ONLF Statement

China-Ethiopia- Djibouti Gas Exploitation in Ogaden

March 5, 2016

Villagers massacred in Lababaar near Calub Gas fields

 On March 3, 2016, the Djiboutian President participated in ceremony held for the laying of the foundation stone for a new mega gas project, which comprises a natural gas pipeline, a liquefaction plant and an export terminal at Damerjog, Djibouti from the Ogaden as reported by Global Energy. What China, Ethiopia and Djibouti are ignoring is the fact that the people who own the territory the gas is to be extracted are not party to all these deals and will fight to the last in order to protect their territory and resources whatever the cost as they have done before.

ONLF categorically states that it will mobilise the Somali people both inside and outside the Ogaden in order to stop any attempt to steal the wealth of the Somali people in Ogaden until a genuine representative government that can safeguard the interests of the Somali people is established in Ogaden. Since POLY-GCL is operating within Ethiopian Army garrison camps and is paying the Ethiopian army to clear the land and displace the rural population, ONLF considers them as a party to the conflict.

 Despite the false claim of Mr Barton Yu, Chairman and President of POLY-GCL, who said that: “This is an important energy project for POLY-GCL Petroleum Group … which will enhance the well-being of the Djiboutian and Ethiopian peoples while creating a positive impact on China’s energy security.”, the Somali people in Ogaden are not benefiting in any shape of form from this project. Instead, the rural population are being systematically displaced forcefully from the grasslands and forced into destitution and internal displacement. Furthermore, the Ethiopian government is still actively continuing its campaign of slow annihilation  of the Somali people in Ogaden by actively maintaining trade and aid blockage and hampering the effective support of the international community to aid the Somali people in Ogaden in an efficient and effective manner.

 Just few months ago, the Ethiopian government kept denying the extent and severity of the Draught in Ogaden, until the international community forced them to acknowledge the draught and then it jumped on the bandwagon and is now spinning the story that El Niño is to blame for the hundreds of deaths that could have been saved if they had a caring government that would mitigate the effects of natural disaster. The Ethiopian regime policy in the regions is a significant contributor to the inability of the people to cope with the recurrent natural disasters. Furthermore, the regime was diverting international aid to acting as the police man of the Horn region by sending thousands of troops to its neighbours and squandering money needed to build basic services by building weapons factories, buying hundreds of tanks and multi-billion Dreamliner jumbo jets and building showcase grandiose projects while millions are dying for manageable food and water.

The Chinese and Djibouti governments shall know that they are becoming accessories to the genocide committed by the Ethiopian government in Ogaden and will share the consequences of their heinous participation in that crime.

 Since the International community and donor countries were fully aware of the extent of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Ethiopian regime in Ogaden as was clearly revealed in Wiki-leaks and they chose to look the other way, while rewarding Ethiopia with more money and diplomatic protection, ONLF informs the Ogaden people that unless they stand up to stop this heinous project, which threatens their very existence as people, no external power will come and defend their rights for them.

Issued by ONLF