Gerhusirnay, Ethiopia | Thursday
A YEAR after Ethiopia and Eritrea ended a bloody border war, people displaced by the conflict still cannot work their fields because of landmines, humanitarian officials say.
“A lot of people have returned to their homes but have no access to their farmland because of landmine issues, and that is true pretty much all along the border,” said Thomas Thompson, an official of the UN World Food Program.
About 15 accidents involving mines have occurred since the December 12, 2000 peace pact ending two-and-a-half years of war, a local administrator said.
The UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) said that in the previous year nearly 150 such accidents were recorded in the border area.
Between June 2000 and June 2001, Ethiopian experts made safe 274 350 mines placed by Eritrean soldiers, according to Addis Ababa.
A total of two million mines were laid on the Ethiopian side of the border, according to a local non-governmental organisation.
Ethiopia plans to deploy nearly 200 soldiers to the border who have received training in mine clearance from US and Canadian experts.
“It will keep many people on assistance rolls for the foreseeable future until these areas are cleared,” Thompson said. – AFP