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The Europe-zone administrative committee of the EPDP Women's Affairs Office on 21 October 2017 held its first meeting called by deputy head of the office, Ms Alganesh Yisahaq, who warmly welcomed and congratulated Ms Adiam Teffera for obtaining the confidence of the Central Council to lead the office.

This was the first meeting the administrative committee held since the conclusion of the 8th regular meeting of the party's Central Council last month. Ms Alganesh Yacob, member of the Europe zone for the office explained in great detail the situation in the zone and the office's past activities and challenges in Europe.

The meeting discussed the new work plan Ms Adiam presented for the year ahead, and agreed on time frame within which all EPDP women's groups within the various party  branches and zones could meet and enrich the work plan for effective implementation.   

It is to be recalled that the Women's Affairs Office has been one of the nine executive offices of the EPDP since a long time.  Ms Eritra Alazar has been its committed head for the past eight years. 

Also to be recalled is that the second EPDP Congress held in the summer of 2015 elected a leadership which consisted of five women activists in the party.

ብወይዘሮ ኣልጋነሽ ይስሃቅ ምክትል ሓላፊት ቤት ጽሕፈት ጉዳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝተጸወዓ ኣኼባ ኣባላት ምምሕዳር ዞባ ኤውሮጳ ናይቲ ቤት ጽሕፈት፡ ብ21 ጥቅምቲ 2017 ተኻይዱ። ቀንዲ ዕላማ ናይዚ ኣኼባ፡ኣብ 8ይ ስሩዕ ኣኼባ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰዲህኤ ናይዚ ቤት ጽሕፈት ሓዳስ ሓላፊት ኮይና ንዝተመዘዘት ኣባል ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ወ/ሮ ኣድያም ተፈራ ንምልላይን ምስ ዝሕለፈ ስረሓት ናይቲ ቤት ጽሕፈት ንምልላይን ከም ዝነበረ ካብቲ ቤት ጽሕፈት ዝተረኽበ ዜና ሓቢሩ።

ኣብዚ ኣኼባ ኩነታት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ዞባ ኤውሮጳ ሰዲህኤ ከመይ ከም ዝመስልን ኣብ ከመይ ደረጃ ከም ዝርከብን ብኣባል ምምምሕዳር ናይቲ  ዞባ ወ/ሮ ኣልጋነሽ ያቆብ ሰፊሕ መበገሲ ጸብጻብ ቀሪቡ። ወይዘሮ ኣድያም ተፈራ ሓላፊት ቤት ጽሕፈት ጉዳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ነቲ  ንዝጸነሓ ስረሓት ዝምልከት ጸብጻብ ምስ ቀረበ፡ ንዓኡ መሰረት ብምግባር ብዛዕባ እቲ ቤት ጽሕፈት ንመጻኢ ሒዝዎ ዘሎ ዕማም ምስ ተሳተፍቲ ኣኼባ ተመያዪጣ።

ኣብ መወዳእታ እቲ ኣኼባ ኣብ ኩሉ ዞባታትን ጨናፍርን ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ተኣኪበን ብዛዕባ መጻኢ መደባት እቲ ቤት ጽሕፈት ተራኺበን ዝመያየጣሉ ግዜ ብምውሳን ከም እተዛዘመ እቲ ቤት ጽሕፈት ብተወሳኺ ገሊጹ።

ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ንኤርትራ ብዝምልከት ኣገዳሲ ኮይኑ ዝምዕብል ዘሎ ጉዳይ ስደተኛታትን ብዝምልከት ብዙሓት ክኢላታት ዝተሳተፍሉ ኮንፈረንስ ኣብ ብሩሰልስ ብ19 ጥቅምቲ 2017 ተኻይዱ። ኣብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ዝተነጸረ ዓብይ ጉዳይ ኣብ ኤርትራ ኩሉቲ ናይ ሓሶትን ምጽብባቕን ገዲፍካ ዝኾነ ለውጢ ዘየለ ምዃኑ’ዩ። እዚ ኣብቲ ኮንፈረንስ ዝተገልጸ ብሓላፊት ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ወ/ሮ ኪታሩዝ እዩ። ንሰን ነቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ሕጊ ኣልቦነትን ጸልማትን ብቀሊል ሓረግ “ማእሰርቲ ክሳብ ሞት” ዕድል ኤርትራዊ እሱር ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ብዝብል ገሊጸንኦ።

እዚ ንኤርትራ ብዝምልከት ኣብ ብሩሰልስ ብወኪል ሓንቲ ካብ ግዝእት ጀርመን ሀሰን ኣብ ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ ተዳልዩ ዝተኻየደ ኮንፈረንስ ነቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ እንዳገደደ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ፖለቲካዊ፡ ቁጠባውን ሰብኣውን ቅልውላው ጥራይ ኣይኮነን ኣነጺሩ። ብዘይካዚ ንኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ኣብ ኤውሮጳ ግቡእ ሓለዋ ክግበረሎምን መጻኢ ህይወቶም ዝመሓየሸሉ ኩነታት ክፍጠር እውን ዝጠቐሰ ነይሩ። ኣብ ምድላው እዚ ኮንፈረንስ ካብ ዝተሳተፉ፡ ኤርትራዊ ማሕበረሰብ ሕጊ፡ ኣማኸርቲ ወጻኢ ፖሊሲ ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ፡ ኤርትራዊ ምንቅስቓስ ንደሞክራስን ሰብኣዊ መሰልን፡ ዓለምለኸ ጸረ ውግእን  ይርከብዎም።

እቲ ኮንፈርንስ ብዘይካ ናይ ግዳያት ምስክርነት ምስማዕ፡  ፍሉጣት ኣባላት ፓርላማ ኤውሮጳ ከም በዓል ፖርቱጋላዊት ኣና  ኣናጉመዝን ፈረንሳዊ ማሪየ ክርቲን፡ ከምኡ እውን ኤርትራዊ ፕሮፈሶር ጋይም ክብረኣብን  ዝርከብዎም መደረታት ኣስሚዖም። ኣብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ኤርትራዊ ሲቪላዊ ማሕበራት ካብ ዝተፈላለዩ ሃገራት ኤውሮጳ ተሳቲፎም። ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ድማ ኣብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ብኣቶ ወልደየሱስ ዓማር  ሓላፊ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣህጉራዊ ጉዳያት ኣብዚ ኮንፈረንስ ተወኪሉ።

ካብቲ ወደብቲ ኮንፈረንስ ዘሰፈርዎ መበገሲ ነጥብታት ብምንቃል፡ ወ/ሮ ሸይላ ኪታሩዝ፡  ንጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራ ካብ ዝሕዘኦ 2012 ጀሚሩ ዝተዓሙ ጉዳያት ኣብ ግምት ዘእተወ ንመጻኢ በቶም ዝምልከቶም ኣካላት ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ዘስካሕክሕ ጉዳያት ንምቕያር ክግበር ብዛዕባ ዝግበኦ ዘርዚረን። ምስዚ ኣተሓሒዘን ከኣ እቲ ብመርማሪ ኣካል ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኣብ ኤርትራ ንተሓታትነት ተደራራቢ  ገበነናት ኣንጻር ሰብኣውነት ዝበጸሖ መደምደምታ ናይ ተግባር ስጉምቲ ይጽበ ከም ዘሎ ጠቒሰን፡ ኤርትራውያን ንጡፋት ከተኩሩሉ ከም ዝግበኦም ሓቢረን። ኣተሓሒዘን ድማ ንሓደሓደ ዝተደናገሩ ወገናት፡ ኣብያተ ትምህርቲ ምስራሕ ማለት ትምህርቲ ማለት ከም ዘይኮነን፡ ማእከላት ሕክምና ምስራሕ ጥራይ ሕክምና ክኸውን ከም ዘይክእልን ብምጥቃስ መኺረን። ወ/ሮ ኪታሩዝ ኣብ መወዳእታ 5ይ ዓመተን ካብዚ መዝነት ከም ዝለቃ ጠቒሰን፡ ትካላት ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ኣብቲ መዳይ ዝነጥፉ ኣካላትን፡ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ኣብ ትሕቲ ሓለዋ ንክኸውን ዕማም ራፖርት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ንምንዋሕ ንባይቶ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ዘዕግብ ስራሕ ክሰርሑ ተስፋአን ጠቒሰን’።

እቲ ናይ ሓደ መዓልቲ ኮንፈረንስ ሰለስተ ተዛመድቲ ክፋላት ነይረምዎ። እቲ ቀዳማይ ክፋል ኣኼባ ንኤርትራውያን ሓተቲ ፖለቲካዊ ዑቑባ ኣብ ኤውሮጳ ዘጋጥሞም ዘሎ ብደሆታት ዝምልከት ነይሩ።  ኣብ ሲናይ ኣጻብዕቱ ዝሰኣነ ግዳይ ፊልሞን ኣብዚ ቀዳማይ ክፋል ኣኼባ ዝሃቦ ምስክርነት ብምኽታል፡ ዶ/ር ጋይም ክብረኣብ ፕሮፈሶር ኣብ ዩኒቨርስቲ፡ ምዝንባል ብሰንኪ ጥሕሰት እቲ ዝነበረ ኣሰራርሓ ይገድድ ኣሎ ኢሎም። ዶ/ር ዳኒኤል መኮነን ካብ ኤርትራዊ ማሕበረሰብ ሕጊ ብወገኖም ንኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ብዝምልከት ኣብታ ሃገር ለውጢ ከይመጸ፡ ካብታ ሃገር ጽቡቕ ዜና ኣይክስማዕን እዩ ኢሎም። ዶ/ር ሳራ ካብ ዓባይ ብሪታንያ ብወገነን ኣላዪ ዘይብሎም ህጻናት ስደተኛታት ብዝምልከት ኣብ ዝሃበኦ መብርሂ ናይ ቋንቋ ጸገምን ባህላዊ ተጽዕኖን ኣዝዩ ከም ዘጸግሞም ጠቒሰን። ካለኦት ተሳተፍቲ እቲ ኮንፈርስን ብወገኖም ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ኣብ ኤውሮጳ ይገጥሞም ንዘሎ ጸገማት ብዝተፈላለዩ መልከዓት ኣቅሪበምዎ። 

2ይ ክፋል ናይቲ ኣኼባ  ብዛዕባቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ኣብ ልዕሊ መንእሰያት ዝካየድ ዘሎ ግዱድ ዕስክርናን ናይ ጉልበት ብዝበዛን ዝምልከተ ነይሩ።  ካብ ከረን ተበጊሳ ምድረበዳን ባሕርን ኣቋሪጻ ኤውሮጵ ዝበጸሐት ጓል 16 ዓመት ተመርጻ ብዛዕባቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ኣሻቓሊ ኩነታትን ናብ ኤውሮጳ ክትሰግር እንከላ ዝነበረ ኩነታትን ዝምልከት ናይ ምስክርነት ቃላ ኣብ ቅድሚ ተሳተፍቲ ኣቕሪባ። ደራሲ ዳዊት መስፍን  ክሕደት ህልዊ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኩለን ኣብ ወጻኢ ዝነብራ ኤርትራውያን ኣደታት ብፍላይ ከኣ ብዛዕባ ኣተን ኣብ ዝሓለፈ 30 ናይ ቃልሲ ዓመታት ምእንቲ ናጽነት መስዋእቲ ዝኸፈላ ኤርትራውያን ኣደታት ኣብ ዓዲ ጣልያን ብዝምልከት ዝርዝር መብርሂ ሂቦም። ወ/ሮ ሰላም ኪዳነ ኣብቲ ኣጋጣሚ ብዛዕባ ኣሉታዊ ጽልዋ ግዱድ ዕስክርናን ናይ ጉልበት ምዝመዛን ኣብሪሀን። እዚ ከምዚሉ እንከሎ፡ ኣሌክስ ጃክሶን ካብ  ኣምንስቲ ኢንተርናሽናል ብወገኖም  ኣገዳስነት ሓድነት ኤርትራውያን ተሓለቕቲ ደሞክራስን ሰብኣዊ መሰልን፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ኩነታት ንምቕያር ኣብ ዝምልከቱ ጉዳያት መብርሂ ሂቦም።፡  

ኣብቲ 3ይን መወዳእታ ክፋል ኣኼባ፡ ካብ ባረንቱ ብወገን ሸገራብ ናብ ሱዳን ወጺኣ በቲ ነዊሕን ሓደገኛን መስመር ጉዕዞ ኣቢላ ኣብ በልጂም ዝበጸሐት ሓያት  ተመኩሮኣ ኣቕሪባ። ነዚ ናይ ሓያት መግለጺ ተኸቲሎም ከኣ ዶ/ር ኣዳነ ገብረመስቀል ካብ ኤርትራዊ ምንቅስቓስ ንደሞክራስን ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ካብ ደቡብ ኣፍሪቃ፡ ኣብ 5 ሃገራት ኣፍሪቃ ብዛዕባ ዘሎ ዳርጋ መሰል ስደተኛ የለን ዘብል ኣተሓሕዛ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ኣብ ዝምልከት መግለጺ ሂቦም። ፕሮፈሰር ሚርያም ዳይረተር ኣማኻሪ ወጻኢ ፖሊሲ ኤውሮጳ ብወገነን፡ ብዛዕባቲ ዘሕዝን ኩነታት ህይወት ምድረበዳ ሲናይ ንተሳተፍቲ ኣዘኻኺረን፡ ግዳያት ካብ ኣስገርቲ ሰባት ንምክልኻል ኤውሮጳ ኣብ ኣፍሪቃ ከምቲ ዝድለ ከምዘይሰርሐት ጠቒሰን። ኣባ ሙሴ ዘርኣይ ብወገኖም ኣብ ኤውሮጳ፡ ኤውሮጳውያን ንዘይኮኑ  ስደተኛታት ግቡእ ኣተሓሕዛ ከምዘይግበረሎም ኣመልኪቶም። ናይ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ተመራማሪ ፕላውት ብወገኖም ብዛዕባቲ ሕብረት ኤውሮጳ  ስደተኛታት ናብኣ ከይኣትዉ ብዝብል ንፍሪቃውያን መለኽትን ናይ ውግእ አጋውስን እትህቦ ሓገዝ ከም ዘሕዝኖም ገሊጾም። ብፍላይ ከኣ ብዛዕባቲ ኣብ ሊቢያ ንዘለዉ መራሕቲ ምሊሻን ንመንግስቲ ሱዳንን ዝወሃብ ገንዘብ እሞ፡ ዶባት ክሕልዉ ብዝብል ናታቶም ዓመጸኛ ዕጡቓት ዝቖጽሩሉ ኣገባብ ኮኒንምዎ።

One of current season's most important Eritrean events took place in Brussels on 19 October 2017 at which prominent experts were at hand  to analyze  different aspects of the never improving Eritrean situation and its ongoing refugee crisis. The topmost message at the conference was that,  cosmetics and distortions aside, "nothing has changed in Eritrea in years."  This was intoned by the UN Human Rights Rapporteur for Eritrea, Ms Sheila Keetharuth, who described the state of lawlessness and  the "sea of darkness  in Eritrea by the simple phrase: "detention until death" is the fate of every prisoner in the country today.

The conference, co-organized hosted at the EU Representation of the German State of Hessen, did not only highlight the worsening political, economic and human rights situation in Eritrea, but also dealt with the urgency of providing protection for Eritrean refugees in Europe and taking care to improve their wasted lives. Others involved in organizing the event were Eritrean Law Society; the External European Policy Advisors (EEPA); the Pro-Asyl; the Eritrean Movement for Democratic Change (EMDHR); War Resisters International, and Connection e.V.

In addition to listening to first-hand witnesses of the situation, the conference was addressed by heavy-weight European Parliamentarians the like of Ana Gomes of Portugal and Marie-Christine Vergiat of France, as well as Eritrea experts including university Profesors Gaim Kibreab, Mirjam van Reisen, and researcher-journalist Martin Plaut and others.  Also attending were Eritrean civil society movements in different parts of Europe. The Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) was there represented by its head for foreign relations, Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar.

Following remarks by the conference organizers and the host, Ms. Sheila Keetharuth presented a moving keynote address which traced the trajectory so far covered since her involvement in the matter in 2012, and the heaver challenged awaiting all those sincerely concerned to end the unbearable situation in Eritrea.  She stressed that the UN Commission of Inquiry's conclusion on the need for accountability for multiple crimes committed against humanity in Eritrea still awaits action and that Eritrean activists must play central role in the effort.  She also advised some mistaken "observers"  to know that "building schools is not education and that opening clinics alone is not public health". Ms. Keetharuth said she will resign  mandate at the end of her 5th year in the job next year and hoped that human rights organizations and activists will convince the UN Human Rights Council on the huge need of keeping the Eritrean regime under scrutiny by extending the mandate of a Human Rights Rapporteur for Eritrea.

The day-long conference had three panel session on related topics. Panel One  dealt with the challenges of Eritrean asylum seekers in the European Union. Started with first-hand witness Philmon, a survivor of the Sinai ordeal after losing fingers on both hands, the next panelist was Dr. Gaim Kibreab, a UK university professor, who said displacement is worsened by the breakdown of old survival strategies in the society.   Dr. Daniel Mekonnen, of the Eritrean Law Society, who gave details on the asylum regime (laws) in Europe stated that no good news will come out of Eritrea until structural change is worked out.  Dr. Sara Ogbai of UK spoke experiences with unaccompanied children, the language barrier and  depressing culture shock they have to undergo. Ms. Papadopoulous explained the situation of Eritrean refugees in Europe. According to her report, 8,924 Eritrean refugees were relocated from Italy to different European countries since 2015. The panelists in general exposed the existing weakness in addressing the problems of Eritrean refugees in Europe.

Panel Two speakers talked about the horror stories related to the conscription and forced labour practiced by the Eritrean authorities. Witness Temerza talked about the harrowing experiences she faced starting at the age of 16 at home in Keren until she crossed dangers of the desert and the sea to reach Europe where everything was not rosy. Author-activist Dawit Mesfin stressed the total neglect of the Eritrean regime since independence of the mothers in Italy and other places who sacrificed so much for the 30-year struggle. Ms Selam Kidane spoke on the impact of forced militarization and forced labour, and Amnesty International's Alex Jackson stressed on the urgent need of unity amongst Eritrean pro-democracy and human rights activists to put an end to the appalling situation in Eritrea.

The final session with Panel Three had Hayat as first-hand witness telling her dangerous journey from Barentu via Shegerab to exile through all the dangerous routes till she reached Belgium. Dr. Adane Ghebremeskel of EMDHR from southern Africa talked on the unhappy state of Eritrean refugees in five African countries where refugee rights are almost non-existent. Professor Mirjam van Reisen, the EEPA director, reminded the audience of the sad Sinai days and regretted that Europe is not doing the right thing in support of refugees who are in need of protection from human traffickers in Africa.  Father Mussie Zerai expressed the concern that Europeans are not yet ready to cater equal human rights to non-Europeans. Horn of Africa expert Plaut  worried about the wrong actions of the European Union to assist undeserving dictators and warlords in Africa with the aim of prevention refugees from entering Europe. In particular, he condemned the support given to criminal militia leaders in Libya and to the regime in the Sudan which is using the funds to employ in borders its infamous Janjawid militias to stop refugees from crossing borders.

Ms Helen Kidan of EMDHR and Mr. Rudi Friedrich of Connection e.V. made a quick summation of the discussions in the panels before reverting to the Deputy Director of the Representation of the State of Hessen to EU, Mr. Claus-Peter Appel, for his closing remarks.