Peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea requires border demarcation, Annan says

Warning that the situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea remains precarious, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on both parties to expedite the demarcation of their common border – a fundamental requirement for peace between the Horn of Africa nations.

In a new report to the Security Council, the Secretary-General says the two countries, which fought a bitter 1998-2000 war, must develop an “open channel of communication at all levels” to overcome the current impasse.

Although there are no signs that either side is preparing for hostilities, the Secretary-General points out that “recent inflammatory rhetoric, in particular in Eritrea, has done nothing to advance the peace process.”

He welcomes Eritrea’s cooperation with the Boundary Commission set up to establish the frontier. At the same time, he voices regret at Ethiopia’s failure to cooperate.

Ethiopia has indicated that it would be ready for a broad agenda for a dialogue, the Secretary-General notes, but he adds that, “While that change in attitude is a step in the right direction, it would carry even more significance if it were to be followed by practical measures.”

“It is my belief that such gestures would greatly improve the political context in which the demarcation of the border and the normalization of relations could take place,” he says.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had plans to repatriate 25,000 of the 32,000 registered Eritrean refugees in Sudan by this week, while the number of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia at the end of October totaled 6,200, according to the report.