Ethiopia’s foreign ministry has apologized after a “wrong and unacceptable” map of Africa that, among other errors, incorporated Somalia into Ethiopia was published on its website.
The ministry said that it removed the map, which sparked a great hullaballoo on social media, as soon as it became aware of it and that a team was working to secure the site.
“We sincerely regret for any confusion and misunderstanding this incident might have caused,” it said in a statement entitled “Clarification.”
There was much to clarify.
For starters, Somalia, which borders Ethiopia, was completely wiped off of the map and appeared to have been annexed by its neighbor. But the Republic of Somaliland, which has for decades sought, but not received, international recognition was included.
Also missing from the map of Africa were Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and became the 193rd member state of the United Nations that same year.
The Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – two separate countries – were also merged into one.
I welcome Ethiopia for removing from an Official Gov site a map that annexed most of #Somalia to #Ethiopia. Statement described the map “wrong & unacceptable”. Indeed. However, it fell short to explain why the map was drawn in the first place & how it ended up on an official site
— Yusuf Garaad (@ygaraad) May 26, 2019
In a tweet, Yusuf Garaad, Somalia’s former foreign minister, said that he welcomed the map’s removal, but wondered “why the map was drawn in the first place and how it ended up on an official site.”
I welcome Ethiopia for removing from an Official Gov site a map that annexed most of #Somalia to #Ethiopia. Statement described the map “wrong & unacceptable”. Indeed. However, it fell short to explain why the map was drawn in the first place & how it ended up on an official site
— Yusuf Garaad (@ygaraad) May 26, 2019
