Kidnapping highlights risks in remote Afar region
ETHIOPIA | Thursday, 15 March 2007 | Views [1740]
On 1 March 2007, a group of five Europeans (three British men, a British-Italian woman and a French woman) from the British embassy in Addis Ababa, and a dozen Ethiopian guides and helpers, were abducted near the village of Hamedali in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The party was reportedly on a sightseeing tour when they were snatched at gunpoint by around 50 masked men. The hostages were forced to abandon their vehicles, which were later found riddled with bullet holes and grenade shrapnel, and march northwards across the border into Eritrea. The Europeans were held captive for 13 days until they were released yesterday into the care of authorities in Asmara, the Eritrean capital. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett stated that they are in good health and would shortly be flown home to reunite with their families. She also expressed concern for the safety of the eight Ethiopians abducted along with the embassy staff, who remain in the hands of the kidnappers. Although kidnapping is rare in Ethiopia, the incident does illustrate the risks involved in travelling to the northern Afar region and demonstrates the need for individuals to adopt comprehensive security measures when travelling in such remote areas.
The Afar region is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. It is a vast, unforgiving, lunar-like desert. Straddling the disputed Ethiopia-Eritrea border, it is a heavily militarised area and a potential flashpoint between two countries who have endured a strained relationship since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a costly 30-year guerrilla war. Separatist rebels and bandit gangs also patrol the area, with their activities deemed dangerous enough to warrant the Ethiopian authorities to insist on armed guards for all overseas visitors to the area. However, as the 1 March incident demonstrates, the protection offered by these guards in no way guarantees safe passage. Nevertheless, despite the ostensibly uninviting nature of the region, it does attract intrepid tourists who are lured by the remote desert landscapes, the volcanoes and geysers, the rich salt lakes and the local tribal people.
It is these local people who are suspected of kidnapping the Europeans and their guides. The Afar tribe, a largely nomadic, Muslim people, carry a reputation almost as tough and as hostile as their environment. Economically, they are heavily reliant on mining salt from the vast lakes of the Danakil Depression. Recently, however, their livelihood has been challenged by the imposition of a salt tax by the Ethiopian authorities. This had led to widespread resentment among Afar tribesmen and a suspicion that outsiders are seeking to exploit the salt wealth of their homeland. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the group responsible for the abduction of the Europeans and their party had first targeted local Ethiopian tax collectors, stealing their money and burning one of their cars. Only then did they turn their attention to the foreign visitors. Regardless of the accuracy of these uncorroborated reports, visitors to northern Afar should be aware that anger towards the Ethiopian authorities over salt tax is palpable and that it could lead to violence. In addition, outsiders are generally viewed with suspicion and as a potential threat to the Afars' salt-mining monopoly.
Visitors to northern Afar should also be aware of the region's large-scale bandit problem. The region's poverty (the average income of an Afar tribesmen is less than US$100 a year; most Afars are illiterate; and many struggle for access to clean water and medical supplies) means that many Afars have turned to crime as a means of survival. The problem is compounded by the region's remoteness and the accompanying lack of governmental authority. As a result, predatory bandit groups roam the area's many isolated roads and prey on the unsuspecting or unprepared.
A further threat to visitors emanates from a rebel movement, the Afar Revolutionary Democratic United Front (ARDUF, also known as 'Uguguma', meaning 'Revolution' in the Afar language). Founded in 1993, it brought together three existing Afar organisations and seeks to establish the creation of an independent Afar territory that would span areas of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. The organisation has abducted foreigners in the past; in 1995, the group seized a group of Italian tourists and held them for a week before releasing them unharmed. In July 2003, ARDUF joined the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, an umbrella movement made up of various opposition parties and groups. Soon after, in September 2003, ARDUF issued a warning to foreigners not to enter the Afar region to demarcate the disputed Ethiopia-Eritrea border - ARDUF opposes the existence of any boundary that divides the Afar people and, as a consequence, it also opposes the existence of Eritrea, which currently splits the 'Afar homeland'. Although ARDUF's military capabilities have been weakened in recent years by internal disagreements, the organisation continues to wage a low-level insurgency. Given that the organisation is no closer to achieving its goals, and considering the publicity generated by the kidnapping of the Europeans as well as the fact that it has been responsible for a previous abduction, there is the possibility that ARDUF may embark on a kidnapping campaign in order to publicise its cause.
In light of these threats, red24 advises that travel into the Afar region, and particularly travel close to the Eritrean border, should be undertaken only with extreme caution and not without prior consultation. Although kidnapping remains a rare occurrence, bandits and rebels pose a serious threat to personal safety and the publicity generated by the kidnapping of the Europeans may encourage further attempts. In addition, the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea remains tense, with both sides continuing to support a heavy military presence in the region. Considering that eight Ethiopian nationals remain captive in Eritrea, military escalation cannot be ruled out and northern Afar may soon play host to a bloody and destabilising confrontation.
Tags: travel safety, red24, afar, ethiopia, addis ababa, eritrea, kidnapping
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