Ethiopia should respect international laws on joint watercourses between states, says Somalia

Somali government calls on Ethiopia to respect international law, in place to regulate water relations among countries sharing the same watercourse, following the emergence of reports claiming Ethiopia closed Shabelle river water going to Somalia, minister said Sunday.

Ahmed Hassan Gaboobe, Somalia’s minister for agriculture said Ethiopia has to respect Somalia’s “historical rights” and the basics of international law on natural sources shared by countries.

“Founding principles of the international law regulating joint watercourses between states, we called upon our neighbouring Ethiopian government to respect the laws,” said Gaboobe.

The move came after one of Somalia’s two biggest reivers, Shabelle dried two times since Ethiopian government started storing Shabelle river water flow behind the walls for a dam purpose and irrigation of our own farming fields in Somali region of Ethiopia.

Somalia’s central and south main water source-River Shabelle has dried up as the river is already being used as footpaths.

River Shebelle which is 1130 kilometres long, extending for 1000 km inside Ethiopia and 130 km inside Somalia.

The river flows through Middle and Lower Shabelle, Hiraan regions sometimes causes destructive flash floods