Ethiopia: 'Humanitarian Crisis' for Ogaden Living Near Ethiopia's Oil Fields
By Ed Mckenna,
23 February 2014
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 23 2014 (IPS) - New allegations of scorched earth evictions
of the Ogaden people have raised concerns that a lack of benefit sharing
could escalate instability in the region and reinforce separatist tensions
as foreign energy companies prepare to extract oil and gas from troubled
southeastern Ethiopia.
"The resources in this region will make Ethiopia rich but will keep us
impoverished. A settlement is all we can hope for to protect our claim to
some of the economic advantages of our natural resources," Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF) founder Abdirahman Mahdi told IPS.
The demise of Ethiopian dictator Hailemariam Mengistu in 1994 triggered a
two-decade conflict between the government of Ethiopia and the ONLF. The
ONLF has been fighting for self-determination of the eight to 10 million
Somali ethnic population living in the Ogaden basin within the Somali
National Regional State (SNRS).
The government's heavy paramilitary response to the insurgency has created
"a humanitarian crisis throughout the Ogaden [basin] where half of the
population live through famine," said Mahdi.
Reports of forced evictions and human rights abuses in the vicinity of oil
and gas fields is creating a new wave of grievances against the government
in local communities.
"The army came to our community and burnt our homes and our crops. Our
situation is getting worse as the military want many villages removed
because of the search for gas.
"Many people in this area have been arrested. We don't know where they are
or if they are alive. Our situation is very bad," one Ogaden man, who asked
to remain anonymous, told IPS.
The confirmation of huge oil and gas reserves in the Ogaden basin is set to
spike Ethiopia's wealth as investment starts to pour in from foreign energy
companies.
Gas deposits in the Ogaden basin are estimated at 2.7 trillion cubic feet
over an area of 350,000 square kilometres.
Currently there are three oil companies finalising exploration in the area:
Africa Oil (Canada), South Western Energy (Hong Kong) and GCL Poly Petroleum
Investment (China).
Ethiopia has been Africa's fastest-growing economy in recent years and could
soon be an oil-producing economy. However, a government embargo on the
Ogaden has severely isolated the region's predominantly pastoralist
population from Ethiopia's development gains. Any prospect of consultation
over resource extraction at this stage look slim, says Ogaden expert
Professor Tobias Hagmann from the Roskilde University in Denmark.
"Our situation is getting worse as the military want many villages removed
because of the search for gas. Many people in this area have been arrested.
We don't know where they are or if they are alive." -- Ogaden villager
"It is very unlikely that the local population will be consulted about local
projects. They are not allowed to voice political dissent. How can they be
allowed to participate in local decision-making related to development
plans," he told IPS.
Government spokesperson Shimeles Kemal told IPS that oil and gas riches
"will contribute to the development of the SNRS including the Ogaden
region."
The Ethiopian government has been criticised by rights organisations for
preventing NGOs from providing humanitarian aid to one of the poorest
regions of Ethiopia and creating an exodus of thousands of refugees.
Amnesty International's researcher on Ethiopia Claire Beston told IPS that
the Ethiopian government's clampdown on the Ogaden Somali population "has
severely restricted access to and within the region, including that of
humanitarian agencies, and has also placed major restrictions on information
coming out of the region about the true state of the humanitarian and human
rights situation there."
In December 2013 the Ogaden European Diaspora Association sent a letter to
the European Union requesting that aid to Ethiopia be withheld as long as
human rights abuses continue against the Ogaden. "We are living under
political and economic embargo. We demand that NGOs move freely as the
humanitarian situation is critical," Mahdi said.
Chinese oil company, GCL Poly Petroleum Investment, signed a deal with
Ethiopia in November 2013 to develop gas reserves at Calub and Hilala in the
Ogaden region. A month later, the ONLF accused government militia, the Liyu
police, of burning swathes of pasture belonging to communities close to
Calub and Hilala gas fields.
A military clampdown in the region has made verifying such reports
impossible. However, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported in 2012 that the Liyu
police had been responsible for extra-judicial killings as a form of
collective punishment.
"The Liyu police had summarily executed 10 men during a three-day rampage on
a series of villages. These attacks, as previous abuses that get carried out
by the Ethiopian government as part of its counter-insurgency campaign, take
place in a context of complete impunity," HRW researcher Laetitia Bader told
IPS.
Much needed dialogue seems to be the only way to reduce feelings of
disaffection in the major Ogaden clan, the Darod, which accounts for close
to half of the Somali population in Ethiopia and constitutes the backbone of
the ONLF.
However, faltering peace talks between the ONLF and the Ethiopian government
broke down in Kenya in September 2012 and the resumption of talks could be
further delayed since the abduction of two ONLF negotiators in January by
Ethiopian security in Nairobi.
"The ONLF has a valid claim about the lack of accountability of
international oil companies operating in the Ogaden. Further, the major clan
family in the region is very much frustrated by continuous harassment and an
absence of political and civic rights," said Hagmann.
"They support the ONLF because it is the only organised opposition. It's not
the best choice since many Ogaden don't support the ONLF but it's the only
choice for those marginalised by government policies."