Badme

From Freepedia

Badme is a town near the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Because the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia was poorly defined, this town has been claimed by both countries since Eritrea became a separate nation in 1993. The Ethiopian government considers Badme part of the Northwestern Zone of the region of Tigray. This dispute was the basis of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, which began in 1998.

The boundaries of Ethiopia and Eritrea follow a frontier defined by a treaty between Ethiopia and Italy in 1902, which ruled Eritrea as a colony at the time. However, the frontier near Badme is poorly defined, and since the separation of the two nations, each recognizes a different boundary.

In 2000, Eritrea and Ethiopia signed the Algiers Agreement which forwarded the border dispute to a Hague Border Commission. In the Agreement both parties agreed in advance to comply with the ruling of the Border Commission. In 2002, the commission ruled on where the boundary ran, placing Badme inside Eritrean territory. However, according to a recent news report [1], many of the inhabitants of Badme still consider themselves Ethiopian citizens. The Sudan Tribune reported that during January 2005, Badme inhabitants were registering to vote in the May Ethiopian elections. These reports are complicated further by reports that Ethiopia relocated hundreds of citizens to Badme during the Hague hearings.

Other disputed areas along the Eritrean-Ethiopian border include Tsorona-Zalambessa and Bure.