ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

ሓድሽ ዓመት 2019 ካብ እንቕበል ድሮ ሓደ ወርሒ ሓሊፉ ኣሎ። እዛ ተረኪብናያ ዘለና ሓዳስ ዓመት ምስተን ቅድሚኣ ዝነበራ ዓመታት ክትወዳደር እንከላ ንዓና ንኤርትራውያን ተስፋታትን ስግኣታትን ዝሓቖፈት እያ። እቲ ተስፋታት ካብ ዝግለጸሉ ምኽንያታት ሓደ ህግደፍ ናይ ንለውጢ ማዕጾ መመሊሱ ንምዕጻው ዝጥቀመሉ ዝነበረ መሕብእታት ዝተቓለዓሉ ምዃኑ እዩ። እንተኾነ ህግደፍ ዝኾነ እንተኾነ ካብቲ ሒዝዎ ዘሎ ናይ ጥፍኣትን ካብ ሓቂ ምህዳምን መንገዲ ከይወጽእ ዝወሰነ ስለ ዝኾነ ካልእ ምስምስ ክፈጥር ከም ዝተዓጥቀ ምልክታት ይረአ ኣሎ። እዚ ከኣ ኣካል ናይቲ ኣብ ቅድሜና ዘሎ ስግኣታት እዩ።

ካብ ቀደሙ እውን ህግደፍ ለውጢ ክጻረር እንከሎ፡ ዘቕርቦ ዝነበረ ምኽንያት ኰነተ ኣይውግእ ኣይሰላም ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ኮነ እገዳ፡ ምኽኑይ ከምዘይነበረ ክንገልጽ ጸኒሕና ኢና። ምኽንያቱ ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ምህላዉ ክጸልወካ እምበር ዘቤታዊ ስራሕካ ከይትሰርሕ ከምዘይዕንቅፍ ብናይ ብዙሓት ሃገራት ተመኩሮ ዝተረጋገጸ እዩ። ርሑቕ ከይከድና ኢሳይያስ ነዚ ኣቐዲሙ ዝተጠቕሰ ከም ምኽንያት ብምውሳድ ዘቤታዊ ዕዮኡ ከቋርጽ እንከሎ ኣብ ከም ናቱ ኩነታት ዝነበረት ኢትዮጵያ ግና ሕገ-መንግስቲ ኣጽዲቓን ኣተግቢራን ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ 5ተ ዓመታት ሃገራዊ ምርጫ ከተካይድ ጸኒሓ እያ። ኢሳይያስ እውን ብመሰረቱ ካብ ሕገ-መንግስታውን ዲሞክራስያውን መስርሕ ስለ ዝሸፈተ እንተዘይኮኑ፡ ከምኡ ዘይገብረሉ ቅቡል ምኽንያት ኣይነበሮን ሕጂ’ውን የብሉን።

ቃልስና ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ዓመታት ልኡላውነት ኤርትራ ውሑስ ኮይኑ፡ ምእንቲ ምትካል ሕገ-መንግስታውን ዲሞክራስያውን ስርዓት ክንቃለስ ጸኒሕና። ምውሓስ ልኡላውነትና ቀንዲ መሰረት ናይቲ ምእንቲ ዲሞክራሲ ዝግበር ቃልሲ ምዃኑ እውን ብእዉጅ ከነቃልሕ ጸኒሕና። ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ግና ኢሳይያስ ሕጂኸ ካብ ለውጢ ንምህዳም እንታይ ምኽንያት ኮን የምጽእ ክበሃል ምስ ጸንሐ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራዊ ዛዕባ ዘየድመዐስ፡ ደገ-ድገ እናመዓደወ፡ ጉዳይ ከባቢ ቀይሕ ባሕርን ዞባ ምብራቕ ኣፍሪቃን ዝያዳ ኤርትራዊ ዛዕባ ከም ዘገድሶ ኮይኑ ክቐርብ ይደናደን ኣሎ። እዚ ከኣ ካልእ ናይ ስግኣት ምልከት እዩ። ኢሳይያስ ኣብ ኤርትራዊ ጉዳይ ዘየድመዐስ ኣብ ዞባውን ከባብያውን ጉዳይ ከድምዕ እዩ ማለት ግና ዘበት እዩ።

ሎሚ ኤርትራውያን ናይ ለውጢ ሓይልታት ካብቲ ዝጸናሕናዮ ናይ ቃልሲ ብርኪ ተመሊስና፡ ናይ ኤርትራ ልኡላውነት ዳግማይ ናይ ምድልዳል ቀዳማይ ሓላፍነት ኣብ ቅድሜና ተገቲሩ እነሆ። እቶም ኢሳይያስ ሓቀኛ እምነቱ ሓቢኡ ብግዝያውነት ይኣትዎ ብዝነበረ ናይ ልኡላውነት ቀንዲ ተሓላቕነት ተኣሚኖም ዝነበሩ ወገናት ሎሚ ናብ ልቦም ተመሊሶም ኣብ ስግኣትን ምድንጋርን ወዲቖም ኣለዉ። እቶም ካብ ቀደም ናይ ኢሳይያስ ናይ ሃገርነት ተሓላቒ መሲልካ ምቕራብ ዘይተዋሕጠልና ግና፡ እዚ ሓድሽ ቀልባዕብዑ ኣስደሚሙና እምበር ሓድሽ ኣይኮነናን። ኣይበልናንዶ ኣብ እንብለሉ ደረጃ ከኣ ንርከብ። ቅድሚ 6ተ ኣዋርሕ ኣቢሉ ኢሳይያስ ንናይ ኢትዮጵያ መራሒ ንሓንሳብ ከም ናይ ኤርትራ ናይ ወጻኢ ጉዳይ ሓላፊ ንሓንሳብ ድማ ከም መራሒ ናይ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ኣብ ኣደባባያት ኣፍልጦ ክህቦ እነኮሎ፡ ኣይኮነንዶ ንደገፍቱ ነቶም ካብ ቀደም እውን ቀንዲ ጉዳዩ ኤርትራዊ ዛዕባ ከምዘይነበረ ንግምት ዝነበርና እውን ደንጽዩና እዩ። ሕጂ እሞ ከኣ በዚ ዝሻደነ መራሒ ኢትዮጵያ፡  ካብ ወደብ ምጽዋዕ ክሳብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ መስመር ባቡር ዝዝርገሓሉ ኩነታት ንምጥጣሕ ምስ ሓገዝቲ ዓው ኢሉ ክዛረብ ምስ ሰማዕናዮ ናይ ኢሳይያስ ክድዓት ተጋሂዱ እዩ። እዚ ስግኣት ኮይኑ ብዙሓት ናይቲ ኢሳይያስ ዘይብቕዑነቱ ንምጉልባብ ዝጥቀመሉ ህድማ፡ ደገፍቲ ህግደፍ ከይተረፉ ከምቲ ናይ ቅድሚ ሕጂ፡ ብውሽጦም ዘይኮነስ ዓው ኢሎም ዓገብ ክብሉ ምጅማሮም ከኣ ተስፋ ዝህብ እዩ።

ከምቲ ወለድና “ውሕጅ እንዳስሓቐ እዩ ዝወስድ” ዝብልዎ፡ ኣይከውንን እዩ ክንብሎ ዝጸናሕና ናብ ምዃን ገጹ ይምዕብል ኣሎ። ንሕና ኣብ ቦታና ኮይና ኣይከውንን ክንብል እንከለና ኢሳይያስ ግና ከምዘተግብሮ ንግምት። እስከ ብዛዕባ ኢሳይያስ ክንሓስብ እንከለና ኣብቲ ጠላም ቦታኡ ኮይና ንሕሰብ። ኢሳይያስ ህዝብን ሃገርን ለኪምካ ኣብ ምጥፋእ እምበር ኣብ ምድሓን ከምዘየለ ክንእመን ይግበኣና። እስኪ ነስተብል ናይ ኢትዮጵያ ቀዳማይ ሚኒስተር ደጊም ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ነናተን ሃገራዊት ሰራዊት ኮነ ኣንበሳድራት ኣየድልየንን እዩ ኢሎም ኣብ ዓበይቲ ማዕከናት ዜና ክዛረቡ እንከለዉ ብወገንቲ ንኤርትራ እመርሕ ኣለኹ እናበለ ዝመጻደቕ ኣካል ድምጺ ዘይምስምዑ ምስ ምንታይ ይቑጸር። ስሚዕካ ስቕ ምባል ነቲ ዝተባህለ ካብ ምቕባል ሓሊፉ ካልእ ትርጉም የብሉን። እዚ ከኣ ካልእ ገጽ ናይቲ ስግኣትን ክሕደትን እዩ። ኣብዚ እውን ብዙሓት ንህግደፍ ዝከላኸልሉ ዝነበሩ ወገናት “ሰይጣን ወሰደኒ መልኣኽ መለሰኒ” ብዝብል ብወግዒ ክቃወሙ ምጅማሮም ምስቲ ተስፋ ዝውሰድ እዩ። ብዝኾነ ደጊም ኩነታት ህግደፍ ዓይኒ ኣፍጢጡ እንዳረኣናዮ፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ንኤርትራ ባዕልና ንዛረበላ ኢሳይያስ ክዛረበላ ንጽበየሉ ምኽንያት የለን። ኢሳይያስ ሎሚ ወይ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ ኣይዛረብን እዩ፡ እንተተዛሪቡ’ውን ንጥፍኣታ እምበር ንልምዓታ ዝእምት ኣይክኸውንን እዩ።

ኤርትራ ናይ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እምበር ናይቲ መንግስቲ እየ ኢሉ ጀሚሩ ናብ ውልቀ-ሰብ ወሪዱ ዘሎ ዲክታቶር ኣይኮነትን። ሎሚ ኢሳይያስ ሓደ ጽሉል ሰብ እምበር ዲክታቶር ዝብል ስያመ ኣይበቕዖን እዩ ዝብሉ ብዙሓት እዮም። ሓቅነት እውን ኣለዎም። ኣብዚ ንነብረሉ ዘለና ዓለማዊ ናይ ዕቤት ደረጃ ኤርትራ በይና ተነጺላ ክትነብር እያ ማለት ወድዓዊ ኣይኮነን። ምስ መን ትዛመድ፡ ኣብ ከመይ ዝኣመሰሉ መዳያትን መስርሕን ዝብል ግና ብሓደ ውሑስ ጥዕና ዘየብሉ ውልቀ-መላኺ ዘይኮነ ብህዝባ ዝለዓል እዩ። ኤርትራን ህዝባን ነዚ ክበቕዑ ከኣ ቅድሚ ኩሉ ከም ሃገርን ህዝብን ዓዲ ሕግን ስርዓት ዲሞክራስያዊ ምሕደራን ክኾኑ ክበቕዑ ዘይስገር ቅድመ-ኩነት እዩ። በዚ መስርሕዚ ዘይሓለፈ ዝምድና ግና ንኤርትራን ህዝባን ዘዘኽትሞም እምበር ዘርበሓኦም ኣይኮነን። እዚ ሓቂዚ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ታሪኽና ዝተረጋገጸን ሰፍ ዘይብል ዋጋ ክንከፍል ዘግደደናን እዩ። ግጉይ መንገዲ ከይንደግም ከኣ ክንጥንቀቕ ይግበኣና።

ሓደ ሓደ ኣንጻር መሰል ርእሰ-ውሳነ ኤርትራ ተሰሊፎም ዝተሳዕሩ፡ ሎሚ ኣካይዳ ኢሳይያስ መዝሚዞም “ኤርትራ ምእንቲ ናጽነት 30 ዓመታት ኣብ ዝወሰደ ደማዊ ቃልሲ፡ ኣእላፍ መንእሰያት ከፊላ ክነሳ፡ ነጻነት ከምዘየዋጽኣ ኣሚና እነሆ ናብ ኢትዮጵያ ተመሊሳ” ክብሉ እንከለዉ ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ናይ እወ ወይ ኣይፋል ድምጺ’ኳ ኣየስመዐን። ነዚ ስቕታኡ በቲ ኣበሃህላ እዞም ወገናት ከም ዝተኣመነ ገይሮም ዝወስድዎ  ብዙሓት እዮም። ሓቃቶም ከኣ ምኽንያቱ ከምቲ “ዋና ገዛ እንተዘየእውዩ፡ ጐረቤት ኣይረድእን’ዩ” ዝበህል ዋና እየ በሃላይ ንዝረዓመሉ ጥልመት እንታይ ክብልዎ። ስለዚ ኣንጻርዚ ስግኣትዚ ንሕና ሎሚ ዝያዳ ዝሓለፈ ግዝያት ክንዛረበሉን ናብ ተስፋ ክንቅይሮን ንጥለብ ኣሎና።

 

“ውሒጅ እናስሓቐ እዩ ዝወስድ” ዝብል ምስላ ኣበው ኣሎና። እዚ ምስላ’ዚ ምስ’ዚ ሕጂ ኣብ መንጎ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ዝኸይድ ዘሎ መዓልቡኡ እዚ ኢዩ ኢልካ ክትድምድሞ ዘይከኣል ርክባትን ዝምድናታትን ዝመሳሰል እዩ። እዚ ስምምዓት’ዚ ካብ ተጽዕኖ ካልኦት ዝነቐለ ክኸውን ስለ ዝኽእል፥ ናይ ተጽዕኖ ስምምዕ ድማ ግዜ ከይወሰደ ዝሃስስ፡ ግና ድማ ዝገድፈልካ መዘዝ እዚ እዩ ክበሃል ኣይከኣልን።

እቲ ኣብ መንጎ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ዝተፈጥረ ቀንዲ ሽግር ሓዲሽ ኣይኮነን። እንታይ ደኣ ካብቲ ጥጅእ ምዕራባውያን ናይ  ኣርበዓታት ዝነቐለ እዩ። ቀደም ኤርትራ ብዘይድሌት ህዝባ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ከም ዝተቖርነት ንኹልና ብሩህ እዩ። ቀደም ኢትዮጵያ ኣፍደገ ባሕሪ ኤርትራ ኣብ ትሕቲ ቁጽጽራ ምስ ኣእተወት፥ ኤርትራውያን ንሰላሳ ዓመታት ተቓሊሶም ናጽነቶም ተጎናጺፎም ኢዮም። ይኹን እምበር ኣብቲ ሽዑ ዝተገብረ ጌጋ ማለት ኣብ መንጎ ኢትዮጵያን ኤርትራን ዘሎ ዶባት ይነጸር ዝብል መጐት ተዘንጊዑ ስለ ዝሓለፈ፡ ጠንቂ’ዚ ዘሎናዮ ሽግርን ክሳብ ዳግማይ ውግእ ዘለዓለን እዩ።

እዚ ጠንቁ ካብ ምንታይ ተላዒሉ ህዝቢ ብዘይፈልጦ ምኽንያት፡ ናይ ዶብ ምስምስ ሰበብ ዝተባረዐ ኲናት፥ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንዳግማይ ግዚኡ በኣሽሓት ዝቑጸሩ ህይወት መንእሰያት ደቁ  ከፊሉ።  እቲ ቀንዲ ምኽንያት ናብዚ ህልቂት እዚ ዘብጸሐ ግሉጽነት ዘይብሉ ሕጊ ኣልቦ ስማዊ ባይቶ ኤርትራ ምዃኑ ብሩህ እዩ። እዚ ማለት እቲ ባይቶ ይኹን እቲ መንግስቲ ብጠቕላልኡ ህዝቢ ዝመረጾ ስለዘይኮነ ዋንነት ስልጣን ህዝቢ ብገባርን ሓዳግን ስለ ዝተተከአ እዩ። እምበኣር ኢሳያስ ነዚ ዕድል እዚ ተጠቒሙ በብዝደልዮ ናይ ጉሒላ መዛሙር ንህዝብና ግርም ገይሩ ኣዳህሊልዎ። በዚ መሰረት ክቐትልን ክመቁሕን እንከሎ “ካብዚ ዝኸፍእ ኣይተምጽኣልና” ብማለት መን ኢኻ ዝብሎ ሲኢኑ እነሆ ሻዲኑ። ዕድሉ ኣጸቢቑሉ ድማ ንሕና ኤርትራውያን  ሓይልታት ለውጢ ምስምማዕ ብምስኣና፥ ነታ ብግስ ከይበለ  ዝተሓንገጣ ጥልመት፡ ሎሚ ለመም እናበለ ከተግብራ ይረአ ኣሎ። እስከ እቲ ንህዝቢ ንምስዳዕ ዝጥቀሙሉ ሓሶት ኢሰያስን ሰዓብቱን  ንርአ።

ቅድም ክብል ኣብ ውግእ ሓድሕድ ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ ኣብ ጉዳይ ኤርትራ ጣልቃ ንምእታው ብምፍቃድ፥ ንሓደ ሃገራዊ ሓይሊ ካብ መሬት ኤርትራ ከምዝወጽእ ገይሩ። ነዚ ገለ ወገናት ሕፍር ከይበሉ ሰራዊት ህወሓት ኣይተሳተፈን ዝብል መዝሙር ኢሰያስ ተቐቢሎም ካብ ምግላጽ ድሕር ኣይበሉን። እዚ ምዃን ምስ ኣበዮም ድማ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ብውሽጣ ስለ ዝተዳኸመት እምበር፥ ብናትና ውግእ ኣይኮነትን ካብ ሜዳ ኤርትራ ወጺኣ ዝብል መናፍሕ ይነዝሑ። እዚ ፍረ ምሃብ ምስ ሰኣነ ንጥቕሚ ሃገር ክንብል ኢልና ኢና ዝብል ሓደገኛ ኣበሃህላ ቀይሶም። ምኽንያቱ ነቲ ናጽነት ዘደናጎየቶ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ እያ ዝብል ኣቐዲሙ ይቃላሕ ስለ ዝነበረ። እዚ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ታሪኽ ኮይኑ ዝምዝገብ እምበር ንቕድሚት ከይነማዕዱ ዝዓግተና ኣይኮነን።

ቀጺሉ እቲ ብምኽንያት እታ ህዝባዊ ግምባር ንተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ንምህራም ክሻረኽዎ ብዕሊ ባድመ ንህወሓት ኣመሓድርዎ ኢሉ ዘወፈያ ሰበብ ዝተወለዐ ኲናት ንህዝቢ ንምስዳዕ ዶብና ዝብል ምኽንያት ቀረበ። ኮታ ከምቲ ናይ ሕነሽ ስቒርን ከቢርን ዝተኻየደ ውግእ፥ ምስ ሱዳን ዝተገብረ ምትኹታዃትን ምስቲ ናይ ጂቡቲ ደሚርካ ኩሉ ኢሳይያስ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጅሆ መትሓዚ ክኾኖ ዝጥቀመሉ ኣጀንዳ ወይ ካርታ እዩ ነይሩ። ድሕሪ ስምምዕ ኣልጀርስ ድማ፡ ኢህወደግ ነቲ ዝተበየነ ብዘይምትግባሩ፡ ኢሰያስ ውን ብዘይቅድመ ኩነት ዶብ ክሕንጸጽ ኣለዎ እናበለ ዘቕርቦ ዝነበረ ሎሚ ግና ዝተቓለዐ፡ ናይ ሓሶት ምስምስ፡ ነታ ሃገር ስራሕ ኣልቦ ገይሩ መንእሰያታ ሃጽ ኢሎም ክጠፍኡ ቀንዲ ሽርሒ ናይ ኢሳያስ እዩ።

ብኢህወደግ ዘወጻ ሓሙሽተ ናይ ሰላም እማመ ኢሳያስ ስልጣኑ ከደልድልን ድላዩ ንኽገብርን ጠቒምዎ ኢዩ። ሎሚ ምናልባት ብተጽዕኖ ደጋዊ ሓይሊ ክኸውን ይኽእል፡  ዶክተር ኣብይ ነቲ ውዕል ኣልጀርስ ብዘይቅድመ ኩነት ተቐቢለዮ ዝበሎ፡ ካብተን ኢህወደግ ኣቐዲሙ ዘቕርበን 5ተ ነጥብታት ስለምንታይ ይነጽገን ከምዝነበረ ዝህቦ ምስምስ ብጣዕሚ ዘደንጹ ኢዩ። ምኽንያቱ ዶክተር ኣብይ እውን ንማለቱ ደኣ ብዘይቅድመ-ኩነት ኢሉ እምበር፡ እቲ ዝምድናታትና ናብ ንቡር ቦትኡ ንምለሶስ እዩ  ኢልዎ። ኢሳያስ ሎሚ ምልስ ኢሉ ዶብ ክሳብ ክንድዚ ኣድላዪ ኣይኮነን፥ ደሓር ድማ ተሓንጺጹ እዩ። ንምትግባሩ ከኣ ሎሚ ጽባሕ ብዘየገድስ ክትግበር’ዩ እናበለ ንህዝቢ የተዓሻሹ ኣሎ። ነዚ ሰሚዖም ዘቃልሑ ሰባት ምህላዎም ድማ ዘስደምም’ዩ ኢልካ ጥራሕ ኢኻ ትሓልፎ። እዚ ነቲ ኣብ ስሳታት ብግራዝማች መምህር ኣለማየሁ ካሕሳይ ዝተገበረ ኮመዲ የዘኻኽር። ንሱ ድማ ከምዚ ዝስዕብ ኢዩ። “ሓደ ሰብ ኣብ ትሕቲ ቀይዲ ኣትዩ መታን ክለፋለፍ ነቲ ምስማር ኣብ ርእሱ ክሸኽሉ ብማርተሎ ክሃርሙ ከለዉ፥ ወዮ ሰብኣይ በሉ ምስማር ስሒትኩም ርእሰይ ከይትሃርሙኒ በሎም።” ዝብል እዩ።  ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ተቓዋማይን ደጋፋይን ህግደፍ ከምኡ እውን ሰራዊት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ ስቕ ምባል፥ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ጉዳይ ኣብ ነፍስና ጥራሕ ኣይትምጹኡና እምበር ድላይኩም ገበሩ ዝዓይነቱ ምዃኑ ዲዩ።?

እወ! ብቁጠባ ይኹን ብጸጥታ ከምኡ እውን ካብ ሕጊ ወጻኢ ዝግበር ዘይሕጋዊ ንግዲ ንምክልኻል ሓቢርካ ንረብሓ ክልቲኤን  ሃገራት ምስራሕ ዝጽላእ ኣይኮነን። ይኹን እምበር ከምቲ መውስቦ ክግበር እንከሎ “ዋሕስ ትኸሉ” ዝበሃል፡ ንጉዳይ ዶብ ዝኣክል እሞ ከኣ ብዙሕ መስዋእቲ ዝተኸፈሎ፡ ብዘይ ወዓል ሕደር እንተዘይተፈቲሑ፥ “ነቲ ብይን ብዘይ ቅድመ-ኩነት ተቐቢልናዮ ኢና። ቅድም ነቲ ዝምድና ናብ ንቡር ቦታኡ ንምለሶ” ብዝብል ምስምስ ቀጻሊ ሰላም ከምጽእ ኣይክእልን እዩ። ምኽንያቱ ኣየናዩ ይቕድም? ዶብካ ምሕንጻጽ ወይ ዝምድና ምምላስ? ስለዚ ቅድሚ’ቲ ዝምድና ናብ ንቡር ምምላሱ እቲ ዋሕስ ናይ ሰላም፡ ኩሉ ነናቱ ልኡላውነት ሃገር ምስ ዶባቱ ተነጺሩ ክሕንጸጽ እንከሎ እዩ። ስምምዓት ክኽተም እንከሎ ክትግበር ይግበኦ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ዶብና ከየውሓስና፡ እትዮጵያ “ኣፍደገ ባሕሪ የድልየኒ’ዩ” ትብለሉ ናብ ዘላ  ዘብዘብ ምባል ቅቡል ኣይኮነን።

In a public statement released on 3 February, Mr. Menghesteab Asmerom, chairman of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), expressed his party’s and the general Eritrean people’s deepening concerns about the ongoing murky relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia, which in their face-value appear to be grossly violating the right of a say to the Eritrean people and their hard-won territorial sovereignty. In this regard, he made a sharp call on all fraternal forces in the Eritrean opposition camp to rise up to their patriotic responsibility by most immediately arranging to meet in one place and see what they can do to face the challenges hanging over the nation.

Entitled “EPDP’s reading of current developments in the region and calls for action”, the statement noted the hopes and anxieties that followed the declaration of peace accord between Eritrea and Ethiopia, while highly appreciating the major reforms that continued to unfold in Ethiopia since the coming to power of Ethiopian Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.

The statement underlined the significance of those reforms that kindled hopes in Eritrea for similar reforms. Alas, the great expectations disappeared in the thin air when there was no action from the side of the Eritrean regime.  

Adding insult to injury, the language of both the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea were unclear and controversial and none of them came forward to clarify to the general public of what was going on. The EPDP Chairman’s statement gave a good number of examples that showed Eritrean sovereign decision being sidelined by statements and some actions of the Ethiopian leader like the signing of an accord between Ethiopia and Italy on the plan of constructing Massawa-Addis Ababa railway line.

EPDP Chairman Menghesteab Asmerom’s statement explained in great length that the measures being taken between Eritrea and Ethiopia are not firmly grounded on existing realities in both today’s Eritrea and Ethiopia, and further underlined his regret that even the pledge of implementing border demarcation has not moved an inch.

Alluding to past events, the EPDP chairman even felt “dumbfounded” to learn that Isaias Afeworki was even bent at ruling both Eritrea and Ethiopia as one country when Eritrea was liberated 28 years ago. He noted that it will be wise to learn from “past intrigues”, otherwise one can be forced to repeat history, and that both Eritreans and Ethiopians should better watch out to never again go to war when the two top leaders disagree.

The EPDP Chairman summed up his 1108-word statement (so far in Tigrigna) by listing the following calls to all concerned, in particular the Eritrean people.

  1. We [the EPDP and compatriots in the opposition camp] vehemently oppose presence of any foreign forces in the Eritrea, and strongly reject and oppose any accords and alliances that compromise Eritrean sovereignty.
  2. We call the immediate implementation of the Algiers Agreement as well as the ruling of the border commission.
  3. The Eritrean people have the right to know full transparency the details of any accord reached between Eritrea and other governments.
  4. We see the urgency of establishing an independent civilian watchdog group of professionals to defend and protect Eritrean sovereignty, and we reaffirm our commitment for cooperation in this endeavor.
  5. We call upon the Eritrean armed forces to stand on the side of their oppressed people and defend national sovereignty.
  6. We remind all fraternal members of the Eritrean opposition camp in general to rise up to the call for their responsibility in this aspect, and therefore arrange soon to meet in one place to review the current situation and see what they can do to address the challenges of the hour.
  7. Needless to say, we call for the most immediate release without pre-conditions of Eritrean political prisoners and the prisoners of conscience.

ኣብ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ዝተኸስተ ሓድሽ ምዕባለታት ብሓፈሻ፡ ኣብ መንጐ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ተጀሚሩ ዘሎ ምቅርራብ ድማ ብፍላይ፡ ብሓደ ሸነኽ ተስፋን መጐስን፤ ብኻልእ ሸነኽ ድማ፡ ሻቕሎትን ምጥርጣራትን ፈጢሩ ከምዘሎ ዘይከሓድ ሓቂ ኢዩ።

መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ናይ ፖለቲካን ሕልናን እሱራት ምፍትሑ፡ ተቓወምቲ ናብ ሃገሮም ተመሊሶም ብሰላማዊ ኣገባብ ክወዳደሩ ምፍቃዱ፡ ናይ ህጹጽ ኣዋጅ ኵነት ምልዓሉ፡ ንብይን ኮሚሽን ዶባት ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ብዘይ ቅድመ ኵነት ኣብ ግብሪ ከውዕል ምቕባሉን ዶባት ተኸፊቶም ህዝብታት ናይ ክልቲኡ ሃገራት ክራኸቡ ምኽኣሎምን ንህዝብታት ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ይኹን ንህዝብታትን መንግስታትን ዓለምና ዓቢ ተስፋ ዘሕደረ ጥራይ ዘይኰነስ ሕጂ ግርም ኰነ ዝተባህለሉ ወቕቲ ኢዩ ነይሩ።

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እውን ካብ’ዚ ተስፋ’ዚ ተበጊሱ፡ ልክዕ ከም ኢትዮጵያ፡ እሱራቱ ክፍትሑ፡፣ ኣብ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ዝርክቡ ደቁ ናብ ትምህርቶም፡ ናብ ስርሖም፡ ናብ ወለዶም ክምለሱ፣ ቅዋም ኣብ ግብሪ ክውዕል፣ ተቓወምቲ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ናብ ሃገሮም ክምለሱ፣ ሕረስ ሓረስታይ ንገድ ነጋዳይ ክዀነሉ ኢዩ ነይሩ ትጽቢቱ። ስለ’ዚ ድማ ኢዩ ደገፉ ንመስርሕ ሰላም ብዝተፈላለየ ኣገባብ ዝገለጸ። እንተዀነ ግን፡ ትጽቢታቱ ስለዘይተፈጸመሉ ወይ ክፍጸም ምዃኑ ዝእምት ምልክት ስለዝሰኣነሉ፡ እቲ ኣሕዲርዎ ዝነበረ ተስፋ ብእንብኡ ክበንንን ክሃፍፍን ናይ ግድን ኰይኑ።

ብኻልእ ሸነኽ ድማ፡ ቀዳማይ ሚኒስተር ኢትዮጵያ፡ ዶር ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ፡ ደጋጊሙ ዘቃልሖ “ምድማር” ዝብል ዘይብሩሁን ዘይንጹርን ክለሳ-ሓሳብ፡ ሰባት ከከም ድላዮም ንኽትርጕምዎ ዕድል ዝህብ ኢዩ ኰይኑ ተረኺቡ። ገለ synergy ወይ ምውህሃድ ኢሎም ተርጕሞሞ፣ ብዙሓት ኢትዮጵያውያን ከኣ፡ ኤርትራ ናብ ኣዲኣ ኢትዮጵያ ትምለስ ኣላ ዝብል ትርጕም ክህብዎ ከለዉ፣ ገሊኦም ከኣ፡ እዚ ንኢትዮጵያውያን እምበር ንኤርትራ ኣይምልከትን ኢዩ ዝብል ትርጉም ክህብዎ ተራእዮም ኢዮም። ነዚ ኵሉ መዕረፊ ክኸውን ዝኽእል ዝነበረ፡ ክልቲኦም መራሕቲ፡ ኤርትራ ልዑላዊት ሃገር ምዃናን እቲ “ምድማር” ንኤርትራ ናብ ኢትዮጵያ ምምላስ ከምዘይኰነን ከብርህዎ ሓላፍነቶምን ግዴታኦምን ኢዩ ነይሩ። እንተዀነ ግን፡ ብግርህነት ድዩ ወይስ ብሸርሒ ኣይገበርዎን።

ዶር ኣብዪ ብኣንጻሩ፡ ደቅና፡ ኤርትራ፡ ኢትዮጵያ፡ ሶማልያን ጅቡትን ኣርባዕተ ዘይኰኑስ፡ ሓደ መራሒ፡ ሓደ ሰራዊት፡ ሓደ ኣርማ፡ …ወዘተ ዘለዋ ሃገር ክርእዩ ኢዩ ትምኒተይ ብምባል፡ ነቲ ድንግርግር ዝያዳ ከምዝዓሙቕ ኢዩ ገይርዎ። ኣብ ካልእ ኣጋጣሚ ድማ፡ ኢትዮጵያ፡ ኤርትራን ጅቡትን 3 ኤምባሲታት ክህልወን መባኸኒ ገንዘብን ጕልበትን ኢዩ ክብል ተሰሚዑ። ኣብ ርእሲ’ቲ ባሕሪ ዘይብላ ኢትዮጵያ ሓይሊ ባሕሪ ክገብር ኢየ ኢላ መደባት ምስርዓ፡ ንወደብ ዓሰብ ብሽርክነት ክጥቀምሉ ምዃኖም፤ ከምኡ’ውን ኣብ መንጎ ዓሰብን ኣዲስ ኣበባን ናይ ጋዝ ቱቦ ክስራሕ ኢትዮጵያን ናይ ዓረብ ዓማራትን ንኤርትራ ዘይሓወሰ ስምምዕ ከም ዝገበራ ካብ ቀዳማይ ሚንስተር ናይ ኢትዮጵያ ኢና ሰሚዕናዮ።

እዚ ዅሉ ንልዑላውነት ሃገርና ዘሸራርርፍ ከይከውን ሻቕሎት ኣሎና። ልዑላውነት ናይ ሃገር ብሓድነት መሬቱ ወይ ዶባቱ፡ ናጽነት ርእሰ-ውሳኔኡ፡ መለለዪ ባንዴራኡን ሕገ-መንግስቱን ኢዩ ዝልለ። ከም’ዚ ስለዝዀነ ድማ ኢዩ፡ ቀዳማይ ሚኒስተር ኢትዮጵያ፡ ዶር ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ ምስ ሰበስልጣን ኢጣልያ ንወደብ ምጽዋዕ ምስ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ዘራኽብ መንገዲ ባቡር ንምህናጽ ዝገበሮ በይናዊ ስምምዕ፡ ዘዛርብን ዘዋጥጥን ዘሎ። መራሒ ካልእ ሃገር ኣብ ክንዲ ህዝብን መንግስትን ኤርትራ ኰይኑ ክሰማማዕን ክኽትምን በየናይ መንገዲ ዝረኸቦ ውክልና ኢዩ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ መራሕቱ ባዕሉ ደኣ ክመርጽ ኣለዎ እምበር መራሕቱ  ካልኦት ናይ መጕዚት መራሕቲ ክመርጽሉ ሓላፍነት ዘሰከሞም ኣካል የለን።

ናጽነት ኣብ ሃሃገርና ብግቡእ ከየስተማቐርና፡ ኣብ ሃሃገርና ዲሞክራሲ ሱር ከይሰደደ፡ ሓድነት ህዝብታትና ብኤትኒካዊ ምስሕሓባት ተበጣጢሱ: ህዝብታት ኣብ ስደትን ምፍንቓልን ምቅትታልን ኣብ ዘለወሉ ህሞት፡ ነጢርካ ናብ’ቲ ናይ ሃገራት ኣውሮጳ ዝመስል ሓድነት ከተቋምት ምፍታን ግዜኡ ዝሓለወን ምስ ክውንነት ዝሳነን ትልሚ ይኹን ሓሳብ ኣይኰነን።

ገለገለ ምሁራት ኢትዮጵያውያን ድማ፡ ሃይለስላሰ ንፈደረሽን እንተዘየፍርሶ፡ ኤርትራ ኣይምተገንጸለትን ነይራ፤ ኣብ ሜዳ ኤርትራ እንከለኹ፡ ምስ ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂ፡ ብዛዕባ ፈደረሽን ኮንፈደረሽን ንዘራረብ ኔርና ኢና። ዕልዋኹም ጥራሕ ይተዓወት እምበር ዘይከኣል ኣይኰነን ይብለና ነይሩ ክብሉ ተሰሚዖም ኢዮም (ሻለቃ ዳዊት ወልደገርጊስ)። እዚ ምስ’ቲ መስፍን ሓጐስ ብዛዕባ’ቲ ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂ ኣብ ለካቲት 1991 ኣብ ዝጸውዖ ኣኼባ ናይ ገለ መራሕቲ ህዝባዊ ግንባር፡ (ሓው መስፍን ሓጐስ እውን ዝተኻፈሎ ማለት ኢዩ) ኢሳያስ፡ ኣካል መሰጋገሪ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ክኸውን ዝነበሮ መደብን ባህግን ንምዕዋት ዝገበሮ ጻዕሪ ዋላ’ኳ ተቓውሞ ረኺብዎ እንተፈሸለ፡ እቲ ሓሳብ ምህላዉ ግን ንሻቕሎትና ብዝያዳ ኢዩ ዘበርኾ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጌና ናጽነቱ ከየስተማቐረ እንከሎ፡ ኢሳያስ ንኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ደሚሩ ክመርሕ ይሓስብ ምንባሩ ምስማዕና ኣዝዩ ዘስደመመና ጕዳይ ኢዩ ነይሩ። እዚ ንባዕሉ፡ ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂ፡ ምእንቲ ስልጣኑ ክብል ዝዀነ ይኹን ስጕምቲ ዋላ ንልዑላውነት ኤርትራ ናብ ሓደጋ ዘአቱ ስጕምቲ ንምውሳድ ድሕር ከምዘይብል ኢዩ ዝእምት። ትማሊ ዝነበረ ሕልሚ ሎሚ ይኹን ጽባሕ ዘይህልወሉ ወይ ዘይቅልቀለሉ ምኽንያት የለን።

ውልቀ-መላኺ ኤርትራ ንህዝቢ ከዐሹ ብዶብ ንኣስታት 20 ዓመታት ክግዕር ምጽንሑን ሎሚ ብጒዳይ ዶብ ፍጹም ተገዳስነት ዘይምርኣዩን ዘስደምም ኢዩ። ኣብ ርእሲ’ዚ፡ ቀዳማይ ሚኒስተር ኢትዮጵያ፡ ዶር ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ፡ ብይን ኮሚሽን ብዘይ ቅድመ ኵነታት ክንትግብሮ ኢና ዝበሎ መብጽዓ ቀለሙ ከይነቐጸ እንከሎ፤ ናይ ዶብ ሕቶ እኳ ንዓና ካልኣዊ ኢዩ… ብዛዕባ ዶብ እኳ ኣይተዛራረብናን ምባሉን፡ ክሳብ እዚ ዕለት’ዚ ንመብጽዓኡ ዘይምፍጻሙን ድማ፡ ካብ’ቲ ንህዝብና ኰነ ንዓና ዘሻቕል ዘሎ ካልእ ተወሳኺ ምኽንያት ኢዩ።  

ከምኡ’ውን፡ ቀዳማይ ሚኒስተር ኢትዮጵያ፡ ኣብ ሓደ ካብ ዘረባኡ ከም’ዚ ዝስዕብ ኢሉ ነይሩ። ካብ ሕጂ ጀሚረ፡ ሓሓሊፈ ኣብ ገለ መድረኻት ንኤርትራ ዝምልከት ጕዳይ ክዛረብ እንተሰሚዕኩምኒ ጋን ከይኰነኩም ወይ ውን እንታይ ኢዩ ዘይስርሑ ዝሰርሕ ዘሎ ከይትብሉ ምእንቲ፡ ካብ ሎሚ ጀሚሩ ፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስ ናይ ኤርትራ ወጻኢ ጕዳይ ኰይነ ክሰርሕ ስልጣን ሂቡኒ ኣሎ። ኢሉ ነይሩ።

ኢሳያስ ድማ፡ ንዶር ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ፡ “ኣነ ደጊመ፡ ደጋጊመ ኢለካ ኣለኹ፡ ገለ ነገር ዝግበር እንተሎ ወኪል ንስኻ ኢኻ ትመርሓና። ንቃል-ዓለም ኢለ፡ ወይ ንዕኡ ከሐጕስ ኢለ፡ ወይ ዘረባ ክጥዕመኒ ምእንቲ ኢለ ዘይኰነስ፡ ናይ ብሓቂ እዚ ሕጂ ህይወት ኣልቢስና ንገብሮ ዘለና ሰላም፡ ፍቕሪ፡ ናይ ክልቲኦም ህዝብታት ጥራሕ ዘይኰነስ፡ ናይ ልምዓት ናይ ገስጋስ ናይ ዕበየት መደባትና ሓደ ካብቲ ካልእ ዝፍለ ኣይኰነን። ነዚ ከኣ ዶር ኣብዪ ኣብ’ዚ ኣሎ ክመርሓና ኢዩ” ኢሉ። ናይ ኤርትራ ሚኒስተር ወጻኢ ጕዳያት፡ ኣቶ  ዑስማን ሳልሕን ፕረሲደንታዊ ኣማኻሪ፡ ኣቶ የማነ ገብርኣብን እውን  ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ  ብጽሖት ኣብ ዝገበርሉ እዋን፡ ዶር ኣብዪ መራሒና ኢዩ ክብሉ ተሰሚዖም ኢዮም። እዝስ ኣየሻቕልን’ዶ?!!!!

ስለ’ዚ፡ ቀዳማይ ሚኒስተር ኢትዮጵያ፡ ካብ ምጽዋዕ ክሳብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ዝዝርጋሕ መገዲ ባቡር፡ ምስ ሰበስልጣን ዓዲ ጣልያን ተራኺቡ ብዘይ ህልውና ወከልቲ ኤርትራ ክሰማማዕ ምኽኣሉ፡ ብሓቂ ውክልና ተዋሂብዎ ከምዘሎ ዝሕብር ምልክት ኢዩ። እዚ ድማ፡  ንልዑላውነት ኤርትራ ዝዳፋእ ሓደገኛ ክስተት ኢዩ። ደገፍቲ ስርዓት ኣስመራ፡ ነዚ ተረኽቦ’ዚ ናይ ሕድሕድ ምትእምማን ንምሕዳር ኢሉ ኢዩ፡ ንኣኽብሮት (courtesy) ኢዩ እናበሉ ከመሳምስሉ እኳ እንተፈተኑ፡ ኢሳያስ ግን፡ ባዕሉ ንቃል-ዓለም ኢሉ ከምዘይተዛረቦ ኢዩ ብንጹር ኣገባብ ገሊጽዎ ኢዩ። ናይ ወጻኢ ጕዳይ ሚንስተር፡ ኣቶ ዑስማን ሳልሕን ፕረሲደንታዊ ኣማኻሪ፡ ኣቶ የማነ ገብርኣብን እውን ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ኣብ ዝገበርዎ ብጽሖት ንዶክተር ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ መራሒና ከምዝበልዎ ዝዝከር ኢዩ።

ካብ ሕሉፍ ተመኵሮታትና ትምህርቲ ክንቀስም እንተዘይክኢልና፡ ትማሊ ንዝተገብረ ጌጋታት እናደጋገምና ክንነብር ኢና ማለት ኢዩ። ኣብ መንጐ ብመለስ ዜናዊ ዝምራሕ ዝነበረ መንግስቲ ኢህወደግን ኣብ መንጐ ስርዓት ኢሳያስን ድሕሪ ሪፈረንደም ፖለቲካዊ፡ ዲፕሎማስያዊ፡ ቍጠባዊ፡ ወተሃደራውን ጸጥታውን ስምምዓት ተኸቲሙ ምንባሩ ዝዝከር ኢዩ። ከምኡ’ውን፡ ጕዳይ ዶብ፡ ልክዕ ከም’ዚ ሕጂ ዝብሃል ዘሎ፡ ዶባትና ናብ ትርጕም ዘይብሉ ብርኪ ክሰጋገር ኢዩ ተባሂሉ ብዙሕ ተዘሚሩ ኢዩ። ኣህዛብ ክልቲኡ ሃገራት ከኣ፡ ብዛዕባ’ቲ ኣብ መንጐ ክልቲኡ መንግስታቶም ዝተገብረ ስምምዕ ዝፈልጥዎ ነገር ኣይነበሮምን።

ሎሚ ድማ፡ ስምምዕ ጌርና ክብሉ ንሰምዕ ኣሎና። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝፈልጦ ዝርዝር ስምምዓት ግን የለን። ጕዳይ ዶብ ቀዳምነት ንህቦ ኣይኰነን፡ ብዛዕባ ዶባት ዝገበርናዮ ዝርርብ የለን እናተባህለ ክዝረብ ንሰምዕ ኣለና። ጕዳይ ዶብ ክሳብ ክንድ’ዚ ንኡስ ጕዳይ እንተደኣኰይኑ፡ ከመይ ኢሉ ኢዩ ንኽልቲኡ ኣህዛብ ናብ ውግኣ ኣእትዩ ክሳብ 70,000 ዝዀኑ ዜጋታት ክልቲኡ ሃገራት ዝተቐዝፍሉ ምኽንያት ክኸውን ዝኸኣለ?!!! ስለ’ዚ፡ ከም’ቲ ኣብ 1998 ዘጋጠመ ኵነታት ክድገም ኣይኰነን ኢልና ደቂስና ክንሓድር ዘኽእል ዋላ ሓንቲ ውሕስነት የብልናን። ኣብ መንጐ መራሕቲ ዘይምስምማዕ ምስ ዝፍጠር፡ ምስምሳት ፈጢሮም ተልዓል፡ ተኣንጐት ኢሎም ንክልቲኡ ኣህዛብ ዋጋኡ ከኽፍልዎ ምዃኖም ዘጠራጥር ኣይኰነን።

ኣብ ከም’ዚ ዝኣመሰለ ኵነታት፡ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ነዚ ዝስዕብ መጸዋዕታኡን ምሕጽንታኡን የቕርብ።

1.   ኣብ ኤርትራ ናይ ወጻኢ ሓይልታት ወተሃደራዊ መደበራት ክህሉ ይኹን ንልዑላውነትና ኣብ ዋጋ ዕዳጋ ዘእቱ ሽርክነታትን ስምምዓትን ምፍጻም ብትሪ ንነጽግን ንቃወምን፤

2.   ውዕል ኣልጀርስን ብይን ኮሚሽን ዶባት ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ብዘይ ውዓል ሕደር ኣብ ግብሪ ክውዕል ንጽውዕ፤

3.   ኣብ መንጐ ኤርትራን ካልኦት መንግስታትን ዝግበር ስምምዓት ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ብግልጺ ክሕበሮ መሰሉ ምዃኑ ንኣምን፤

4.   ንልዑላውነት ናይ ኤርትራ ዝጣበቕን ዝሕሉን (watchdog) ናጻ ዝዀነ ሲቪላዊ ማሕበር ብሞያተኛታት ክቐውም ኣድላዪ ምዃኑ ነዘኻኽርን ብሸነኽና ዘድሊ ምትሕብባር ንምግባር ድልውነትና ንገልጽን፤

5.   ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ፡ ኣብ ጐድኒ ጭቁን ህዝቦምን ልዑላውነት ሃገሮምን ደው ክብሉ ንጽውዕ፤

6.   ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ማዕረ’ቲ ህዝብን መድረኻዊ ዕማማትን ዝጠልቦ ሓላፍነት ክብ ብምባል ኣብ ሓደ ቦታ ተኣኪቦም ነዚ ሓድሽ ክስተታት ክመዝኑን ምስኡ ዝመጣጠን ስጕምታት ክወስዱን ነዘኻኽር፤

7.   ናይ ሕልናን ፖለቲካን እሱራት ብህጹጽን ብዘይ ቅድመ-ኵነትን ክፍትሑ ንጽውዕ፤

ፍትሒ ሰላምን ዲሞክራስን ዝነገሳ ናጻ ኤርትራ ንምህናጽ ንቃለስ

ክብርን ዘልኣለማዊ ዝኽርን ንሰማእታትና

መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም

ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤ

3 ለካቲት 2019

There was no fanfare, no jostling of television cameras and no sign of the prime minister or elected officials at the airport to greet them.

Unlike the media frenzy that marked the arrival of the first of 60,000 Syrian refugees to Canada, federal officials have quietly achieved another immigration feat that has largely gone unnoticed: They eliminated one of the country’s worst refugee resettlement backlogs and ushered in 12,000 Eritreans to begin new lives in Canada.

familyFrom left, Debretsion and Senait Abbe and their children, Merken,9, Nerhawi, 10, and Mesuna, 5.

They spent three years in Sudanese refugee camp before arriving in Canada, sponsored by family and friends.

Ottawa began tackling the Eritrean backlog in 2015 — at the same time world attention was focused on the desperate plight of Syrian refugees. The Eritreans, who fled President Isaias Afwerki’s oppressive military regime, had been languishing for years in refugee camps in Sudan, where they, again, were often subjected to violence.

But thanks to an inspired collaboration between frontline visa officers on two continents, most of the Eritrean refugees were resettled in Canada by December.

Debretsion Abbe was thrilled when his application to come to Canada was approved and he was issued a permanent residence visa after waiting nearly three years with his family in a refugee camp in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

“We felt we were reborn,” said the 48-year-old carpenter, who arrived in Toronto in September with wife, Senait, 38, and their three children, Merhawi, 10, Merken, 9, and Mesuna, 5. They were sponsored by Senait’s brother and friends in Toronto. “We are very happy to be here, to live a peaceful and free life where my children can be educated and have a future.”

“It was tough to live in limbo,” he added, describing the harsh conditions in the camp. “We were afraid of thefts, rapes and being stopped by police who arrested refugees and put us in jail when they needed money.”

Canada has six visa offices in Africa: The Cairo office, one of the smallest overseas operations with just two Canadian officers, is responsible for processing immigration-related applications from Sudan. Through the years, it had been inundated by private sponsorship applications from Eritreans in Sudan.

Knowing it would take ages for their colleagues in Cairo to chip away at the Eritrean backlog, staff at the visa office in Rome — with five Canadian officers and eight local staff — reached out in 2015 and offered to lend a hand.

“That was an ambitious goal at the time,” said Ed Cashman, who was a consul at the Canadian embassy in Khartoum between 2015 and 2018. “I wasn’t sure how they would do it. It was incredible just because of the sheer number of files in Sudan. We had no experience of doing anything like that before.

“These Eritreans had been in camps in Sudan all this time just waiting for a decision (from Canada), some for 10 years. It’s gratifying to see the faces of these people who got their notifications and were finally accepted. Their lives are changed forever in a positive way.”

After the Eritrean files were transferred from Cairo to Rome, the first wave of Eritreans arrived in Canada in 2016. So far, more than 11,690 have landed here.

During the collaboration, officials in Rome made four to six trips to Sudan every year to interview applicants awaiting resettlement while two additional Canada-based decision-makers and two support staff were assigned to help.

The officers would interview refugees in the embassy office in Sudan, which was a four-bedroom house with a reception area to hold eight people at a time, said Cashman, adding it was not really equipped and designed for these interviews.

“You look at the Syrian resettlement project where hundreds of staff were assigned and travelled to the Middle East to process files. Here we had a small team of people doing this all out of Rome on top of other things,” Cashman noted. “The Eritrean resettlement effort was an incredible accomplishment.”

tekle bahlibi

Tekle Bahlibi has helped co-ordinate the community's sponsorship effort since 1987.  (Photo Supplied)

The Eritrean initiative was part of the immigration department’s ongoing effort since 2012 to reduce global refugee resettlement backlogs, said department spokesperson Peter Liang.

Previously, the backlog of people around the world waiting to be approved for private sponsorship was staggering, with wait times as long as 10 years. In 2012, the then-Conservative government began capping the number of new applications per year — a policy that has continued under the Liberals. It helps limit the intake while allowing officials to tackle old files. Currently, 88 per cent of private sponsorship applications have been in the system for under two years.

“The department has devoted significant effort and attention to processing older cases of privately sponsored refugees across the network. To increase efficiency, certain streamlined practices put into place during the Syrian refugee resettlement initiative have now become permanently implemented,” said Liang.

Some of those measures, he said, included accepting applications by email, streamlining forms and guides for applicants, and changes to the assessment process to effectively handle complex cases.

While most of the resettled Syrians were supported by private community groups, the Eritreans were mostly sponsored by family and friends who were already established here. The sponsors are still responsible for the newcomers’ initial settlement and financial needs for the first year.

Brian Dyck, national migration and resettlement co-ordinator at Winnipeg’s Mennonite Central Committee, said it was difficult — and risky — for Eritrean refugees to travel from Sudan to Cairo for resettlement interviews, especially during the violence and anti-government uprisings that broke out in Egypt in 2011 during the Arab Spring.

“The older cases got more complicated to finish off. Babies born. People died, married, moved and changed their phone (numbers),” Dyck said of the challenge to keep old files up to date.

He attributed the elimination of the backlog to the Justin Trudeau government’s resolve to let in more privately sponsored refugees to Canada, which has almost doubled to 18,000 over the last three years from 9,350 in 2015.

“The Liberals came in and opened up the bottom of the funnel. That’s a more important factor than the cap in dealing with the situation,” Dyck explained.

News of the clearance of the Eritrean backlog was welcomed by the Eritrean Canadian community, whose members have long criticized the slow processing time for their cases.

“This is a very good news. So many of them have suffered in limbo in Khartoum for years,” said Tekle Bahlibi, who has helped co-ordinate the community’s sponsorship effort since 1987. “It shows us when there’s a political will, things can happen.”

Source=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/02/02/we-felt-we-were-reborn-thousands-of-eritrean-refugees-quietly-welcomed-to-canada.html

Saturday, 02 February 2019 23:51

Radio Demtsi Harnnet Sweden 02.02.2019

Written by

The Reporter

2 February 2019

The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has urged its neighboring country, Sudan, to control the illegal arms being smuggled through the border the two countries share which otherwise might bring an unwanted diplomatic setback between the two nations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) told the legislative.

Presenting its six-month report to the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) on Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Workneh Gebeyehu (PhD) indicated that over the past few months, the government has observed a decline in the level of fire arms being smuggled in through all border points,while still the highest number of illegal arms is coming from Sudan.

The Minister–noting that the decline in the illegal fire arms trade across borders as a result of government’s tight control– told the House that the Ethiopian government “has clearly informed the Sudanese President, Omar al-Beshir, and his respective ministers that the Sudanese government should take the concern of Ethiopia very seriously; and take into account how this uncontrolled arms trafficking would affect the stability and security of Ethiopia.”

“We have held frequent discussions with the Sudanese officials through diplomatic channels as well as special meetings at higher government levels,”Workneh told the House, adding that both governments have already identified who are behind the arms trafficking as well as how they have been smuggling.

Furthermore, the Minister said that, “We have informed the [Sudanese officials] that they should tighten their border control in their part to deter smuggling. We have clearly informed them that, otherwise, this will eventually lead to the cutting or impacting of diplomatic ties or relations.”

Additionally, the Minister told the House that Ethiopia has identified the manufacturer of the guns mostly smuggled to Ethiopia.

“We have discussed with the manufacturer of the gun. We still keep following up on this issue seriously,” he went on citing international laws and treaties over illegal gun trafficking and the right way of selling armaments. “It has to be carried out in a legitimate way,in a sovereign nation along with the proper identifications, make and model of the gun and other information,” he said. However, he did not disclose the name and the country of origin for the manufacturer of the arms being smuggled into Ethiopia.

Besides reporting on the efforts made in addressing the arms trafficking issue; the renewed Ethio-Eritrean relation and the subsequent progress registered in the past six months was also another issue included in Workneh’s report.

Citing the praise the Ethiopian government has received from the international community following the rapprochement of the two countries; he reiterated the relationship is growing at a very fast pace. To support his argument, the Minister cited the opening of the border as an example of the progress made in the past six months.

However, MPs raised questions over the growing concern and potential challenges of border openings and the resulting border trade without putting in place a common legal framework.

Responding to the questions, the Minister disclosed that draft laws have already been finalized and are expected to be summited to the Council of Minister and will arrive at HPR upon the endorsement of the Council.

Workneh highlighted the overall diplomatic activities his office has carried out in the past six months, declaring it has registered “considerable gains”. He added that, in addition to Sudan and Eritrea, “The overall actives we have undertaken so far are successful diplomatic achievements that has ensured sustainable relationships with neighboring countries in particular and other countries and development partners in general.”

He further told the House that Ethiopia has sent a draft document to Asmara specifying port usage rates and logistics service provisions by Eritrean.

In addition to that, he added that a continuous dialogue has been held with relevant bodies to resolve the problems along the Ethio-Djibouti corridor while discussions were held with Somalia to use ports in Somalia as well.

Worknehalso highlighted efforts to persuade Nile basin countries to ratify and sign the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CPA).

After hearing the report, the Peace and Foreign Affairs Standing Committee of the House in its part lauded the encouraging achievements of the Ministry in terms of restoring peace with Eritrea and the Horn on top of enhancing development cooperation, and diplomatic relations with several countries.

According to the Standing Committee, other works that have been carried out by the ministry were also encouraging particularly relating to the Ethiopian Diaspora and the diplomatic relations with various countries to scale up financial support.

However, budget performance, audit findings and cooperative negotiations with Nile basin countries were among the issues recommended by the standing committee to be addressed.

Source=https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/article/ethiopian-government-urges-sudan-tighten-border-control


A checkpoint in Metema in north-western Ethiopia, next to the border with Sudan. The town is a centre of a booming trade in migrants from Ethiopia and Eritrea. (AP Photo)
February 1, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - An Ethiopian delegation has arrived in Sudan’s eastern state of Gedaref to check on the situation of Ethiopian refugees in the state, reported the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC)

The commissioner of Basonda locality in Gedaref State Osman Mohamed Ahmed told the SMC that a meeting has been held to discuss the situation of the Ethiopian refugees in his locality.

He pointed out that several officials have attended the meeting including the Ethiopian consular, representative of Ethiopia’s north-west Amhara region, the security committee in Gedaref and a number of executive officials.

According to Ahmed, the meeting discussed the voluntary repatriation of Ethiopian refugees who wish to return to their country as well as relocating those who seek to be granted refugee status to Al-Shagarab refugee camp.

He stressed his government’s commitment to coordinate with the Ethiopian regions to protect the join border and provide the refugee needs in cooperation with national and international aid groups.

The commissioner also vowed to protect the refugees’ properties in the localities of Basonda and Al-Qalabat Al-Sharquiya, pointing to the governor’s directive to provide urgent relief to the Ethiopian refugees.

Last November, the Sudanese Commission of Refugees (SCR) said 400 Ethiopian refugees have arrived in the eastern state of Gedaref following ethnic clashes between Amhara and Tigray.

According to statistics of the SCR, Sudan is hosting around 2 million refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Somalia, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan, Yemen and Syria.

The United Nations says Sudan hosts 110,000 Eritrean refugees, 400,000 South Sudanese refugees and more than 100,000 Syrian refugees.

In addition, some 500,000 South Sudanese who stayed in Sudan following the separation are also in need of humanitarian assistance according to the UN.

(ST)

Source=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article67005