "voluntary repatriations" does not make them so. The so-called voluntary repatriations are merely a cover for the government's systematic abuse of Ethiopian nationals, who are forced to leave the country in order to avoid being killed, abducted or imprisoned and tortured. Other Ethiopian nationals have been fired from their jobs and dispossessed of their homes and other personal belongings. Left destitute, they are forced to live on the streets without any means of survival."

Previous Stories:
  Eritrea, Ethiopia signed a crease fire agreement   (6/19/2000)
  Ethiopia and Eritrea will sign an peace agreement tomorrow in Algeria   (6/17/2000)
  Ethiopia officially approves OAU peace plan with Eritrea   (6/16/2000)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search