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On 9 November 2015, six years to the day after the other important Brussels Conference of 2009, Eritrea together with the Horn of Africa region was the topic of hot discussions at the European Parliament (EP) building and at the EU Commission Headquarters in Brussels.

Eritrean civil society and political activists from the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland as well as Brussels residents were at hand to take part in the discussions. As reported earlier in this website, Eritreans were among the nine panelists in the first meeting, EP Hearing.

Two members of the European Parliament spoke in great length listing the crimes being perpetrated by the Eritrean regime that they described as "the worst repressive regime" in Africa and the rest of the world. The presentation by long-time Eritrea observer and journalist Martin Plaut also said it all by calling that "this uniquely bad regime is not suitable partner" to the EU and other self-respecting governments and world bodies.

The EP hearing panelists' recommendations were that it was "not money but change of direction" that Eritrea and its people need today and asked the European Union and its institutions to abandon the regime and instead support Eritrean non-state actors to be capable in becoming democratic alternative.

The second meeting at EU on 9 November engaged the Eritrean participants in a sincere dialogue with EU officials concerned with the affairs of the Horn of Africa region, including Eritrea.

The big news at this meeting was that the EU Commission is due to give serious consideration to a long-delayed Eritrean call to create a package program with improved living condition and education for Eritrean refugees in the Sudan and Ethiopia.

Since a long time, the EPDP has been calling on the EU and other bodies and governments to initiative a grand package program for Eritrean refugees to prepare them to build a viable nation in the post-dictatorship Eritrea.

The EPDP was represented at the Brussels meetings by Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar, head of the party's foreign office, who tried to summarize at the meetings the text printed below. Good reading.

How Can EU Help Eritrea Come

Out of its 24-Year Old Dilemma?

Points that need be considered at EP Hearing and

The Upcoming Valletta Summit

9 November 2015

1. What led to where Eritrea is today

Many of us here know the sacrifices paid by Eritreans in their prolonged struggle for national independence (1961-1991). Eritreans and their friends also believed that, after liberation, the country would become not only good for its people but also a model state for the rest of Africa. Unfortunately, those bright expectations did not come true. Among the reasons why Eritrea turned to be what it is today include the following:

Undue trust to one man:

Eritreans gave too much  trust to a leader with a belligerent and vindictive character and excessive ambition to dominate. His penchant to control was not limited to Eritrea but wanted to become regional deal-maker. That made Isaias Afeworki ready to ally even with the worst abusers and terrorists. No one could  stop his wild ways for the last 24 plus years. And no wonder that with such a leader, Eritrea remained for a quarter of a century a highly militarized country where: 

• No constitution exists;

• No rule of law is dreamt of;

• No privacy and individual security guaranteed;

• No basic human rights respected;

• No freedom of press and assembly allowed;

• No free worship permitted;

• No free mobility;

• No private sector;

• No quality education, no higher education encouraged;

• Not even a pension system after 24 years of statehood.....

  .... the list is too long and well known to require further explanation. I don't also need to recount now the abuses at home and suffering inflected upon tens of thousands in Eritrea's borders, in the neighboring countries, in the Sinai, in the Sahara desert, in the Mediterranean Sea spots like Lampedusa and the rest......

  Friends also failed Eritrea from the start:

  From his day one in power in liberated Eritrea, today's dictator Isaias Afeworki banned any political or civil movement other than his own front. Eritrean political organizations in exile asked to return home and join a national unity government that could be formed at a joint conference. They were ignored. Even their free participation as entities in a referendum was refused. The UN, the EU and Eritrea's neighbours did not give a helping hand by pressuring new Eritrea to be inclusive and form a unity government or at least allow other political rivals to come home. No one gave thought to the importance of laying down some building blocks for a democratic system to help the new Eritrea of 1991 to start things correctly.

  2. EU-Eritrea relations were unsatisfactory in the past 24 years

  In 1991, many countries and regional organizations, including the EU, were sympathetic with the new Eritrea of 1991. The EU opened office in Asmara in 1995 trying to be helpful. Little was satisfactory in the relations which were worsened after 2001.

• The EU envoy of the time, Italy's Ambassador Antonio Bandini, was expelled from Eritrea for protesting on human rights violations that he witnessed. The EU was not seen doing much to help or pressurize the regime to stand corrected.

• Many NGOs from EU countries that were engaged in promising projects to build devastated Eritrea and its people were told to pack out of country, especially as of 2007. The European organization continued to watch and appease with a regime which was not doing anything good to itself and the region.

• In 2009, the EU Commission came with its €120 million offer. EU commissioner Louis Michel then visited Eritrea and hoped at least to visit in prison the Swedish journalist, Dawit Isaac. Like any other person or organization like ICRC, the EU official was also refused even a visit to a European prisoner in Eritrea. The €120 million "carrot" did not help.

• A number of European Parliament delegations that planned to visit Eritrea were refused entry to the country.

• When the EU tried to apply the relevant articles of the Cotonou Agreement that invoked the need of respect and safeguard of democratic principles, human rights, the rule of law and the commitment to good governance, it was stopped. The Asmara regime found them unacceptable.

  The EU was repeatedly challenged and insulted by the regime but it persisted on its wishful thinking of carrying on "dialogue" with the regime without changing the approach and that led it nowhere. EU funding "agreements" that did not change life in Eritrea. Did not contribute in Eritrea's development. The most observable effect they had was to be seen as backing to repressive regime and giving is an undeserved legitimacy.

3. EU did not give attention to appeals of Eritreans and friends

Eritrean political and civil society movements in exile have been exerting efforts to convince the EU and its various institutions to find a way other than supporting the regime in Asmara. This would include listening to various proposals of Eritrean non-state actors in diaspora, like the Network of Eritrean Civil Societies (NECS), the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) of which I am a member, and many others.

For example, the political party that I represent was one of those vocal voices that have been hammering on the need for EU to consult Eritreans. To cite an instance, in March 2009, the EU Commissioner for cooperation and development of the day was requested by a delegation I headed to EU headquarters to consider a programme of effective assistance for young Eritrean refugee caseloads in the Horn of Africa who had no good shelter, no sufficient food, no health facilities, no educational support....

• Our request suggested the formulation under EU leadership a solid support programme for vocational training and skill upgrading to prepare young refugees for post-dictatorship Eritrea. It was suggested to locate such a package programme in the refugee camps in Northern Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan.

• Funds for the programme could come from the EU Commission in addition to funds channelled from EU member states and other governments that suspended since earlier years the technical assistance grants that they initially earmarked for Eritrea. The grants were suspended from reaching the regime in Asmara because of its bad human rights record.

• Another area of support suggested was capacity building for democracy by empowering Eritrean political and civil organizations in diaspora.

If the EU can look back at its records of at least the past seven years, it will find Eritrean appeals repeating such pleas several times per year.

So far, and except isolated pledges by fraternal parties, little European attention has been given to the paramount importance of building democratic Eritrean formations (civic and political) that could help Eritrea to re-start building a state of institutions after the current dictatorship.

By giving some consideration to the Eritrean opposition, the EU could pressure the Asmara regime to submit to meaningful dialogue for change of policies and political direction in the country.

Brussels Conference of 2009

But it was not only Eritrean political and civil society activists that have tried to send message to the EU for a correct action.

In November 2009, the conference was held in this city on how the EU could help. Thus, the Brussels Conference of 2009, organized by the same EEPA and its indomitable director, Dr. Mirjam van Reisen, considered EU/US approaches towards Eritrea and the rest of the Horn of Africa . Its recommendations included the following:

• The EU and US to put effective pressure on the Eritrean authorities to release all political prisoners, to respect human rights of Eritrean citizens;

• Help in the speedy implementation of the final and binding decision on the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia;

• EU to strictly use the Cotonou Agreement in its relation with Eritrea;

• The EU and the US to help the transition to democracy and respect for Human Rights in the Horn by investing in education and health facilities for refugees, youth, peace education, vocational training and employment programmes;

• The EU and the US to promote democratic transitions in the Horn countries by building on political and civil society initiatives in the diaspora communities, supporting especially refugee communities in neighbouring countries, especially involving youth being trained in peace building, education in democracy and encouraging participation in political organizations, and including them in vocational and academic education;

• Supporting initiatives encouraging freedom of expression through communication initiatives......

Unfortunately, the historic recommendations of the Brussels Conference, like the pleas of Eritrean activists, were not given EU/US attention.

4. What we expect from and ask EU today

Five years ago, we were informing EU that its donation of €120 million will change nothing in Eritrea except entrenching the dictatorship and worsening the suffering of the people. That may be what has happened when that hard currency was used by the repression apparatus of the regime.

The Eritrean authorities keep telling the world that if they get more funds, if the UN sanctions are lifted, if.... etc ... then they would be able to stem down the flow of "economic migrants" from Eritrea. These are lies that will not lead anywhere. But some politicians in Europe feign ignorance of the situation and want to believe the regime. We know little of that money will not reach the people. The UN sanctions, which target only the regime, did not affect the people are not the cause for the suffering in Eritrea but the regime claims they are partly the cause of refugee flow from that country.

Today, we are again trying to tell the EU that its intended grant of €200 million to the Eritrean regime will not serve the European wish of stopping or reducing refugee flow from Eritrea.

A close observer of the Horn of Africa, Dr. Günter Schroeder of Germany, said in a seminar in UK recently that what Eritrea needs is not money but massive change of direction..change of attitude, change of mentality of the government — a radical political, social and economic change in Eritrea before talking about aid and money.

We in the Eritrean camp of justice seekers were also pleased to hear the EU High Representative, Ms Federica Mogherini, urging recently (20 October) the regime in Asmara "to have respect for human rights" further stating the "relevant need for important reforms inside the country" to improve the human rights record and the living conditions of the population.

She pertinently added that "an Eritrea that is reformed from within would be very beneficial not only when it comes to the issues related to migration flows but also to the overall stability and security of the region". EU officials also keep regretting the regime's denial of entry to Eritrea of the UN Commission of Inquiry as well as the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights on Eritrea. These together with the oft repeated condemnations and appeals of the European Parliament to the Eritrean regime to be kind to its own people will have to be translated into action: into a robust policy of the EU and not continued appeasement.

What we suggest the EU to do with its €200 million

When we ask EU to stop supporting the regime, that cannot mean stopping support to Eritreans in general, be they inside the homeland or outside the country.

Some estimations indicate that up to 1.5 million Eritreans (or persons with Eritrean origin) live outside Eritrea, most of them in the neighborhood of Eritrea. Assisting this big number of Eritreans would mean a lot in building a post-dictatorship Eritrea. Therefore, we see it legitimate and timely on the part of EU and the rest of western donor countries to provide substantial support for capacity building to Eritrean non-state actors (both civil and political) in the diaspora. This is to say that the EU should also try to help Eritreans in diaspora.

This is exactly what Prof. Mirjam van Reisen wrote in an article published soon after Eritrea asked the suspension of the EU programme in the autumn of 2011. She pertinently wrote: "This is a recognition that the EU's approach needs to be shifted from supporting the Eritrean dictatorship to supporting the Eritrean people, specifically the large number of Eritrean refugees suffering in the neighbouring countries".

As stated in the previous sections, the funds could come from the EU itself (say all or a good chunk of the €200 million) in addition to technical assistance grants frozen during the past ten years by several countries and organizations that did not, unlike EU, want to deal with the regime because of its bad political and human rights record. Only to repeat, the targeted beneficiaries and projects for future EU assistance to Eritreans outside the control of the Asmara regime could include the following:

• Improved Living Condition, and Education for Refugees in the Horn: All or part of this €200m and other funds suggested above can be channelled for improved living condition and meaningful education, and higher education scholarships for refugees in the camps in Northern Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan. Vocational training and academic education for young refugees would give hope to the youth and prepare them to build a new post-dictatorship Eritrea.

• Educational/Awareness Via Radio/TV Broadcasts: Eritrea's history and its present is all about militarization. After a century of successive wars, many Eritreans are prone to military bravado and violence - militarized mindset which knows little respect to human rights and democratic ethos. This has been worsened by the quarter of a century of extreme repression under home grown dictatorship. To undo this mentality, education via radio and TV broadcasts and related educational programs to all 6.5 million Eritreans both inside the country and abroad are among the urgent necessities in support of a better Eritrea. This should be part of the development aid intended for Eritreans.              

• Capacity Building for Non-State Actors: Eritrea's militarized society will face grave dangers (affecting the region and beyond) unless effective preparation is done as of now for a smooth transition from dictatorship to democratic governance. Building the capacities of the political and civic actors in the diaspora is very timely to be considered by EU and other concerned members of the international community. This cannot be achieved without seriously considering political and material support as of now for potential democratic alternative/s in post-dictatorship Eritrea.

• Support Eritrean Diaspora Communities: The EU could help by appealing to its member countries to take steps towards empowering Eritrean communities and civil societies organizations in their respective countries by providing them with adequate resources and facilities.

  Workshops and conferences on the Horn of Africa can be encouraged to be held frequently. What the EEPA does from time to time on the Horn, and what the German Felsberger Institute for education and research is doing this month by inviting Eritrean political and civil society actors to discuss their problems are things that can be emulated by other institutions and charities.

  To conclude, the problem in Eritrea and the related development problems in the Horn of Africa cannot be solved simply by granting funds to the existing governments, especially to those like the unaccountable regime in Eritrea.

  Mr. Mike Smith, chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea, submitted his commission's report to the UN General Assembly in New York on 28 October 2015. In his submission statement, he said:

  "It is enormously important that respect of human rights is the bedrock of successful development and should be front and center of any new agreement to assist Eritrea to build its economy...."

  This is an important observation that need to be heeded by the EU and the rest of the world while thinking of development assistance to Eritrea under a regime which failed to listen to all appeals to respect the basic human rights of its own people and govern under the rule of law.

  Eritrea will thus be out of the current mess it is in only when its people (including the non-state actors in diaspora) are empowered and enabled to achieve a peaceful and democratic change.

  Thank you for your attention.

  Wolde-Yesus Ammar,

  For/ the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP)