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tu ample wcmoniCTinon of the nornicy for (Kr politieal association of Eritrca with Ethiopia. The ćeJcgatioo of Norway. aner cbsc cx* foku tion of aD sides of the problem, finds. howcvcr, that such assodatioo would be boi secured, to the moTual benefit of boch coumries. by their compktc and immediate rcunion.

. 17J. We arc fuHy sitisfied that the ovcrwhelmiflg mijoricy of ihe pcoplc of Eritrca arc in favour of such a rcunion. t( is (rur that dśffercm tkwi ha vc becn cacpresscd by ihe spokesmen o: leader* of groups or partio who p/odaitn a desire (Kac Eritrca obuin autonomy as an independent Siatę. Aparc from the absolute impossibilicy of checking the figurę* pvcn by ihe variou* groups as to the number of theic adherenta, we find it morę imponant (O coiuider che faa that the people especially of the highland* ałwayi considcred themseWcs as Ethiopians, and that befoce 1946 no politieal dmsion existed in che country. Exeepc for che Unionms, who in 1941 under the na mc “Patriotic Association for the Union of Eritrca with Ethiopia" had already manifested their vicws, ihe oppo-sition pinies did not appear Umil 1946 and 1947; they war obriouilyborn out of che politieal possibiUoo

*    presented by the discord betwcen the Powcrs about the futurę of Eiitrea, and werc created by a handful of ambitious Eritrcans. partly former officials in Italian serrice, who by unicing in their groups the apparently greater parf óf thr Niosłem population havc undeniabły tuccccd^d in giving to the newbom politieal acuVj'ty an

*    aspect of religious differcnces. Not only did no politieal dmsion cxist beforc 1946, buc thac had, indeed, nev«

*    bc/oic existed any politieal fceling at all; exerpt for che popular movetnent w Kich, aficr the bhaaiion of the country in 1941, spring from the then awakenrd naoonal coruoousncss of the Eritrcaji people and ter.dcd quite naturaHy towards rcunion with the country they felt they belongcd to. Nor did therc cvcr exist any hostile religious fceling*. Ihe townspeople as well as the ru/al pop ulaticn, Mosiem and Christian, livcd in pcrfcct harmony, the rural dwetlcrs, regardlcss of their different creeds or tribal cistom*, bcing fufly occupied with thrir taiks of cultira* tion and graring, as indeed they are umil this day in Eritrca and—what is worth meritio/ting—also in Echio-pia. lt can therefore ufcly be sald, we think, that the situation which bas now becn created Is to a great catent artificul;itis not foundcd on serious politieal considcra-tions, but is parrty the rtsult of a confusion in the mind of the primUive masses who are supposed to supporr the independent movcmcnt as to the uue mcaning of the word •indepcndence" in opposition to the word "union".

174. We feel convinccd that il Eritrca and Ethiopia, aficr their liber arion from Italian domina tion in 1941, had becn United cogcther, such a union would ha%e met with no opposition. We bdieve thac this soluilon. for

what had sińce bccomc thr problem of Eritrca. would still respond to the wishes of the pcoplc as dictated by their rcal incerests.

175.    On account of the cconoroic interdrpendencc of the two counmct, which cmbraces all helds of their acńrities, and bccause of the similaricy in the natural conditions of both countrics, the union of Eritrca :o Ethiopia would securr to the Eritrcan pcoplc, nomadic or sertled, the undisturbed continuacion of their customary lri elihood. Morcover. and this is not of lcatt importancc, the possibilities would ihercby be aeaied for progres* and dcntopoKM along tnes contisicnr with their tradi-rions ar.d cconomic realities, by the murual effort of che Eritrean aodErhiopianpeoples.who are sodosely relaied and whose contacts are so congeruaL That would mcan, in our opinion, the wclfare of all the inhabicants of Eritrca.

176.    Hasing rega/d to che fart thac the Eriueans are so br removcd from the stage .whcrc they could torem thcmscK cs, thar, regardlos of (he number of the. elaimanes, the claim for indepcndence has to be dis-cnłssed, we consida the rcintegration of Eritrca into Ethiopia as the only ratioaal and satisfactory sol arion. In prinaplc this solution should apply to the wholc cerritory of Eritrca. lt seans to us impossible to gwe way to the separatist wishes of that part of the populación of the Western Proyincc. which, In iciusing imion either with Ethiopia or Sudan, aims at the setung up in this ar ca of a teparate independent Sute. This can only be charac-icrized as a ucopiaa atxl uiucalistic dream. In cisc it should be found, however, thsc the opposition of the Western Prorince presenu an obsude to the union o( Eritrca with Eihśopia, we would do: be opposed to ks promional cxemption fiom such a union, nor to its continued adminlsuation by the British Govemment for the period reąuircd to givt the people of the Western Province the oppomioicy of dedding in ftdkr knowledgc which of theif two nrighbounng councries they wish to join. lt should be no:ed in thb connexion that if, in determining the fucure status of Eiitrea, che Western Province were cxcludcd, the adherents to the Inde-pendencc Błoć in the rest of the country would find themscUcs redcod to a tn/lingm&noricy comparcd to the numericil strength of the Urticniscs, sińce the parties opposing union with Ethiopia have most of their adber ects in the Western Prorincc.

177.    The rcunion of Eritrca to the *mothcr country" would, in our opinion, offer the besc guarantces for the peaceful atisicnce of Exitrea's Inhabiunts, naiivc or foecign, and gi* e thetn the bcsc conditions of security. On the other hand, it is certainly to be feared ihat an independent Eritrca, poor as it would be and hclplessly cx^,#

82 Tlł£ UNTTID NATIOSS AND TH£ ISWŁNDlNCtOf fRCTKLA

povcd to intcrfcrciwc fr om nuny ssdcs. would soon be-comc the vvctjc of seriout dtword anJ imemal sfritc.

178.    We do not sharc the apprchcnsiom which haee bccn expresscd by ccnatn groups of the popubrion. and espccially by somc politieal groups of the popubrion. and cspccially hy some politieal groups of Icalians. with regard to potiible discrimination which could bc ex-pccted from the gotemmeni of a uoired Erirrea and Ethiopia. No other forcign communirics yoiccd such fcars. and therc it no rcason to beWstr chat Italian resi-dents in Erirrea would bc prc%*cnted from cartytng on their cradc or indusrry, which » 10 imponant ior the cconomy of the country, any less frcely than do thousands of Italiant undl this day in Ethiopia itsclf. Taking into account the repeated deebrarions madę by the Covem-mcnc of Ethiopia that it it fuDy prepared to reipcct and maintain the rights o f aW minorińes, we do not conuder it necestary to try to cstablish any system of special safeguardt or guaramect of tuch rights. On the conrrary, we believe-that stipolacions oi that naturę might only create ncw possibilitics for disseruion and so imperii the posirion of the minorities they werc meant to proccct.

179.    As for the externai peace and security ot this part of Africa, it is cvident and ncedfett to dcmorutratc that this could noc possibly be bccter secured chan by the unification of che cconomic and defcntiv_c retourcet of both these tcrrńorks in che hands of one Govcrnxn<m, which would be in a position to impose reapect for its rights.

180.    The daims oi Ethiopia, so clearły cxprcsicd at many prevśous ocosiceu and lately rcvivcd with ample justificauon before the Commission, should not be con-fused with an impcrialisric attemp: towaeds colonial exparuion. They are bascd as much on geographścal. cconomic and ethnk reasons as they have their back-ground in the bisiory of Ethiopia and of the disputed tmitory which now forma Eritrca. Therc is no need to go into the remote history of this sub(ect, and it is sufficiem to rccall the evcnts through which Italy camc to Eritrca. In 1869 it acquircd a strip of coast near Assab; śn 1885, it occupied Ma ssawa. rill then held by the Egypriam on a kind of lease from the Ethiopian Emperor; nejet camc the Italian defeac in 1887. w hen the gani son at Dogali, near Mmawa, was destroyed by the Em-petor*s Covcmor of Erirrea; further hattles and treaties Analły led up to the Iralo-Eritiean Treary of 1900, by which the Eihiopian Governoienc ccdcd the Southern pan of Eritrca of toady to Italy. These facts provc the eaerdse by Ethiopia of in soweteigney ovcr the Eritrcan cerritory right down to the Red Sca, and offer ample justi/ication for the hiscorical claim for its reintegration.

181.    The return of Erirrea docs not, thcreforc, mean its submission to the domina tion of an alien Tower;

tcurweJ to Ethiopia. Eritrca would bc rejnio-n* the Independent Ethiopian Empire, rcmaininc as independent n> Ethiopia itself, and paniclparing in the Gosernmcnt with cquil righis and reipoosibilities. The proposal to rcunitc Eritrca to Ethiopia is not a ncw one. lt has always becn in the centrę o! the discusrioo* at tl* United Naciom (Jenerał Asscmbly, now favourcd by various Govern-menes and then again abandoned. We belscvc that any further attempts to by-pass this solution. e.g.. by imro-ducing any form of trusceeship with a vicw to lacer indepcndence which mareriall)* would provc impossiblc, would only bc an ecpedieni causing uselcss postponc-ment of a finał solution. The same would bc truć of proposals to cstablish a trustetship oscr Eritrca with the * view of futurę self-govemment in fedrration with Ethio-pia. Both thcsc Solutions imply the perpetuation of an Eritrcan State as a separate entity, atchough therc is no doubc that within its peesent bordccs it ts not in a position of cver becoming a viab!c Sute. Eritrca was4n artifkia! crearion by the Icalians, and the First thing they did when they occupied Erhiopi a was to split up Eritiea and to link ccrtain parts of it with the ncighbouring Ethiopian pro*-ince. To cstablish Eritrca as an entity, either indc-pendcntly or as a self*go*»ermng rrderal Prońnce, would make it impossible to effea the neccssary adtustments in its administration^

182.    We further bclievt that, «n order to ensure a harmbnious developir.ent, it tnust be left to the Ethiopian Sute to adopt the constitutional pronsions which would bc best suited to condicions in this part of Africa. To impose obligations on Ethiopia «o organize its relation with Erirrea on the basis of a federatire sutus, without any Icnowledge as to whether this would be the bcsc corutitutioru) solution, could tasily lead to futuręconflict and unrest, and in the end endanger the peacc of East Africa. |t must here bc suessed that the suspenso in which the establishment of the status of E/itrea is bcing held, and would concinue to be held under trustecship, seri-ously hampers its normal life and gravely endangers the security of its people. lt »s thereforc imperatise that a finał . and definite deeision bc tiktn now. The inunediate rrun-ion of the two countries would end this highly dangerous sute of affain and, in our opinion. ń offers the only rtalistic and rational solution of the problem, conforming to the wishes of the people, seoiring their wclfare, and sctving the interesu of peace and security in this pan of the wocld.

183.    The delegation of Norway, therefore, pro-poses that the whole territoty of Eritrca bc teunieed to Etłuopia, it bcing understood that, in the conditiom and for the purposes sec forth earlier, the Western Trorincc could provisionally and for a limited period of time be left under che prcsenc Rritish AdministracioA.

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