Eritrea and Ethiopia (Hansard, 4 February 2004)

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)
My Lords, the United Kingdom and other members of the Security Council will continue to press Ethiopia and Eritrea to accept the boundary commission decision and begin a political dialogue. We welcome the appointment of the United Nations special envoy, Lloyd Axworthy, and urge both parties to work with him on resolving their differences.

§ Lord Rea
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that Answer, which gives us a little more information about what is going on. Is she aware that there are powerful groups—factions—in Ethiopia that do not accept the Algiers agreement and, in fact, never really accepted the independence of Eritrea in 1991? Does she agree that it would strengthen the hand of those in Ethiopia who want peace if the Security Council were to insist on compliance with the Algiers agreement by the Ethiopian Government—with the proviso that any sanctions that might be imposed should not affect food and humanitarian aid?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I accept that there are powerful groups that find it hard to accept the findings of the boundary commission. It is important to note that at present there is something of a stand-off between both sides, because, unfortunately, the Eritrean Government have not yet confirmed that they are willing to deal with Lloyd Axworthy. It is important that Mr Axworthy, as the UN special envoy, has the united support of the international community. I knew him when he was a Canadian Foreign Minister; he is an extremely impressive man and I hope that he will be able to bring both sides together.
We will have an opportunity to take the matter forward. It was taken forward by my honourable friend Mr Mullin when he visited both Eritrea and Ethiopia earlier this month. I understand that the international development secretary, my right honourable friend Mr Benn, will also visit Ethiopia in February and will be able to press the points made by the noble Lord.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, does the noble Baroness agree that the reason why the Eritreans declined to accept a visit by Mr Lloyd Axworthy is that it is not they who are responsible for incursions into the temporary security zone; that it is not they who have failed to create the necessary conditions for demarcation to proceed; and that it is not they who have failed to co-operate fully and promptly with the boundary commission? In view of the Ethiopians' continued non-compliance with the Security Council resolution, does not she think that a threat to peace exists that should now be referred to the Security Council under chapter 6 of the charter?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I cannot agree with the noble Lord's conclusions. The United Nations appointed Lloyd Axworthy relatively recently and he ought to be given the opportunity to take forward the remits that he has. I have indicated that there are shortcomings on both sides, and the noble Lord has indicated very clearly the shortcomings on the Ethiopian side. It is important now that we use the forthcoming visit of the development secretary to press home the point, as we did with the visit of my honourable friend recently. I hope we will give this process a chance, under Mr Axworthy, who I believe to be a very good choice for the UN envoy role.

§ Lord Hylton
My Lords, can the Minister say what progress has been made in demarcating the frontier and whether this process also involved an element of arbitration in places where the frontier was in dispute? Furthermore, can she give us any good news about the return of prisoners and refugees by both sides which must surely help to build trust and confidence?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I fear that the stand-off between the two countries at the moment does not allow me to give the good news that the noble Lord requests. I wish I could give him such news. I can only reiterate that this is a highly unsatisfactory situation. The Ethiopians have refused to accept the findings of the boundary commission. The United Nations has put in an envoy who we hope will be able to bring the two sides together, but the Eritreans are currently refusing to deal with him. The boundary commission found in favour of the Eritreans, as the noble Lord knows, but at the moment, the area particularly around Badame— which is the area principally under dispute, and where there are about a thousand people living—is in considerable difficulty.
I return to my main point—that the envoy has to be given the opportunity to discuss the borders, the future of Badame and the important question that the noble Lord has raised in relation to prisoner exchange.

§ Lord Howell of Guildford
My Lords, would the Minister agree that this dispute in the Badame region goes back a long way, certainly to the time of Mussolini and probably before that, and that there has been a long string of undertakings and agreements— the US-Rwanda peace plan; UN Resolution 1226; as well as the Algiers agreement that we are talking about? Would she accept that it is going to take a lot to persuade the Ethiopians to come into line with the boundary commission, but that it is worth while persisting very hard, because last time the matter turned into violence with 100,000 lives being lost. We want no repeat of that.

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
Yes, my Lords; I agree that it has been a dispute of very long-standing. Sadly, many disputes of long-standing duration become intractable over a period of time. It is obvious 683 that both sides view the Badame area as part of their own country. We have consistently stressed to the Ethiopians, at prime ministerial and ambassadorial level both in Addis Ababa and in New York, that we believe that the decision of the boundary commission is final and binding. However, it is now for the Ethiopian Prime Minister to persuade his government, his party, and his people that they must accept the boundary commission's findings. However, I am sure that he will face an uphill task in doing so, as my noble friend Lord Rea indicated in his supplementary question.

§ Lord Rea
My Lords, could I ask my noble friend to convey my congratulations to her honourable friend Chris Mullin on the excellent work that he has been doing in this troubled area? Perhaps I could use this short intervention to clear up any misunderstanding that I might have created with my first supplementary question. I do not include the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mr Meles Zenawi, in any way with those who are trying to disrupt the agreement.

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for what he said about Mr Mullin. He is right. During Mr Mullin's visit, from 13 to 19 January, he was able to address these issues with both Eritrea and Ethiopia. He met President Issaias in Eritrea and Prime Minister Meles in Ethiopia. Her Majesty's Government have shared the regard that my noble friend has expressed about Prime Minister Meles. We are worried about many issues in Ethiopia, particularly in connection with human rights, but Prime Minister Meles shows some instincts for reform in his country; he is trying to bring forward the economic agenda and we support him in the way that he is dealing with NePAD.

§ The Duke of Montrose
My Lords, would it be wrong to presume that the Minister is familiar with the concept of horse-trading? I wonder whether the Ethiopian Government are taking up the position in the hope that they can gain some advantage, particularly from third parties who are interested to see peace in the area. Have the Government any idea what they might be looking for?

§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
My Lords, I used to be the general secretary of a trade union. Therefore, I do know a little about horse-trading, one way or another. I cannot read what the Ethiopian Government are looking for. Quite often, in these sorts of border disputes, individuals think that by not coming to an agreement they have more to gain as time goes on—for example, as more and more Ethiopians come into the area in dispute, the idea is that their claims will be strengthened by people on the ground. That may be some of the thinking behind what has gone on, but that is speculation. We have to allow Mr Axworthy to bring both sides together. It will not be an easy task, but we must afford him the opportunity to try to fulfil the remit that he has been given by the United Nations.