DATE=7/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=WFP / ERITREA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264891
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations World Food Program, W-F-P,
says it is running out of food for hundreds of
thousands of displaced people in Eritrea. Lisa
Schlein in Geneva reports the agency says it is not
able to buy more food because it is out of money.
TEXT: The World Food Program says it has enough food
for about six weeks. After that, it says three-
quarters-of-a-million displaced people in Eritrea will
go hungry.
W-F-P's Christiane Berthiaume says the agency has
received only 40 percent of its 23-million dollar
appeal. She says this is not enough to replenish
food stocks when they are exhausted.
/// BERTHIAUME ACT ONE ///
Eritrea will be in need of food for at least far
away into the year 2001 because, unfortunately,
when the war started it pushed many people on
the move at a very crucial moment for Eritrea,
which was the planting season. So, they left.
They didn't plant the land. They're coming
back. They cannot go back to their homes to
maybe have a little bit of harvest. So the
harvest is going to be very bad this year.
/// END ACT ///
Ms. Berthiaume says these problems are coming after a
serious drought in East Africa. She says many
Eritreans would like to return to their homes, but
cannot. She says some places still are occupied by
Ethiopian soldiers. She says landmines are a danger
in some areas. And she says many villages have been
damaged so badly they are not inhabitable.
Ms. Berthiaume also says about one-half-million
Eritreans live in camps that are in deplorable
condition.
/// BERTHIAUME ACT TWO ///
Sanitary conditions are bad, water is not
good, shelter is bad. Camps are overcrowded.
Many people also live in caves. They are
difficult to access. We do also have food
problem. It's difficult to distribute the food
because Eritrea is a country of mountains.
Roads are bad and it is the rainy season. It's
difficult to reach them.
/// END ACT ///
Meanwhile, the U-N refugee agency reports its
repatriation of about 90-thousand Eritreans from Sudan
is progressing well. The operation began Tuesday and
in three days, the agency says it transported nearly
three-thousand refugees home. It hoped to repatriate
another three-thousand Eritreans on Friday. (Signed)
NEB/LS/JWH/JP
28-Jul-2000 10:18 AM EDT (28-Jul-2000 1418 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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