DATE=4/9/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43068
TITLE=ERITREA DISPLACED
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=MAI WURAY, ERITREA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FIGHTING BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA HAS DISPLACED
THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS. REGIONAL EFFORTS TO END THE WAR ARE
MAKING LITTLE PROGRESS. VOA'S SCOTT STEARNS IS IN ERITREA AND
HAS A REPORT
TEXT: THE TOWN OF TSORONA IS DESERTED. NINE KILOMETERS FROM THE
FRONT, ROWS OF CINDERBLOCK HOUSES STAND SILENT. MARKET STALLS ARE
EMPTY, THE GREEN METAL DOORS OF THE STAR CAFE BARRED SHUT.
MORE THAN 20-THOUSAND PEOPLE LEFT THEIR HOMES AFTER ETHIOPIAN
SHELLING IN DECEMBER. NOW THEY ARE LIVING IN TENTS ALONG SHEER
ROCK CLIFFS, STAYING OFF THE SCRUB FLATLAND BECAUSE ITS EASIER TO
BE BOMBED FROM THE AIR.
AHFEROM TOLDE IS THE GOVERNOR OF THE TSORONA SUB-REGION.
/// AHFEROM ACT ///
IT WAS A SUDDEN ACTION, SO THE FIRST THING TO DO WAS TO
LOOK FOR SHADE, WATER, AND SAFETY, SO THIS IS ONE OF THE
PLACES THAT WE SAW. FIRST THEY CAME AND LIVED UNDER
TREES. IN THE MIDDLE IS NOT SAFE. ON THE SIDES OF THE
HILLS IT IS ALWAYS SAFER, SO THIS IS WHAT WE DO.
/// END ACT ///
GOVERNOR AHFEROM HAS DIVIDED THE PEOPLE OF TSORONA INTO THREE
DIFFERENT SITES FOR SAFETY AND BECAUSE NO ONE PLACE HERE COULD
SUPPORT SO MANY PEOPLE. AROUND THE SMALL STONE VILLAGE OF MAL
WURAY, THE GOVERNMENT TRUCKS-IN WATER AND TIMBER, TRYING TO KEEP
PEOPLE FROM WALKING OFF TOO FAR INTO THE HAZOMO PLAIN.
/// SECOND AHFEROM ACT ///
THERE IS SCARCITY OF WATER. THE SOURCE OF WATER THAT WE
HAD HERE WAS MEANT TO SERVE FOR ABOUT 100 FAMILIES. NOW
WE BROUGHT 15-HUNDRED FAMILIES ON TOP OF THEM. THEY CAME
WITH THEIR CATTLE HERDS. SO GRASS IS ALSO ANOTHER
PROBLEM ... AND WHEN THEY COME TO THIS PLACE THEY ARE
GOING TO CUT TREES.
/// END ACT ///
ERITREANS APPEAR TO BE HANDLING THE SITUATION THEMSELVES.
//OPT// THERE ARE NO U-N RATION CARDS, NO OXFAM WATER PROJECT,
NO M-S-F SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDING CENTER, NO NUTRITIONAL SURVEY FOR
WHAT THE AID COMMUNITY WOULD CALL THESE INTERNALLY DISPLACED
PERSONS. //END OPT//
WITH A FEW ARMY TRUCKS, ERITREAN FAMILIES MOVED AS MUCH AS THEY
COULD TO THEIR TENTS AT MAI WURAY. WITH THE WAR COMING CLOSER,
HAILLE BEYENE SAYS THERE WAS NO WAY THEY COULD STAY IN
TSORONA..
/// HAILLE ACT IN TIGRINIAN -- ESTABLISH AND FADE ///
MR. HAILLE SAYS WHEN THE ETHIOPIANS STARTED SHELLING AROUND
TSORONA, "WE HAD TO SAVE OUR LIVES, SO WE CAME SOMEWHERE SAFE
UNDER THE ROCKS." WITH NINE CHILDREN TO CARE FOR, MR. HAILLE SAYS
IT IS HARD TO FIND THE MONEY WHEN YOU ARE NOT LIVING AT HOME AND
THE LOCAL ECONOMY HAS BEEN DISRUPTED.
/// SOUND OF SEWING MACHINE --UP UNDER, ESTABLISH AND FADE ///
NOW, MR. HAILLE IS SEWING PINK FLOWERED DRESSES ON AN OLD PEDAL
MACHINE IN A SHOP HE SHARES WITH HIS BROTHER. //OPT// PROTECTED
FROM THE SUN BY PLASTIC SHEETING, IT IS A SURPRISINGLY
WELL-STOCKED LITTLE SHOP WITH DOZENS OF BOLTS OF BRIGHT POLYESTER
MATERIAL, "CAPTAIN MAJID" TRACK SUITS FROM SAUDI ARABIA, AND A
BLACK "SPICE GIRLS" T-SHIRT FLAPPING ON A CROOKED METAL HANGER.
//END OPT//
HIS BROTHER'S WIFE SELLS TOMATOES AND ONIONS THEY GET FROM
VILLAGES FARTHER NORTH. MR. HAILLE SAYS THEY HAVE TO DO
SOMETHING FOR SOME LITTLE MONEY FOR SUGAR. YOU CAN NOT JUST SIT
HERE AND EXPECT TO BE SUPPORTED FOREVER BY THE GOVERNMENT.
//OPT// SOLDIERS DRINK IN BARS ALONG THE SMALL COMMERCIAL STRETCH
UNDER THE ROCKS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE CANYON. IN A STICK STALL
COVERED WITH THATCH, ADANESH ZIGTA SELLS CIGARETTES AND LAUNDRY
SOAP.
/// ADANESH ACT IN TIGRINIAN -- ESTABLISH AND FADE ///
"WE HAVE GOT BIG PROBLEMS HERE," SHE SAYS. "WE HAVE NOTHING. THE
GOVERNMENT BRINGS WATER, BUT THERE IS STILL A SHORTAGE, IT IS SO
HOT DURING THE DAY, THEN THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH BLANKETS FOR WHEN
IT GETS COLD AT NIGHT. IT IS NO WAY TO LIVE," SHE SAYS, NO WAY
FOR HER FIVE-YEAR-OLD GRANDSON TO LIVE WHO SHE HAD HOPED WOULD
START SCHOOL THIS YEAR. //END OPT//
THE WAR BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA HAS DISPLACED MORE THAN
100-THOUSAND CIVILIANS -- PEOPLE WHO ONCE FOUGHT TOGETHER AGAINST
DICTATOR MENGISTU HAILLE MARIAM, NOW BATTLING EACH OTHER ACROSS
THEIR DRY, ROCKY BORDER.
//OPT// WITH ERITREAN INDEPENDENCE FROM ETHIOPIA IN 1993, HAILLE
BEYENE SAYS EVERYONE EXPECTED THE FIGHTING TO STOP.
/// SECOND HAILLE ACT IN TIGRINIAN -- ESTABLISH AND FADE UNDER
TEXT ///
"BOTH COUNTRIES HAD PEACE," HE SAYS. "WE NEVER EXPECTED THIS
PROBLEM NOW WITH THE ETHIOPIANS. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THERE IS
WAR, IT IS LIKE A DREAM." //END OPT//
THESE PLAINS NORTH OF THE MEREB RIVER HAVE SEEN PLENTY OF COMBAT
OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS. FLUSH WITH SOVIET SUPPORT, THE MENGISTU
ARMY PUSHED ERITREANS BACK TOWARD THE CAPITAL ASMARA IN THE LATE
1970'S. ERITREANS DROVE SOUTH THROUGH TSORONA IN THEIR FINAL PUSH
ON THE ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL IN 1991.
//OPT// GOVERNOR AHFEROM KNOWS PEOPLE ARE NOT HAPPY AT MAL
WURAY. HE SAYS HE ALSO KNOWS THEY WILL GET THROUGH THIS WAR -- AS
THEY HAVE GOTTEN THROUGH CONFLICT IN THE PAST.
/// THIRD AHFEROM ACT ///
THESE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ARE AROUND TSORONA
KNOW WHAT BATTLE IS BECAUSE BEFORE INDEPENDENCE, THIS
WAS ALSO ONE OF THE MAJOR BATTLE AREAS BETWEEN US AND
THE ETHIOPIANS. THEY HAVE NOT FORGOT THEIR PAST.
/// END ACT /// //END OPT//
ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA HAVE BOTH ACCEPTED AN ORGANIZATION OF
AFRICAN UNITY PLAN TO ARBITRATE THEIR BORDER DISPUTE. BOTH SIDES
BLAME THE OTHER FOR CONTINUING THE WAR. (SIGNED)
NEB/SKS/PCF
09-Apr-99 7:09 AM EDT (1109 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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