For two decades, little besides soldiers, refugees and rebels moved across Ethiopia and Eritrea’s closed border, but today the once-barren no man’s land teems with activity. Back in businessOnce a province of Ethiopia, Eritrea voted for independence in 1993 after a bloody, decades-long struggle. The conflict continued as a cold war after Ethiopia refused to honour a UN-backed commission verdict demarcating the border, a policy Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reversed in June. Trouble aheadHeading in the opposite direction are thousands of Eritrean refugees fleeing the country’s repressive government and stagnant economy. “We’re trading together, but the exchange rate is unregulated, unstable and illegal,” said Taeme Lemlem, a bar owner in Zalambessa, echoing similar complaints, made before the border war, that were never resolved.

Source: Ethiopian News October 14, 2018 02:15 UTC