In July, ORT received a letter from the Deputy Secretary General of the Supreme Council praising the organisation and congratulating it on its work, which benefited the whole country. Three months later, without any prior notification, the same official wrote politely and succinctly to say that the government intended forthwith to take over ORT's projects and to assume full responsibility for their administration. Nothing was said either about the financing of the programme, the payment of staff salaries in the future, or how the handover was to be effected. ORT were left with no choice but to suspend their activities, leaving only the clinics in operation.

Since no explanation was given, the government's reason for this sudden change of policy remained a matter for conjecture. In ORT circles it was believed to be the consequence of advice received from the Governor of Gondar Province, where most of the Falashas live. Emigration across the frontier into Sudan, which was illegal, was known to be increasing and reports had been circulating that close on three thousand Falashas, whose ultimate aim was probably to reach Israel, were to be found in refugee camps. It is possible that the Governor suspected that, although ORT was certainly not responsible for this movement, its presence encouraged it and he probably believed that by removing ORT he would stop the traffic. Whatever efforts may have been made by those ministers and the Commission for Relief and Rehabilitation who were known to be sympathetic to the project, they were apparently over-ruled at the highest level. In a country which urgently requires all the assistance it can get the so-called 'politicization of aid' has, naturally, been deplored.

Those observers may have been correct who suggested that the vociferous campaign conducted by certain individuals and