Djibouti’s Chickens Come Home To Roost

EDITORIAL

Upon hearing that war broke out between Eritrea and Djibouti, many people who are either from the Horn of Africa or are familiar with the Horn of Africa, are very likely to immediately think that Eritrea is to blame, and the reason is because Eritrea has a history of getting into wars with its neighbors. But while Eritrea’s record of being a bad neighbor is widely known and resulted in its international isolation, Djibouti’s record in this regard, though less widely publicized, and has not led to war until now, is troublesome, to say the least.

Let us look at the facts. Djibouti has borders with Somaliland, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Out of these three countries, Djibouti has lousy relations with the first (Somaliland), is at war with the second ( Eritrea), and has seesawing relations with the third ( Ethiopia). Without getting into the immediate causes of the current Djiboutian-Eritrean conflict, it is safe to say that the fundamental cause of Djibouti’s bad relations with its neighbors is that though it is the smallest country in the region, it tries, through various stratagems to strangle its neighbors economically and to destabilize them politically. This is most glaring in the case of Somaliland, where since the early days of the SNM, Djibouti’s two dictators (Ismail Omar Guelleh, as well as his uncle and predecessor, Hasan Guled Aptidon) relentlessly pursued a policy of sabotaging Somaliland’s independence.

When it comes to Djibouti’s relations with Ethiopia and Eritrea, it is indisputable that Djibouti was the foremost beneficiary from the Eritrea-Ethiopian war, in that, as a result of the war, Ethiopia came to rely on Djibouti’s port for its overseas trade. But despite this close cooperation in trade between Djibouti and Ethiopia, Djibouti’s politicians, when talking to Somalis from Somalia, often use subtle and not so-subtle language to fan anti-Ethiopian sentiments among Somalis. This was particularly the case during the Arta conference when Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh, was projecting himself as the savior of Somalis, and right towards the end of the Embagathi conference when it became clear that Ethiopia had finally reduced Djibouti to a bit player in the conference. The Indian Ocean Newsletter has also documented that Djibouti’s authorities often allowed members of the Ogaden Liberation Movement (ONLF) to have safe passage through Djibouti.

Djibouti’s regime has shown double-dealing even in its relations with France and the United States. In the case of France, the Djiboutian regime has not hesitated to murder innocent French citizens, such as Judge Borrel. Djibouti also is constantly trying to blackmail France into paying more for its military base by threatening to replace its patronage with that of the United States. Djibouti plays similar game with the United States and hosts both US troops and individuals whom the US considers terrorists. Djiboutian scheming has gotten so bold lately, that, Djibouti has invited one of the Bin Ladens to build a whole city in Djibouti, not too far from the American base there.

Given Djibouti’s record, as much as we deplore the war between Eritrea and Djibouti, we are not surprised that war finally broke out between Djibouti and one of its neighbors.

This is clearly a case of Djibouti’s chickens coming home to roost. And the worst of it is that, if Djibouti does not change course and quickly improve its relations with its neighbors, it may find itself in other wars.

Source: Somaliland Times

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