Eritrea has ordered three foreign non-governmental aid groups to suspend their activities despite hunger threatening two-thirds of the population of the Horn of Africa nation.
The Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare told Irish aid group Concern, United States Mercy Corps and British Accord that they had not ”met the requirements laid down for an operational permit” in letters seen by Agence France-Presse on Thursday.
The letters did not specify what requirements the groups had failed to meet.
The ministry ”kindly officially informs you that the registration certificate is recalled and requests the termination of your activities”, read the letters that were dated February 28 and received this week.
Last month, the government also ordered six Italian aid groups to stop their operations in the country.
In recent months, Asmara has been stressing the dangers of dependency on foreign aid and instituted policies intended to cultivate self-reliance.
In September, it stopped most free distribution of food aid, and called for ”food for work” programmes to be put in place.
Diplomats here say that owing to the halt there are currently some 100 000 tonnes of food aid stocked in warehouses, some of which has started rotting.
According to the United Nations, two-thirds of Eritrea’s 3,5-million population needed food aid in 2005, and while there are no figures yet for 2006, most of Eritrea’s neighbours are suffering from a scorching drought that threatens millions with starvation. — Sapa-AFP