September 20, 2011 - One of the worst famines in the history of Horn of Africa has spread deeply across Somalia, leaving hundreds of thousands of hungry Somalis. A large number of hungry Somalis have already taken shelter across the border in Ethiopian refugee camps, with thousands others following suit, as the famine spreads to over 750,000 people in the country. As the number of refugees from across the border increases, Ethiopia is finding it hard to manage the situation, especially with millions of people starving in the country itself.
The United Nations, taking stock of the situation in the Horn of Africa, calls for greater efforts to bring the crisis under control, with 12 million people finding it hard to feed themselves. To make matters worse for Ethiopia, thousands of starved Eritreans are flooding Ethiopian refugee camps, thus contributing to the ever-growing humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa.
Despite the humanitarian crisis in the country, Eritrea continues to deny that it is affected by one of the worst droughts in 60 years in the region; rather, it claims that there are no food shortages due to last year’s “bumper harvest.” Contrarily, neighboring Ethiopia claims that more than half of Eritrean population is starving. Eritrea even accuses world nations of crying crocodile tears over the situation in Horn of Africa.
Situation in Eritrea
Many in the Eritrean military are risking their lives trying to escape from the autocratic regime-imposed open-ended conscription to cross into neighboring Ethiopia and Sudan. A number of fleeing Eritreans have already lost their lives after being caught at the heavily militarized Eritrean border.
Urging the Eritrean Government to allow aid workers to come to the rescue of starving millions in the country, Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, expressed deep concern at the plight of the hungry and aid-deprived Eritreans. She said that the situation of drought and famine-hit people in Eritrea was similar to the starving in the rest of the region.
According to the UN refugee agency statistics, at least 3,000 Eritreans flee into Ethiopia and Sudan every month to escape gross human rights violations. In Eritrea, national service is compulsory for everybody above the age of 16. According to UN spokesperson Kisut Gebre Egziabher, many Eritrean youths flee from the country to escape forced conscription into the military.
Eritrea has one of the worst human rights records and experts believe that the human rights record in Eritrea has deteriorated further since the past decade. In Eritrea, there is no press freedom, nor is there any opposition. It is one of the least developed African nations, having a per capita GDP of $369. Often regarded as a “troublemaker” in the region, Eritrea applied for a re-entry in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development last month, seeking an end to regional isolation.
Recently, the United Nations sought tighter economic sanctions against Eritrea after a report alleged that the country was responsible for a failed bomb attempt at the African Union. Eritrea is even accused of supporting extremist Shebab rebels of Somalia.
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991 after a 30-year-long war with that country, following which, both countries were embroiled in a border conflict from 1998 to 2000, and the issue continues to boil since.