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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
ETHIOPIA: Interview with Tswahab Tadesse, administrator of Shiraro
SHIRARO, 19 May 2003 (IRIN) - Tswahab Tadesse is a veteran guerrilla fighter from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) who commanded over 1,000 people. Now she is the district administrator for Shiraro in northwestern Ethiopia – an area that currently includes the symbolic town of Badme. She tells IRIN how she will never accept the boundary commission ruling that places Badme in Eritrea and her fears of future conflict.
QUESTION: What are you doing in terms of reconstruction in Badme?
ANSWER: This war was not expected so a lot of damage was done. Our first objective is to reconstruct the infrastructure, the schools, the water points and hand pumps and clinics in the area. We are also improving agricultural facilities and veterinary facilities. These are all under construction and some are completed. We are also giving money for reconstruction
of the houses that have been damaged.
Q: How much is being given to families for reconstruction work?
A: In those areas where there was destruction we have given 3,000 Ethiopian birr [about US $350], for medium destruction 7,000 birr [about US $820], and for totally destroyed areas 15,000 birr [about US $1,760] per household. The money came from the relief and development reconstruction fund of the government.
Q: When did you start distributing the money?
A: For management purposes we divided the aid programme into three phases. The first phase was giving them furniture for their houses. The second phase was providing livestock and other items and the third phase was the house construction programme. And now we started giving money for construction of houses. These phases started at different times. This programme started in January last year. We have given in total about 19 million birr [about US $2.2 million], for the individual households in Badme. It does not include the schools and infrastructure.
Q: Why carry out reconstruction work if Badme belongs to Eritrea?
A: There is no reason for Badme to be given to Eritrea. It is our sovereign territory so we will continue with the reconstruction work like we are doing in other parts of the country. This is not a message to the international community, it is just reconstruction work like in the rest of the country.
Q: As a former TPLF fighter how do you feel about Badme being located in Eritrea?
A: I fought for my country and I love my country and Badme is our sovereign territory. I don’t want to lose it, I would be very angry. By deciding that Badme is part of Eritrea it has not resolved the problem, it is simply aggravating it. And I hope that the commission [Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission] would legally decide that, because Badme was never administered by
Eritrea except during the war.
Q: What is the reaction of the local population?
A: The local people in Badme and the surroundings asked if they could hold demonstrations, but at that time the decision was not declared and so we said there was hope and that a demonstration could aggravate the problem. They wanted to express their feelings to UNMEE [UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea] because the local people expect UNMEE and the UN people to help. They did not believe the ruling and so the local population asked me. I told them to stay calm.
Q: But why do you not accept the decision for the sake of peace?
A: I was born here in Shiraro, it is my birthplace. I was not expecting that we would lose Badme but that the commission, based on the [colonial] treaty, would give us territory from the Mereb River. It didn’t occur to me or, I expect, any Ethiopian, to lose Badme because we have always administered it. It would be a black spot in the history of Ethiopia, both for this and future generations, if we accept this.
Q: But your government had accepted any decision as final and binding?
A: The decision that the Ethiopian government accepted, the [December 2000] peace agreement, was genuine, and based on effective administration. If the [13 April 2002 border] ruling had met these criteria then it would have been good. But it is not a genuine legal decision if we lose Badme because it is not based on those criteria. We cannot accept any decision where Badme is given to Eritrea. If the government accepts this decision I myself, and the society, would not accept this - even if our government said this.
Q: Are you concerned that another conflict might erupt?
A: The society does not expect that the Eritreans will come to Badme. If it happens, it is expected there will be another problem. It [Badme] was with us then and it is with us now. We are talking about Badme and its surrounds. Badme was the focal point and the cause of the war. The morale of the society is more seriously affected in Badme, the town and the nearby areas because we lost so many lives to recapture Badme, liberate Badme.
Q: But lawyers appointed by your government also decided Badme was located in Eritrea?
A: The representatives...did not make a legal decision. That is why I myself and the society will not accept it. What I know is that the decision to give Badme to Eritrea is not a good one, because Badme has been administered by Ethiopia for a long time. The basis for Ethiopia to accept that decision is to have a peaceful relationship with Eritrea, but it was not in our expectation and the government’s expectation that the commission would decide this.
Themes: (IRIN) Conflict
[ENDS]
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