Global Policy Forum

By Rodrique Ngowi

Eritrea, struggling to rebuild after decades of conflict, is sinking deeper into poverty amid a simmering border dispute with Ethiopia that already has sparked one war between the longtime Horn of Africa enemies.

Meager resources are being diverted from development to security, minefields keep farmers like Genet Kidane from working the land and investors are wary. "My husband, who used to help cultivate food for the family, has been in the national service all these years because there is no peace," Genet, a 24-year-old mother of two, said outside a white tent that has turned brown with dust.

She and hundreds of other families have lived in a camp for the displaced since a 1998-2000 border war _ which claimed tens of thousands of lives and cost both impoverished countries an estimated $1 million a day _ ended with a fragile peace agreement.

The December 2000 accord provided for an independent commission to rule on the position of the disputed 621-mile border, while U.N. peacekeeping troops patrolled a 15-mile buffer zone between the two countries. But Ethiopia refused to implement the international commission's 2002 ruling, which awarded the key town of Badme to Eritrea. In response, Eritrea has accused the international community of shirking its responsibility to ensure the ruling is obeyed.

"The fact that we have no peace, no war means that we have to be on the alert, you have to spend money to primarily ensure national security and this is, of course, a significant economic burden to the government," said Abraham Kidane, senior adviser in Eritrea's ministry of national development. Abraham also said uncertainty over whether the crisis will be resolved peacefully has scared away investors. Tensions have periodically risen to the point where some observers feared fighting could break out. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war.

Late last year, for instance, Eritrea, intent on getting the international community to press Ethiopia to accept the border ruling, banned U.N. helicopter flights in its airspace, restricted U.N. ground patrols and expelled some of the peacekeepers. The United Nations, meanwhile, reported local troop buildups, primarily by Ethiopia, along the border.

The situation has shown some signs of improvement recently, with the United Nations saying troops sent to the border area by both countries had been pulled back. Eritrea and Ethiopia, however grudgingly, sent representatives to a weekend mediation meeting in London. But Eritrean restrictions on the peacekeepers remain, as do suspicions on both sides.

The U.S. State Department says Eritrea had expanded its armed forces to close to 300,000 troops, almost 10 percent of its population, at the time of the war, and has been slow to demobilize because of deep mistrust of its larger neighbor to the south.

Eritrea's "exports have collapsed, mainly owing to the border conflict with Ethiopia and border tensions with Sudan," according to the State Department. "However, large and persistent transfers from Eritreans living abroad have cushioned the impact."

Economic losses also are high in Ethiopia, said Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission that monitors the Temporary Security Zone that largely runs on Eritrea's side of the border. "We have been here for five years, this is five years of lost opportunities _ economically, politically, socially and otherwise," Legwaila said.

"The economic benefits of normalcy across the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea must be incalculable ... because these two countries are not trading with each other," he said, adding that Eritrea's southern Assab port that used to serve eastern Ethiopia is no longer functioning.

The Eritrean economy, which grew by 7.1 percent the year before the border war erupted, now suffers from soaring consumer prices, sluggish growth and a hefty trade deficit. The economy shrank by 13.1 percent in 2000 and grew by a mere 0.8 percent last year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Consumer prices rose by nearly 20 percent in 2000 and expanded by 12 percent last year, according to the IMF.

Eritreans also are paying a political price. Tension with Ethiopia has been used as justification for delaying the implementation of a constitution ratified in 1997 that guaranteed freedoms. "We want multiparty politics and elections as provided under the new constitution, but we know this has to wait until the border crisis is resolved," said Yohannes Afwerki, a 52-year-old factory worker. "We need to stay united now and should not start fighting (politically) among ourselves because that would only benefit Ethiopia."

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