by Martin Plaut

July 19, 2019

in Opinion

 

African migrants in a packed room at the Tariq Al-Matar detention centre on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli. Photo: Taha Jawashi, AFP

The images were terrible: the twisted metal and concrete were all that remained after the bombing of the Tajoura Detention Center in Libya’s capital Tripoli. People gathered outside, praying and weeping for those who had been trapped inside. It is more than two weeks since the airstrike hit the center on July 2, leaving at least 53 people dead and many more wounded.

The detention center was estimated to be holding 200 refugees and asylum seekers at the time. Some have since been released, a step welcomed by the European Union. But their statement, describing the development as “positive,” rings a little hollow. Not long afterward another 90 people attempting to leave Libya were intercepted at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard, trained and equipped by the European Union, and taken to Tajoura.

There are dozens of detention centers, spread across Libya and holding an estimate 6,000 desperate African migrants. The centers are – in reality – very much part of E.U. foreign policy. It has been clear for some time that European politicians are determined to exclude migrants; whether they are coming for economic reasons or as refugees.

The rise of populist parties has threatened the European political order with migration as the most toxic issue. But the May 2019 elections across the E.U. saw populists fail to make the ground they had hoped to (except in the U.K.). Rather, there was a surge in support for liberal and green parties.

Wall Along Mediterranean

The fall in migration has been dramatic and the E.U.’s own statistics tell the story. Back in 2015 more than a million migrants arrived. As the E.U. puts it:

“Irregular arrivals in the E.U. have decreased significantly since the peak of the migration crisis in 2015. Between January and June 2019, 35 000 irregular arrivals have been registered.”

What has happened is a simple matter of policy. While President Donald J. Trump has talked about building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, the Europeans have acted. As I pointed out over two years ago, the E.U. wall was almost complete.

This is particularly true for African migrants, who have found one route after another effectively sealed. All along the Mediterranean, a virtual “wall” has been constructed. From the Canary Islands in the West to the Sinai in the East, impenetrable obstacles have been put in their way. Little wonder that a flood has turned to a trickle!

A price has been paid for this “success.” Migrants regularly drown in the Mediterranean. Operations by rescue ships, picking up those who get into difficulties, have been blocked.

EU’s Efforts to Halt Migration

But these are not the only “bricks” in the E.U.’s “wall.” In the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, a regional operational center does all it can to turn back African migrants. The E.U.’s work in Sudan includes support for several detention centers in which the migrants have been held.

These activities have continued throughout the upheavals Sudan has been undergoing, which have seen President Omar al-Bashir removed. The E.U. is accused of having links with some of the most repressive forces inside the new administration, including Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, better known as “Hemeti,” whose Janjaweed forces are` responsible for the atrocities in Darfur.

Niger is another location of detention facilities supported by the E.U., and for a similar purpose. Africans who make it to Niger – often after having paid their life savings to smugglers – find themselves detained and persuaded to return to their home countries.

Those who are captured in Libya, or on boats in the Mediterranean, face similar treatment. These are all part of the E.U.’s plans to halt and deter the influx of migrants seeking sanctuary on European shores.

The E.U. is fully aware of just how terrible the conditions in the Libyan detention centers really are. But for European politicians that is not the issue. Keeping populist threats at home at bay has a higher priority.

Martin Plaut is the author of Understanding Eritrea.

ዝኾነ ይኹን ቃልሲ ግዜ ከይበልዐ ቅልጡፍ ወይ በቋራጭ ዓወት ክጎናጸፍ ኣይክእልን እዩ። እዚ ብዙሕ ምኽንያታት ክህልዎ ይኽእል እዩ። በሓጺሩ ግን ነቲ ደጋዊ ይኹን፥ ከባብያዊ፥ ዘለዎ ጽልዋ ገዲፍና፥ እቲ ቀንዲ ሽግር ሓደ ዝተጸንዐን ስነፍልጠታውን  ኣገባብ ሒዝካ ዘይምኻድ ካብቲ ቀንዲ ግዜ ዝበልዕ እዩ። ሓደ ካብቲ ዓቢ ሽግር ድማ ንህላዌ ሰልፍታት ዝነጽግ ወይ እውን ክህልዋ የብለንን ዝብል ሓሳብ እዩ።

ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ከም መደናጐይቲ ዓወት ኢየን ተባሂለን ስለዝግመታ እዩ እቲ ቀንዲ ምኽንያት። ኣብ ክንድኡ እኩብ ወይ ብዝሒ ህዝቢ (mob) ህዝባውነት ወደባ እዩ ቅልጡፍ ዓወት ዘምጽእ ዝብል እምነት ይትካእ ኣሎ። በዚ ዝኣክል “ውደበይ ውድብካ ኣየድልን እዩ” ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮአን ገዲፈን ኣብ ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓስ ክጽንበራ ኣለወን እናተባህለ ይዝረብ። እዚ ኣተሓሳስባ’ዚ ግን እቲ ህዝቢ እንታይ ከምዝደሊ፥ ንዓኡ ዝምእምኦ መንግስቲ ኣብ ምምስራት ጋን ክኣትዎ ምዃኑ ዘይምርዳእ እዩ። እዚ ማለት እቲ ገዛኢ ወይ ጨቋኒ ጥራሕ ይተኣለ ብምባል ንግሩህ ልቢ ሰብ ዝማርኽን፥ እቲ ህዝቢ እዘን ውድባት ኣይረብሓን ኢየን።  ብዝብል መለዓዓሊ ይጥቀምሉ። እዚ ከኣ እቲ ጨቋኒ ምስተኣልየ ርህው ዝብሎም ዝመስሎም ብዙሓት ኣለዉ። 

ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ወይ ውደባ፡  ካብ ምልኪ ናብ ዲሞክራሲ መሰጋገሪ መሳርሒ ምዃነን ክንርዳእ ይግባእ። እዚ ሓጺር ጉዕዞ፡ ነቲ ጽባሕ እንታይ ክወልድ እዩ ዝብል ፈጺምካ ስለዘይሕሰበሉ ዘምጽኦ መዘዝን፥ ነቲ ስነፍልጠት ጥሒስካ ብፊን ዝበለካ ናይ ምኻድ ኣንፈት የኸትል። በዚ ዝኣክል ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ብሓጺሩ ንስልጣን ጥራይ ዲየን ዝወዳደራ ወይ ድማ ንስልጣን ጥራይ ዲየን ዝቃለሳ ዝብል ሓሳብ ንምርዳእ ይሕርብቶም ይኸውን። ኣብዚ ጉዳይ እቲ ስልጣን ዝህብ ወይ ዝኸልእ እቲ ህዝቢ ኢዩ። እቲ ስልጣን ክኸልእ ይኹን ክህብ ብዛዕባ እንታይነት ናይ መንግስቲ፡ ዲሞክራስን ፍትሕን ክርዳእ ኣለዎ። ነዚ ከኣ እተን ሰልፍታት ነናተን መደብ ዕዮ ዘለወን ነቲ ህዝቢ ዓቢ ዓውዲ ምህርቲ ፍልጠት እዩ ዝኾኖ። በዚ ምኽንያት ሰልፍታት ቀንዲ ተዋሳእቲ ናይ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ምስግጋር ስለዝኾና ህላዌአን ኣገዳሲ እዩ።

ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ነቲ ናብ ህዝቢ የርብሕ ኢለን ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮአን ዘቐመጠኦ ዕላማ፥ ዘብጸሐን  መሳርሒ እዩ። ህዝቢ ቆጽሊ ዘውደቐለን ድማ ስልጣን ተውዳዲረን ይጭብጣ። እዚ ስለዝኾነ ግን ንስልጣን ጥራይ ኢየን ዝቃለሳ ኢልካ ውዱእ ሓሳብ ምሓዝ ግን ካብ ስነፍልጠት ዝረሓቐ ኢዩ። ከም ናይ ኤርትራ ዝኣመሰለ ንሰላሳ ዓመት ዝወሰደ ብረታዊ ሰውራን ከምኡውን ድሕሪ ናጽነት ኤርትራ ንምልኪ ኣሊኻ ስርዓት ዲሞክራሲ ንምንጋስ ዝግበር ቃልሲ ምስ ህላዌ ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ዝተኣሳሰር ክኸውን ናይ ግድን እዩ። ሰባት ኣብ ሓደ ጉዕዞ ንዘለዎም ሽግራት ንምፍታሕ ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፊ ብምምስራት፥ ኢሂን ምሂን ብምባል ንምፍትሑ ዝገብርዎ መሳርሒ እዩ። ኣብ ሰውራ ኤርትራ እውን ውድባት ስለዝነበራ፥ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ነቲ ባዕዳዊ ገዛኢ ሓይሊ ንኽኣሊ ኣብተን ዝነበራ ውድባት ኢዩ ተጸንቢሩን ተቓሊሱን። ኣብ መወዳእትኡ ድማ ታሪኻዊ ኣጋጢሙ ረኺቡ ናብ ኤርትራ ዝኣተወ ውድብ ህዝባዊ ግንባር እዩ።

ነዚ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ዝተኸስተ ጭቆና ድማ፥ ከሎ ገና ንእንታይነት መሪር ጭቖና ስርዓት ኢሰያስ ዝተረደኣ ወድባት፥ ኣብ ግዳም ተወዲበን ንዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ይቃለሳ ኣለዋ። እቲ ሕቶ ክሳብ ሕጂ እንታይ ገይረን ዝብል ነጽንሓዮ እሞ፥ ንምንታይ እየን ተወዲበን ዝቓለሳ ዘለዋ፣ ብፍላይ ኣብ'ዚ ዘለናዩ ነዚ ዲክታቶርያዊ ስርዓት ንምእላይ እንታይ እዩ ግዲአን? ውድባት ንምልኪ ንምእላይ ክቃለሳ እንከለዋኸ መተካእታ ህግደፍ ድየን ክኾና፣? ወይ ከም'ዚ ሓደ ሓደ ዝብልዎ፡ ነቲ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮኤን ኣቐምጠን ጽባሕ ህግደፍ ምስ ወደቐ እቲ ቅዋም ኣፍ ሃሊዩዎስ “ሕጂስ ሓላፍነትክን ተሰካማ” ዲዩ ክብለን፣? እዝን ወዲ ከምዝን ንፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ንስልጣን ስለዝቓለሳ ንሕና ድማ ህዝቢ ምድሓን ስለ እንቓለስ ኣየድልያን ዝብሉ ንብዙሓት ካብ ምውዳብ  ኣርሒቖም፥ ነቲ ካብ ምልኪ ናብ ዲሞክራሲ ምስግጋር ቀንዲ ተዋሳእቲ ምዃነን ዝሓክኽ እዩ። ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት በቲ ዝሓንጸጸኦ ፖለቲካዊ እምነትን መብጽዓ ዝገበራኦ፥ ካብቲ ህዝቢ ዝሓንጸጾ ቅዋም ከይወጻ፥ መንግስቲ የቚማ።  ኣብ መወዳእታ ድማ እቲ ዝቖመ መንግስቲ ብልሽው ምሕደራ ምስ ዘካይድ እተን ኣብ ውድድር ዝተሳዕራ ውድባት ብወገንን ተቓወምቲ ይኾና እሞ ዲሞክራሲ ውሕስነት ከምዝህልዎ ንምኽኣል ነቲ ቅኑዕ ምሕደራ ዝሰሓተ መንግስቲ ኣገባቡ ክእርም ይቃለሳ።

ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞ ተወዳዲሩ ዝሰዓረ፣ ወይ ዝተሳዕረ ኣሎ ድዩ? ነየናይ ስልጣንከ እዩ ዝወዳደር? እዚ ፈጺሙ ስለዘየለ በቲ ንቡር ከም ኣብ ዘዘለናዮ ሃገራት ግደን ዕላማን ሰልፍ ዘሎ ኣብ ኤርትራ የለን። ንዘየለ ድማ ግዜ ምጥፋእ ጽቡቕ ኣይኮነን። ስለዚ  እቲ ንቡር ንሱ ካብ ኮነ እተን ዘለዋ ውድባት እንታይ እዩ  ስርሐን ምስ እንብል ፣ ውድባትን ሰልፍታት ኤርትራ ሓንትን ንጽሩነትን ነዚ ስርዓት ኣሊኻ ዲሞክራሲያዊ መንግስቲ ምምስራት እዩ። ስለዚ ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታትን ውድባትን ስረሐንን ሓልፍነትን ንምልክን ምልካዊ ኣተሓሳስባን ምድምሳስ፥ ኮይኑ፡ ብግዝኣተ ሕጊ ዝኣምንን ዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ንምግባርን ውሑስ ዝገብራ እየን።