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Part III

February 3, 2015

……..in Part I, I described how the aspirations of the Eritrean people have been dashed by PFDJ over the last 20 years and how the national service has ended up becoming a modern day slavery. In Part II, I continued to reflect on my own experience while inside and outside Eritrea including the closure of the University of Asmara. This final part, Part III, is about my own escape and life experiences outside Eritrea.

Part III

The closure of the University of Asmara in September 2006 was the ultimate disappointment to the university’s staff and students and to any Eritrean who understood the value of education. The university did not have new admissions then for two years, so the closure was in the making. But some people thought second year students might be sent to the university from the MaiNefhi College. We thought those students especially the ones in the natural science fields would require practical laboratory training to qualify for the degrees and diplomas as there was no laboratory setting at MaiNefhi. It is worth to note here that there was no communication in advance between the ministry of education and the university community until the last minute. The plan to close the university was just a rumor. This is common under PFDJ administration rather than exception. They first propagate rumors to measure public response and their cynical directives follow. They also use these same methods to propagate fear among the people.

When I came back to Eritrea as a fresh master’s graduate from the University of Cape Town at the end of 2002, I had never thought all these could happen. I had big ideas and a big motivation to work at the University of Asmara and contribute my part. But PFDJ had its own plans for the University, and they still claim that the University was not closed. Some of my teachers, who became colleagues later, at the University of Asmara, who taught for years were forced to leave the country and some of them were put aside. It was a sad occasion to witness the University closed after about 50 years of turbulent existence. Even the Ethiopian rulers did not dear to close it during the war for independence. Instead of strengthening the existed and established university, PFDJ chose to close and substitute it with sub-standard, military-run colleges. This has not been heard of in any other country as it is difficult and takes a long time to establish an internationally accredited institute like the University of Asmara was. Its closure and the issues associated with it has been described by many colleagues; I have just raised the subject here as my own tribute to what happened.

I always defended my coming back from South Africa when friends challenged me, but I really regretted when the university was closed. As I indicated in part II, I actually went to MaiNefhi for a couple of days when ordered to do so and was given courses that I was supposed to teach. I saw the students being treated like prisoners in a compound surrounded by military check-points. There were reports of beatings and military punishment of students who tried to jump over the fences. The moral of the students was at its lowest point and the situation was getting worse day by day. In my meeting with my would-be-students at MaiNefhi, I actually told them that I was not going to continue to teach them. I gave them some course material to help them with whoever was going to take over the course. I felt very sorry for them but what else could I do! PFDJ made it difficult for all of us. By then, some close colleagues have already left the country. It was not an easy decision; I had to leave and my family had to re-locate. I had to find someone who could assist me to escape. All these had to take place in a short period of time and without attracting attention of security agents.

I arranged for my escape to the Sudan but then my guide-to-be, who lived in Keren, was identified and abducted the night before the planned departure date. When I called, his terrified wife picked up the phone but then she was scared to tell me what happened. I was forced to tell her the travel plans on the phone so that she could tell me the truth. Then I had to talk to the person who introduced me to the guide about the situation and to get an advice. This latter person confessed to me what he knew; he himself had suffered tremendously in the hands of PFDJ security agents before and that he had to safe his own life. He decided to leave with me and we had to leave the town immediately before security agents capture us. We observed suspicious movements of people around the place where we had an earlier appointment with the then-captured guide and we had to hide. We left the town of Keren, but after three days’ journey towards the west, we lost our direction and were captured in the town of Teseney. It was night; we approached the town thinking that it was Kessela, the Sudanese town near the Eritrean border and were captured by the security agents.

The border security agents took our ID cards and were taking us, I did not know where to, and I told my colleague that I had to escape (using my tribal language). He was a welder by profession in his 50’s and I was a 36 years old university lecturer at the time. I thought they were to kill me not because I have read more X’s and Y’s than him, but because they would consider me more threat. They would also think I would tell my story louder if I survive the punishment and above all, I was already black-listed in their books. I did not wait to hear my colleague’s response. I jumped over the fence into a compound and continued to run from one house to another until I got to the edge of the town. People in Teseney and in other towns in the lowlands of Eritrea sleep outside, in front of their house and when I jumped into their yardssome woke up and wondered around and their dogs barked. I believe this made it inconvenient for my pursuers to shoot me or re-capture me. I am sure I also out-run them as I was running to safe my life. I continued to run out of the town for a couple of minutes more and then laid down on the ground to avoid visibility as the moon was so bright. I could see, about 150 meters away, my pursuers searching the houses on the edge of the town.

I stayed laid on the ground for some time until my pursuers moved to the next neighborhood and then walked further away from the town. I did not know where I was and I had to stop and sit for a while to determine the direction from the movement of a shade of a stone against the moon light. It took me three more days to reach to safety. The distance between Teseney, the Eritrean near-border town and Kessela, the Sudanese town on the other side of the border was not that long but I was badly injured and dehydrated; and I had to travel at night only. I survived as I was able to drink water and eat some food on the second night when I met a farmer who was staying at his farm. He had a little left over from his dinner and I am very grateful to him to this day. It is in my wish-list to meet this person in the future and thank him for the water and food he provided me at the time of need.

I become very emotional and my body shakes when I remember my escape into the Sudan, but when I tell people about it including the details I left out in this written testimony; I get the feeling that some people might see it as a fiction. But when I tell this to fellow Eritreans who escaped in similar manner, they tell me of more horrific stories including the friends they left dead on the way. These days, I started to think of the kind of determination in the Eritrean youth to get away from the unjust PFDJ regime and I am struggling to find the reason as to why we do not show that kind of determination and take the risk to defy the regime inside Eritrea!. Wouldn’t the latter be more effective in solving the country’s problems like what has happened recently in some Arab countries? Is it possible that PFDJ, through the obligatory national military service and dirty propaganda, has instilled fear in us to see them as untouchable? I have my own assumptions on how PFDJ would react to an uprising, but I still need help to understand this and readers’ feedback will be invaluable.

In Eritrea, I heard many people cursing the ministers and local officials for all the misery but not Isayas Afeworki, the president. They thought that these officials were the spoilers and that if the president knew of the issues he would have solved them. I asked people in high office and found out that the president actually gets every detail of what happens in the country by a special group of people. So, he knows everything. But I also found out that the ministers and higher officials who chair meetings in the country and listen to people’s questions and grievances actually do not dear to tell the president what the people are complaining about. They just want to be seen as capable of decision making but talking to them can only put you in trouble. They can make you arrested and you can be forgotten there.

After leaving Eritrea, I meet Eritreans in the diaspora who blindly support the Eritrean government regardless of what is happening in that country. This undermines efforts by individuals and organizations who are working hard to awaken the people working for the system back home. There are also some ex-government officials who have abandoned PFDJ recently and claim that they themselves were in danger while in Eritrea. Some of them were terrorizing the people there. They now raise ethnical and tribal issues to indicate that PFDJ works on these bases and that they were discriminated against. We knew about these claims but they were the enforcers of such practices and they should have acknowledged and asked for forgiveness first. Furthermore, their ethnical and tribal disclosures are not helping others who are working hard to unify opposition against PFDJ, the dictatorial regime at home. It is worth to note that PFDJ itself is doing its best to divide the diaspora so that there could be no united opposition. Their supporters in the diaspora also pursue propaganda to show that there is no better option for Eritrea other than PFDJ.  

I want to revisit here is the exodus of young people from Eritrea. It is shame that, despite our population size, we make up the second highest percentage of asylum seekers in the world at the moment. I do not believe that the Eritrean government is willing to address the root cause to stop it any time soon as they have already blamed other parties for promoting it. This issue will continue to affect us all for the foreseeable future. What I would recommend is to increase public awareness on the Eritrean situation wherever we are so that other countries could exert pressure on the Eritrean authorities to respect the rule of law. We need to make it clear to the world that there is no rule of low in Eritrea and our people are suffering in the hands of PFDJ government. Some European countries, such as Denmark, are getting the wrong information about the situation in Eritrea, primarily by talking to the Eritrean authorities or third parties that are not directly affected or involved. They are not talking to the right people and that we are not doing enough to expose the PFDJ regime. We need to convince these countries that the information they are getting from the Eritrean authorities is wrong and that they should investigate properly. We know what happened to those who were deported before.

Today, I am an associate professor with a PhD degree, trying to hold onto the passion I had in education despite being an asylum seeker in Europe. I believe I would have done a better and morally satisfying job in Eritrea than what I am doing now if PFDJ did not create the obstacles. The purpose of my testimony is to contribute to the efforts undertaken by other Eritrean individuals and organizations in increasing public awareness of the evil PFGJ. I believe a lot has been done to challenge the ‘Hade Wdib, Hade Hizbi, Hade Libi’ (One-Party-One-People-One-Heart) false propaganda of PFDJ. But we need to do more to convince Eritreans inside and outside the country that PFDJ can no longer deceive us and use the stalemate in the border issue with Ethiopia as an excuse to chock the Eritrean people. The Eritrean people deserve better. PFDJ should understand that there will be a time when they will face the consequence of their actions. In this regard, there is not going to be a better lesson in life than what has happened in Libya. There are still better options PFDJ could pursue rather than arrogance, deception and intimidation. The situation is already close to no turning point. The Eritrean people want real freedom, and they paid a huge price for it.

Peace, Freedom and Prosperity to the Eritrean people!!

ቃልስና ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ለውጢ ቃልሲ እዩ። ለውጢ ክንብል እንከለና ካብዚ ዘለናዮ መትሓጃ ዘይብሉ ኩነታት ናብ ራህዋ ዘስግር ለውጢ ማለት እዩ። ኮታ ካብ ኣሉታ ናብ ኣውንታ ዝግበር ጉዕዞ ሒዝና ኢና ሰለይ ንብል ዘለና። እዚ ጉዕዞና ንክዕወት ክንስዕሮ ዝግበኣና ንለውጢ ዝዕንቅጽ ኣካል ኣሎ ማለት ምዃኑ ኩላትና ዘይንስሕቶ እዩ። እዚ ጉዳይ ከይገፍሓና ናብቲ ናይ ቀረባ ጉዳይና ክንምለስ። ቃልስና ኣንጻር እቲ ንህዝብና ታሪኹ መንዚዑ፡ ንመስዋእቱ ክሒዱ ደም ዘንበዖ ዘሎ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ እዩ። ጉጅለ ህደፍ ክለዓል እንከሎ ከም ርዱእ ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስን ደቀ መዛምርቱን ዝዝውርዎ ጉጅለ ማለትና ምዃኑ ከይደቀስካ ዝተሓልመ እዩ። ኣብ ልዕሊ ጉጅለ ህግደፍን ተዋሳእቱን ካብ ዘለና ጽልኢ ዝነቐለ ኢሳይያስን ሰዓብቱን ከም ሰባት ብዝኾነ መንገዲ ካብዛ ዓለም ንክእለዩ እንጽልን እንምነን ብዙሓት ኢና። ምናልባት እውን ናይ ኩላትና ደለይቲ ለውጢ ሕልምን ጸሎትን እዩ እንተበልና ምግናን ኣይኮነን።

ንኢሳይያስን ሰዓብቱን ከም ሰባት ሕማቖም ምምናይና ጌጋ ኣይኮነን። ምኽንያቱ ብሰንኮም እያ ሃገርና ኣብ ናይ ምህላውን ዘይምህላውን ቀራና መንገዲ ኮይና ውድቀት ወይ ድሕነት እትጽበ ዘላ። ኣብዚ ግና ሓደ ከነስተውዕለሉ ዝግበኣና ጉዳይ ኣሎ። ንቀንዲ መራሕቲ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ወሲኽካ ንሰባት ብሰብነቶም ዘይኮነስ ብመንጽር እቲ ዝምርሕሉ ኣተሓሳስባ ኢና ክንመዝኖም ዝግበኣና። እዚ ነቶም ንጸልኦም”ሞ ክውገዱልና እንደልዮም ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ነቶም እንድግፎምን ነዊሕ ዕድመ ንምነየሎም እውን ዝምልከት እዩ። ሰባት ብሃይማኖቶም፡ ብጾታኦም፡ ብዕድሚኦምን ብቦታዊ መበቆሎምን ዝተፈላለዩ ክኾኑ እንከለዉ፡ እቲ ኣብ ከምዚ ንርከበሉ ዘለና ናይ ለውጢ ቃልሲ ንምምዛኖም ክንጥቀመሉ ዝግበኣና መለክዒ ፖለቲካዊ ኣተሓሳስባኦም እዩ። ንሕና “ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ ይወገድ” ክንብል እንከለና ነቲ ነዊሕ፡ ሓላኽ፡ ተንኮለኛ፡ ንነዊሕ ግዜ ቅድም ንህግሓኤ ደሓር ድማ ንህግደፍ ዝመረሐን ዝመርሕ ዘሎን ዘይግራኡ ዝኾልል ውልቀሰብ ሰብ ዘይኮነስ፡ ነቲ ንሱ ኣብዚ ነዊሕ ናይ ምምራሕ ግዜኡ ክምረሓሉ ዝጸንሐን ዘሎን ዘየናሕሲ ኣተሓሳስባኡ ኢና። ካብዚ ብምንቃል ኢና ድማ ጉጅለ ህግድፍ ዝምዘን ብመንጽር ስብእና ናይቶም ዝዝውርዎ ዘለዉ ባእታታት ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ፡ ብመንጽር እቲ ዝምርሕሉ ዝነበሩን ዘለዉን ለውጢ ዘይቅበል፡ ጸዋግ፡ ጸቢብን ጸረ-ህዝብን ኣተሓሳስባኦም ክኸውን ይግበኦ። እዞም ንዛረበሎም ዘለና ሰባት ካብዚ ዝተጠቕሰ እኩይ ኣተሓሳስባ ነጻ እንተዝኾኑ ምስኣቶም ኣብ ተጻራሪ ደንበታት ንስለፈሉ ምኽንያት’ውን ኣይመሃለወን። እቲ በብግዜኡ “ቃልስና ናይ ሰባት ዘይኮነስ ናይ መሰረታዊ ኣተሓሳስባ ለውጢ ምርግጋጽ እዩ” እንብሎ ኸዓ ካብዚ እዩ ዝነቅል።

ዕድሚኦም፡ ናይ ቃልሲ ድሕረባይተኦም፡ ቋንቋኦም፡ ዜግነቶም ካባና ዘይፍለዩ ኣብ ጓይላ ህግደፍ ዘኹድዱ ሒደት ኤርትራውያን ኣለዉ። ንሳቶም በቲ ሓደ ወገን፡ ንሕና ድማ ኣብቲ ካልእ ወገን ተሰሊፍና ንክንተፋነን ቀንዲ ምኽንያትና እምበኣር ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ፍልልያትና እዩ። ስለዚ ንህግደፍ ከም ጉጅለ ክንመዝኖን ክንትንትኖን እንከለና ቀንዲ መለክዒናን ቆላሕታናን የንቀሳቕስዎ ናይ ዘለዉ ሰባት ስብእና ዘይኮነስ እቲ እዚ ጉጅለ ዝምረሓሉ ዘሎ ዘይቅርዑይ ኣተሓሳስባ ክኸውን ይግበኦ። ምናልባት እዚ ኣተሓሳስባኦም ካብቲ ኤርትራዊ ፖለቲካዊ ባይታ ከይተጓሕፈ፡ እዞም ናይ ሕጂ ተዋሳእቱ ብዝኾነ መንገዲ እንተ ተወገዱ’ውን፡ ጽባሕ እውን ኣብዚ ዝጐደፈ ባይታ ካልኦት ዲክታቶራት ናይ ምፍራዮም ዕድል ክፉት እዩ ዝኸውን። እቲ ባይታ ዲክታቶርን ዲክታተርነትን ብዘይቅበል ኣገባብ እንተ ተመድሚዱ ግና ጽባሕ ካልእ ወጻዒ ዘይበቝሎ ውሑስ እዩ ዝኸውን። ስለዚ እነመዝግቦ ናይ ለውጢ ዓወት ውሑስ ዝኸውን ንዲክታተራት ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ቀንዲኳ ደኣ ንዲክታተርነት ክንስዕር እንተኽኢልና ጥራይ እዩ።

እዚ ሕጂ ኣንጻሩ ንቃለስ ዘለና፡ ግዜኡ ዝሓለፈ ጸረ ለውጢ ኣተሓሳባ፡ ብኻብኡ ዝማዕበለ ህዝባዊ ኣተሓሳስባ እምበር፡ ከም ወተሃደራዊ መዛግብ ብሓይሊ ኣጽዋር ኣይኮነን ዝፈርስ። ኣተሓሳስባ ንወዲ ሰብ እንተ ናብ ጥፍኣት ወይ ናብ ልምዓት ዝመርሕ ረቂቕ መሳርሒ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ነቲ ግጉይ ኣተሓሳስባ ኣወጊድካ ብቅኑዕን ህዝባውን ኣተሓሳስባ ንምትክኡ፡ ኣብ ኣእምሮ ሰባት ብዝሰርጽ ረቂቕ ቃልሲ እዩ ዝትግበር። ነዚ ለውጢ እዚ ከተዕውት ከምቲ ናይ ዓውዲ ውግእ ቅልጽምን ድፍረትን፡ ወይ ዘመናዊ ወተሃደራዊ ዕጥቂ ኣይኮነን ዘድሊ። ኣብዚ መዳይዚ እቲ ቀንዲ መዕወቲ መሳርሒ እምበኣር፡ ቅሩብነት፡ ተወፋይነት፡ ዘይስስዑነት፡ ርትዓውነትን ሕድገትን ዝሕመረቱ እሞ ካብ ገዛእ ርእስኻ ዝጅምር ተወፋይነት ዝሓትት እዩ። ኣብ ዝኾነ ኣጋጣሚ “ንገዛእ ርእሱ ነጻ ዘይኮነ ንካለኦት ነጻ ከውጽእ ኣይክእልን እዩ” ንብል ኢና። እዚ ሓቂ እዩ። “ኣብ ገዛእ ርእሱ ወይ ኣብቲ ዝዋሰኣሉ ፖለቲካዊ ትካል ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ለውጢ ዘየረጋገጸ ኣካል፡ ናይ ለውጢ መሪሕ ወይ ሓይሊ ክኸውን ኣይክእል እዩ” ምባል እውን ቅኑዕ እዩ። ጸገም ክፍጠር እንከሎ፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ንነብስኻ ካብቲ ጸገም ኣርሒቕካ ናብ ካልኦት ከተላግቦ ምፍታን፡ ንገዛእ ርእስኻ ቅድም ኣካል ናይቲ ጸገም ኮይንካ ምፍታሽ፡ ደሓር ከዓ ፍታሕ ካብ ካልኦት እትጽበ ዘይኮነስ ኣካል ናይቲ ፍታሕ ኮይንካ ምውሳእ ኣዝዩ ኣድላዪ እዩ።

ኩልና ከም ዘይንዝገዖ ኣብዚ እዋን ንኤርትራዊ ፖለቲካዊ ኣተሓሳስባን ኣሰላልፍኡን ዝጸልውዎ ዝንባለታት ብዙሓት እዮም። ብዛዕባ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ናይቲ ጸላዊ ኣተሓሳስባ ፍልልያትን ኣሰላልፋኡን በዚ ኣጋጣሚ ምዝርዛሩን ብዛዕባ ነፍሲ ወከፉ ምዝራብን ስለ ዝሰፍሕ፡ ጃንዳ ህግደፍን ደንበ ተቓውሞን ጠቒሰ ጥራይ ክሓልፍ እየ። ኣብ መንጎ ክልቴና ኤርትራዊ ፖለቲካዊ ደንበታት ሓደ መፍለይ መስመር ኣሎ። ናይ እዚ መስመርዚ ቀንዲ መግለጺ ናይቶም ደደንበና ሒዝና ንጠማመት ዘለና ኣካላት ሰብእነት ዘይኮነስ ሐሒዝናዮ ዘለና ኣተሓሳስባ እዩ። ምስቲ ደቂ ሓንቲ ዜግነትን ሃገርን፡ ሰብ ናይ ሓባር ታሪኽን ምዃና ናይ መልክዕ ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ኣብቲ ክልተ ደንበታት፡ ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ምትሕውዋስ ከም ዘሎ ዝዝንጋዕ ኣይኮነን። ኣብቲ ሓደ ደንበ ናይቲ ካልእ ደንበ ጽልዋ ክህልው ባህርያዊ እዩ ንምባል ዝኣክል እዩ። ንኣብነት ኣብቲ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ግዝኣተይ ኢሉ ኣጽኒዑ ሓጺሩ ዝሕልዎ ኤርትራዊ ክሊ ኮነ ፈቐዶ ከባቢ ማሕበረኮማተይ ዝብሎ እንዳተሸምረረ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ውዳበታት፡ እቲ ዝበዝሕ ብኣካል እምበር ብኣተሓሳስባስ ኣካል እኳደኣ ወሳኒ ዓቕሚ ደንበ ተቓውሞ እዩ። ምናልባት እቲ ፍልልይ ናይ ልብኻ ኣግሂድካ ክትዛረብ ምኽኣልን ዘይምኽኣልን እዩ ዝኸውን። እዚ ኩነታት ስለ ዝፈርሕ ዓው ኢሉ ኣይዛረበሉ እምበር፡እዚ ኩነታት ካብ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ’ውን ዝተሰወረ ኣይኮነን።

ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞና ብዙሕ ጸገማት ኣለዉ። ካብዚ ጸገማት እቲ ቅድሚት ዝስራዕ ብሓባር ክንሰርሕ እንዳደለናን እንዳጨራሕናን ክንትግብሮ ዘይምኽኣልና እዩ። እቲ ቀንዲ ምኽንያት እንታይ ምዃኑ ምርድኡ ዘጸግሞም “ናይዚ ጸገማትና ጠንቂ፡ ብዙሓት ውድባት ምህላውና እዩ ዝብሉ” ኣካላት ኣለዉ። እንተኾነ ብዙሕነትና ንክህሉ እንቃለሰሉ ደሞክራሲያዊ መርኣያና እምበር ናይ ጸገማትና ጠንቂ ኣይኮነን። ናይ ሃገርና ምንኣስን ሓዳስ ምዃንን፡ ናይ ህዝብና ዋሕድን “ጸገምና ብዙሓት ውድባት ምህላውና እዩ” ንዝብል መረጋገጺ ክኸውን ኣይክእልን እዩ። ነዚ ስለ ዝርዳእ እዩ ሰደህኤ ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮኡ ዓንቀጽ 10፡2፡6 “ዝተፈላለየ ህዝባዊ ውደባታት ክህሉ እናተባባዕና፡ ንህዝብና ዝጥርንፍ ሓባራዊ ጭረሖ ንክህሉ ክንቃለስ ኢና” ዝብል ሓሳብ ኣስፊሩ ዘሎ። ኣድላይነት ሓድነት ስለ ዝርደኣና ንምርግጋጹ ብዙሕ ጻዕርታት ኣካይድና ኢና። ታሪኽ ተቓውሞና ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ብዓብይኡ ታሪኽ ፖለቲካዊ ቃልስና፡ ታሪኽ ላዕልን ታሕትን ምእንቲ ሓድነት እዩ እንተተባህለ እውን ካብ ሓቂ ዝረሓቐ ኣይኮነን። እሞ ድማ ክሳብ ሕጂ ዘይተዓወተ። ሕቶ ሓድነት ክሳብ ክንድዚ ወሳኒ ካብ ኮነ ደኣ ስለምንታይ ዘይነዕውቶ? ዝብል ሕቶ ምልዓልና ኣገዳሲ እዩ። እቲ ሕቶ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ እቲ መልሲ እውን ኣብ ኢድና ዘሎ እምበር ካብ ካልእ ኣካል ዘይንጽበዮ ምዃኑ ከዓ ኣይንረስዕ። ነዚ ዝወሃብ መልሲ ከከም መላሲኡ፡ ሕድገት ስለ ዘይንገብር፡ ምጽውዋር ስለ ዘየብልና፡ ካብ በበይኑ ድሕረ-ባይታ ስለ ዝመጻእና፡ ጸቢብነት ስለ ዘጥቀዓና፡ ካብ ክውንነት ንቕበል ናይ ኒሕ እሱራት ስለ እንኸውን፡ ናይ ግዜ ዝሑል ውግእ ኣተሓሳስባ ግዳይ ስለ ዝኾና፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ሓቢርና ንተዓወት ዓወት ንሓዴና ጥራይ እያ ኢልና ስለ ንኣምን፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ናይቲ ጸገም ይኹን መፍትሒኡ ኣካል ንኸውን ነብስና ስለ እነግልል፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ናብ ኣተሓሳስባኦም ናብ ሰባት ስለ እነተኩር .. ወዘተ ዝብሉ ይርከብዎ። እዚታት መልሲ ኣይከውንን እዩ’ኳ እንተዘይተባህለ፡ እቲ ቀንዲ መልሱስ “ናይ ሓድነት ፈተነታትና ኣብ ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ሓድነት ስለ ዘይምስረት እዩ” ብዝብል እዩ ዝጠቓለል ዝብል እምነት ኣለኒ።

ኣብ ውሽጢ ብዙሓት ዘይበሰሉ፡ ምናልባት እውን ዘይተላዕሉ ኣገደስቲ ዛዕባታት ሓቢእካ፡ ንግዝያዊ መፈከሪ ኢልካ፡ ብደጊኡ ናይ ሓሶት ካባ ሓድነት ኣልቢስካ ምቅርራብ፡ ብዙሕ ከይሰጐመ ጸሓይ ከም ዝወቐዖ በረድ መኺኹ ከም ዝፈስስ ተመኩሮታትና ኣርእዩና እዩ። ከምቲ “ተሓቢአን ይጠንሰኦ’ሞ ሰብ ኣኪበን ይሓርሰኦ” ዝበሃል፡ ወዮ ንሓቂ ሓቢኡ ኣብ ዘይጥጡሕ ባይታን ቃለዓለማዊ ኣተሓሳስባን ንግዝያዊ ሃልኪ፡ ዝነቐለ ምቅርራብ ክፈርስ እንከሎ፡ ዝያዳ ዝጐድኦ ነቶም ተዋሳእቱ እዩ። ናይዚ በሰላ ቀልጢፉ ዘይሓውን ንቐጻሊ ቃልሲ ምእንቲ ሓድነት ንድሕሪት ዝመልስን ምዃኑ ከዓ እቲ ካልእ ሃስያኡ እዩ።

ግደ ኣተሓሳስባ ከምቲ ናይ ለውጢ ሓያልነቱ፡ ምርግጋጹ እውን ግዜ ዝበልዕ መሪርን ቀጻልን ቃልሲ ዝሓትት እዩ። እዚ ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ልዕልነትቃልሲ ኣብቲ መስርሕ ብውሽጣውን ግዳማውን ምዕብልናታት ዝጽሎ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ነዚ ምዕብልናታት እንዳተኸታተልካ፡ ኣብቲ ሓንሳብ ዝሓዝካዮ መንገዲ ከይደረቕካ፡ ነቲ ዝዕንቅፍ እንዳወገድካ ዝኽየድ ናይ ክብል ለጠቕ ጉዕዞ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ንምዕዋቱ ዝሓቶ ፖለቲካዊ ውሕልነትን ትብዓትን ቀሊል ኣይኮነን። ነዚ ጸዋር ውሕልነት ዝሓትት ፖለቲካዊ ጉዕዞ ናብ ምርግጋጽ ልዕልና ቅኑዕ ኣተሓሳስባ፡ ኣብዘየብጻሕካዮ፡ እቲ ጸገም ኣብቲ ዝመረጽካዮ ኣገባብ ውደባ መሲሉካ፡ ከምዚ ሓሓሊፉ ክንጸባረቕ ንርእዮ ዘለና፡ ናብ ካልእ ሸነኻዊ ኣወዳድባ ሃንደፍደፍ ምባል ከዓ ክሳራኡ ቀሊል ኣይኮነን’ሞ ከሎ ጋና ምስትብሃል ይሓትት።

1 ለካቲት 2015

Friday, 30 January 2015 23:01 Written by  Martin Plaut 

This is a summary of an important debate in the House of Lords last night, which was held at a critical moment. Critical for three reasons:

1. The scale of the suffering by the tens of thousands fleeing Eritrea demands action: they cannot be treated as “economic migrants.”
2. The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, Ms. Sheila B. Keetharuth, is about to visit the UK to collect evidence.
3. Ethiopia is due to hold an election in May and international scrutiny of this is vital.

The full version of the debate can befound here.

What was impressive was that many of the speakers could draw on personal experience of both countries: Baroness Kinnock (Glenys Kinnock) recalled her visit to Eritrea, as did Lord Dubs (Alf Dubs) and Lord Avebury. Lord Rea remembered meeting Petros Solomon (one of those who has been jailed by the Eritrean government for the last 13 years). They also drew on their experiences during the debate.

Two flaws

Overall this was an important and well-informed debate. But there were two flaws.

Firstly, the government was not prepared to be frank about how the Khartoum Process would work. No details were really given of what it would mean or how British policy would change as a result of it.

Secondly, it is clear that if the Eritrean regime really reduces its conscription to 18 months, then far fewer Eritreans are likely to  be given refugee status in the UK. It is because of the fear of returning to Eritrean after Eritreans have fled from conscription that has been the reason most refugee cases have been accepted. As the minister said: “That is why some of the figures of asylum grants by us to Eritreans look so high, because clearly there has been concern about them returning to that country given their reasons for leaving.”

Martin

Ethiopia

Most attention was paid to Eritrea, but there were important points made about Ethiopia, which I will deal with first.

1. Baroness Kinnock (Glenys Kinnock – Labour and former development minister) criticised both regimes. “Both Eritrea and Ethiopia have a Marxist-Leninist heritage. Ethiopia is still effectively controlled by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, through a system of ethnic federalism. Although there has been some improvement we have to ask how it can be that, at the 2010 election, the EPRDF won 90% of the vote.”
2. Lord Dubs (Labour) raised the question of freedom of speech in Ethiopia, in the context of the coming election. “Human Rights Watch said last week that 22 journalists, bloggers and publishers were charged with criminal offences in the past year, Six independent publications were intimidated and closed, with dozens of staff forced into exile. Three owners of publications also fled abroad to escape false charges that led to sentences of three years in prison in absentia. Six members of Zone 9, a bloggers’ collective, were charged under the counterterrorism laws and have been in custody for 274 days, sending a chilling message to online activists. Can the Government not make representations to Prime Minister Desalegn to relax the stringent controls on freedom of expression so that Ethiopians can have a genuine election in May?”
3. Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat) also called on Ethiopia to resolve its border dispute with Eritrea, and to abide by the Algiers Agreement by accepting the Border Commission’s findings. “Both countries had agreed to accept the commission’s decision as final, but when the details were published in April 2002, Ethiopia found one excuse after another to dispute the findings… The Ethiopians unlawfully occupied territory all along the border that should have been demilitarised under the settlement, and Eritrea has been forced to maintain large armed forces as a precaution against further military attacks by its bullying neighbour.”

Eritrea

The criticism of Eritrea during the debate was even stronger than of Ethiopia.

1. Baroness Morgan (Labour spokeswoman in the House of Lords on Foreign Affairs) made this important point: “What is driving this mass exodus, which includes not just women and children but thousands of unaccompanied minors? The simple answer is that neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea is a functioning democracy. Although both Ethiopia and Eritrea are suffering real problems, there is more scope to influence activities in Ethiopia. In the past, there seems to have been a modicum of free speech and a free press in Ethiopia, although the Government’s intolerance of dissent seems to be increasing significantly in the face of general elections in May. There have been large-scale arrests of protesters and a crackdown on opposition opponents. This is particularly true in the Oromo region, where at least 5,000 people have been arrested as a result of their opposition to the ruling party. But if we think that the situation is bad in Ethiopia, it is truly catastrophic in Eritrea, where all freedoms were suppressed in September 2001. There is no religious freedom, as the right reverend Prelate underlined, no political pluralism, and no independent press in the nation. The forced and interminable military service to fight the unending border war with the neighbours in Ethiopia is clearly a real problem that is driving people from the country.”
2. Baroness Kinnock described Eritrea in these terms: “The cruelty, tyranny and oppression of Isaias Afewerki and his regime know no bounds. Eritrea is isolated politically, regionally and internationally and it is under UN sanctions because of its alleged support for al-Shabaab in Somalia. The country is often described as Africa’s North Korea. All rights and freedoms are denied. There is no religious freedom or political pluralism, and no freedom of the media or of speech.”
3. Baroness Kinnock went on to ask what the aim of the British government was in visiting Asmara and follow an apparent willingness from the European Union to have a “new beginning with Eritrea”. “ Does the Minister agree with the suggestion made by some European Governments that it is necessary now to offer additional support and engagement to Eritrea, arguing that additional aid will lead to more openness and to change? Surely there can be no “new beginning”, as has been suggested, with this regime. As history proves, concessions to regimes such as Eritrea will achieve absolutely nothing. I ask the Minister to give some detail on the apparent willingness of the UK to have discussions with the Eritrean regime on, “drivers of irregular migration and ways to mitigate it, asylum and returns, and potential areas for joint co-operation”. [Official Report, 6/1/15; col. WA 136.] What exactly does that mean? Will the UK delay any response on refugee policy until the UN commission of inquiry issues its report on the subject? European Governments should not make major Eritrean policy changes until they see the inquiry findings. Let us see if Eritrea is prepared to co-operate with the UN commission of inquiry before taking any hasty decisions. Now there are signs of unbelievable courage and determination in Eritrea on challenging Isaias Afewerki. The people are aware of the dangers of open protest, but we have to ask just how long they—and he—can hold on. We must urge the EU and others to make sure that the UN commission is given clear and urgent access. Isaias Afewerki’s agreement to co-operate would be the first test of whether he is ready to accept change. Whatever happens, if there is negotiation, the European Union and member states must not make quick concessions but use any momentum to ensure that there can be—and will be—fundamental change. The release of Dawit Isaak would be a welcome and symbolic victory.”
4. Baroness Kinnock made the point that most Eritreans arriving in Europe should be considered as refugees, not ‘economic migrants’. “My final point relates to what are routinely called “irregular migrants”. These people arrive in Calais having endured a terrifying journey and are then treated as if they are economic migrants. This is clearly not what persuades them that they must leave Eritrea. Many other African countries are just as poor as Eritrea, but their citizens do not come to Europe in their thousands, as they do from Eritrea now. Will the UK argue for their right to stay and ensure that they are treated as refugees?”

Government policy

Replying to the debate for the government minister, Baroness Anelay (Conservative) accepted some of the points raised, but was naturally more cautious in what she had to say.

1. UN Eritrea Monitoring Group: “I understand that Eritrea denies any support for al-Shabaab but continues to refuse entry to the monitoring group. We urge it to co-operate fully with the group’s work. I am entirely at one with the noble Lord in this matter.”
2. EU-African Union Khartoum process, designed to tackle people smuggling and human trafficking. “We welcome the fact that both Ethiopia and Eritrea have expressed commitment to the Khartoum process. It provides the best framework to drive this issue forward. Noble Lords have drawn attention to the tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea. I would say to them that if they are taking the Khartoum process seriously, they have to take negotiation on the basis of solving the differences between them seriously too. As a member of the core group of EU and AU member states steering the development of how we take this process forward, we as a country are keen to ensure that we maintain momentum and that the process leads quickly to concrete projects that combat the smuggling and trafficking.”
3. Eritrean conscription: “Having left and broken the rules on conscription, people are—I cannot think of the right word—terrified to return. That is why some of the figures of asylum grants by us to Eritreans look so high, because clearly there has been concern about them returning to that country given their reasons for leaving.”
4. The UK official’s visit to Eritrea in December 2014: “They looked at the drivers of migration and particularly discussed the matter of extended military service. I can say to my noble friend Lord Chidgey that this was a useful starting point for further co-operation. A similar visit to Ethiopia is planned for the near future. With regard the visit to Eritrea, the Eritrean Government representatives assured the officials from the FCO that military service will be strictly limited to 18 months and, indeed, I have been briefed by those officials today. The undertaking has been given. It is matter now of making sure that that is put into practice.”
5. The Algiers Agreement:Pushed by Lord Avebury, the minister said: “My Lords, international agreements, once entered into, should be adhered to”
6. Human Rights:There are human rights abuses across the board. The right reverend Prelate raised the issue of religious freedom. We will continue to look very carefully at the matters he raised because, clearly, those are abuses that have occurred and, as he rightly says, particularly against groups that are not registered under the Eritrean system. There was a reference to the detention of political prisoners and journalists. We certainly try to establish the facts. There are still journalists in detention despite reports that six have been released. There was a reference to the Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak, who is still under arrest. With regard to all these matters, we do not give up. Just because it is difficult, we do not give up in pursuing our relationship with these two countries. Walking away would leave those who are the victims of persecution and misbehaviour by Governments in a more perilous position than they currently face. The commitment of this Government is that this is a challenge that requires a global, long-term response to a difficult problem. We will all keep trying to ensure that, as an international community, we do our best to tackle it for the sake of those behind the traffickers and behind Governments who do not have good governance.

 Source=https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/important-eritrea-ethiopia-debate-in-the-british-parliament/