A years-long border dispute has erupted between the two African nations after Qatari forces withdrew from a buffer zone along the border. The UN has backed an African Union fact-finding mission concerning the dispute.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Longari
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The UN Security Council said Monday it wants Djibouti and Eritrea to "resolve their border dispute peacefully in a manner consistent with international law," said Bolivian ambassador Sacha Llorenty.
Djibouti accused Eritrean troops of occupying a buffer zone last week, a day after Qatari troops announced their withdrawal from the area. Qatar had its diplomatic ties withsurrounding Arabic nations cut off after the Arab nations accused Qatar of supporting terrorism.
Qatari forces were sent to the Djibouti-Eritrea border in 2010 to serve as a mediator when the border conflict erupted into violence.
Analysts believe Qatar's withdrawal concerns a diplomatic spat led by Saudi Arabia. Both Eritrea and Djibouti are considered allies of Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates, which also joined a blockade against Doha.
However, Eritrea's top diplomat to the African Union, Araia Desta, said his country has not severed ties with Qatar, adding that Asmara does not want a confrontation with Djibouti. Llorenty said the UN Security Council welcomed a plan put forth by the African Union to launch a fact-finding mission concerning the dispute.
Eritrea was involved in a bloody border dispute with Ethiopia in the late 1990's. Tensions are still high along the militarized border.
Where freedom of the press doesn't exist
Many states routinely attack and intimidate journalists and bloggers to keep them in check. In its 2015 press freedom index, Reporters Without Borders ranks the performance of 180 countries. These states come in last.
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Africa's very own North Korea: Eritrea
Eritrea ranks second-last in the World Press Freedom Index. Reports from the disastrous state of affairs in Eritrea are rare, and many journalists have been forced to leave the country. Radio Erena is the only one to broadcast independent information to the people of Eritrea — from Paris.
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Dictated by the dictator
Press freedom is also non-existent in North Korea. Sealed off from the rest of the world, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un keeps a check on what the media publish. State TV and radio are available, nothing more. People who express their opinions vanish in political prison camps — along with their entire families.
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Keeping tabs in Turkmenistan
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov owns almost all of the country's media corporations. The newspaper Rysgal is the only exception, and even here, every edition needs state approval before it can go to press. A new law against media monopolies gives the people of Turkmenistan access to foreign news, but the government still keeps tabs on the Internet, and blocks most websites.
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Culling the critics
Independent media do not exist in Vietnam. The ruling Communist Party tells journalists what to publish. For the most part, publishers, editors and the reporters themselves are party members. Authorities have recently taken a greater interest in bloggers who challenge the authoritarian Communist Party's opinion monopoly - and try to silence them by sending them to jail.
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China's non-freedom
China, Reporters Without Borders says, is the world's biggest prison for bloggers and journalists. The authoritarian regime takes massive steps against unwelcome news coverage; pressure on foreign reporters is also on the rise. Entire regions are taboo to them, their work is closely monitored and Chinese assistants or interview partners can quite simply be imprisoned.
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Under fire in Syria
Many journalists have been persecuted and killed since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad, whom Reporters Without Borders has ranked as an enemy of press freedom for years. The al-Nusra front, which fights against Assad, and the Islamic State group in turn attack Syrian state media reporters, kidnapping or publicly executing the journalists and correspondents.
