afrol News, 6 June - The new deal to demarcate boundary lines between Ethiopia and Sudan has been received with grim faces by Ethiopians who complain that the arrangement gives Sudanese the right to occupy their holy and historical areas.

The deal was followed by another complaint by residents in western Ethiopia that thousands of people in various border regions were forced from their homes in recent weeks by the Sudanese army. The soldiers are reported to have invited Sudanese from across the border to take over Ethiopian settlements.

Dozens of Ethiopian farms are said to have been raided as well as torched in the Gondor region in western Ethiopia by marauding soldiers, imprisoning about 34 people, 28 of whom are believed to still be held prisoner in Sudan.

The Ethiopian government has as yet not announced the demarcation agreement, despite rumours abound that Ethiopians are being removed from their lands. The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is reported to have publicly refuted claims of Ethiopian land being acquired by Sudan.

A US based advocacy group, the Ethiopia and Sudan Border Issue Committee has accused Mr Zenawi for giving up land without permission of the Ethiopians.

The chairman of the committee Fiseha Abebe has promised to revoke the boundary deal through the courts of law. Mr Abebe maintained that the Ethiopian people would never accept the Prime Minister’s move.

He was quoted as saying “he did not even mention what he was doing until we exposed him. In some places, they have given up about 50 miles inside Ethiopia and in other places, about 30 miles. There is going to be a big backlash. This is going to be impossible for any Ethiopian to accept this type of situation."

The Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry however agreed last month that the demarcation process was progressing in accordance with mutual respect based on historical proof.

The existing border between Ethiopia and Sudan was drawn up more than a century ago, when Sudan was under British colonial rule.

The Ethiopian-African Affairs Director in the ministry of Foreign Affairs to had announced that there was no disagreement between Ethiopia and Sudan to solve the boundary problem with the involvement of a third party, adding that the demarcation of the 1600km border might take a long time to conclude.

Both east African states first signed the border accord in 1903 and later in 1909, before agreeing to relocate it in 1972. Since 2001, the two countries have in vain been trying to draw up a new boundary line, resulting in widespread bloodshed.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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