Life goes on as normal in disputed Badme

Alem Tesfaye hands over a crumpled one Ethiopian birr note to pay for his coffee. In any other place it would be an unremarkable act, but this is Badme – a tiny, dusty border village at the heart of the bloody two-year war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. And now a new battle rages over this sweltering, rocky outpost – a war of words between the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments over who actually owns it. Under the crucial 13 April Boundary Commission ruling, designed to resolve this long-standing border dispute, both sides claim they have been awarded Badme. Alem is Ethiopian and is in no doubt. “As far back as anyone can remember, Badme has always been Ethiopian,” he says from the bar of the Badme Hotel in the centre of the village. “All the people here will tell you the same. We can’t be expected to pick up and go. This is our home.” The village – where temperatures regularly nudge 100 degrees Fahrenheit – has no minerals or gold. The nearest river is some 30 km away, and the rocky, harsh yellow-coloured landscape makes farming difficult. It has one clinic and one school, both serving a population of around 5,000. Before the war, the population was higher, but the 1,000 Eritreans who lived in the village have since fled. Now some Ethiopian officials are starting to ask for clarification and want the matter resolved by the Boundary Commission. They say each night Eritrean television, which can be picked up along the border, is showing maps with Badme clearly located inside Eritrea. Dr Solomon Inquai, the speaker of the Tigray Regional Parliament in northern Ethiopia, says the Commission was set up to resolve this issue once and for all. "It [the Commission] has left things in suspension and people don't know exactly what is the line on a piece of paper," he told journalists. UN officials say that Badme is outside the 25 km buffer area, known as the Temporary Security Zone, that separates the two countries. But they refuse to be drawn on where it lies, saying the issue should be addressed to the Boundary Commission. The Commission, based in The Hague, also refuses to be drawn. The border ruling mentions the village by name only twice in the 135-page decision. Badme does not feature on any map distributed by the Commission. Woldegiorgis Woldemariam, the current Ethiopian chairman of the Badme administration, which covers an area of some 490 square kilometres, says the war has changed very little in people’s lives. No real business existed before the first shots were fired and none exists now. Except for a few more bars that have sprung up to serve the dozens of soldiers and militia in the area, and posters warning of AIDS, for the villagers life remains the same. The shell casings which litter the dirt tracks and village are now used as tabletop supports or seats in the numerous bars. Houses that had been damaged are gradually being repaired although the local administration would like assistance from the government. Woldegiorgis, who has served as chairman for five years, says the country will never "give up" Badme. Both governments have stated that they accept the border ruling. Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki says the decision was "an occasion whereby Eritrea confirmed its borders as a nation". "When the line is demarcated on the ground, the people who know Badme will realise where Badme lies," he says. "So if this was the solution, then what was the reason for the war? Eritrea did not start the war and never wanted to start the war, and the documents can confirm this." Much of the confusion over Badme is geographical. The area called Badme covers wide plains and a village. But until demarcation, when the border is actually physically marked out, no one is prepared to shed any light on the situation.