webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2011
All rights reserved
From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Fri Mar 18 2011 - 07:44:13 EST
http://channel6newsonline.com/2011/03/ethiopias-rebels-issue-famine-alert/
Ethiopia’s
rebels issue famine alert
17 March 2011 642 views No Comment BY: BNO News
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (BNO NEWS) -- Ethiopia's rebel group, the Ogaden
National Liberation Front (ONLF), on Thursday warned of a "severe drought"
in the region, which could develop into famine, African Online News
reported.
"The draught has now reached a stage where both people and animals are
dying," the ONLF said in a statement.
"The draught in the Ogaden is more lethal than in other regions in the Horn
of Africa because the regime of Meles Zenawi is not only denying the people
international help, but is effectively obstructing them from utilizing their
own resources," the rebels added.
The ONLF is fighting a low-scale war for independence in Ogaden - a
south-eastern region termed the Somali Province by Ethiopian authorities.
The rebels claim the government is withholding aid to actively use the
hunger card in the fight.
They claim government troops have "occupied the few water wells in the
region, preventing people and livestock from using the wells." One of the
most urgent needs was reported to be water.






International humanitarian agencies have not issued a special famine
warning for the Ogaden, but the US-based Famine Early Warning Systems (FEWS)
in its latest Ethiopia update rates the entire Ogaden region as "highly food
insecure," which is far from a famine alert.

 Access to the Ogaden region
is limited for international humanitarian agencies, which mostly rely on
information provided by the Ethiopian government making their food security
assessments. The government has not issued a particular alert for the Ogaden
(or Somali) region.

The ONLF sent an "urgent appeal" to the international community and warned
of a catastrophe similar to the country's famine in 1984 if effective
measures are not taken.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----