A long-awaited peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea was finally signed this year. The two countries fought in a bloody two-year long conflict that ended in 2000 and left an estimated 80,000 dead. Since that time, a cold war has existed between the two countries that occasionally flares up into violence. Ethiopia bombed several military camps in Eritrea in 2012 and again in 2015. In 2016 the two sides came to blows once again. So it came as a surprise to many when the new Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiya Ahmed made the announcement this July that he would accept a peace deal with Eritrea.
Ethiopia is relinquishing occupied lands it gained during the fighting and gaining access to Eritrean ports, vital to trade for the landlocked country. Additionally, diplomatic and business relations between the countries are being reestablished, and families separated by the conflict, often for decades, are being reunited. Now it is being reported, however, that Eritrea is closing border crossings with its neighbor. Man hope that this is not the lead-up to resumed hostilities.
Abiya Ahmed's two predecessors, Hailemariam Desalegn and Meles Zenawi, had promised peace but never delivered. Issaias Afwerki ( Eritrea’s only leader since it declared independence from Ethiopia in 1993) has now lost a major justification for his authoritarian system and large standing military. His regime has often been called the “North Korea of Africa” and has been accused of serious human rights abuses, with at least ten percent of Eritrea's population having fled the country in recent times. The United Nations Security Council recently lifted sanctions against the regime that have been in effect for nine years.