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| Africa Horn | |
| Drought stricken Eritrea expels relief agencies | |
| 2006-03-24 | |
| NAIROBI - Drought stricken Eritrea has expelled a number of international non-governmental organisations working in the country, adding to a long list of expulsions of foreign aid agencies. “We received a letter to cease operations saying that (aid organization) Concern did not meet operational requirements,” said Austin Kennen, Eritrean desk officer for Concern speaking from Dublin on Thursday. The Irish organization is one of an unknown number of aid agencies that received letters informing them that their operating permits had been terminated without any elaboration. Concern assists some 100,000 people in Eritrea in fighting soil erosion and also offers water and sanitation services. It was not immediately clear what would become of the organization’s 100 local and three foreign staff members. Last year Eritrea expelled United States government aid agency USAID and also threw out 180 Western peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in Eritrea that polices a buffer zone along Eritrea’s disputed border with Ethiopia. Eritrea is believed to be furious with the UN’s inability to force Ethiopia to respect a boundary commission ruling that awarded an Ethiopian-administered border town to Eritrea. Asmara’s increasingly tough stance with foreign aid agencies, however, belies the country’s increasing need for drought relief aid. A recent WFP report says food has become more expensive and shortages more likely since the government slashed free foreign food from 1.3 million people last August to only 72,000.
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| Posted by:Steve White |