Ethiopia Clashes Push 15,000 Into Kenya as MPs Urge Ruto to Act
(MENAFN) Deadly ethnic violence across the Ethiopian border has driven close to 15,000 people into Kenya, overwhelming local resources and choking cross-border trade, prompting Kenyan legislators to demand that President William Ruto open diplomatic channels with Addis Ababa.
Saku Member of Parliament Dido Ali Rasso voiced alarm over the fighting on the Ethiopian side of Moyale in remarks to the local press in Nairobi. “We are deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict on the Ethiopian side of the border in Moyale. The situation is deeply concerning and we hope for a swift, peaceful end to the hostility,” he said.
Rasso joined Moyale lawmaker Guyo Waqo Jaldesa and other political leaders from northern Kenya’s Marsabit County in pressing the government for immediate action and calling for international humanitarian aid.
The officials cautioned that thousands of displaced Ethiopians, many of them women and children, are crossing with little more than the clothes they wear. They need food, shelter and medical care without delay, the leaders said.
The delegation also moved to head off reprisals on Kenyan soil. “We strongly appeal to our local community members not to harm innocent civilians who live or work in our region. They have no involvement in the conflict taking place across the border,” the leaders said.
Beyond the humanitarian toll, the legislators urged officials to tighten border security, ensure civilians can cross safely and foster peaceful relations among communities in Marsabit, Wajir and Mandera counties. They noted that the fighting has shuttered businesses and stalled commerce along the Kenya-Ethiopia trade corridor.
Earlier figures from the Kenya Red Cross (a national humanitarian organization) put more than 10,900 displaced people in six temporary camps in Moyale, while a further 4,000 are being sheltered by relatives and host families.
The unrest was triggered by a dispute over the display of the Somali Regional State flag in an area governed by Ethiopia’s Oromia region. Both are federal regions of Ethiopia.
Moyale, a key border crossing, sits roughly 780 kilometers (485 miles) by road north of Nairobi and about 775 kilometers (482 miles) south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The lawmakers renewed their call for an immediate halt to the fighting and expanded international support to keep the humanitarian situation from worsening.
Saku Member of Parliament Dido Ali Rasso voiced alarm over the fighting on the Ethiopian side of Moyale in remarks to the local press in Nairobi. “We are deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict on the Ethiopian side of the border in Moyale. The situation is deeply concerning and we hope for a swift, peaceful end to the hostility,” he said.
Rasso joined Moyale lawmaker Guyo Waqo Jaldesa and other political leaders from northern Kenya’s Marsabit County in pressing the government for immediate action and calling for international humanitarian aid.
The officials cautioned that thousands of displaced Ethiopians, many of them women and children, are crossing with little more than the clothes they wear. They need food, shelter and medical care without delay, the leaders said.
The delegation also moved to head off reprisals on Kenyan soil. “We strongly appeal to our local community members not to harm innocent civilians who live or work in our region. They have no involvement in the conflict taking place across the border,” the leaders said.
Beyond the humanitarian toll, the legislators urged officials to tighten border security, ensure civilians can cross safely and foster peaceful relations among communities in Marsabit, Wajir and Mandera counties. They noted that the fighting has shuttered businesses and stalled commerce along the Kenya-Ethiopia trade corridor.
Earlier figures from the Kenya Red Cross (a national humanitarian organization) put more than 10,900 displaced people in six temporary camps in Moyale, while a further 4,000 are being sheltered by relatives and host families.
The unrest was triggered by a dispute over the display of the Somali Regional State flag in an area governed by Ethiopia’s Oromia region. Both are federal regions of Ethiopia.
Moyale, a key border crossing, sits roughly 780 kilometers (485 miles) by road north of Nairobi and about 775 kilometers (482 miles) south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The lawmakers renewed their call for an immediate halt to the fighting and expanded international support to keep the humanitarian situation from worsening.
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