Government denies border encroachment

The Ethiopian government has rejected claims that it has failed to comply with a binding ruling by the international boundary commission. The government said on Wednesday that Ethiopia had not sent any of its nationals into Eritrea as part of a resettlement programme. "Ethiopia has not sent anybody onto Eritrean territory. I think the boundary commission are muddled on this one. We just don’t know why they are saying this," Netsannet Asfaw, the minister of state for information, told IRIN. Her comments follow an order by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) to remove Ethiopian nationals from Eritrean territory. The EEBC said the government had "not complied with its obligations" and had been wrong to set up a new frontier village. The commission, which was set up to resolve the long-standing border dispute between both countries, called on Ethiopia in July to halt such resettlements. Ethiopia had been accused by the EEBC of effecting resettlements in the western sector of its 1,000-km border with Eritrea and near the controversial village of Badme. The area was the flashpoint which in 1998 detonated the bitter two-year border war and was also the scene of some of the heaviest fighting. Subsequently, in December 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace accord, which provided for border demarcation under the auspices of the independent EEBC. On 13 April, the EEBC announced where the new joint border would lie, but as yet no date has been given when it will be demarcated physically. "Demarcation hasn’t even started yet. We haven’t moved any people anywhere. We don’t know why the EEBC are bringing this up now," Netsannet said. During a key meeting in London on 6 and 7 November, the EEBC had urged Ethiopia to comply with its order. "Having regard to the commission’s order of 17th July 2002, Ethiopia, in failing to remove from Eritrean territory persons of Ethiopian origin who have moved into that territory subsequent to the date of the delimitation decision, has not complied with its obligations," the EEBC said in a statement released after the meeting. Earlier, in July, the EEBC revealed details of a new settlement at Dembe Mengul, about 400 metres inside Eritrean territory. In June, the Eritreans had complained about Ethiopian nationals - said to number around 90 – moving into the area. The EEBC, which is based in the The Hague, also reminded both parties that under the commission's terms, the 13 April border ruling was "final and binding".