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In a memorandum addressed to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) expressed "deep disappointment and frustration" with the Government of Germany and its "leading (rather, misleading) Europe towards supporting the wrong side in Eritrea." The message hinted that the delegation could include suspected perpetrators of "crimes against humanity."

Recipients of the EPDP Memo: Steinmeier; Gauck; Mueller and Ursula Eid.

The strongly-worded memo, also copied to the president of the German Parliament (Budestag), the minister of economic cooperation and development as well as to the major German parties, regretting the giving of "unmerited opportunity" to the repressive Eritrean regime to talk to German legislators, government officials and parties with the aim of 'improving' Germany's relations "with that autocratic system that has proven its incorrigibility in the past two decades".

The EPDP further stated that it could not find a rational explanation to the for talking with German officials as well as to Bundestag members "who last year condemned that regime for its brutalities against its own people". 

The discussion forum held in Berlin on 8 September for three Eritrean high officials including the notorious presidential advisor, Yemane Ghebreab, was organized by the German Africa Foundation, currently headed by Ms Ursula (Uschi) Eid of the German Green Party.

The EPDP memorandum also stated as follows:

"The German Government and the majority of your people know too well that things are intolerable and humanly inacceptable in Eritrea. Yet, the problem of migration, whose root cause in Eritrea and elsewhere is the denial of human rights and bad governance, cannot be addressed with appeasement and bolstering dictatorships like the one in Eritrea. In fact, this kind of compromise of well established values and old commitments to promote human rights, democracy and justice will lead to worse situations in Eritrea and in other places, as Syria has already exemplified it.

"And as the chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea told the Human Rights Council on 21 June 2016, " So long as there is no constitution, so long as there is no parliament where you can debate national questions, so long as there is an abusive national service which is unending, so long as there is no free press, so long as there are no civil society organizations apart from government-appointed ones, so long as people are living in fear and controlled by the State, there will be no full enjoyment of all human rights and no real progress for the Eritrean people." The UN Commission's conclusion to collectively bring the Eritrean perpetrators of crimes to justice "is not only for the sake of the countless number of Eritrean victims but to demonstrate that such behaviour is simply unacceptable anywhere in the world today."

"In concluding this appeal, Sir, we can only repeat the appeal what we made in our June 2015 memorandum to your esteemed office:

1. The Federal German Government to kindly oppose any gesture of appeasement and support to the Eritrean dictatorship;      
2. Germany to start an open engagement with Eritrean non-state actors in the diaspora with the aim of empowering them to take part in a democratic transition in their country;
3. The Federal German Government to kindly initiative the establishment of a solid programme for Eritrean refugees in Eastern Sudan and Northern Ethiopia by involving the support of EU and UN agencies. Such a multi-purpose and wide programme for thousands of desperate refugees should include not only the provision of adequate food, shelter, health facilities and security, but also give basic academic and vocational education to the big number of young Eritrean refugees in the Horn of Africa".