Security Council adjusts UN's Ethiopia-Eritrea mission to carry out boundary work

The United Nations Security Council today adjusted the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) so that it can assist in the “expeditious and orderly” implementation of an independent commission’s decision on the border between the two countries.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council called for a number of specific steps to achieve this end, including demining in key areas to support border demarcation, and new administrative and logistical support for the Boundary Commission's Field Offices.

The Council strongly urged the parties "to provide their full and prompt cooperation in the process with a view to ensuring an expeditious transition for the benefit of the affected populations." The sides were also called on to abide "scrupulously" by their agreements, to resolve all outstanding issues, and to cooperate "fully and promptly" with the Boundary Commission.

Stressing the importance of arrangements for the separation of forces, the Council appealed to the parties to exercise restraint, and called on both to refrain from unilateral troop or population movements until the demarcation and orderly transfer of territorial control has been accomplished. The resolution also demanded that UNMEE be allowed full freedom of movement and that the parties immediately remove all restrictions on the Mission's personnel.

Concerning confidence-building measures, the Council called on Ethiopia and Eritrea to release and return all remaining prisoners of war and civilian internees and to take other measures that will "promote reconciliation between the two peoples for their mutual benefit."