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 Ogaden region: Uncertain Zone. By Abdirahman Hassan
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Since the end of the colonial era the Ogaden region has suffered a protracted war. Dreadful conditions, such as lack of security, poverty, spread of ignorance and many other difficulties. People have never enjoyed any kind of freedom at all, their activities have been monitored, their rights have been fully destroyed, even basic ones that international legislations and conventions have allowed them to exercise. Colonisation in East Africa created so called �Ethiopia�, including Somali ethnic people who were forcefully placed under the government of Ethiopia.
The People of Ogden are considered non-Ethiopians by both government administrators and the rest of the people of Ethiopia. Surprisingly Ogaden people describe themselves as non-Ethiopians; instead they are proud to be Somalis because they believe that Ethiopia conquered the region. However, they have not admitted yet that they have been defeated; in the same way Ethiopian governments have still not fully accepted that they control the region. As a result this ambivalence has generated permanent conflict between rebel movements and successive governments in Ethiopia. Not only that, but war has crossed the border and fighting has erupted between Ethiopia and its neighbour Somalia more than twice.
In 1977 the two countries engaged in war. Eventually Ethiopia lost all its Ogeden territory; nevertheless, superpowers such as the Soviet Union intervened and ordered Somalia immediate withdrawal from Ethiopia, including the Ogaden region. Thus Somalia lost the battle and had to pull out its troops from the region.
Although dispute over the region has never settled down and no agreement has been reached, the tension eased after collapse of the two administrations in Addis Ababa and Mogadishu in the 1990�s. Unfortunately, Mogadishu never recovered: on the contrary Addis Ababa organised and created a new government under Prime Minister Males Zenawe, the leader of EPRDF, a renegade and malcontent who pretended to defend democracy in Ethiopia.
Beginning of ONLF movement:
Revolutionary groups that fought for independence started a long time ago, even before the colonists left East Africa. We can mention NASRULLAH as an striking example; in fact there are other movements which fought for the same purpose such as WSLF, and Al-Itihad.
ONLF carried arms against the government under the rule of Males Zinawe the Prime minister of Ethiopia. So far ONLF have never controlled any part of the region because of disproportionate power between the two forces.
Alternatively they tried to disrupt the presence of Ethiopian troops in the region by hit and run operations with the help of people of the Ogaden. This has continued for the last 14 years. Unfortunately this protracted war was not covered by the international media or even local broadcasting.
On May 17th 2007 ONLF attacked the Chinese Oil company and killed 71 soldiers and 9 Chinese nationals. This incident and subsequent report from New York Times journalist Jeffrey Gettleman who travelled with the Ogaden National Liberation Front, attracted the eyes of the world, but media coverage was still very tiny compared with the atrocities caused by Ethiopian forces in the region.
The Prime Minister Zenawe vowed to crackdown on ONLF without discrimination between the militias and innocent people in the Ogaden region, by saying that �not only ONLF will face the challenge but also villagers will pay a heavy price because they are harbouring insurgents�. It is not the first time that government have promised to eliminate ONLF elements, although many people have been killed including the elderly people, children and ONLF militias. Despite the past crackdown not producing the desired outcomes, Ethiopia continues to carry out military operations in the Ogaden and NGOs offering food aid to the people there have been ordered to leave the area.
On the 29th of July the Ogaden Welfare and Development Association (OWDA) was deliberately attacked in the Nogob province on a roadside bomb killing three personnel and staff. Despite the enforcement of the government, no signs for success over the ONLF and the region.
Abdirahman Hassan
[email protected] |
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