New post on Eritrea Hub

by Martin Plaut

President Isaias Afwerki's much heralded interview on EriTV on Saturday, 3 November, did little to assuage his critics. This assessment of the 80 minute long appearance is scathing. It concludes:

"The history of President Isaias Afwerki is the history of poor decisions and poor results.  Eritrea under his presidency has exiled 500,000 people to add to the 1,000,000 already exiled during the 30-year war of independence.  It has participated in 3-publicly known wars (with Yemen, Ethiopia and Djibouti) and 2 unknown wars (in Sudan and Congo.) It has poured millions from its meager resources to host Ethiopian armed opposition groups who had zero impact to the positive changes happening in Ethiopia.  It has poured millions more to Somalia only to acknowledge the internationally recognized government. It got the country sanctioned only to turn around and do everything that it was told to do to avoid sanctions: stop funding and providing political support to Somalia armed groups, recognize the Somalia government,  recognize and mediate your conflict with Djibouti, and talk to the Monitoring Group.  It has destroyed the country’s basic services (water, electricity), destroyed the banking system, destroyed the private sector, and worst of all, made nationalism synonymous with cruelty and harshness.

No narration or re-narration of Isaias Afwerki, no new patches or versions can change this reality.  Whether he knows it or not, his constant blaming of others for Eritrea’s failures is an admission that he was and is an inept executive. And, therefore, he must go."

Isaias Afwerki Self-Interview: What Badme?


Source: Eritrea digest

Posted On November 4, 2018

4 questions, 80 minutes.  So, nothing has changed.  1:20 ratio. Stylistically.

Actually, substance-wise, everything changed: we have Isaiaism Sofware Upgrade: 2018 edition.  Those who gave up on the guy won’t even raise an eyebrow.  But those of you who have been sledgehammering us with Badme might want to pay attention. You don’t want to be accidentally ex-communicated.

Comedy Central has a series called “Drunk History” (it’s exactly what it sounds like: history narrated by drunk people) and it’s the misfortune of Eritrea that it has “Isaias History”, and our miserable 28 years can only be narrated by the man who caused them.

In this version of history, everything bad that happened in Eritrea is the fault of ominous forces and everything good (?) that happened in Eritrea is to the credit of our enlightened government.

The Hanish (Yemen) Crisis of 1995? Caused by the US and its partners. Yeah. So what happened was, there was this border that was never argued about for decades and the instant Eritrea declares itself an independent country, the issue is just raised out of nowhere by these ominous forces because um they wanted to make sure Eritrea is…um, a client state. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Cause, effect.  But, professor professor? Yes, you in the back.  There was something new: Yemen was getting a Gulf State to build a resort at Hanish and an Italian company was planning to also build one in Dahlak and these feuding mega projects that went nowhere were the cause, we were told at the time.  In fact, this war, then called the “odd war” (because they were saving “senseless war” description for the subsequent war with Ethiopia) was also called “whore wars” by the Economist magazine.  Resort, casino, whores was the logic of that particularly cringe-worthy title.  It was the 90s: magazines could say that then.

But no.  It was the US.  Not only was the war caused by the US, the decision of the International Court (which, of course, gave Eritrea far less than what the French mediators had offered prior to Isaias’s decision to go shooting) was also designed to create eternal conflict.  Why? Because it awarded Hanish Kebir to Yemen but allowed Eritrea to fish in its waters.  This was not an act of compromise but mischief   ንኻልእክንበልኦ ሽጣራገጢምናክንኣለና   (Eritrea is run by the logic of deqi shuq Asmara)

But, Professor, Professor? Yes, you in the back again. Why were these ominous forces doing this in 1995 when, at the same time, they were praising the Eritrean government as Renaissance men and the hope of Africa etc? The historian doesn’t cover that (kids: that won’t be on the test so don’t ask.)

All you need to know is that what was true for the odd war with Yemen was true for the senseless war with Ethiopia: it was all instigated by the US according to Issu Version 3.0.  Why would the United States, which had excellent relationship with Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1998, trigger a war between them? It just did! Stop asking questions. The alternative is to say Isaias Afwerki caused it (as the Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission did) or, even worse, to accept that the Weyane had controlled Eritrea’s fate for the last 20 years, which would be very unacceptable to the pride of our historian.  It’s not the hotheadedness of Isaias and the malice of Meles.   It’s the US.  End of story; next question.

Now our historian knows that this narration would be hard to swallow which is why he continuously brings up World War II and the Cold War: are you saying the US is incapable of being unjust? Are you saying Eritrea was not the only European colony that was not given its independence? No? Then shut up and accept my narration.

Once you accept that, it’s easier to accept that the Eritrea-Ethiopia feud of 1998-2018 had little to do with borders, Badme or demarcation.  What? Sigh: pay attention kids.  This is why the professor spent 25 minutes of his 80 minute interview on this issue: it’s not about Badme or territorial integrity or borders.  It’s much bigger.

Pay attention.  Or at least those of you who want to vacation in Massawa with the Eritrean Navy. Effective immediately (hear ye, hear ye) to talk about Badme, territorial integrity, sovereignty, doesn’t make you a patriotic citizen but a traitor. At least a suspect.  You are not ለባም or ፈላጥ::  Neither wise nor knowledgeable.  And don’t go around telling people we can’t be naieve we have to learn from our past mistakes. If you do,  you are, and our historian is good at coining demeaning insults, a ፈሊጥ.  A fraud, a wanna-be.

Why? The most important thing in this new era (4th era or 3rd: he is not sure because he is making it up as he goes) is that there should be nothing, NOTHING at all, that introduces doubt or skepticism about the Eritrea-Ethiopia rapproachment.  Arguing about Badme, lines, fences, does that. We are trying to build confidence between the two parties here: so take your little worries about little dusty Badme somewhere else.

But isn’t this what the opposition has been saying for 14 years, you say. If you are smart, you won’t say that because your question introduces doubt and skepticism to the new rapproachment and takes us back to Era Three and we are now in Era Four. More crucially,  we are in transition stage of Era Four and in transition times people are given the benefit of the doubt. These are not good things to discuss if you love your country.

Fine. But can I at least curse Weyane: is that allowed? Yes! For now. You can also curse the US but be specific: three consecutive administrations of the US is what we want to hear: Clinton, Bush II and Obama

Ok I got it. Curse Weyane, and curse Clinton, Bush II, and Obama.  But I need more! Ok: you can also curse whoever are their conspirators and allied countries in Europe, think tanks and NGOs

What do I praise? Ah, that’s the exciting part because I am not just taking away Badme as your lung; I am giving you something much bigger. We are now 350 million people. We stretch from South Sudan to Oman: we are the Nile Basin. We are the Horn of Africa. We are the Red Sea. And we are the Gulf. We are as big if not bigger than the population of Western Europe and the United States. Exciting, huh? Even more exciting, within one era (that’s our new favorite word) our population will double. And theirs won’t. And the resources we have? It’s massive.   ቀሊልነገር ኣይኮነን::

And all that begins with perfecting Eritrea’s bilateral ደስደስ (elation) with Ethiopia. So no doubt-casting, skepticism-raising, no hateration,  holleration please: let’s get to percolating in this dancerie. We have a lot of catching up to make up for all our losses (hush: yes we lost) and we have to work 48 hours per day because VAT is not about value added tax but Value Added Time እየዝብሎ ኣነ and you should too if you know what’s good for you.  Of course there aren’t 48 hours in a day: what I mean by that is 1 hour in 2004 is valued at 2 hours in 2018.  So pay attention all of you Eritreans all six to eight million of you   (hush: so we said we are 3.65 million last year in our report to the African Commission when we wanted to inflate our GDP/capita) but our facts are adjustable in line with our goals. And also don’t say anything that casts doubt on the Eritrea Ethiopia rapproachment. It’s time for ርሱን ፍስሓ::

Everything is clear except for one.  What do we do with all the (insert appropriate adjective here: ወይጦ: ሽዩጣት: weaklings: off-position, traitors, etc)? The Eritreans who oppose the government of Isaias Afwerki?  The annoying ones who talk about rule of law, elections, democracy, justice, enforced disappearance, free press….you know: all the stuff Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed talks about?

Here, the historian is unclear. He tells his soldiers to ignore us, but to also challenge us, but not in a way that gives us stature we don’t have.  So, more insults is the way to go, I am guessing.

Well, I don’t want to get in the way of this United States of Nile Basin, Red Sea, HoA & Gulf but of course it’s all going to collapse.   Because it has no shared values; it is mostly presided over by people who are not elected by the people and, excepting for Ethiopia and Somalia, none of the other “leaders” of the countries in this 350 million block collection of misfits, treat their citizens with respect and dignity. It’s a coalition of bone-saw using hackers (Salman) people accused of crimes against humanity (Al Beshir, Isaias, Salva Kiir) and police state runners (Sisi and the rest)

So, spoiler alert: the opposition will continue to oppose and, if we are smart, we will ally with the two hopefuls in this subcontinent of ancient people with ancient minds: Abiy Ahmed and Mohammed Formajjio. We will continue to speak up for our prisoners, our disappeared, our youth sentenced to indefinite military service, our exiled, our people who live in fear of the government. Because, at the rate of Isaias misgovernance, we have become the overwhelming majority.  The fact that we don’t own the State TV where two terrified reporters (definitely part of our constituency) interview us and get alternative voice to that given by the warped historian changes nothing.

The history of President Isaias Afwerki is the history of poor decisions and poor results.  Eritrea under his presidency has exiled 500,000 people to add to the 1,000,000 already exiled during the 30-year war of independence.  It has participated in 3-publicly known wars (with Yemen, Ethiopia and Djibouti) and 2 unknown wars (in Sudan and Congo.) It has poured millions from its meager resources to host Ethiopian armed opposition groups who had zero impact to the positive changes happening in Ethiopia.  It has poured millions more to Somalia only to acknowledge the internationally recognized government. It got the country sanctioned only to turn around and do everything that it was told to do to avoid sanctions: stop funding and providing political support to Somalia armed groups, recognize the Somalia government,  recognize and mediate your conflict with Djibouti, and talk to the Monitoring Group.  It has destroyed the country’s basic services (water, electricity), destroyed the banking system, destroyed the private sector, and worst of all, made nationalism synonymous with cruelty and harshness.

No narration or re-narration of Isaias Afwerki, no new patches or versions can change this reality.  Whether he knows it or not, his constant blaming of others for Eritrea’s failures is an admission that he was and is an inept executive. And, therefore, he must go.

Martin Plaut | November 5, 2018 at 9:43 am | Tags: Eritrea, President Isaias Afwerki | Categories: News | URL: https://wp.me/p9mKWT-pW

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On 31 October 2018 in Frankfurt a massive demonstration organized by Eritrean justice seekers saluted what the new Ethiopian Prime Minister is doing for his country but urged him to reconsider his friendship with the Eritrean tyrant at the cost of the Eritrean people who suffered long under that repressive regime.

 

A strong message written in many languages, including Amharic, made it clear that the demonstration was not against Dr Abiy Ahmed as such but that it was a voice aiming to draw his attention to the plight of the Eritrean people.

 

Written on behalf of all Eritreans opposed to what the Isaias regime has been against the wishes and aspirations of the Eritrean people, the message made it clear that border demarcation is of priority importance for last peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia. It underlined the truth that the unelected and lawless Isaias regime is not a legitimate representative of the Eritrean people and that all deals entered with it have no blessing of the entire Eritrean nation that paid dearly for its sovereign existence.

 

The message further stated that Dr. Abiy Ahmed and his Government have “a moral and human obligation to wish for the Eritrean people a better day at which they see their political prisoners released; start to live under the rule of law and establish a constitutional system of governance that opens political space for democratic competition.”

Saturday, 03 November 2018 21:42

Radio 88 Demsti Harnnet Sweden 03.11.2018

Written by
Friday, 02 November 2018 21:36

EPDP Liberty Magazine Issue No. 53

Written by
Friday, 02 November 2018 21:28

EPDP Liberty Magazine Issue No. 53

Written by

“What we wish for, as we have witnessed (in Ethiopia), is for real and comprehensive change to take place in regards to peace and national reconciliation that ensures the participation of (Eritreans) in Diaspora, as well as those now in prison. We wish for a change which centres on the rule of law.”

An Eritrean scholar and Catholic priest, Aba Teklemichael Tewelde, has urged the Eritrean government to take its people’s needs into consideration by bringing about fundamental change which he claims is way overdue and can no longer be deferred.

Aba Teklemichael was speaking at an annual religious ceremony on 12 October 2018 in the town of Segeneity around 60 kilometres South of Asmara.

In his address Aba Teklemichael commended the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Dr Abiyi Ahmed, for his exemplary leadership in bringing about positive change by focusing on reconciliation to bring about nation building. He also praised him for employing transparency and being accountable, as well as humble and honest, while taking his people’s voice and concerns into consideration.

“A leader who cannot bring his people together cannot lead.  A leader, like a parent to his child, needs to accommodate differing opinions and viewpoints. He needs to coordinate as well as create a platform for peaceful dialogue” he explained.

While highlighting shortcomings that were impacting Eritreans negatively, the scholar emphased the lack of reliable information:  the fact that Eritreans are not at all actively involved in national affairs in a lawful and peaceful manner. Indeed, they had no influence on relevant national issues whatsoever.

He then went on to say:

“What we wish for, as we have witnessed (in Ethiopia), is for real and comprehensive change to take place in regards to peace and national reconciliation that ensures the participation of (Eritreans) in Diaspora, as well as those now in prison. We wish for a change which centres on the rule of law.”

Referring to the Algiers agreement signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia in 2000, and which Ethiopia agreed to implement unconditionally when the peace talks begun back in June of 2018, Aba Teklemichael said:

“What we need right now is, for the border which has caused us immense suffering to be demarcated. That is what interests us primarily.”

According to the priest, for the new era of partial peace, hope and change to be fruitful, everything outdated needs to go. A change in outlook is crucial. Fundamental change in governance is imperative. So is change of heart in those who have power.

Aba Teklemichael finally called upon the Eritrean government to loosen its grip on the people and for the youth to refrain from fleeing the country.

The scholar is the second prominent Eritrean to publicly denounce the ruling party in Eritrea from inside the country. In September, the former finance minister Mr. Berhane Abrehe was arrested by security agents for having criticized President Isayas Afwerki. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Thursday, 01 November 2018 22:11

Radio Demtsi Harnnet Kassel 01.11.2018

Written by

“ናይ ዶብ ጉዳይ ብይን ተዋሂብዎ  ዝተደምደመ ስለዝኾነ፡  ከምዘይተፈትሐ ዓቢ ግድል ክውሰድ ዝኽእል ኣይኮነን። ቅድሚ ዝምድና ምትዕርራይን ቅድሚ ናብ ሓድሽ መድረኽ ምእታውናን ግድን እዚ ጉዳይ’ዚ  ክፍታሕ ኣለዎ ዝበሃሎ ኣይኮነን። ንዕኡ መመኽነይታ ገይሮም ክዕንቅፉ  ወይ ክሓላልኹ ዝፍትኑ እውን ስለዘይሰኣኑ፡ ኣብ’ቲ ናቶም ጸወታ ዘእቱ ምኽንያት የብልናን። (ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ብ11 ሓምለ 2018 ኣብ ሳዋ ካብ ዘስምዖ ዘረባ ዝተወስደ)

ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ ኣዋርሕ ኣብ ኤርትራዊ ፖለቲካዊ መድረኻት ክመላለሱ፡ ክጸሓፈሎምን ክዝረበሎምን ካብ ዝጸንሑ ሕቶታት ሓደ “ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ንዝያዳ 17 ዓመታት ቀያድን ናይ መወዳእታን ብይን ዶብ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ከይተተግበረን ልኡላዊ መሬት ኤርትራ ወሪሩ ዘሎ ሰራዊት ከይወጸን ዝምድናና ናብ ንቡር ምምላስ ማለት ዘበት እዩ ክብል ምስ ጸንሐ፡ ሃንደበት ኣፍ ልቡ እንዳወቕዐ፡ እንኳዕከ ከምዚኣ በለት እንዳዘመረ ናብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ዝጐየየሉ ምኽንያትሲ እንታይ እዩ? ዝብል እዩ። እቲ ንሱ ብዛዕባዚ ሕቶ ዝሃቦ ክትእምኖ ዘጸግምን ርኢቶ ኣብ ላዕሊ ብፍሉይ ሕብሪ ሰፊሩ ዘሎ ካብ መደረርኡ ዝተወስደ እዩ። ኣብዚ ርኢቶኡ ብዓብይኡ ሕሶት ኣሎ። ተሰልቢጥካ ህዝቢ ተሓታቲ ከም ዝኸውን ክትገብር ምምጥጣር’ውን ከምኡ።

እዚ ኣበሃህላኡ ብብሩህ ነቲ ካብ ቀደም እውን፡ ሓንጊድሉ ዝጸንሐ ምኽንያት ጉዳይ ቀያድነት ብይንን ልኡላውነት ሃገርን ዓጢጥዎ ዘይኮነስ፡ ካልእ ካብ ህዝቢ ክሓብኦ ዝደለየ ምቹእ ኣጋጣሚ ክጽበየሉ ዝጸንሐ ምኽንያት እዩ ክንብሎ ንዝጸናሕና መሊሱ ዘብርህ መርተዖ እዩ። እንተኾነ ንህዝቢ ንዝተወሰነ ግዜ እምበር ካብ ጉዳዩ ዓይኑ ኣዕሚትካ እንዳሓሰኻ ንሓዋሩ ከዊልካዮ ኣይትነብርን ኢኻ። ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ካብቶም ነዚ ተዋቓዒ ዘረባኡ ብእዝኖም ዝሰምዑ መንእሰያት ክንደይ ኣብ ኤርትራ ኣለዉ ክንደይከ ራሕሪሐምዎ ናብ ኢትዮጵያ ሰጊሮም ባዕሉ ይፈልጦ እዩ። እዚ ከኣ ደጊም ኢሳይያስ ዝበለ እንተበለ ንሓሶቱ ዝጸውር ኤርትራዊ ሕልና ከምዘየለ ዘመልክት እዩ።

ኣብዚ እዋንዚ እቲ ካብ ኤርትራ ወጻኢ በብግዜኡ እንዳሓየለ ዝመጽእ ዘሎ ተቓውሞታት ከም ዘለዎ ኮይኑ፡ እቲ ኣብ ውሽጢ ፈኸም ክብል ዝጸንሐ ናይ “ለውጢ” ድምጺ ከኣ መመሊሱ ይዓኩኹ ኣሎ። ናይ ኣቶ ብርሃነ ኣብርሃ ኣብ ማእከል ኣስመራ ኮይንካ ንዘራጊ ባህርያት ኢሳይያስ ዘቃልዕን ንለውጢ ዝዕድምን መጽሓፍ ምድራስን ናይ ኣባ ተኽለሚካኤል ተወልደ ምሳጢ ኣባታዊ መድረን ብኣብነት ዝጥቀሱ እዮም። እዞም ህይወቶም ምእንቲ ሓቂ ዝወፈዩ ተበዓት ብጽሒቶም ኣወፍዮም። ወዮም ኣንበብትን ሰማዕትከ “ሓቃቶም እዮም” ኢልና ጥራይ ዲና ክንሓልፎ ወይ ንሕና እውን ግብራዊ እጃምና ከነብርክት ኢና? ናይዞም ውሱናት ኣብ ውሽጢ ሃገር ኮይኖም ኣብ ኢዶም ዘሎ ከይበቐቑ ዝደርበዩ ንቕሎ ብናይ ኩላትና ኣበርክቶ እንተዘይተሰንዩ ከምቲ ናይ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ስሉጥ ውጽኢት ዘይሃበ ፈተነታት ክኸውን እዩ። ፈጺሙ ክመውት እዩ ማለት ግና ዘበት እዩ።

ሎሚ እዚ ኣብ ላዕሊ ሰፊሩ ዘሎ ባዕላ መምጽኢት ዘረባ፡ ባዕላ መጥፍኢት ዘረባ” ዘብል ጉዳም ዘረባን ካልእ ኣካይዳ ኣቶ ዘራጊቶን ኣብ እንዳ ኩሉ ኤርትራዊ ስድራቤት መዛረቢ ዛዕባ ኮይኑ ዘሎ እዩ። ኤርትራውያን ህዝብና ኣብ ሕማቕ ኩነታት ከም ዘሎ ዝፈላለይሉን መርተዖ ክደልይሉ ዝግደድሉን ኣይኮነን። ምኽንያቱ ኣብ ገገዝኦም ስለ ዘሎ። “እሞ እዚ ካብ ኮነ እንታይ ንግበር?” ምስተባህለ ግና እቲ መልሲ ሓበጀረዋይ እዩ። ብድፍኑ “ገለ’ሞ ክግበር ኣለዎ” ምባል ግና ናይ መብዛሕትና መውጽእ ኣፍ ኮይኑ ዘሎ እዩ። ነቲ ኩነታት ዝተረድኡን ብዝቐርብዎም ሰባት ብዛዕባ መፍትሒ ዝሕተቱን ናይ ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ሚኒስተራትን ላዕለዎት ወተሃደራዊ ኣዘዝትን’ውን ከም ሰቦም “ገለ’ሞ ክግበር ኣለዎ” ክብሉ እዮም ዝውዕሉ። ነዚ ርኡይ ሕማቕ ኤርትራዊ ህይወት ክሒድካ “ጽቡቕ ኣለና” ናይ ምባል ሞራልፕም ግና ተጸንቂቑ እዩ። እቲ “ገለ ይገበር” ዝበሃል ዘሎ ኣንቊርካ ንዘይምዝራብ እንተዘይኮይኑ ኣብ ልቢ ብዙሓት ዘሎ ትርጉሙ “ህግደፍ ይወገድ” እዩ።

መንግስቲ ህግደፍ በቲ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ጀሚርዎ ዘሎ ሓድሽ ሕቱኽቱኽ ኣቢሉ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብቲ መሰረታዊ ለውጢ ናይ ምምጻእ ቃልሱ ከረሳስዖ ብዙሕ ፈተነታት ኣካይዱ እዩ። ቀንዲ ዕላማ ናይዚ ኣብ ላዕሊ ተጠቒሱ ዘሎ ኣበሃህላ እውን ንሱ እዩ። እንተኾነ ካብቲ ሰፊሕን መሳጥን ኣባታዊ ቃል ኣባ ተኽለሚካኤል ተወልደ “ድሌት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጻዕዳ ፊኖን ስሚንቶን ኣይኮነን” ዝብል ሓረግ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንመሰረታዊ ናይ ለውጢ ቃልሱ ብግዝያዊ ኣቕርቦት መዕንገሊ ክልውጦ ከም ዘይኮነ ዘመልክትን ኣብ ልቢ ኩሉ ኤርትራዊ ዘሎ ተረድኦን እዩ። ብኻልእ ኣዘራርባ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ድሕሪ ሕጂ ናቱ ናይ ለውጢ መንገዲ ሒዙ ክቕጽል እምበር እቲ ጉጅለ ነናብ ዝኾዓቶ ጐዳጉዲ ክኣትው ድልዊ ከምዘይኮነ ዘመልክት እዩ። በዚ ኣጋጣሚ ክሳብዚ ቀረባ ግዜ ሕቖ ህግደፍ ደጊፎም ከቕንዕዎ ክፍትኑ ዝጸንሑ ወገናት፡ ህዝቢ ለውጢ ካብ ህግደፍ ክጽበ ዝዓይነቱ መዘናግዒ ስብከቶም ብግቡእ ምርዳእ ዘድልዮ ምዃኑ ከይንዝንግዕ ሓደራ።

ለተከበሩ ዶክተረ ኣብይ ኣህመድ

የኢትዮጵያ ፈደራላዊ ደሞክራስያዊ ሪፐብሊክ መንግስት ጠቅላይ ሚኒስተር

ሰላምና ጤና ኣይለዮት፡

እኛ ዜሬ ከፊትዎ የቆምነው፣ የሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ተሳታፊዎች፣ ዲሞክራሲ፣ መልካም ኣስተዳደር፣ የፍትህ ልዕልናና መልካም ጉርብትና የምንመኝ ፣ ነገር ግን ኤርትራ ባለው ብልሹ ኣስተዳደርና ጭቆና ምክንያት ከምንወዳቸው ህዝባችንና ኣገራችን ተለይተን በመላው ዓለም ተበታትነን እየኖርን ያለነው ኤርትራውያን ነን። ሰላማዊ ሰልፋችን እርስዎን ለመቃወም የተዘጋጀ እንዳልሆነ ተገንዝበው፣ ኣዳማጭ ነዎትና፣ ቅሬታችንና ጥሪያችን ለዘላቂ ሰላምና፡ ለኤርትራና ኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦች መልካም ጉርብትና የሚመለክት ነውና ፣ ነተገቢውን ትኩረት ያደርጉለት ዘንድ ክብርነትዎን ለማስታወስ መሆኑን በትህትና እንገልጻለን።

በኢትዮጵያ በመካሄድ ላይ ያለው፣ የፖለቲካና የህሊና እስረኞች መፍታት፣ ተቃዋሚ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች ኣገራቸው ገብተው በሰላማዊና ህጋዊ መንገድ እንዲወዳደሩ መፍቀድ፣ የወጣቶችና የሴቶች የኣመራር ሚና ማጐልበትና ሌሎች የለውጥ እርምጃዎችን ከልብ የምንደግፋቸውና የምናደንቃቸው ናቸው።

በኤርትራና በኢትዮጵያ የተፈረመው፣ የኣልጀርሱ ስምምነትና የደንበር ኮምሽኑ ውሳኔ ያለ ምንም ቅድመ ሁኔታ ተቀብለው፣ በኤርትራና በኢትዮጵያ መሃል ሰላም እንዲሰፍን ለወሰዱት እርምጃ እንደ መርህ የምንቀበለውና የምንደግፈው እርምጃ ነው። ለዚሁ ለወሰዱት እርምጃ ስንታገል መቆየታችንም ያለፈው ልምዳችን የሚመሰክረው ነው። ይህንኑ እርምጃዎ ተገባራዊ ይሆን ዘንድ ግን፡ ብመጀምርያ ደረጃ በሁለቱ ኣገሮች ወይ መሪዎች የተደረሰው ስምምነት ለሁለቱ ኣገራት ህዝቦች ግልጽ መሆን ይነሩበታል ባዮች ነን።

የሁለቱ ሃገራት ድንበር ስለ መከለል፣

ድንበርን በግልጽ መከለል፣ መሰረታዊ የሰላምና የመረጋጋት፣ የህዝቦች የክብርና የማንነት መለያ፣ እንዲሁም የኣገሮች የሉኣላውነት ማሳያ መሆኑ፣ በሚገባ የምትገነዘቡት ነው። ይቅርና ኣገሮች ትናንሽ መንደሮችም ቢሆኑ የየራሳቸው ድንበር ኖሩዋቸው ነው ተግባብተውና ተጋግዘው በሰላም የሚኖሩት። ስለዚህ፡ ድንበር ሳይከለል በሰላም ለመኖርና ሆነ መልካም ጉርብትና ለመመስረት ኣስቸጋሪ ስለሚሆን፣ ይህኑ ግምት ውስጥ ገብቶ የድንበር መካለል ጉዳይ ለኛ ሁለተኛ ደረጃ ሳይሆን፣ ቅድሚያ ተሰጥቶት እንዲሰራበት ተገቢ ነው እንላለን። የኤርትራም የኢትዮጵያም ልኡላውነት የሚታወቀው ድንበራቸው ሲከለል ነው። ስለዚ መጭው የኤርትራና የኢትዮጵያ ትውልድ በኣጠቃላይ፣ ወጣቶቻችንን ደግሞ በተለይ ድንበራቸው ግልጽ የሆነና ልኣላዊነታቸው በግልጽ የተረጋገጡ ኣገሮች እንድናስረክባቸው፣ ይህንኑ የሚያረጋግጥ ግልጽ ስምነቶች እንድትዋዋሉላቸው ታሪካዊ ግዴታና ሃላፊነት እንዳለብዎት ማስታወስ እንፈልጋለን። ይህንኑ ተግባራዊ ካደረጉ ታሪክዎ በሁለቱ ኣገሮች ህዝቦች የማይረሳ ሆኑ ይመዘገባል።

ስምምነት ከማን ጋር

ኤርትራ ሕገ መንግስታና ሕገ-መንግስታዊ ኣስተዳደር ከሌላቸው ኣገሮቭች ኣንዷ ናት። ኤርትራ ህዝብዋ የሚያውቀና የተሳተፈበት ህጋዊ ተቋማት የላትም። ከዚህ ኣንጻር የኤርትራ ህዝብ በኣንባገነናዊ ጨቋኝና ኣሸባሪ ቡድን መንጋጋ እየኖረ ያለ ህዝብ ስለመሁኑ እርስዎን መንገር ኣስፈላጊ ኣይደለም። ምክንያቱም ኤርትራ ያለው ግፍ ሞልቶ ወደ ውጭ በመፍሰሱ የጐረቤት ሃገር ህዝቦችም የተሰቃዩበትና የደሙበት ነው። ይሁን እንጂ ያለፈውን ችግር እንዳለ ሆኖ፣ ሰላም ሰፍኖ የኤርትራና የኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦች ለመገናኘት መቻላቸው የሚጠላ ባይሆንም፣ ለዚህ ሁኔታ ያበቁ ስምምነቶች በህዝባችን የማይታወቁ መሆናቸው፣ ለሚቀጥለው ትውልድ ችግር እንደሚፈጥሩ ልናስታውስዎት እንፈልጋለን። ምክንያቱም በኤርትራ ህዝብ ስም ከርስዎ ጋር ስምምነት እየፈረመ ያለው የኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቅ ስርዓት፣ እርስዎን እንደወከለ መንግስት ተቁማዊ ኣሰራር የሌለው ስለ ሆነ። እርስዎ ጋር እየተፈረሙ ያሉ ስምምነቶች፣ ይቅርና የኤርትራ ህዝብ፣ ለስሙ የካብኔ ኣባላት የሚባሉትም የሚያውቁትና የተወያዩበት ኣይደለም። ከዚህ ኣንጻር እነዚህ ስምምነቶች እንዴት ነው ዘላቂ ሰላም የሚስገኙ? ከኣሁን በፊት በኤርትራና በኢትዮጵያ በረሃዎች፣ እንዲሁም ብ1992 በኤርትራና በኢትዮጵያ መሃከል የተፈረመው ህዝብ የማያውቃቸው ወተሃደራዊና ጸጥታዊ ስምምነቶች ከፍተኛ እልቂት ወዳስከተለ ጠርነት እንደወሰዱን የሁለቱ ህዝቦች የቅርብ ትዝታ ነው። የኤርትራ ህዝብ ምን ያህል በጨቋኝ ኣምባገነናዊ ኣስተዳደር እንደተበደለ የሁለቱ ኣገራት ድንበር ሲከፈት ወደ ኣገርዎ እየጐረፈ ያለው የኤርትራ ህዝብ ብዛት መረጋገጫ ነው።

ስምምነት ብማን እማኝነት

በኣሁኑ ግዜ በኣረብ ሰላጤ ኣገሮችና ብኣፍሪቃ ቀንዲ ያለውን ሁኔታ ለሚከታተል ታዛቢ፣ በኤርትራና በኢትዮጵያ የተፈጠረው ደም ኣፋሳሽ ጦርነት እንዲቆም ብሃሳብ ኣፍላቂነት ከሚጠቀሱ የኣፍሪቃ ሃገራት ብርኪናፋሶና ኣልጀርያ ተጠቃሽ ናቸው። ይባስ ብሎ የኣፍሪቃ ህብረት ዘንግቶ ሳውዲ ዓረብያ ላይ የሚደረግ ስምምነት፣ የኤርትራና የኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦች ብማይመለከታቸውና በማያውቁት የዓረቦች የሃያልነት ውድድር ውግያ ኣካል እንዳይሆኑ ያለንን ስጋት ልንደብቆው ኣንፈልግም።

ቅጥ ያጣ የንግድ እንቅስቃሴ

የኤርትራና የኢትዮጵያ ድንበር ከተከፈተ ቀን ጀምሮ፣ እየተካሄደ ያለው መርህ ኣልባ የንግድ እንቅስቃሴ፣ ለግዜው የኤርትራ ህዝብ የመሰረታዊ ኣቅርቦት ጥያቄ የመለሰ ቢሆም፣ ነገ ወደ ኣላስፈላጊ ኣቅጣጫ ሊወስድ እንደሚችል የሚያጠራጥር ኣይደለም። ለ1998 የኤርትራና ኢትዮጵያ ጦርነት ዋና መነሻው ኤኮኖሚ እንደነበር የሚዘነጋ ኣይደለምና። ስለዚ እየተካሄደ ያለው የንግድ እንቅስቃሴ ወደ ሌላ ጦርነት የሚያመራ እንዳይሆን፣ የንግድ ስርዓቱ የሁለቱ ኣገሮች ሉኣላዊነት በጠበቀ መልክ የማስያዙ ሃላፊነት እንደሚጠበቅብዎት ማስገንዘብ እንወዳለን።

ሞራላዊና ሰብኣዊ ግዴታ

በኤርትራ ህዝባችን ኣደጋ ላይ ጥሎ የቆየውና ኣሁንም በዚሁ ጨቋኝ ኣካሄዱ እየቀጠለ ስላለው ስርዓት ተገቢው ግንዛቤ ስላለን፣ ይህንኑ ስርዓት ለመገርሰስ በመረባረብ ላይ ነን። ኤርትራ ላይ ኩለንተናዊ ለውጥ እውን የሚሆን በባለቤቱ ብኤርትራ ህዝብ ትግል ቢሆንም፣ እርስዎም የኤርትራ ህዝብ እስረኞቹ እንዲፈቱለት፣ ተቃዋሚዎች ህጋዊ በሆነ ኣገባብ ኣገራቸው ገብተው የሚወዳደሩበት ሁኔታ እንዲፈጠር የሚፈቅድ ስርዓት እንዲመሰረት ሞራላዊና ሰብኣዊ ሚናዎ የመጫወት ሃላፊነት እንዳለብዎት ማስታወስ እንፈልጋለን።

በመጨረሻ ላይ ፣ የኤርትራ ህዝብ ያልጠበቀው ኣስቸጋሪ ሁኔታ ገጥሞት፣ እናቶች ከህጻናትና ወጣት ከልጆቻቸው ጋር በመሰደድ ላይ ናቸው። የኤርትራ ህዝብ ኢትዮጵያ ሲደርስ በህዝቡ መልካም ወንድማዊ ኣቀባበል እየተደረገለት ስለ ሆነ እናመሰግናለን። ይሁን እንጂ ኣቀባበሉ ከህዝቡ ኣቅም በላይ ሊሆን ስለሚችል፣ ህዝባችን በመንግስትዎ ደረጃ የትምህርት ዕድልና የጤና እንክብካቤ ያገኝ ዘንድ ትብብርዎ እንዳይለየው በትህትና እንጠይቃለን። የህዝባችን ደህንነት እንዲጠበቅም እንዲሁ እናሳስባለን።

ወንድማማችነትና መልካም ጉርብትና ይለምልም

ሰላም ለኤርትራና ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦች

ኤርትራውያን የሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ተካፋዮች

ፍራንክፈርት ጀርመን

ጥቅምት 31 2018

Your Excellency Dr Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister,

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

May you enjoy peace and have best of health.

We, the peaceful demonstrators gathered in front of the venue of the public meeting you are addressing today here in Germany, are members of the huge Eritrean diaspora dispersed all over the globe after having fled from our beloved home which is denied peace, justice, prosperity, democratic governance, and good neighborliness by the repressive regime in the country. We trust Your Excellency knows well that this is not a demonstration of protest against you. We are demonstrating simply to draw your kind attention to our earnest wish that you lend a helping hand towards building a truly lasting peace and good neighborliness between the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia.

We no doubt salute and support the considerable reforms being taken in Ethiopia, such as the release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience; your welcoming of erstwhile political opponents as rivals by pledging to open political space for them to compete in a peaceful manner, and your Government’s encouragement and promotion of the active participation of women and the youth in the political life of your country.

Likewise, we appreciate and support your unconditional adoption of the Algiers Agreement and the ruling of the Border Commission as the sure paths, as we always believed, towards peace in the region. However, in order to translate words into action, we know it is absolutely imperative that the two governments or the two leaders are transparent to the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia about the deals they enter to.

Border Demarcation Is a Primary Issue

As you very well know, border demarcation is an indispensable factor for sustainable peace and co-existence between states; it is part of the mutual recognition of each other’s territorial sovereignty. And let along sovereign states, even local counties possess well defined territorial boundaries in order for them to lead peaceful and cooperative co-existence. Without clearly defined borders, Sir, it is difficult to know each other as ‘neighbors’ - let alone to live in peace. Therefore, for us Eritreans, border demarcation is not a secondary issue. It is our issue of topmost priority to be implemented. Only to underline, territorial sovereignty of our states shall be reassured by their having clearly delineated and demarcated borders. We feel you at the leadership have the historical obligation and responsibility to bequeath to the young and future generations of both sovereign states by signing clear and transparent treaties for all to see. If you do this, you will have a favorable record in the annals of the two fraternal peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea.  

Making a Genuine Deal Requires a Right Partner

It is an open secret that Eritrea remains to be a country without a constitution and constitutional system of governance; without the rule of law and without legitimate institutions framed through active public participation. As such the Eritrean people live under fear and cruel repression of a one-man dictatorship whose excessively abusive acts even spilled over borders and adversely affected Eritrea’s neighbors. We know it is good to forget old wounds for the sake of starting anew. It is necessary to open closed borders for the good of one’s people. Yet, deals and accords made without the minimum knowledge and consent of the concerned peoples can in the long run be dangerous. They can seriously affect future generations. We say this because, unlike Your Excellency, Isaias Afeworki is not a legitimate representative of the Eritrean people. Let alone our people, even the so-called cabinet ministers in Asmara are not aware of the deals being made between you and Isaias Afeworki. How can one imagine that such accords lead to a lasting peace? It is to be recalled that the secret deals of the long past and the ill-defined agreements between Eritrean Ethiopian rulers in 1992 have led our peoples to wanton destruction and killings. The currently ongoing exodus of Eritreans towards Ethiopia is a clear example of how much this people suffer and suffered under the secretive one-man dictatorship in Eritrea.

Unwitnessed Accords

Any observer of the ongoing developments in the Arab Gulf and the Horn of Africa region can see accords signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia in places far away from Algiers or Ouagadougou and the African Union which were the origins of the process in settling the border conflict. Today’s agreements, like the one reached in Jeddah, can comprise details little known to the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia, and we cannot hide our deep concerns that they are potential causes of future conflict in a rivalry for regional domination.  

Uncontrolled Trade and Commerce

For now, the uncontrolled economic transactions observed between the two countries since the opening of borders may sound good, especially for our people who have been shut down in absolute poverty. But this action can very easily lead unintended consequences. And who can ignore the significance of the economic factor in igniting the 1998 border war? As such, in order to avert the economic factor from repeating itself, we see it incumbent upon the two countries to regulate soon the open border trade and commerce as it should be managed between two sovereign states.

Moral and Human Obligations

We Eritrean demonstrators addressing this message to Your Excellency are part of our people engaged in a struggle against a deaf dictatorship that has become a threat to Eritrea’s very survival. The intention and the direction of the unelected dictator are not clear to our people. Although it is the Eritrean people who will have to bring about fundamental change in our country, yet we wish to remind fraternal Ethiopia and Your Excellency that you have a moral and human obligation to wish for the Eritrean people a better day at which they see their political prisoners released; start to live under the rule of law and establish a constitutional system of governance that opens political space for democratic competition.

Finally, Sir, we wish to pay our profound gratitude to the Ethiopian people’s warm welcome and assistance to the renewed exodus of Eritrean refugees, mostly children, mothers and young people. However, the burden of assisting ever increasing refugees can be beyond the capacities of the local people. It requires timely Government attention and intervention to help. Therefore, we modestly suggest and request that Ethiopian Government support to Eritrean refugees, new and old caseloads, must look beyond immediate relief. It would have to aim at helping them become educated and productive future citizens in Ethiopia’s neighborhood. As such, the support would have to include education, public health services, solid protection of their security and the provision of job opportunities.

May Our Fraternity and Good Neighborliness Keep Growing!!

Peace and Prosperity to the Peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea!!

Eritrean Peaceful Demonstrators, Frankfurt, Germany - 31.10.2018.