Eritrea Briefing

Eritrea

SITE DIRECTORY

Overview

Located in the Horn of Africa on the Red Sea coast, Eritrea borders on Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti. After acquiring Eritrea as a colony in 1890, Italy used it as a base for invasions into Ethiopia, which it then occupied. As an Italian colony Eritrea was industrialized and developed a functional social order. With Italy’s defeat in World War II, Britain assumed administration of Eritrea until 1950 when the U.N. decreed that Eritrea become an autonomous, federated part of, otherwise land-locked, Ethiopia.

Although the U.N. mandate was unpopular, severe trouble didn’t emerge until 1962 when Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Salasse attempted to incorporate Eritrea into Ethiopia, sparking rebellion. During the next 13 years of conflict, rebels of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) fought Selassie’s US-backed army. In 1966, ELF split and the Eritrean Popular Liberation Front (EPLF) became the dominant rebel organization. In 1974, Selassie was overthrown and a Marxist regime took power in Ethiopia , led by Mengistu Haile Mariam. The new communist (“Dergue”) regime in Ethiopia naturally turned to the Soviets for support, while the Eritrean rebels fought on, curiously without attracting support from America. Ethiopia’s “Red Terror” repressive campaign drove thousands to join the Eritrean resistance groups and the EPLF evolved from insurgents to a full-fledged army.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia was confronted with a second challenge from Somalia and turned to the Soviets for military assistance that was targeted against both Somalian and Eritrean insurgencies. Despite Soviet arms, leadership and Cuban troops, the EPLF resisted a scorched earth policy and held the Ethiopians at bay, until fate intervened on Eritrea’s behalf. Years of drought, combined with the high cost of war to weaken Ethiopia’s ability and resolve. Ravaged by drought Ethiopia opened peace talks with Eritrea.

However, peace talks collapsed when the Dergue regime refused to consider Eritrean independence and shortly afterward the Soviet Union, itself, collapsed and withdrew support from Ethiopia. The EPLF soon captured most of Eritrea, including the port city of Massawa in early 1990. Ethiopia’s president un-expectedly fled the country. The EPLF allied with Ethiopian resistance groups and launched coordinated campaigns. In May 1991, EPLF captured Asmara while the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and Tigre People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) captured the Ethiopian capital, Addis-Ababa, removing the Dergue regime.

Following a UN monitored referendum in which over 99% of Eritreans voted for independence, the nation proclaimed its independence in April 1993 and was recognized by the international community. Good relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia gradually deteriorated and in 1998 fighting broke out in the Badme region and escalated quickly. Clashes continued intermittently between peace talks from 1998 through 2000, claiming as many as 100,000 lives and forcing over one million to flea into refuge and leaving many millions more in need of emergency assistance.

A cease-fire was declared in June 2000 and UN peacekeeping force (UNMEE) was accepted to maintain a security buffer zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Since 1993, Eritrea has also become embroiled in hostilities with Sudan and Yemen.

Eritrea adopted a model constitution in 1997, but President Isias Afwerki has been slow to implement many of its provisions, while maintaining strict political control and mandatory military service and limited press freedom. Opposition groups continue operations and it’s unlikely that land-locked Ethiopia, with ten to fifteen times the population will forsake its designs on Eritrea’s ports.

Meanwhile, the US has now been providing arms to both Ethiopia and Eritrea in its efforts to stem Islamic influence emanating from Sudan. Eritrea’s neighbor across the Red Sea, Yemen, also poses potential trouble regarding disputed claims to offshore islands of the Dahlak archipielago. After more than 30 years of war, Eritrea may face continuing difficulty reforming its culture of conflict, especially as turmoil continues to embroil the Middle East and its regional neighbors.