UN in Horn bodies appeal

The rotting corpses are hampering UN peacekeepers

By Nita Bhalla in Addis Ababa

The United Nations has appealed to Ethiopia and Eritrea to collect the bodies of hundreds of dead soldiers from the front lines between the two countries.

These are the remains of human beings, who had families, who had countries, and who were people

UN spokesman Jean Victor

The UN peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (Unmee) said the two countries should respect their war dead.

More than a year has passed since Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a ceasefire agreement ending a brutal two-and-a-half-year border conflict.

But the corpses of those who perished in bloody battles, which cost up to 100,000 lives, are still scattered throughout the buffer zone separating the two neighbours.

The UN also said the rotting corpses are posing a serious health threat to peacekeepers, who are mandated to monitor and patrol the entire security area.

Mortal remains

According to Unmee, the remains of at least 300 dead soldiers are still lying out in the open.

Most died early last year, when some of the fiercest battles took place on the eastern Bure-Assab front.

Hundreds of bodies were abandoned when hostilities ended

For months now, the UN has been requesting both Ethiopia and Eritrea to come and reclaim the mortal remains, but so far neither party has come forward.

"These remains should be considered properly," UN spokesman Jean Victor told a video-link news conference from the Eritrean capital Asmara on Friday.

"These are the remains of human beings, who had families, who had countries, and who were people," he said.

"They should be given all the respect that they deserve".

Practical problems

Unmee says the bodies are also posing practical problems to the peacekeeping mission.

Aside from the serious health risk posed to UN troops, especially now that the rainy season has arrived, the bodies are also hampering demining operations.

Due to the prolonged period of exposure, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to ascertain which army different bodies belonged to.

Both sides deny that the soldiers belong to them, claiming that they have retrieved and buried all their dead.

But Unmee says this is not the case and recently took journalists into the Temporary Security Zone to see the rotting remains of hundreds of young men.

The soldiers signed up in the prime of their lives to fight for their country, but now that their value has diminished, it seems they have been abandoned.