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

ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ናብተን ኣብዚ ቀረባ ግዜ ናይ ቃል ጸብጻብ  ዘቕርባ ናይ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ፍልይቲ ተኸታታሊት ሰብእዊ መሰል ኤርትራ፡ ጓል ቺለ፡ ወይዘሮ ዳኒየላ ክራቨትዝ መዘክር ኣቕሪቡ። ኣብዚ መዘክሩ እዘን ሓዳስ ተኸታታሊት ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ኣብ ልዕሊ እቲ ዘይተዓጻጸፍን ጨቋንን ስርዓት ኤርትራ ጽኑዕ ምክትታል ክገብራ ዘለዎ ትጽቢት ገሊጹ።

እዘን ሓዳስ ክኢላ፡ ተኸታታሊት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኤርትራ፡ ኣብቲ ካብ 25 ለካቲት ክሳብ 22 መጋቢት 2019 ኣብ ጀነቫ ዝካየድ መበል 40 ርክብ ባይቶ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ናይ መጀመርያ ናይ ቃል ጸብጻበን ክቕርባ ትጽቢት ኣሎ። እዚ ብ31 ጥሪ 2019 ዝተላእከ ናይ ሰዲህኤ መዘክር፡ ኣብ ቅድሚ እተን ፍልይቲ ተኸታታሊት ዘሎ ከቢድ ሓላፍነት፡ ምስቲ ካብ ኤርትራ ሓበሬታ ናይ ምርካብ ጸገም ከቢድ ምዃኑ ከም ዝርዳእ ጠቒሱ፡ ምስቲ  ወኪል ናይቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ጨቋኒ ኣካል ብዘይሕፍረት ብ28 ጥሪ 2019 ኣብ ኣድማሳዊ እዋናዊ መድረኻዊ ዳስህሳስ ዘቕረቦ መስሓቕን ጻዕዳ ሓሶትን ጸብጻብ ኣዛሚዱ ገሊጽዎ።

እዚ መልእኽቲ ናይ ቅድም ተኸታታሊት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ወይዘሮ ሸይላ ኪታሩዝ ኣብ ዝሓለፉ 6 ዓመታት ዋላኳ እንተዘይተተግብረ፡ ናይቲ ስርዓት ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኣብ ምቅላዕን ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም ንውሳነታትን ለበዋታትን ኮሚሽ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ንከተግብር ኣብ ምድፋእን ንዘበርከቶኦ ኣስተዋጸኦ ኣመስጊኑ።

መዘክር ሰዲህኤ፡ እዘን ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ጥቅምቲ ብባይቶ ሰብእዊ መሰል ሕቡራት ሃገራት  ዝተመዘዛ ወይዘሮ ክራቨትዝ፡ ኣብ መጻኢ ግዜአን ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝረአ ዘሎ ደረት ዘየብሉ ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰል  ክውገድን ተሓታትነት ክሰፍንን ኣብ ምግባር ክዕወታ ዘለዎ ተስፋ ኣስፊሩ።

 ኣብ መወዳእታ መልእኽቱ፡  ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ምስ ኩሎም ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ኤርትራውያን ሓቢሩ፡   ነዚ ኣሰቃቒ  ኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰል  ኤርትራ ናብ ዝሓሸ ደረጃ ንምምጻኡ ንክዕወታ ዓቕሙ ዝፈቕዶ ክተሓባበር ድልዊ ምዃኑ ገሊጹ።

Saturday, 02 February 2019 06:43

Harnnet Magazine Issue #65

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Saturday, 02 February 2019 06:36

Harnnet Magazine Issue #65

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