ERITREAN COMMUNITY IN ZIMBABWE
CELEBRATES 13 TH INDEPENDCE ANNIVERSARY
The Eritrean Community in Zimbabwe, consisting of people working in International Organizations and the Private Sector, celebrated the 13 th Anniversary of their country's independence on May 29 h May, 2004, alhtough the actual date is May 24. Eritrea attained its independence after 30 years of protracted war against Ethiopian occupation. This year's celebration took place amid deep concern with the prevailing no war no peace situation with Ethioopia.
Eritrea was an Italian colony from 1890 until 1941 when the Allied Forces drove out the Italian colonial power. It became a British protectorate for a period of ten years until it was federated with Ethiopia by a decision of the United Nations in 1952. In 1962 Ethiopia unilaterally annexed Eritrea and incorporated it as one of its provinces. Political struggle for Eritrea's independence started in the 1950s. However, armed struggle begun in 1961 when it became apparent that Eritrea would not win its independence through peaceful means.
The current leadership in Ethiopia and Eritrea cooperated during their struggle against the Ethiopian Military regime. They both succeeded in achieving their respective objectives -Eritreans for Independence and Ethiopians to get rid of the repressive regime - in 1991. Until the start of the border war in 1998, the relationship and cooperation that existed between the two countries was universally perceived as a good basis for regional and continental stability and cooperation. The border war destroyed this perception. In reality, friction between the two countries started in 1997, when the Ethiopian army occupied parts of Eritrean territory under the pretext of "hot-pursuit" of an Ethiopian rebel group and refused to leave.
The war, which claimed about 100,000 lives, ended in 2000 with the signing of a Peace Agreement in Algiers. The United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the United States, and the host country Algeria agreed to guarantee implementation of the Algiers Peace Accord . A peace-keeping force of 4200 UN troops was subsequently deployed along the border areas.
One of the most important features of the Algiers Peace Accord was the decision to delimit and demarcate the border between the two countries through the formation of an independent Border Commission of five judges. Each party selected two judges and a chair selected by the United Nations with the consent of both parties. Both parties had agreed and signed, a priori, that the decision of the Border Commission would be final and binding.
The Border Commission completed its work and delivered its verdict in April 2002. Initially, both parties publicly accepted the verdict of the Border Commission. However, in September 2003 Ethiopia wrote to the UN Secretary General rejecting the verdict, thereby renaging on its commitment to the Peace Accord. This resulted in a renewed tension between the two countries.
The Eritrean Community in Zimbabwe is disheartened by the failure of the five guarantors of the Peace Accord, particularly the AU, in taking the necessary action to demarcate the border as stipulated in the Border Commission's ruling. The Community strongly believes that Zimbabwe, as an important member of AU could play a positive role in ensuring speedy implementation of the Border Commssion's ruling.
Although the Eritrean community in Zimbabwe is small, in its humble way, it strives to foster a closer relationship between the peoples of Zimbabwe and Eritrea. It also strives to help the Government of Eritrea to identify areas of possible technical and economic cooperation with Zimbabwe, as the two countries share common background of armed struggle for independence and vision for development. Such a cooperation had already started in 1999 when Zimbabwe accepted to host 30 Eritrean university students sponsored by the Eritrean Government. The students have successfully completed their studies at UoZ between 2002 and 2003.
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