Eritrea said on Monday it has ordered two more international aid agencies to leave the country, bringing to at least 11 the number of such groups expelled this year.
Asmara said the services of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Samaritan’s Purse, both of which use Eritrea as a base for operations in eastern Sudan, are no longer needed.
Information Minister Ali Abdu said that since the signing of an Eritrean-mediated peace agreement between Khartoum and eastern rebels, the two NGOS have become redundant.
”These two NGOs were allowed for cross-border operations,” he said. ”Since there is now an agreement between the government of Sudan and the eastern front, signed here in Asmara, there is no need for such work. They were asked to terminate their operation, because when there is a conducive atmosphere in that place, you don’t need to create such cross-border operations.
”We are grateful for what they did but since there is no need … we kindly ask them to stop.”
The two groups were given letters last week informing them that their work and operations permits would not be extended past their November 15 expiration, officials said.
Samaritan’s Purse is a United States evangelical Christian organisation ”providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world”.
The IRC, whose headquarters is also in the US, runs projects including improving water and sanitation in east Sudan from its Asmara office.
They join a long list of NGOs who have been asked to leave the Horn of Africa country over the past 18 months.
Last year, Eritrea said it no longer needed the assistance of the US Agency for International Development and, since January, it has ordered nine other private organisations to leave.
Eritrea has repeatedly warned of the dangers of aid dependency, criticised what it calls Western ”neo-colonialism” and said that aid agencies engaging in ”political or economic sabotage” will be banned.
In May last year, it adopted tough legislation to regulate the operations of all NGOs, including a requirement for them to pay taxes on imported materials.
In addition to paying import taxes, the NGOs are required to submit project reports every three months and have to renew their licences annually. — Sapa-AFP