Horn of Africa

London based think tank Chatham House published a briefing paper on economic drivers of conflict and cooperation in the Horn of Africa.

According to the research agency, economic relations between nations in the Horn of Africa could play a vital role in bringing peaceful cooperation to the region. However, disagreement over territorial integrity, cultural nationalism and internal factionalism have economic elements which fuel conflict or are critical to its outcome.

Further, it states the Horn of Africa remains highly violent and conflict driven within and across national borders. The fact that the region is linked together through colonial occurrences, common ecological zones and cultural interdependence, explains why disputes in one country can have political and economic significance beyond its borders.

The termination of trade between Eritrea and Ethiopia after the 1998-2000 war represents an economic driver of conflict, the report states. The border closure between Eritrea and Ethiopia caused all Ethiopian trade to be redirected via Djibouti.

The growth of trade volumes via Djibouti went up from 1.7 million tonnes in 1997 to 3.1 million tonnes in 1998 and 4.2 million tonnes in 2002. Before the conflict the port of Assab was handling 80 – 85% of Ethiopia’s international trade, with only 15 – 20% passing through Djibouti.

According to the think tank a possible return of trade between Ethiopia and Eritrea will depend on a number of factors;

• The degree of development in the economic infrastructure of  Tigray
• The availability of finance to upgrade the ports of Massawa and Assab
• The degree of competitive measures applied from Djibouti
• Low cost operation costs at ports in Somalia (Berbera port fees 40% lower than those in Djibouti)
• The development of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia
• The alternative of road supply routes with Sudan (cheap import and exports- only 45km from Tessenei)

For  more: plesae visit the Chatham House Web page

Summary points:

• Among the drivers of conflict in the Horn of Africa economic motivations have been ubiquitous and pervasive in prompting and sustaining conflict. At other times economic drivers have exhibited a potential for peaceful cooperation. An understanding of their role and relationship with other forces of change is essential.
• Conflict in the Horn frequently has economic impacts across national borders. This paper identifies four major zones of borderland insecurity in which informal trade as much as formal relationships can both sustain conflict and offer potential for post conflict cooperation.
• Underlying the various sub-regional conflicts are a number of recurrent economic themes, including access to sea ports, livestock as a basis for livelihoods, energy related issues, the wider impact of localized conflict, drought, land rights and remittances.
• The establishment of permanent peace can only be built upon a common set of values reflecting equity, tolerance and an acknowledgment of the potential of traditional institutions in entrenching community cohesion. Only on such a foundation will specific programmes be assured of harnessing those economic drivers necessary for their success.

The UN refugee agency has entered into partnership to warn thousands of people about the dangers they face by crossing the perilous sea waves that separate the Horn of Africa from Yemen.

In a news release published here Tuesday, the agency said it has long been trying to spread awareness about the dangers, but people still keep making the perilous crossing.

In a bid to reach a wide audience, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have teamed up with the BBC World Service Trust to air a weekly radio broadcast about the risks.

The first 30-minute “Lifeline” program was broadcast on Saturday on the BBC’s Somali service.

It will become a weekly feature over the next six months, when the Gulf of Aden sailing season is at its height.

Aside from awareness material, the Saturday afternoon program will also carry general information of interest to migrants and asylum-seekers.

“The program has come just in time. It will help people understand the dangers that they are likely to face,” said Hodan Hassan, a UNHCR community services officer in the northern Somalia port of Bossaso.

Every year, tens of thousands of people, mainly Ethiopians and Somalis fleeing poverty or conflict and persecution, pay smugglers to ferry them across the Gulf of Aden to the Yemeni coast.

Many never make it, drowning or dying from beatings, shark attacks and other dangers. So far this year, around 300 people have drowned or are missing at sea and presumed dead.

Put together by the BBC World Service Trust with the help of migration experts from UNHCR, IOM and other agencies, the program will help people make an informed decision about whether or not to cross the gulf or to seek asylum in neighboring countries.

The UN agency said the program will feature Somali refugees in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen talking about the opportunities and challenges of life in exile, and also from internally displaced people in Somalia.

Interviews with migrants and asylum-seekers show that many would not have undertaken the journey had they known about the risks involved.

In a country where literacy is low and national TV and newspapers non-existent, radio is one of the best ways to reach out to the population as many people have access to a radio set.

The smugglers stop sailing in July and August when the seas are too stormy. Since the beginning of this month, more than 190 boats have arrived at the Yemen coast carrying almost 10,200 people, bringing the total number of arrivals since January to more than 50,000.

UNHCR also hopes the BBC program will sensitize host communities in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen about the plight of migrants and asylum-seekers and the reasons that lead to their flight.

“It will help in reducing xenophobic feelings directed at Ethiopian migrants and asylum-seekers by the host communities,” said Hassan. Source: (People’s Daily Online)