Stop aid to Ethiopia

By John O’shea, Irish Independent

February 4, 2006

An Ethiopian protester is knocked unconscious by police and security forces of Meles Zenawi. Since he lost in the May 2005 elections, Meles has launched a state-sponsored terror which makes hard to know how many have been killed, jailed or disappeared. In the month of November alone, over 100,000 youths were herded into death camps like the malaria-infested Dedessa wilderness, where mass burials were reported by diplomats, including British Ambassador to Ethiopia Tim Clarke. (Photo: EMF)

How many more people must die at the hands of the Ethiopian armed forces before our government decides that the Ethiopian government does not represent a legitimate vehicle for dispensing Irish taxpayers’ money to the poorest of the poor in that country?

Last month one person was killed by a grenade after police shot and injured 22 others when a procession by tens of thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians turned violent. This brings to 83 those who have been murdered by the Melles Zenawi regime in the last number of months.

International condemnation has been sharp and severe – in excess of 400m has been slashed from aid budgets which had been promised to Ethiopia. The most significant was the decision of the British government last week to end all financial support to the Melles regime.

But the Irish government has taken an entirely different view. It appears we are determined to continue to route as much as 35m of taxpayers’ funds through a government which clearly cannot be trusted.

This naive approach by the Irish government is astounding and grossly irresponsible.

*John O’shea , GOAL, PO BOX 19, DUN LAOGHAIRE,CO DUBLIN