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April 30, 2020 Eritrea Hub News

Eritrea’s failure to efficiently respond to the pandemic could bring down its authoritarian government.

The coronavirus pandemic will likely spell trouble for Eritrea’s authoritarian government led by President Isaias Afwerki, writes Zere [Feisal Omar/Reuters]

The majority of political leaders across the world responded to the continuing coronavirus pandemic, which which has already killed more than 190,000 globally, by calling for increased international cooperation and welcoming any financial, medical and humanitarian aid that is offered to them by foreign entities to help protect their constituents.

This is why New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo happily accepted China’s proposal to send 1,000 ventilators to his state, and Italy gratefully welcomed hundreds of Cuban doctors who offered their help in the country’s fight against COVID-19.

Similarly, when the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma offered to send hundreds of ventilators as well as hundreds of thousands of personal protective equipment (PPE) to 54 countries in Africa, most African leaders, such as Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, swiftly accepted the donation and expressed their gratitude.

The leaders of Eritrea, a country ranked 182/189 in the United Nations’s 2019 Human Development Index, however, surprisingly chose to reject the vital equipment Ma offered to send them. On April 5, the head of Economic Affairs for Eritrea’s ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) party, Hagos “Kisha” Gebrehiwet, publicly confirmed that the Eritrean government rejected Ma’s donation. Talking as a guest speaker at the bi-weekly Hagerawi Nikhat (“national consciousness”) teleconference, an exclusive online seminar in which senior party officials get a chance to communicate with their cadres in the diaspora, the man in charge of Eritrea’s economy said the country does not want to become a “dumping site” for “unsolicited donations”. Accepting such offers would be against “the principled stance of the Eritrean government which advocates for self-reliance,” he added.

Within the very same online seminar, Gebrehiwet explained that the Eritrean leadership is now trying to buy the medical equipment needed to treat COVID-19 cases from the incredibly competitive Chinese market and arrange the shipment of these items to Eritrea on chartered planes.

Of course, despite its rejection of foreign aid, the Eritrean government does not have the necessary funds to swiftly make such purchases. As a result, it turned to its own long-suffering citizens and launched aggressive fundraising campaigns to make them donate the little money they have to the state to help the efforts to combat the virus. Thanks to these aggressive campaigns, some of Eritrea’s most penurious citizens, including members of the national service, have already been coerced to make donations. It is not yet known, however, whether these donations proved sufficient for the country to buy everything it needs to contain the spread of the virus.

While the Eritrean government undoubtedly hindered the country’s ability to respond to this public health emergency by rejecting Ma’s generous donation, this was only one example demonstrating its tendency to value its own image and survival more than the wellbeing of its constituents, even during a pandemic.

While Eritrea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, it did not escape the pandemic. The first COVID-19 case in Eritrea was reported on March 21, and, as of April 28, there are 39 confirmed cases in the country, of which 19 have recovered according to the Ministry of Health. The country has been in a nation-wide lockdown to slow the transmission of the virus since April 1.

The pandemic has not yet reached its peak in Eritrea, but all signs indicate that the country is heading for catastrophe.

Eritrea’s healthcare system is not strong enough to handle a deadly and highly infectious disease like COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, the country’s healthcare facilities had been suffering from an acute shortage of supplies. At certain times, patients have even been asked to buy intravenous (IV) infusions from private pharmacies before being admitted to hospital. The Eritrean government closed all private clinics in 2009. In the second wave of state seizure that started in June 2019, it also took control of 29 Catholic hospitals, health centres and clinics. Meanwhile, the unfavourable working conditions pushed many Eritrean physicians to flee the country, causing major staff shortages in hospitals.

And lack of quality public healthcare is not the only reason why the coronavirus pandemic is likely to have catastrophic consequences for Eritrea.

Although many countries, including some developed nations, are suffering from a shortage of essential products as a result of the pandemic, the magnitude of the problem is double in the case of Eritrea where import and export businesses have been banned since 2003.

As, even during normal times, Eritreans can only buy rationed essential supplies that are on sale in the governing party’s stores, they could not stockpile to prepare for the lockdown. Moreover, even if the state miraculously managed to secure extra goods to put on sale, Eritreans would not be able to do any extra shopping as they are not allowed to withdraw more than $330 in any given month from their own savings. This, despiteEritrea being a complete cash economy.

Since the mid-2000s, Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki has been spending most of his time supervising dam constructions. Yet the country’s major cities, including the capital, are still suffering from a chronic shortage of running water and electricity. In August 2018, the regime rounded up many water-tank truck owners. Many of them remain in prison. All water bottling companies were closed in June 2019. This makes it impossible for many Eritreans to follow the hygiene protocols necessary to curb the spread of the virus.

If not impossible, the regime has also made it very difficult forEritreans in diaspora to help their family members back home. Eritrean citizens living abroad are required to pay the so called “diaspora tax” first if they want to send goods to their home country. Wiring money back to Eritrea is also not easy for members of the diaspora, as they are forced to use an extremely deflated fixed currency rate imposed by the government to do so.

Eritreans are also suffering from a lack of political leadership during this difficult time. While the leaders of most countries are doing daily briefings to inform their citizens on the latest developments about the pandemic, President Isaias has not spoken to the Eritrean people or media for almost two months after giving an interview to the state-run media in mid-February, in which he did not even mention the growing threat posed by the new coronavirus. His prolonged absence from public life led to rumours that he is incapacitated or even dead.

Inside sources told me the president was in the port-city of Massawa during his months of absence from public life, as he reportedly plans to relocate his temporary office to Gedem, near Massawa. Sources close to the matter also told me that it has been very difficult to get hold of him during this time. In an extremely centralised system, where senior state officials cannot make the smallest decision without the president’s approval, one can only imagine the damage caused by Afwerki’s absence during such a crucial time.

After his prolonged absence, on April 18, the president suddenly sent a five-minute recorded message to the Eritrean people from an unknown location. Afwerki only mentioned the pandemic in the introduction of his message and went on to tell his constituents that COVID-19 should not “derail the development programmes” his leadership has embarked on. The president’s message made it clear that the pandemic is just a secondary concern for the government. The Ministry of Information, however, only translated into English the short section of the message where the president mentioned the pandemic.

As it became clear that Eritrea is not going to be able to protect its citizens from COVID-19, rights groups, exiled scholars, and the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Eritrea, have called on the Eritrean government to release the tens of thousands of prisoners of conscience who have long been languishing in overcrowded and unsanitary prisons. Many also expressed concern about the thousands of students who are living in cramped conditions at the Sawa military training centre.

During his online seminar, Gebrehiwet also responded to these calls, brushing them off as “hypocritical”. Rather than offering an explanation as to how they are planning to stop the virus from spreading like wildfire in prisons and military schools, he claimed these would be the best places for anyone who needs to be in quarantine.

In response to the growing criticism of its COVID-19 response and concerns over the wellbeing of its citizens, the Eritrean government issued a statement on April 6, accusing the UNHRC of “harassment” and claiming that the state’s “enemies” are using the pandemic to push for regime change.

While the accusation that rights groups, media organisations and the UN itself are using the pandemic to push for regime change in Eritrea is clearly unfounded, there is a very real chance that this public health emergency is going to spell trouble for Eritrea’s authoritarian government.

History shows that public health crises such as pandemics, food shortages or extreme pollution harm all governments, but pose the most significant threat to authoritarian regimes. The 1973-1975 Ethiopian famine, for example, was the final trigger that ended Emperor Haile Selassie’s reign in the country. In Sudan, it was Omar al-Bashir’s repeated failure to handle such crises, such as the cholera outbreak of 2017 and the spike in the price of bread in 2018, that led to the demise of his 30-year regime.

The Eritrean government demonstrably failed to respond efficiently to the most significant public health threat the world has faced in a century. If it does not change its ways, accept the global community’s help and take action to save the lives of already-suffering Eritreans, it is unlikely to survive past this pandemic.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abraham T Zere

Abraham T Zere is the executive director of PEN Eritrea in exile.

27 ኤፕረል 2020

"ኣቱም ሰባት ኪዱ ንዓድኹም ተመለሱ፡ ምምዝጋብን ምቕባልን ተኸልኪሉ'ዩ!"

"ኣይንምለስን ኢና"

" ኣይንምለስን ኢና እንተይልኩም ንኽልተ ቕነ ክንውሽበኩም ኢና። ንኹሉ ወጻኢታት ከኣ ባዕላትኩም ኢኹም ክትሽፍንዎ"

"ገንዘብ የብልናን"

"ዳሕራይ ተሸጊርና ከይትብሉ ኣቐዲምና ንነግረኩም ኣሎና"

"ምርጫ የብልናን - ሕጂ ኣይንምለስን ኢና፡ ዝረኸበ ይርከበና!"

እዚ ኣብ ዶባት ራማ ክሳድ ዒቃ ዝተገብረ ዝርርብ እዩ። እቶም ኣብ ሓለዋ ዶባት ዘለው ወተሃደራት ኢትዮጵያ፡ መንግስትና ስደተኛታት ምቕባል ስለዘቋረጸ ተመለሱ ምስበሉዎም ዝነበረ ዝርርብ እዩ።

ኣብዚ እዋን'ዚ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ብኮማንድ ፖስት ተኣዊጁ ብዘሎ ናይ ውሸባ ፖሊሲ፡ ኩሉ ዶብ ሰጊሩ ዝመጽአ ስደተኛ ይኹን ኣብ ውሽጢ እታ ሃገር ዝርከብ ህዝቢ ናይ ግድን ንኽልተ ሰሙን ክውሸብ ኣለዎ።

እንተኾነ እቲ ፌዴራል መንግስቲ ኮነ ብሄራዊ ክልላዊ መንግስቲ ትግራይ መወሸቢ ማእከል ስለዘይብሎም፡ ነቶም ብራማ ዝኣተዉ ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ሓደ ዘይተወደአ ህንጻ እዮም ዝሕዝዎም ዘለው። ህዝቢ እታ ኸተማ ከኣ በብዓቕሞም ይሕግዙ ኣለው።

ኣቶ ተኪአ ዝተባህለ በዓል ጸጋ ትግራዋይ ነባሪ ከተማ ራማ ብርክት ዝበለ ኣሽሓት ወፍዩ ክሕግዞም ከምዝፈተነ ኣመሓዳሪ እታ ከተማ ይዛረብ።

ዳሕራይ ግን እቲ ቑጽሪ እናወሰኸ ምስ ከደ ከምዝኸበዶን ዝምልከቶ ኣካል ቖላሕታ ክገብረሎም ከምዝተማሕጸኑን ምንጭታትና ካብ ራማ ይሕብሩ።

እቶም ናይ ክልተ ሰሙን ውሸባ ዝወድኡ እውን ናብ ካልእ ቦታ ምንቅስቓስ ስለዘየሎ ኣብ ካልእ ዘይተወደአ በዓል ሓደ ደርቢ ህንጻ ተዓቚቦም ኣለው። ገሊኦም እውን ኣብታ ንእሽቶ ከተማ ኣብ ዝርከብ ኣብያተ ሻሂ ጽግዕ ጽግዕ ኢሎም ነቲ ነዊሕ መዓልቲ የሕልፉዎ ኣለው።

ኣብ ከተማ ሸራሮ እውን ኣስታት 300 ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ፈቐዶ ገዛውቲ ተዓጽዮም ኣብ ሕማቕ ኩነታት ኣለው።

ኣብ ሸራሮ እቲ ዝዓበየ ጸገም ናይ ሕክምና እዩ። እትረፍ ነቶም ስደተኛታት ንባዕሉ ነቲ ህዝቢ እውን ንፈኮስቲ ሕማማት ዝፍውስ ሕጽረታት መድሃኒት ኣሎ። ነቶም ትሕዝቶ ዘይብሎም ክወጽኡን ክንቀሳቐሱን ዘይክእሉ ስደተኛታት ከኣ ዝኸፍአ እዩ።

ኣብቲ ቦታ ዝበጽሐ ናይ ዓይኒ ምስክር ምንጭና "ንሕማም ርእሲ ኮነ ንተራ ተቕማጥ ዝፍውስ መድሃኒት ብዘይምህላው እቶም ሰባት ኣዝዮም ተሸጊሮም ኣለው" ክብል ምስክርነቱ ይህብ። እቲ ካብ ኩሉ ዝኸፍአ ግን ናይ ማይ ሕጽረት እዩ።

ኣብዚ፡ ማይ ምሕጻብን ምፍንታትን እቲ ቐንዲ መከላኸሊ ኮሮና ቫይረስ ዝበሃለሉ ዘሎ እዋን፡ ኣብተን ኣብ ክልል ትግራይ ዝርከባ ኣርባዕተ መዓስከራት ስደተኛታት፡ ሽመልባ፡ ሕጻጽ፡ ማይ ዓይንን ዓዲ ሓርሽን ናይ ማይ ሕጽረትን ናይ ምትሕንፋጽ ሰባትን ኣሎ።

ዝምልከቶ ኣካል፡ ኣብ ቤተክርስትያንን መስጊድን ኣይትተኣከቡ ክብል ኣጥቢቑ እናመኸረ፡ ኣብ ሕጻጽ ዝርከቡ ስደተኛታት ንኣብነት፡ "ድሕነት ካብ ፈጣሪ እዩ" ብምባል ዓርቢ ስቕለት ኣብ ቤተክርስትያን ቅድስቲ ማርያም ተኣኪቦም ክሰግዱን ክምህለሉን ዝረኣየ ምስክር ዓይኒ ምንጭና፡ " ሕማቕ ኣይምጻእ እምበር እቲ ቫይረስ እንተኣትዩ ከቢድ ክኸውን እዩ" ክብል ስግኣቱ ይገልጽ።

ምኽንያቱ፡ ኣብቲ መዓስከራት ሰባት ከከም ብዝሒ ስድረኦም ኣብ ሓንቲ ገዛ ተጸፋጺፎም ስለዝነብሩ፡ ዝሓመመ ሰብ ከግልሉን ክውሽቡን ዝኽእልሉ ቦታን ዕድልን የብሎምን። ስለዚ ድማ እዩ እቲ ኩነታት ኣዝዩ ዘሰክፍን ዘሻቕልን። ኣብ ርእሲኡ ናይ ዕዳጋ ክብርን ሕጽረት ሃለኽቲ ኣቑሑን እውን እንተሎ፡ ከም ሕጽረት ማይ ገይሩ ዘማርሮም ነገር ግን የሎን።

እቶም ዝቕበሎም ኮነ ዝምዝግቦም ዝሰኣኑ ኣብ ፈቐድኡ ዓድታትን ከተማታትን ንግዝይኡ ብሓልዮት ህዝቢ እቲ ክልል ዝሕገዙ ዘለው ኤርትራውያን ግን ናይ ብሓቂ ኣብ ከቢድ ጭንቅን ሻቕሎትን እዮም ዘለው።

ብፍላይ፡ ነበርቲ እታ ኣብዚ ቐረባ እዋን ብማእከላይ መንግስቲ ክትዕጾ ዝተወሰነላ መዓስከር ሕጻጽ " እንታይ ክንከውን ኢና! መን'ዩ ዝሰምዓናን ዝረድኣናን!" እዮም ዝብሉ ዘለው።

ነበርታ ሕጻጽ ናይ ግድን ናብ መዓስከራት ዓዲ ሓርሽን ማይ-ዓይንን ክትግዕዙ ኣለኩም እኳ እንተተባህሉ ፈጺሞም ኣይተቐበሉዎን።

መንግስቲ ፈደራል ግን እቲ መደብ ብሰንኪ'ዚ ጉዳይ ኮሮና ንግዝይኡ እኳ እንተተናውሐ፡ ናይ ግድን ክትግበር ኣለዎ እዩ ዝብል እቶም ህዝቢ ከኣ "ስለምንታይ ኢኹም ንሸውዓተ ዓመት ካብ ዘጣየስናያ ዓዲ ተፈናቕሉና ዘለኹም" ይብሉ።

እታ ካብ ከተማ ሽረ እንዳስላሰ፡ 40 ኪሎሜትር ርሒቓ ድሕሪ እተን ካልኦት መዓስከራት ዝተጣየሰት መዓስከር ሕጻጽ ብዝሓሸ ኣገባብ እያ ተደኲና።

ኣብቲ መዓስከር ጽቡቕ ማይ እውን ስለዝነበረ፡ እቲ መነባብሮኡ ከመሓይሽ ፋሕተርተር ዝብል ህዝቢ ኣግራብ ተኺሉ ነታ መዓስከር ኣለምሊሙማ እዩ።

ብዙሕ ድኳናት፡ እንዳ ሻሂታት፡ ኣብያተ መስተን መዘናግዕን፡ እንዳ ጠሓኒት፡ ሕክምና፡ ቤት ትምህርትን ቤተክርስትያን ሃኒጹ ካብ ዝተኸላ ዓዲ ስደቱ ክንቀል ኣይደልን ዘሎ እቲ ነባሪ።

ስለምንታይ ግን እዩ ፈደራል መንግስቲ ንሕጻጽ ክዓጽዋን ንነበርታ ናብተን ክልተ መዓስከራት ከሸጋሽጎምን ደልዩ?

ላዕለዋይ ተጣባቒ ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት (ዩ-ኤን-ኤች-ሲ-ኣር) ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ንዝርከቡ ስደተኛታት ዝሰልዖ ዝነበረ ዓመታዊ መጠን ባጀት ብኽልተ ሚልዮን ዶላር ከምዝጎደለ፡ ነቶም ኣብ ትግራይ ዝርከቡ ስደተኛታት ዝውዕል ዝነበረ ናይዚ ዓመት ባጀት ብ34 ሚልዮን ብር ስለዝነከየ፡ ነቶም ስደተኛታት ናብተን ካልኦት መዓስከራት ምሽግሻጎም ኣገዳሲ ኮይኑ ከምዝረኸቦ እሙን ምንጪ ሰራሕተኛ ትካል ስደተኛታትን ተመለስትን [ኣራ]፡ ይሕብር።

መንግስቲ ኢትዯጵያ፡ እቲ ምግዓዝ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ወርሒ ከተግብሮ ምዃኑ ንትካል ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት እኳ እንተኣፍለጠ፡ ኣብታ ሃገር ብኮሮናቫይረስ ዝተለኽፈ ሰብ ምስተረኽበ ከምዘናውሖን እቲ ምግዓዝ ኣብ መወዳእታ ወርሒ ሚያዝያ ከም ዝጅመርን ምክትል ዳይሬክተር ጀነራል ትካል ስደተኛታት ኢትዮጵያ (ኣራ)፡ ኣቶ ኢዮብ ኣወቀ ንኤኤፍፒ ሓቢሩ - ብቢቢሲ እውን ተቓሊሑ ነይሩ።

ይኹን እምበር ወኪል ዩ-ኤን-ኤች-ሲ-ኣር ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ፡ ኣን ኤኖክተር፡ እቲ ትካል ካብዚ ዓመት ጀሚሩ እቲ ንኢትዮጵያ ዝህቦ ዝነበረ ሓገዝ ብ14% እኳ እንተጉደሎ፡ እዚ ጥራሕ ግን ነቲ መዓስከር ንምዕጻው እኹል ምኽንያት ከም ዘይኮነ ንኤኤፍፒ ሓቢራ።

ኣብዚ እዋን ነቶም ስደተኛታት ናብ ካልእ መዓስከራት ምግዓዝ፡ ዝያዳ ንኮቪድ-19 ዘቃልዖም ምዃኑ ዝገለጸት ኣን ኤኖክተር እተን ካልኦት መዓስከራት ብሕጽረት መሰረታዊ ቀረባት ማይን ሕክምናን ጽሬትን ይጽገማ ከም ዘለዋ ሓቢራ።

ቢቢሲ ዘዘራረቦ ሰራሕተኛ ኣራ ግና እቶም ስደተኛታት ዝውዙዕለን ዘለው መዓስከራት ዓዲ ሓርሽን ማይ ዓይንን ብቐረብ ኤሌክትርክን ማይን ካብቲ ዝነብርሉ መዓስከር ስደተኛታት ሕጻጽ ዝሓሻ ምዃነን ይዛረብ።

እንተኾ እቶም ነበርቲ ሕጻጽ ስደተኛታት ግን ነቲ ሰራሕተኛ ኣራ ዝበሎ ፈጺሞም ይነጽጉዎ።

እቶም ኣብዚ ቕንያት እዚ ኣብ ኩለን እተን መዓስከራት ስደተኛታት ዝበጽሑ ምንጭታትና ከኣ፡ ነበርቲ ኩለን መዓስከራት ናይ ክልተ ወርሒ መሻርፍ ክቕበሉ ከምዝረኸቡዎም ብምግላጽ፡ ካብ ኩለን እተን መዓስከራት እቲ ናይ ማይ ቀረብ ኣብ ሕጻጽ ከምዝሓይሽ ብምሕባር እቲ ናይ ነበርቲ ሕጻጽ ናይ ምግዓዝ መደብ ክሳብ ዝመጽእ ክልተ ወርሒ ክጸንሕ ከምዝኽእል ይግምቱ።

እቲ ካብኡ ንላዕሊ ዘሻቕል ዘሎ ግን ናይቶም ኣብ ፈቐዶ ዓድታትን ከተማታትን ዶባት ዝቕበሎምን ዝምዝግብዎን ስኢኖም ተጫኒቖም ዘለው ኤርትራውያን ከምዘተሓሳስቦም ይሕብሩ።

ሂዩማን ራይትስ ዎች መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ንሓደሽቲ ምጻእ ስደተኛታት ኣይቕበልን ምባሉ ኢሰብኣውን ዓለም ለኻዊ ሕጊ ዝጥሕስን ብምዃኑ ቅቡል ከምዘይኮነ ሓቢሩ።

ምንጭትታትና ከምዝሓበሩዎ ከኣ እቶም ፍታሕ ዝጽበዩ ዘለው ስደተኛታት ብሓገዝ ቀይሕ መስቀልን ብሄራዊ ክልላዊ መንግስቲ ትግራይን ይሕገዙ እኳ እንተለዉ፡ ኣብ ከቢድ ማሕበራውን ቁጠባውን ቅልውላው ከምዝርከቡ ኣገደስቲ ናይ ኮሮናቫይረስ ንዋት ሒዞሙሎም ንዝኸዱ ኣብ መቐለ ዝምቕማጦም ኤርትራውያን ወለንተኛታት ንቢቢሲ ምግላጾም ዝዝከር'ዩ።

ኣማሓዳሪ ዞባ ሰሜናዊ ምዕራብ ትግራይ ኣይተ ተኽላይ ገበረመድህን ነዞም ዝኣትውኡ ዘለው ሓደስቲ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት መንግስቲ ፌደራል ዘይቕበሎም እንተኾይኑ፡ ብሄራዊ ክልላዊ መንግስቲ ትግራይ፡ ናይ መንበሪ ፍቓድ ሂቡ ኣብ ትግራይ ኣብ ድሌቶም ከይዶም ክነብሩ ከምዘፍቅድ ንቢቢሲ ኣረዲኡ።

ኣብዚ እዋን እዚ ኣብ ከተማ ሽረ እንዳስላሰ ጥራይ ኣስታት ክልተ ሽሕ ኤርትራውያን ሕጋዊ ናይ መንበሪ ፍቓድ ተዋሂብዎም ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ንግዳዊ ንጥፈታት ይሳተፉ ምህላዎም ኣቶ ተኽላይ ይሕብር።

ክሳብ ሕጂ ኣብተን ኣብ ትግራይ ዝርከባ ኣርባዕተ መዓስከር ስደተኛታት ኣስታት 80ሽሕ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ከምዝርከቡ ይግለጽ።

ዓለም ለኸ ሕጊ እንታይ ይብል?

ፕሮፌሰር ጋይም ክብረኣብ ኣብ ሳውዝ ባንክ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ለንደን ዳይረክተር ስደትን ምዕባለን (Refugee Studies and Development) ሓንቲ ሃገር ዑቕባ ናይ ምሃብን ምኽላእን ልዑላዊ መሰል እኳ እንተለዋ እዚ ሕጂ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ኣብ ልዕሊ ሓደሽቲ ምጻእ ኤርትራውያን ዝወስዶ ዘሎ ስጉምቲ ግን፡ ኣንጻር እቲ ኣብ 1969 ዝፈረመሉ ንመሰል ስደተኛታት ዝሕሉ ውዑል ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ስለዝጻረር እቲ ተግባር ፍትሓዊ ኣይኮነን ክብል ይገልጾ።

ናይ ምስሊ መግለጺ ፕሮፊሰር ጋይም ክብረኣብ

እቲ መብዛሕተን ሃገራት ዓለም እንኮላይ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ዝፈረመሉ ናይ 1951 ኣህጉራዊ ውዑል ስደተኛታት፡ ሓደ ሰብ ብዓሌቱን ሃይማኖቱን ወይ ብዜግነቱን ኣባል ፍሉይ ጉጅለ ብምዃኑ፡ ወይ ብፖለቲካዊ ኣረኣእያኡ ካብ ሃገሩ ወጺኡ ናብ ካልእ ሃገር ምስዝኣቱ እታ ሃገር ጉዳዩ ርእያ መሰሉ ከተኽብረሉ ከምዝግባእ ይድንግግ።

እንተኾነ እታ ተቐባሊት ሃገር ነቶም ዝመጽኡዋ ስደተኛታት ምቐባልን ምንብባርን ብፖለቲካዊ ይኹን ብቑጠባዊ ምኽንያት ጸገም ክፈጥረለይ ይኽእል እዩ እንተይላ፡ ንዩ-ኤን-ኤች-ሲ-ኣር ጸገማን ምኽንያታን ነጊራ ነቶም ስደተኛታት ካልእ እተዕቁቦም ሃገር ክደልዩሎም ክትሓትት ከምእትኽእል የረድእ።

ካብኡ ተረፈ ግን ነቶም ካብ ሃገሮም ሃዲሞም ዝመጽኡ ሰባት ናብቲ ስግኣት ኣሎና ዝብሉዎ ዓዲ ክትመልሶም ከምዘይትኽእል ይሕብር።

እቲ ናይ 1951 ኣድማሳዊ ውዑል ስደተኛታት ናይ ነብሲ ወከፍ ሰብ ጉዳይ ብውልቂ ዝርኢ ክኸውን እንከሎ እቲ ናይ 1969 ውዕል ስደተኛታት ውዕል ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ፡ ንዝኾነ ቅልውላው ካብ ዘለዋ ጎረቤት ሃገር ዝመጽአ ስደተኛ ብእኩብ ከም ስደተኛ ክረአን ዝግበኦ መሰላት ክኽበረሉን እዩ ዝድንግግ።

ኢትዮጵያ ነቲ ምስ ውሑዳት ሃገራት ሓቢራ ብዝመስረተቶ ማሕበር ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ዝተኣመመን ዝፈረመትሉን ንመሰል ስደተኛታት ኣፍሪቃ ዝድንግግ ውዑል ከተኽብር ግዴታ ከምዘለዋ ብምዝኽኻር ብሓደ ናይ ኖቬል ሽልማት ብዝወሰደ ቀዳማይ ምኒስተር እትመሓደር ሃገር ፍትሒ ጎስያ ከምዚ ዓይነት ንመሰል ውጹዓት ኤርትራውያን ዝግህስ ተግባር ክትፍጽም ዘሕፍር ምዃኑ ይሕብር።

With 90 countries in lockdown, four billion people are now sheltering at home from the global contagion of COVID-19. It’s a protective measure, but it brings another deadly danger. We see a shadow pandemic growing of violence against women.

As more countries report infection and lockdown, more domestic violence helplines and shelters across the world are reporting rising calls for help. In Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom(1), and the United States, (2) government authorities, women’s rights activists and civil society partners have flagged increasing reports of domestic violence during the crisis, and heightened demand for emergency shelter (3 ,4 ,5). Helplines in Singapore (6) and Cyprus have registered an increase in calls by more than 30 percent (7). In Australia, 40 per cent of frontline workers in a New South Wales survey reported increased requests for help with violence that was escalating in intensity(8).

Confinement is fostering the tension and strain created by security, health, and money worries. And it is increasing isolation for women with violent partners, separating them from the people and resources that can best help them. It’s a perfect storm for controlling, violent behaviour behind closed doors. And in parallel, as health systems are stretching to breaking point, domestic violence shelters are also reaching capacity, a service deficit made worse when centres are repurposed for additional COVID-response.

Even before COVID-19 existed, domestic violence was already one of the greatest human rights violations. In the previous 12 months, 243 million women and girls (aged 15-49) across the world have been subjected to sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, this number is likely to grow with multiple impacts on women’s wellbeing, their sexual and reproductive health, their mental health, and their ability to participate and lead in the recovery of our societies and economy.

Wide under-reporting of domestic and other forms of violence has previously made response and data gathering a challenge, with less than 40 per cent of women who experience violence seeking help of any sort or reporting the crime. Less than 10 per cent of those women seeking help go to the police. The current circumstances make reporting even harder, including limitations on women’s and girls’ access to phones and helplines and disrupted public services like police, justice and social services. These disruptions may also be compromising the care and support that survivors need, like clinical management of rape, and mental health and psycho-social support. They also fuel impunity for the perpetrators. In many countries the law is not on women’s side; 1 in 4 countries have no laws specifically protecting women from domestic violence.

If not dealt with, this shadow pandemic will also add to the economic impact of COVID-19. The global cost of violence against women had previously been estimated at approximately US$1.5 trillion. That figure can only be rising as violence increases now, and continues in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The increase in violence against women must be dealt with urgently with measures embedded in economic support and stimulus packages that meet the gravity and scale of the challenge and reflect the needs of women who face multiple forms of discrimination. The Secretary-General has called for all governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women a key part of their national response plans for COVID-19. Shelters and helplines for women must be considered an essential service for every country with specific funding and broad efforts made to increase awareness about their availability.

Grassroots and women’s organizations and communities have played a critical role in preventing and responding to previous crises and need to be supported strongly in their current frontline role including with funding that remains in the longer-term. Helplines, psychosocial support and online counselling should be boosted, using technology-based solutions such as SMS, online tools and networks to expand social support, and to reach women with no access to phones or internet. Police and justice services must mobilize to ensure that incidents of violence against women and girls are given high priority with no impunity for perpetrators. The private sector also has an important role to play, sharing information, alerting staff to the facts and the dangers of domestic violence and encouraging positive steps like sharing care responsibilities at home.

COVID-19 is already testing us in ways most of us have never previously experienced, providing emotional and economic shocks that we are struggling to rise above. The violence that is emerging now as a dark feature of this pandemic is a mirror and a challenge to our values, our resilience and shared humanity. We must not only survive the coronavirus, but emerge renewed, with women as a powerful force at the centre of recovery.

Source=https://allafrica.com/stories/202004061106.html