Source: Bloomberg

Rebels in Eastern Ethiopia to Seek Self-Determination Vote

17 September 2018, 00:00 GMT+1Updated on 17 September 2018, 07:36 GMT+1
  • Group to make the demand at historic talks with government
 

“We want to achieve self-determination recognized by international law under the current Ethiopian constitution,” Ahmed Yassin Abdi, the ONLF’s foreign secretary, said by phone from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. “We want our people to have a right to decide.”

A rebel group in Ethiopia said it will demand a referendum on self-determination for the country’s troubled, gas-rich Somali region during landmark peace talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.

 

The plan by the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which has staged a low-level insurgency in Ethiopia’s east for more than three decades, comes as Abiy invites once-banned opponents to take part in elections. The demands may aggravate a scramble for the region’s energy resources, including natural gas reserves the government estimates will eventually earn it $7 billion a year.

 

At stake are an estimated 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Ogaden Basin, where exports are due to begin 2021 via a pipeline to neighboring Djibouti. A unit of China Poly Group Corp. has also started testing oil deposits.

 

“We want to achieve self-determination recognized by international law under the current Ethiopian constitution,” Ahmed Yassin Abdi, the ONLF’s foreign secretary, said by phone from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. “We want our people to have a right to decide.” He said his group has no preconditions for the talks. The region’s new president expressed support for greater autonomy.

 
 

Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country after Nigeria, is a federation designed to give autonomy to its dozens of ethnic groups. The ONLF has long maintained that the Somali regional state, which it calls the Ogaden and borders war-torn Somalia, hasn’t been properly represented by the federal government.

Ethiopia’s constitution enshrines the rights of people with “a large measure” of common culture, customs, language, identity and “psychological makeup” in an “identifiable, predominantly contiguous territory” to seek self-determination and even establish their own states.

Seeking Settlement

The ONLF, which took up arms in 1984 and has been an intermittent threat to regional authorities, declared a cease-fire at a July meeting of its leaders in Eritrea, pending what Ahmed calls an unspecified “comprehensive political settlement.”

Its largest attack was in April 2007 on a site in the Somali region — operated by China’s Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau — where it killed nine Chinese workers and 65 Ethiopians. Ahmed said that was justified because the then-government sought to produce gas “without consent of our people.”

While he wouldn’t disclose the number of armed fighters the ONLF has, the figure is thought to be significantly diminished from a decade ago.

A special police force in the Somali region has been notorious for its alleged counter-insurgency tactics, with accusations it jailed and tortured people suspected of having ONLF sympathies. Since the regional president, based in the local city of Jijiga, was ousted by federal forces in August, authorities and the group haven’t clashed, according both to Ahmed and the new state president, Mustafa Omer.

“There are some areas where we agree,” Mustafa said in an interview in the national capital, Addis Ababa. “Yes, we want more autonomy for our region, genuine self-rule.”

While the cease-fire predates Mustafa’s rule as a response to Ethiopia’s recent sweeping reforms, the ONLF is supporting the new president because “he can make a difference in clearing the system and creating a new political environment,” Ahmed said. “We have agreed to work together to seek more rights for the Somali people.”

Abdiwasa Abdillahi Bade, an assistant professor of political science at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia’s capital, doesn’t see “a clear vision and objective” from the group. “Before we talk about self-determination, we have to establish who is ONLF and who represents ONLF,” Abdiwasa said.

Mustafa said regional authorities are letting the ONLF mobilize grassroots support and he’ll help arrange its formal talks with Abiy’s government in the coming weeks. The president welcomed the possibility of the ONLF taking part in federal elections slated for 2020.

Ahmed said the ONLF will discuss the possibility of its disarmament with the government, and, should the negotiations face difficulty, Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has offered support in the talks. Once a deal is reached, the ONLF may compete in elections, he said.

“We need to have a negotiation — agreement on a comprehensive political settlement, and peace in the Ogaden — then oil companies can come and explore,” Ahmed said.

Source=https://eritreahub.org/ethiopias-somali-rebels-seek-referendum-as-price-for-peace

Date: 16/09/2018
Author: Martin Plaut

The leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea are due to sign a peace agreement today in Saudi Arabia. The signing ceremony will be hosted by Saudi King Salman in the coastal city of Jeddah.
Witnessed by the UN Secretary General, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, it is designed to ‘cement’ peace between the two countries.

The Eritrea- Ethiopia peace agreement has been encouraged and supported by many external powers. The United States played a key role, supported by the European Union. But no-one did more to pursue this initiative than the Arab states.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE were at the forefront of these initiatives. Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki made repeated trips to both countries before the agreement unfolded.

Alex de Waal has argued persuasively that a ‘Pax Arabia’ is replacing a ‘Pax Americana’ in the region. But, as he warns, this could be transitory.

“A momentary “Pax Arabica” may emerge based on Gulf money used to meet African leaders’ urgent cash needs. But any peace agreements that result will be only as good as the transitory alignments of political interests from which they arose. Today, the UAE’s immediate need for a friendly African hinterland as it presses forward with its war in Yemen creates such a configuration. But that is not a foundation for a durable peace and security order.”

There is a real danger in expanding Arab influence in the Horn, for with it comes an intolerant form of Islam which was once alien to the region.

I described this before.

“Relations between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula go back centuries, with trade playing a key component in binding their people together. Religion has also played a part. The expansion of Wahhabism– the interpretation of Islam propagated by Saudi Arabia – has been funded by the massive oil wealth of the kingdom.

Mosques, Koranic schools and Imams have been provided with support over many years. Gradually this authoritarian form of Islam began to take holdin the Horn. While some embraced it, others didn’t.

Somalia is an example. While most Somalis practised a moderate form of Suffi Islam, the Islamic fundamentalists of al-Shabaab didn’t. Soon after taking control of parts of central and southern Somalia in 2009 they began imposing a much more severe form of the faith. Mosques were destroyed and the shrines of revered Suffi leaders were desecrated.

The export of faith has been followed by arms. Today the Saudis and their allies in the United Arab Emirates are exerting increasing military influence in the region.”
This issue has not been resolved.

What price will the Saudis and their allies ask for their support? And will its overt and covert war against Iran drag the Horn of Africa into this conflict?

In short: what would it mean if the region became part of an Arab sphere of influence?

These are questions that have to be pondered.

Source=https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2018/09/16/will-arab-influence-in-the-horn-of-africa-be-the-price-of-peace/

ኣብዚ ቀረባ ግዜ ብማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝቖመ ኣሰናዳኢ ሽማገል 3ይ ጉባአ ሰልፊ፡ ብ15 መስከረም 2018 ናይ መጀመርያ ኣኼባኡ ኣካይዱ። ሽማግለ ኣብዚ ፈላሚ ኣኼባኡ ነብሱ ኣብ ንኡሳን ሽማግለታት ሰሪዑን ናኡሳን ሽማግለታት ምቋሙን ተሓቢሩ ኣሎ። በዚ መሰረት ናይ ሰነዳት ምድላው፡ ናይ ገንዘብን ሎጂስቲክን ናይ ኣባላት ኣሰታትፋን ዜናን ዝብሉ ንኡሳን ሽማግለታት ኣቝሙ።

እቲ ሽማግለ ኣብ ኣኼባኡ፡ ኣብ መጻኢ ንስረሓቱ ዝሕግዙ ብመሪሕነት ሰልፊ ክንጽሩ ዝግበኦም ነጥብታት ኣለልዩ። ብዘይካዚ ምስቲ ሰዲህኤ ሒዝዎ ዘሎ ምስ ቅሩባት ዝኾኑ ኤርትራዊ ናይ ተቓውሞ ውድባት ሓቢርካ ናይ ምስራሕ እማመ ቁጽሪ ኣባላት ኣሰናዳኢ ሽማግለ፡ ከም ኣድላይነቱ ክውስኽ ከም ዝኽእልን ከምዘዘድልን እውን ኣብዚ ኣኼባኡ መዚኑ።

Saturday, 15 September 2018 23:29

Ethiopia, Eritrea to sign new peace agreement in Saudi: UN

Written by

Ethiopian Girl

14 Sept 2018

The leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea will attend a summit in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to sign a peace agreement "cementing" the relations between the two former Horn of Africa bitter rivals, according to a United Nations spokesperson.

Farhan Haq said on Friday that the signing ceremony will be hosted by Saudi King Salman in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat are also expected to attend.

Haq did not provide further details about the agreement.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki signed a declaration of peace in July that formally ended a two-decade standoff and restored diplomatic relations.

On Tuesday, Ethiopia and Eritrea reopened two land border crossing points for the first time in 20 years, clearing the way for trade between the two nations.

Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in the early 1990s. War broke out later that decade over a border dispute.

A 2002 UN-backed boundary demarcation was meant to settle the dispute for good, but Ethiopia refused to abide by it.

A turnaround began in June when Abiy announced that Ethiopia would hand back to Eritrea the disputed areas, including the flashpoint town of Badme where the first shots of the border war were fired.

Source=https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2018/09/ethiopia-eritrea-sign-peace-agreement-saudi-180914202213029.html?__twitter_impression=true

Saturday, 15 September 2018 22:04

Are Ethiopia and Eritrea moving towards federation?

Written by


Eritrea Ethiopia flags

This article is a fascinating read. Posted on Eritrea Digest it highlights issues that have been swirling around in the last few weeks.

By Sal Younis


Saturday, 15 September 2018 20:57

Demsti Harnnet Sweden 15.09.2018

Written by

An excellent report has been published by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’. It highlights the impact of EU policy on the smuggling of refugees across the Sahara.

You can read the full report EU policies and Saharan migration.

Below are extracts of the report showing how the smuggling has effected Eritreans. It highlights the role of the Sudanese government.


Eritreans as commodities

In recent years, notably as a result of anti-migrant policies in both Niger and Sudan, Chad has become a new transit country for both West African and East African migrants. Migrants from countries such as Senegal, Mali, Liberia, Somalia and Eritrea, who were rarely seen in Chad in the past, are now crossing the country towards Libya.

According to a former Chadian rebel based in Libya, Chadian rebels or former rebels have been involved, rather than in ‘buying’ migrants, in capturing or ‘stealing’ them from their original smugglers or traffickers. Such operations specifically target Eritreans who, according to the former rebel, ‘represent the second business, just after drugs’

Routes from Sudan to Libya

Sudanese migration routes have evolved and become more diverse. Eritrean migrants mostly used to cross from eastern Sudan to Egypt, while Sudanese also reached Egypt from Sudan’s northern region. In recent years, flows have shifted towards Libya, along two main routes, which in the past were used by Sudanese migrants looking for work in Libya but are now used by refugees fleeing wars and undemocratic regimes across the entire Horn of Africa. The easternmost route, used notably by Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalians, goes from Khartoum to Dongola by an asphalt road, then crosses north-western Sudan to the Libyan border and Kufra.

Some were arrested by regular forces, but the task has to large extent been assigned to the so-called Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In 2013, Khartoum re-hatted some of the Darfur Arab militias generally known by the nickname of janjawid, which led most of the counter-insurgency campaign that devastated the region and displaced some 3 million civilians, into a new paramilitary force, the RSF. The new force is better equipped, better funded, and deployed not only in Darfur, but all over Sudan. Since 2016 it has been directly under presidential control, in the hope it would be better controlled and more loyal than the former janjawid. It is led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, aka ‘Hemmeti’, who proved less disloyal towards Khartoum than other Darfur Arab militia chiefs.

In 2016, coinciding with the EU dialogue with Sudan on migration, Khartoum redeployed RSF in the Northern State, from where they patrolled up to the Libyan and Egyptian borders. In an April 2018 video, Hemmeti claimed the RSF had 23,000 men ‘scattered throughout the desert borders’ – a credible count for RSF forces deployed from North Darfur and the Chadian border, to Eastern Sudan and the Egyptian and Eritrean borders.

Double game: migrants smuggled or trafficked by Sudanese government militias

Since being deployed in Sudan’s north-western quarter, the RSF have gradually monopolised control of routes to Libya. But they do not always arrest the smugglers and migrants they intercept. ‘Officially, our orders are to drive the migrants back toward their country of origin,’ an RSF member explains. ‘So, from time to time, we intercept migrants and transfer them back to Khartoum, in order to show the authorities that we are doing the job. We’re not supposed to take money from the migrants to let them escape or to transport them to Libya… but the reality is rather different…’Several smugglers and migrants confirm that the RSF tax the vehicles or migrants they intercept then let them go.

In some cases, the RSF did not drive migrants in their own cars but provided an escort to civilian smugglers. In 2016, S., an Eritrean asylum seeker, was intercepted by Sudanese government forces in the desert and brought back to Khartoum. ‘Some of the migrants paid to be released,’ he explains. One year later, he tried again, through the same Eritrean intermediaries based in Khartoum. The whole process was unchanged: the migrants were gathered in a Khartoum house together with other mostly Ethiopian and Eritrean migrants. One year to the next, even the fare was the same: USD 1,700 for the desert crossing and USD 2,300 from Libya to Europe. ‘Thus, 4,000 dollars is the official fare to Europe but we know it is likely to be much higher as we are kidnapped.

From Darfur, Dongola or Khartoum to Libya, and from Darfur to Chad, the RSF transported or escorted migrants from Sudan as well as from other Horn of Africa countries. According to several migrants, ‘the RSF prefer the non-Sudanese, especially Ethiopians, Eritreans and Somalians, as they consider them as very valuable. Their family in the diaspora pays for them when they are kidnapped.

Ties between Sudanese government militias and Libyan traffickers

Migrants who were smuggled by the RSF to Libya report that the RSF systematically ‘sold’ them to Libyan traffickers, in the Sudan-Libya borderlands. The practice is generally known as taslim (delivery) in Arabic, a word that is also used for exchanges of drug loads across the Sahara. Those Libyan traffickers often torture and enslave the migrants.

According to an RSF member, ‘the RSF receive money for each migrant handed over to the Libyans.’This explains why migrants could board RSF cars on credit: in principle, this involved repaying their debt later after finding work in Libya, but obviously the RSF did not care about being reimbursed and were getting the migrants’ ‘debt’ paid by the Libyan traffickers. This generally allows the Libyans to ask the migrants to reimburse their debt, torturing them until they could get relatives to pay for their release or obliging them to work without payment.

But even migrants who had paid the RSF for their whole trip were ‘bought’ by Libyan traffickers and endured abuses. Thus, in June 2017, S., the Eritrean asylum seeker mentioned above, was sold to Libyan Arabs, together with more than a hundred fellow passengers. ‘They told us that we were their property, that we had been sold,’ he remembers. The migrants were obliged to telephone their relatives to ask them to pay a USD 1,700 ransom – precisely the amount S. had paid the RSF for travelling to Libya. Those who could not find the money were forced to pick dates from palm trees.

Generally, RSF and other Sudanese smugglers sell their passengers to Libyan traffickers in the Sudan-Libya borderlands, and do not go further.

Involvement of other Darfur rebels and ex-rebels in migrant smuggling

Other Darfur rebels and former rebels have allegedly been involved in migrant smuggling. In 2017, Darfurian combatants reportedly guarded a farm in Jufra area, in central Libya, where 300 to 400 Eritreans were detained, but it is unclear whether those troops were active or former rebels. According to one of the leaders of a faction that joined the government in 2012 – known as JEM (Justice and Equality Movement)-Dabajo – some combatants from this group defected and became smugglers.

RSF deployment in eastern Sudan

In early 2018, the RSF were also deployed in eastern Sudan, on the Eritrean border. According to Sudanese government sources, about a quarter of migrant smugglers arrested in January-February 2018 on this border were arrested by the RSF. Yet, as along the Sudan-Libya border, the RSF deployment in the east may respond to another agenda: it coincided with the closure of the Eritrean border, following Sudanese accusations that Egypt and Eritrea were colluding to reopen rear bases for Sudanese rebels in Eritrea. Until 2006, Eritrea had hosted rebel groups from both Darfur and eastern Sudan. Among the latter were the Free Lions, a movement recruiting among the Rashaida Arabs straddling the Sudan-Eritrea border. Since 2006, former Free Lions leaders were allegedly involved in smuggling Eritrean migrants to Egypt through eastern Sudan, with the complicity of both Eritrean and Sudanese security apparatuses. This smuggling entente is now threatened, notably by the new anti-smuggling policies.

According to a former Chadian rebel based in Libya, Chadian rebels or former rebels have been involved, rather than in ‘buying’ migrants, in capturing or ‘stealing’ them from their original smugglers or traffickers. Such operations specifically target Eritreans who, according to the former rebel, ‘represent the second business, just after drugs’: they reportedly can be sold for LYD 2,000 to 30,000 (EUR 300-4,500). Chadian rebels or former rebels reportedly raided convoys with Eritrean migrants as far away as Jebel Aweynat at the Libya-Sudan-Egypt tri-border. Eritrean migrants are also commonly ‘stolen’ in places where they are kept, for instance in Um-el-Araneb. In late 2017, bandits based in Um-el-Araneb also reportedly drove to Jufra area where they captured some 300 Eritrean migrants held on a farm, before reselling them.

NISS agents involved in migrant smuggling

It is not only Sudanese paramilitary forces but also members of regular forces who are reportedly involved in migrant smuggling. There have been various reports on the involvement of members of Sudanese regular forces, notably of the NISS (National Intelligence and Security Service) in human trafficking between Eritrea and Egypt, through eastern Sudan.166 More recently, it appears NISS is also involved in smuggling migrants from Sudan to Libya, including through Darfur.

Source=https://eritreahub.org/eritreans-as-commodities-eu-policy-sudan-and-the-saharan-refugee-trade

Country emerging from isolation after Ethiopia rapprochement

Source: Bloomberg

September 13, 2018, 7:00 PM EDT

Eritrea is casting off its reputation as a hermit state and pushing to become a key player in one of the world’s most strategically important regions.

Decades of eschewing international cooperation by the Red Sea state are giving way to renewed ties. Relations with Ethiopia, its sworn enemy since a border war at the end of last century, are blossoming after the two states agreed a rapprochement in July. Somalia signed a trilateral cooperation accord with the two countries that includes an initiative to seek peace with Djibouti, which in turn has welcomed the move.

Photographer: Nizar Manek/Blooomberg

The effects of the improving bonds are rippling beyond the Horn of Africa, drawing the attention of countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia. A quarter of a century after it won independence from Ethiopia, Eritrea is welcoming the interest.

 

“Eritrea is not an island but can thrive in an environment of regional cooperation,” Yemane Gebreab, the top political adviser to President Isaias Afwerki, said in an interview in the capital, Asmara.

Trump Card

Geography is Eritrea’s trump card. It’s situated across the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia and Yemen near the Bab el Mandab, a shipping choke-point used by oil tankers and other cargo vessels en route to Europe and the U.S. through the Suez Canal. China has lauded the country’s position on the Maritime Silk Road, which links shipping lanes along the proposed multi-trillion dollar Belt & Road Initiative.

That makes Eritrea “a key component of any power with interests in the region’s security architecture,” Saud al-Sarhan, secretary-general of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, said by email from Riyadh.

The U.A.E. has already exploited its strategic location. Part of the Saudi-led coalition that’s been fighting Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen for the past three years, the U.A.E. has built a military facility at the Eritrean port town of Assab to support its forces.

War, Sanctions

Yemane, providing the first official Eritrean confirmation of the installation’s existence, said its construction is “not about bases, it’s not about cash,” but an acknowledgment that there are vital interests that need to be protected in the Red Sea. For instance, neighboring Djibouti is home to the only U.S. and Chinese military bases in Africa.

 

Isaias’s ruling party has envisaged closer regional cooperation since its days as a liberation movement before the country gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, according to Yemane. The drive stalled after Somalia collapsed into civil war in 1991, the emergence of an Islamist state in Sudan under President Umar al-Bashir, war with Ethiopia and the imposition in 2009 of United Nations sanctions over Eritrea’s alleged links — denied by the government — to Islamist militants in Somalia.

The “basic requirement” for forging the peace accord with Ethiopia was to find a partner in its giant neighbor for regional cooperation and integration, Yemane said. It only became possible after Abiy Ahmed took over as prime minister in Addis Ababa in April and immediately initiated a broad array of political and economic reforms.

Aid Billions

“If there was a different situation in Ethiopia and a different setup, all the efforts and encouragements would not have produced results,” said Yemane, who heads the political department of the ruling Eritrean People’s Front for Democracy and Justice. “For us, the crucial point was determining whether real change had come to Ethiopia.”

The rapprochement has reopened a route to Ethiopia, the continent’s fastest-growing economy and second-most populous nation, that had been closed since the war between the two countries ended in 2000. The prospect of access to the broader region is also drawing potential investors.

In the wake of the peace accord, the Abu Dhabi Fund for International Development pledged a $3 billion aid package to Ethiopia, including $1 billion for its central bank, while state-owned Dubai Ports World Ltd. announced plans for a regional logistics facility in Ethiopia.

Russian Interests

Ethiopia’s water surplus and vast stretches of arable land might help solve food-security concerns among the Gulf Arab states, while its proposed sale of state-owned stakes in key enterprises such as telecommunications and the national airline offer investment opportunities, according to Taimur Khan, non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last month the improved relations present an opportunity for Russian businesses to expand their interests in the region, such as a logistics center in the country and participating in a regional oil pipeline and transport corridors. In March, Lavrov announced talks with Ethiopia to establish a nuclear-technology center dedicated primarily to research, after Moscow and Cairo last year signed a $30 billion deal for a nuclear power plant in Egypt and announced talks to use each other’s airspace and air bases.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Friday was cited by the Eritrean Information Ministry as saying strengthening relations between the two states will make a “significant contribution” to enhancing security in the Horn of Africa and Red Sea basin. The two countries agreed last year to work together in “all fields” including marine resources, and counter-terrorism.

(Updates with comment by Egyptian foreign minister in last paragraph.)

Source=https://eritreahub.org/eritrea-seeks-regional-role-as-it-casts-off-hermit-state-label

ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ ናይ ስልጣን ዕድመኡ ሕማቕ ተግባራቱ ካብ ዝተዓቀነሉ መምዘንታት ሓደ፡ ምስ ጐረባብትና ሃገራት ዝጸንሖ ዘራጊ ዝምድና እዩ። ኩልና ከም እንፈልጦ ምስ ኩለን ገረባብቲ ኤርትራ ተሰሓሒቡ ጥራሕ ዘይኮነ ኣብ ውግእ እትዩ። ክልተ ግዜ ዝተዋግአን እውን ነይረን። ናይዚ ኩሉ ውግኣትን ምስሕሓባትን ቀንዲ ምኽንያት ኣብ ክንዲ ናብ ውሽጣዊ ኩነታት ዝርኢ፡ ነቲ ውሽጣዊ ዓቢጡ ደገደገ ንምምዕዳው ንክጥዕሞ ህግደፍ ዝሃንደሶ ተንኮል እዩ ነይሩ። እሞ ከምቲ ዝደለዮዶ ንውሽጣዊ ኩነታት ህዝብና ክሓብኦ ክኢሉ ወይስ ኣይፋሉን ምልክታቱ ብዝተፈላለየ ኣገባብ ይረአ ኣሎ።

ብዙሓት ወገናት ነቲ ህግደፍ ምስ ጐረባብቲ ዝገብሮ ምትኹታዃት ካብቲ ኣብ ኤርትራዊ ጉዳይ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክሳብ ሎሚ ዘውርዶ ዘሎ በደላት ዝተፈልየ ገይሮም ይርእይዎ ነይሮም። ነቲ ንሱ በደሉ ንክሓብእ ህግደፍን ህዝቢ ኤርትራን ፈላሊኻ ምርኣይ ዘየኽእል ስጡኡም ሓድነት ከምዘለዎም ኣምሲሉ ዘቕርበሎም ርዒሞም “ናብራ ህዝቡ ዝነብር መራሒ” ዝብልዎ’ውን ነይሮም። ኣብ መንጎ ወጻዕን ተወጻዕንስ ከመይ ገይሩ እዩ ከምዚ ዓይነት ሕሉፍ ፍቕሪ ዝህሉ ኢሎም ምግንዛብ ዝተሰእኖም’ውን ነይሮም።

ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ኣብዚ ቀረባ ወርሓት ነቲ ቀንዲ ኣበሩ ዝሓብኣሉ መሲልዎ፡ ካብቲ ንጉዳይ ህዝብና ጅሆ ሒዝሉ ዝነበረ ኣቕጣጫ ብነዊሕ ሃዲሙ፡ ምስ ጐረባብቲ ደላይ ሰናይ መሲልካ ናይ ምቕራብ ሃንደበታዊ ማዕበል ኣልዒሉ። ነቶም መቐየሪ ዘየብሎም ክልተ ሰባቱ ኣቶ የማነ ገብረኣብን ኣቶ ዑስማን ሳልሕን ልቦም ክሳብ ዝጠፎም ናብ ኢትዮጵያ፡ ሶማል፡ ጅቡቲ፡ ሱዕድያን ኢማራትን ከጉይዮም ጸኒሑ። መወዳእቱ ከመይ ይኸውን ሓቢርና እንርእዮ ኮይኑ፡ በዚ ተግባሩ ልቢ ናይ ዝተወሰኑ መራሕቲ ጐርባብቲ ሃገራት እውን ሰሊቡ’ዩ። ገሊኦም ናብቲ ብሰንኪ ዘይጥዑይ ዲፕሎማሲያዊ ኣተሓሕዛኡ ገዲፍዎ ዝነበረ ኢጋድ ክመልስዎ ላዕልን ታሕትን ይብሉ ኣለዉ። ምሒር ከሻህርትዎ በብዓይነቱ መረሳሰኒ ናይ ናእዳ ሳጓታት ኣውጼምሉስ እቲ ብ2009 ዝተወሰኖ ማዕቀብ ክለዓለሉ ከክንዳኡ ናብ ቤት ምኽሪ ጸጥታ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ከጠርዑ እውን ተዓዚብና። ምናልባት ደኣ ነቲ ቀንዲ ኢሳይያስ ኣቐሚጥካ ብዛዕባ ካልኦት ምዝራብ ከይከውን እምበር፡ ናይቶም ውጽዓ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ወጽዓ ህዝቦም ገይሮም ዘይወስዱ ግና ድማ ምእንቲ ዲሞክራስን ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ዝሰብኩ ኣካላት ጉዳይ ኣዛራቢ እዩ።

ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ በዚ ተግባሩ ንዋላ ሓደ ሰብ ኣየዕሸወን ክንብል ኣይንኽእልን ኢና። ብፍላይ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ዝነበረ ኩነታት ክቕየር ምስ ጀመረ “ደጊም ኩሉ ተወዲኡ ሰላም ኮይኑ እዩ” ዝብል ናይ ውሑዳት ደቂ ልቢ ገርሃ ዘረባታት ክስማዕ ጀሚሩ ነይሩ እዩ። እንተኾነ ብሳላቲ ኤርትራውያን ናይ ለውጢ ሓይልታት ከካይድዎ ዝጸንሑን ዘይካይድዎ ዘለዉን ናይ ምቅላዕ ተግባር ኢሳይያስ ከምቲ ዝሓሰቦ ከምዘይኮነሉ ምልክታት ክንርኢ ጀሚርና ኣለና። “እዋእ ሎሚ ደኣ ከምዛ ናይ ኢትዮጵያ ክገብር እዩ እምበር” ዝብል ናይ ብዙሓት ኤርትራውያን ኣዘራርባ መልእኽቱ ቀሊል ኣይኮነን።

ዓበይቲ ትካላት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኮሚሽናት ስደተኛታትን ሰብኣዊ መሰልን፡ ኢሳይያስ ብሓፈሻ ምስ ጐርባብቲ ሃገራት ብፍላይ ድማ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ዘካይዶ ዘሎ ዝምድና ናብ ንቡር ናይ ምምላስ ፈተነታት እንተቐጺሉ፡ ነቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ክመጽእ ዝግበኦ ዜቤታዊ ኩለመዳያዊ ለውጢ መበገሲ ክኸውን እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ እቲ መሰረታዊ ካብኡ ትጽቢት ዝግበረሉ ጉዳይ ንሱ ከምዘይኮነ ክነግርዎ ጀሚሮም ኣለዉ። በቲ ክሳብ ሕጂ ናይ ውሽጡ ደፊኑ ምስ ጐረባብቲ ጀሚርዎ ዘሎ ውሱን ስጉምትታት ተነይቱ ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም ዘየብሉ ምስሊ ሒዙ ቀረቡ፡ ብዛዕባ ምልዓል እገዳን ካልእ ተቐባልነትን ክሓስብ ከምዘይብሉ ክንገሮ ጀሚሩ ኣሎ። ወዮም ደፋፊንዎም ክኸይድ ዝደሊ፡ ምፍታሕ እሱራት፡ ምቁራጽ ግዱድ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት፡ ስግኣትን ክቱር ምቁጽጻርን ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ምውጋድ፡ ሕገ-መንግስታዊ ስርዓት ምትካል…. ወዘተ ዝብሉ ሓረጋት ብኤርትራዊ ልሳን ጥራይ ዘይኮነ በቶም ክተዓረቖም ጉንብሕ ጥልዕ ዝብለሎም ዘሎ ኣሜሪካውያን ናይ ዲፕሎማሲ ፈላጣት እውን ይለዓሉ ኣለዉ።

እቲ ናይ ኢሳይያስ ገበናት በቲ ምስ ጐረባብቲ ዝገብሮ ዝርጋ ጥራይ ዝምዘን ዘይኮነ፡ ብዝያዳ ብመንጽር’ቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝፍጽሞ ዘሎ ጭቆና ክኸውን ይግበኦ፡ ንብሎ ዝነበርና ሎሚ ሰማዒ እዝኒ ምርካቡ ነቲ ነካይዶ ዘለና ናይ ለውጢ ቃልሲ ሓጋዚ እዩ። ነቲ ንሕና ኤርትራውን ባዕልና ክንገብሮ ዝግበኣና፡ ግና ክሳብ ሕጂ ዘይበቓዕናዮ ዝትክእ ግና ኣይኮነን። ስለዚ በዚ ዓይኑ ኣፍጢጡ ዝቀላቐል ዘሎ ንዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ ዝቐጽዕ ሓሳባት ተተባቢዕና፡ በበይንና ዘይኮነ ብሓባር፡ ካብ ሕሉፍ ተመኩሮና ተማሂርና ቃልስና ንቕድሚት ክንደፍእ ሎሚ’ውን ናትና ዕዳ እዩ። ሎሚ’ውን ኣብ ጉዳይና ቦታ ተዓዘብቲ ሒዝና ክንስገር እንተኮይና ግና “ሓጋዚኣ እንተረኣየትስ መዲዳ ትሓብእ” ክንበሃል ኢና።

Eritrean community demonstrates outside UNHCR over refugees in Libya

Eritreans from Italy, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Holland came together to call on the UN refugee agency to step up its efforts in Libya.

In London the community gathered outside the offices of the UNHCR – chanting slogans and holding up the placards they had brought.

Eritrean community demonstrates outside UNHCR over refugees in Libya

Young and old, they stood in solidarity with their countrymen and women who are trapped in the hell of Libyan detention centres.

Eritrean community demonstrates outside UNHCR over refugees in Libya

More than 1,000 Eritreans are currently held in the detention centres. Some suffering from gunshot wounds; women facing the daily threat of rape; children suffering from hunger and fear.

A delegation led by Sham Gabriel went into the UNHCR London headquarters.

Eritrean community demonstrates outside UNHCR over refugees in Libya - Sham Gabriel speaking

“We met Michael Saltmarsh, the UNHCR’s representative,” Sham reports to the demonstrators. “We asked the organisation to set up its efforts. Refugees must be evacuated to Niger or other countries. But Niger has become a bottleneck.”

“European powers are not fulfilling the pledges they made to assist: they have a responsibility to protect the lives of these extremely vulnerable people.”

Sham explained that Mr Saltmarsh promised to take their concerns to the UNHCR High Commissioner – and to let the community have his reply.

“It is vital that the UN gains access to the detention centres and those being returned from the sea to Libya must be registered by the UNHCR,” Sham said.

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