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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 106
14 - 20 September 2002


CONTENTS:

ERITREA: Refugee screening underway in Sudan
ERITREA: Government urged to free detainees
ETHIOPIA: Decline in overseas investment
ETHIOPIA: FAO urges assistance to support emergency projects
ETHIOPIA: Region hit by rat plague
ETHIOPIA: Five killed in grenade attack
ETHIOPIA: Drought causing rising number of cattle deaths
ETHIOPIA: Innovative study into causes of child poverty
SOMALIA: Somalis urged to observe international peace day
AFRICA: Ministers approve anti-corruption laws



ERITREA: Refugee screening underway in Sudan

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has begun screening Eritreans in Sudan to
see if they are eligible for continued refugee status. The move follows a
decision by UNHCR that by the end of this year Eritreans will no longer be
entitled to automatic refugee status. "The root causes of the Eritrean
refugee problem no longer exist, as fundamental and durable changes have
occurred with the end of the 30-year-old war with Ethiopia in 1991 and
Eritrean independence in 1993," UNHCR said in a statement earlier this
year. It also said peace had returned after the two-year border war with
Ethiopia which broke out in 1998. Hundreds of thousands of Eritreans fled
the country, mostly into Sudan, during the 30-year war of independence
which broke out in the 1960s. But since May 2001, many have been returning
home under a voluntary repatriation operation.

Eritreans still remaining in Sudan now have three options, UNHCR spokesman
Jonathan Clayton told IRIN on Monday. They can either regularise their
position with the Sudanese government and apply for citizenship, they can
register to return to Eritrea, or they can apply for refugee status. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29893 ]

ERITREA: Government urged to free detainees

The international human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has
called on the Eritrean authorities to immediately release a number of
political dissidents and journalists who have been in detention for a
year. "These arbitrary detentions place Eritrea in contravention of
international and regional human rights treaties which the government has
only recently ratified," it said. "They also foster a climate of impunity
on the part of the authorities." In a 24-page report, entitled 'Eritrea:
Arbitrary detentions of government critics and journalists', the
organisation on Wednesday described the detainees as "prisoners of
conscience". "Critics of the government and journalists from the private
press have been held in secret incommunicado detention for one year now,
since the authorities started a sudden clampdown on growing public dissent
in September 2001," Amnesty International said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29942 ]

ETHIOPIA: Decline in overseas investment

Ethiopia is still struggling to attract overseas investment compared to
other African countries, according to the United Nations. The UN’s
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) revealed that last year
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amounted to just US $20 million – the
lowest level for almost a decade. The figure shows a marked decline on
previous years where Ethiopia attracted over US $200 million per year. But
the war with Eritrea sparked a massive downturn. Economists believe that
the right economic policies and climate are in place but a world slowdown
and the bitter two-year conflict with its neighbour had major implications
for the economy. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29970 ]

ETHIOPIA: FAO urges assistance to support emergency projects

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has launched an appeal for nearly
US $2 million to alleviate the plight of drought-affected people in
Ethiopia. "The food situation in several parts of Ethiopia remains
alarming with millions of people suffering from drought," it said in a
statement on Thursday. The FAO noted there had been a large number of
livestock deaths and the migration of people in search of water and
pasture. The new appeal, for US $1.9 million, is aimed at supporting six
emergency projects. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29972 ]

ETHIOPIA: Region hit by rat plague

The UN’s Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE) has called on the government
to investigate after a rat plague hit one of the poorest regions of the
country. It said an “in-depth professional” study was needed in order to
tackle any future plagues that may hit Benishangul-Gumuz, a region of
Ethiopia bordering Sudan. Hundreds of hectares of crops have been
infested, wiping out almost 90 percent of the potential harvest in two
woredas (districts) of the region. Farmers used chemicals to kill the rats
but its haphazard use has prompted concerns that the outbreak could
actually spread. It has also led to the deaths of local livestock such as
hens and wildlife such as monkeys and birds. “If no adequate support is
provided to the woredas...the pest will get a chance of reproducing and
invading additional places and could do more damage to crops and domestic
assets,” the report warned. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29955 ]

ETHIOPIA: Five killed in grenade attack

Five people have been killed in a grenade attack in western Ethiopia,
local sources told IRIN on Wednesday. The attack took place early on
Tuesday morning after the grenade was thrown into the back of a pick-up
truck in Gambella. It is believed the attack is part of an increase in
violence between rival ethnic groups fighting over scarce resources.
Bitter fighting has erupted over the last few months between the Anyuak
tribe and the Nuer in an area called Itang. The UN Emergencies Unit for
Ethiopia (EUE) says that fertile land along the riverbanks in the region
has increased tensions. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29944 ]

ETHIOPIA: Drought causing rising number of cattle deaths

It is estimated that almost half the cattle in Afar have been wiped out
during the severe drought that has hit the region, according to a report
issued by the UN’s Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE). In an emergency
report, it added that more than one in 10 livestock has died in the
desert-like conditions of Oromiya, Somali and Afar regions. Market prices
of livestock have also plummeted. “Unfortunately, donors are not
responding to livestock and agriculture proposals despite the direct
linkage between human and animal health,” the EUE said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29892 ]

ETHIOPIA: Innovative study into causes of child poverty

Two thousand children in Ethiopia have been selected for a 15-year
'fly-on-the-wall' study, assessing the root causes and long-term
consequences of childhood poverty. Experts will monitor some of the
country’s poorest children from the age of six months until they reach
their 15th birthday. The results are expected to form the largest and
possibly the most comprehensive study ever on the insidious affects of
poverty among children. The information will be used by policymakers and
may help address the massive scale of poverty that affects some 600
million children around the world - an estimated one in four children.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29897 ]

SOMALIA: Somalis urged to observe international peace day

The Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia, Winston
Tubman, has urged the Somali people to observe an 'International Day of
Peace' on Saturday as part of the global effort to focus on peace.
According to a statement from his office, Tubman said the day was an
opportunity for Somalia "to reflect on the scourge of many years of civil
conflict". Saturday, 21 September, will mark the first official
'International Day of Peace' as adopted last year by the UN General
Assembly, the statement noted.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29914 ]

AFRICA: Ministers approve anti-corruption laws

African Union (AU) ministers meeting in Addis Ababa have backed tough new
laws aimed at wiping out corruption that has cost the continent an
estimated US $148 billion. They signed up to 26 articles which are
expected to be adopted as a convention by African heads of state at the AU
summit in Maputo, Mozambique next year. The move will see countries
agreeing to extradite officials who are suspected or have been convicted
of corruption. Governments will also have the power to confiscate
documents from banks to help with convictions. The AU also wants both
civil society and the media to play a role in the fight. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29992 ]


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