Ethiopian rebels welcome UN appeal for aid to Ogaden

March 5, 2008 — The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) welcomes today’s United Nations (UN) appeal for $4 million in drought related aid partly intended for the people of Ogaden.

While appeals for aid are welcome, UN aid convoys in Ogaden continue to be largely directed and controlled by the armed forces of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) regime currently in power in Ethiopia. Large quantities of food and other forms of aid continue to be used by the TPLF regime to serve political purposes.

Soley focusing on humanitarian aid which rarely reaches the vast majority of our population and is subject to politically motivated manipulation will not in the long run end the humanitarian, human rights and political crisis in Ogaden.

The United Nations and donor nations can begin to address the root causes of the Ogaden conflict by implementing the recommendations of the 2007 UN humanitarian assessment team which visited Ogaden and called for an “independent investigation” into human rights abuses. To date the United Nations has taken no action in this regard.

The ONLF stands ready to partner with the UN and donor countries if there is a genuine will to find a comprehensive and just political settlement to the Ogaden conflict.