BY YESUF ENDRIS
The Horn of Africa region is blessed with lots of resources, and its geographical location has made it a strategic crossroad for monsters struggling for political dominance of the globe. The region is, moreover, being used as heart to reach to their trade bases for International traders from Asia, Europe, Africa and others for long time.
As a strategic corridor, many of power strugglers as well as colluding aggregates have scrambling the region and consistency of safeguarding the region has been made threatened; which in turn has affected loyalty of states in preserving rule of law.
These days, the Horn of Africa Region’s in particular and continent’s security in general is becoming boggling subject too. For that reason, the number of people under tough situation is not small as compared to the rest regions of the continent-Africa.
African Union and Intergovernmental Authority for Development have also recommended that countries in the Horn must be able to launch joint security works to stabilize the region and make serenity and tranquility reliable.
Conditions facilitating terrorism, gun smuggling, human trafficking, and contraband are also flattering the situation to uncontrollable and become the overriding fact testing the region’s security since long back.
Each countries of the region also has been trying to handle the situation independently while some are blaming each other that proxy has been apparently used by some of the countries to reach out to their interests.
Fragile neighborhood among the Horn countries has also contributed to inflaming of insecurity though there are improvements of diplomatic security, joint works through time.
International Organizations have also repeatedly called for joint security works to down security threats.
Ethiopia, as located on the center of the Horn, has also been encountering insecurity. Places particularly located around boarders have become the center and moving area of outlaws. Hence, Ethiopia has signed boarder security agreements and extraditions with neighboring countries for several years.
Since the coming of reformist administration in Ethiopia, numbers of extradition and boarder security agreements have been signed between Ethiopia and neighboring countries.
With Rwanda, Ethiopia has signed agreement of mutual legal assistance in 2017 concerning criminal matters which allowed launching “widest measures of joint legal works in due course of consolidating investigations and prosecutions of crimes and resulting proceedings.”
Likewise, the two countries have signed extradition agreement concerned by the increase in level of crimes particularly desiring to effectuate security cooperation in the suppression of Trans-national crimes.
At the same year, for example Ethiopia has agreed with Djibouti on extradition as Trans-border crimes in the region mounting. The signed agreement has been adopted for the aim of creating joint security works. The document presented to the parliament also stated that the treaty will make apposite relation between countries to hunt criminals who are basically involved in trans-border and grand crimes.
“The number of criminals who are escaping through borders is timely mounting; boarder and bilateral security agreements shall be in due of this,” the document stated.
In 2019, Ethiopia has also signed another agreement extradition agreement with Uganda, which does also have the same goal likewise.
Recent Reports also have revealed that many of contrabandists have used Ethio-Djibuti border as entrance to transport goods and illegal migrants in and out. Lately, Ethiopia and Djibouti have also installed new joint border security unit. It was indicated that Ethiopia and Djibouti will have common police service targeting at controlling crimes committed by trans-border felon groups.
During the signing ceremony, Ethiopian Police Commissioner Gen.Demelash Gebre-Michael and Djibouti’s National Police Director General Col. Abdulahi Abdi Farah have discussed the ways to keep security of the region.
As to Ethiopian News Agency’s report, Ethiopia and Djibouti have avowed the need for bilateral security department and signed to build first ever joint police force which will exert security tasks particularly to fight terrorism, contraband, human and gun smuggling and other trans-border crimes.
“Police staffs will be opened in the two countries and the unit will work accordingly,” Gen. Demelash said.
“Colonel Abdulahi of Djibouti on his part said that the joint force will be organized to fight the challenging insecurity. “We have launched trainings and discussions with the Ethiopian delegation, and agreements have been reached to start joint works,” local media report stated.
Apart from this, Deputy Prime minister and Foreign Affair Minister of ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen discussed security cooperation as of late last month with Somalia Foreign International Affairs Minister. During the discussion, Demeke remarked that Ethiopia and Somalia have long security cooperation and further works will be reinforced.
He has also passed his appreciation to Somalia Government as Somalia has been friendly working with Ethiopia to stabilize the region. “Ethiopia is about to hold national elections, and we have hopefully assumed that the two nations will be quite close partners to jointly work on security issues more than ever before, he remarked.
Inspection camps also are being extended on border exits and entrances as contrabandists are growing in the region. Last week, Ethiopia and South Sudan launched new inspection center at their shared border.
The inspection center is basically intended to control contraband and the threatening gun smuggling, it was disclosed.
Intelligence directors from the two countries have also reached agreement to build up their mutual capacity as common threats rising.
As to information from National Intelligence Security Service (NISS) of Ethiopia, Temesgen Tiruneh, NISS Director and the South Sudan’s Director General of Internal Security have conferred discussion with a view to scaling up joint security operations alongside the border.
The Week in the Horn, Weekly edition by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia also reported that the two Intelligence Directors have contracted accords on regional security issues.
Along with Ethio-Kenya Border, Ethiopia and Kenya have built a new one-stop border post aiming at managing import and export trade. During the inauguration of the Post, leaders of Ethiopia and Kenya said that mutual works in fighting insecurity will be enhanced through common agreements. The region of Ethio-Kenya border is one of hotspots of Human Trafficking, illicit trade and Drug smuggling. The two leaders also have granted common understanding to launch cooperative works to defend all those intimidating issues.
Countries of the Horn of Africa have been encountered absence or failing to implement extradition agreements for a long period of time; meanwhile, diplomatic cooperation among the Horn countries has laid new hope for the region’s security.
IGAD, in its 38th extraordinary assembly has also recognized and appreciated the growing interest of security cooperation among countries.
The Ethiopian Herald February 3/2021
