UN staff accuses Eritrea of harassing their colleagues
Sept 11, 2006 (NAIROBI) — Staff of the United Nations have accused Eritrea of harassing their colleagues working in the Horn of Africa country, saying Asmara’s actions against the world body’s employees were illegal under international law.
Eritrean authorities on 5 September expelled five employees of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopian and Eritrea (UNMEE), giving them 24 hours to leave the country after accusing them of “spying activities”.
“This act continues a consistent pattern of violations of the independence of the United Nations staff by Eritrea,” said the UN Staff Council’s Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service, in a statement issued in New York. The staff council listed other occasions when the Eritrean authorities allegedly mistreated UN staff. The harassment was in the form of detentions, expulsions and restriction of movement.
Eritrean government officials could not be reached for comment.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week expressed dismay at the latest decision to expel UN staff and concern over the recent arrest of another UNMEE staff member by Eritrean authorities, and their refusal to explain the arrest or to provide access to the employee.
Frustrated at the lack of progress in resolving its border dispute with Ethiopia, Eritrea banned UNMEE flights over its territory in October 2005 and expelled some of the peacekeeping mission’s North American and European personnel. The move hampered the peacekeepers’ ability to monitor the volatile border zone.
Eritrea and Ethiopia have been in a stand-off over the demarcation of their 1,000 km border, over which they fought a bloody war from 1998 to 2000.
(IRIN)