Proposed deployment of 100 military observers

The Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities signed by Ethiopia and Eritrea at Algiers on 18 June was an extremely important step in halting the border war, said the UN Secretary-General in a report to the Security Council on Ethiopia and Eritrea. “I am gratified that the parties have found a means of halting the devastating fighting that has resulted in the loss of numerous lives and immense destruction”, he said in the report.

The Secretary-General said a reconnaissance mission would be dispatched to the region “very shortly” to discuss with the OAU and the parties “the modalities of possible United Nations assistance” for the implementation of the signed Agreement. The mission will make recommendations to the Secretary General concerning “operations for a United Nations peace keeping mission”. After consultations with the OAU and the parties, the proposals will be presented to the Security Council late July. Liaison officers will be sent to each capital.
Deployment of a military observer group will follow the liaison officers “subject to the authorisation of the Security Council”. The United Nations intends to gradually deploy 100 military observers over the next two months “pending the report on the implementation of that resolution and on the humanitarian situation in Eritrea and Ethiopia”.

According to the report, the protracted conflict had compounded the already devastating effects of drought. It had also displaced at least 1.2 million people, 70 per cent of whom were women, children and the elderly, living in “extremely difficult conditions without shelter, proper sanitation or regular access to food and water”. Thousands have had to seek refuge across the Sudanese border. Landmines further compound the situation in war-affected areas, particularly the Tigray region of Ethiopia and the Barentu area of Eritrea.