Eritrea Ready For Talks On Border Demarcation

Berhane M Tekeste

Eritrea will attend and is ready for the upcoming September 6 Boundary commission’s meeting with Ethiopia for talks on border demarcation to be held in The Hague, Netherlands. Earlier, Ethiopia has said it will attend.

“We definitely will be there. The discussion will focus on demarcation of the border according to the decision made by the (Boundary) Commission. We hope to see we go through this phase and finally see the implementation of the (border) decision through demarcation on the ground.” The ruler of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki, said on Aljazeera’s Riz Khan show last Thursday, 31 August 2007.

With that, the highly anticipated meeting of the two parties is set to take place as planed and the demarcation of the shared border appears to inch closer to reality. The US has said it is pleased the two sides have agreed to meet and the UN got what it has been calling for.

Now that Ethiopia has finally restated its unequivocal acceptance of the final and binding nature of the decision of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) of April 13, 2002, there is nothing in the Algiers Peace Accord that would not allow the demarcation of the shared border to proceed accordingly as close as only technically possible and without grossly departing from it?

In the words of the chairman of the Boundary Commission, “there is no crisis, terminal or otherwise, that cannot be cured by Ethiopia’s compliance with its obligation under the Algiers Agreement, in particular its obligation to treat the Commission’s delimitation determination as ‘final and binding’ and to cooperate with the Commission, its experts and other staff in all respects during the process of demarcation.”

As it stands to date, therefore, both sides have now agreed to stick to and abide by the finality and binding nature of the delimitation decision and hence the rule of law. Consequently, the task at hand is limited to working around the delimitation line in order to make the impact of human and territorial shifts that arise from and are inherent in any such boundary delimitation determination as bearable as only possible to the border population. This is also stipulated by Article 4/16 of the Algiers Agreement of 2000, which reads as follows:

“Recognizing that the results of the delimitation and demarcation process are not yet known, the parties request the United Nations to facilitate resolution of problems which may arise due to the transfer of territorial control, including the consequences for individuals residing in previously disputed territory.”

Although the Algiers Agreement clearly precludes the boundary commission from making decisions based on human geography, it did not leave it at that. In consideration of human geography, the commission has a mechanism in place whereby the demarcation of the border is conducted in close consultation and discussions with and among representatives of the two nations including UN under its auspices. Eritrea has long nominated its representative. It is long overdue for Ethiopia to follow suit as testament to its repeated pledge to stick to and abide by the final and binding decision of the EEBC. You want to demarcate the border through discussion? There you have it. Hasn't that been the bottom line and persistent US-Ethiopia mantra as articulated by US Ambassador Vicki Huddleston and constantly regurgitated by Ethiopia rulers?

It goes without saying that the border demarcation cannot be accomplished under hostile military environment and severed maneuverability of the entities involved in demarcating the border physically. Ergo, there is no question that an amicable ambience, demilitarization of the area to be demarcated, and by extension the restoration of the integrity of the Temporary Security Zone is certainly a sine quo non for the successful realization of the demarcation process.

Given the political will of the parties in particular and the international community (US) in general, this is all achievable.