UN : Eritrea helicopter ban endangers peacekeepers
Oct 19, 2005 (UNITED NATIONS) — Eritrea’s refusal to lift its ban on U.N. helicopter flights on its side of a buffer zone with Ethiopia is obstructing U.N. observation of the volatile border area and endangering U.N. peacekeepers, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said Wednesday.
Two weeks after the Eritrean government banned U.N. helicopter flights in its airspace in the restive Temporary Security Zone, Undersecretary-General Jean-Marie Guhenno said the situation on the ground in the region was a cause of “great concern.”
In a meeting Wednesday with the U.N. Security Council, Guhenno highlighted three main consequences of the ban: decreased visibility along the disputed Ethiopian-Eritrean border, increased security risk for U.N. peacekeepers who rely on helicopters for safety, and a temporary halt in demining activities in the area due to the inability to airlift those who might be wounded to nearby hospitals.
He cited as particularly troubling an Oct. 17 incident in which three Kenyan peacekeepers were injured in a road accident in the western section of the buffer zone.
The Eritrean government wouldn’t grant permission to perform a helicopter medical evacuation, Guhenno said, and the two men who needed further medical attention had to wait overnight before being driven to a hospital in the Eritrean capital, Asmara.
Eritrea has so far given no reason for the helicopter restrictions. Since the ban was implemented on Oct. 5, Eritrea has also banned U.N. patrol vehicles from operating at night on its side of the 1,000-kilometer security zone.
The region has remained tense since a December 2000 peace agreement ending a 2 1/2-year border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The deal provided for the formation of an independent commission to rule on the position of the disputed border, but Ethiopia refused to accept the decision issued in April 2002 that awarded the town of Badme to Eritrea.
On Monday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that if U.N. operations in the area continued to be impeded, the U.N. “will have to take some very hard and critical decisions as to the usefulness of staying there.”
Guhenno would not confirm any plans to pull U.N. troops out of the region.
He said what is needed now is a “de-escalation of tensions” on all sides, adding that the U.N. remains “in continuous contact” with Eritrea.
Guehenno also noted the potential for increased strain on Ethiopian-Eritrean relations if the border cannot be sufficiently monitored. Rumors of forays by Eritrean troops into the buffer zone have already surfaced, he acknowledged, though he couldn’t confirm their validity.
“When we’re on the ground, we can prevent suspicions from turning into dangerous actions,” he said. “In the current situation, suspicions will fly.”
(AP/ST)