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The Frankfurt and Environs' Branch of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) held its first regular monthly meeting for January 2018  in two places: in Kassel and Frankfurt.  Arranged for the sake of convenience, the Kassel meeting was held on 23 January and the Frankfurt meeting  was convened on 28 January. 

The agenda items for the New Year  meetings of this Central Germany branch, which rarely misses holding its regular monthlies, included review of developments affecting Eritreans inside and outside the country; the EPDP and the opposition camp in general; tensions in the Red Sea region and the erroneous decisions and policies of the one-man dictatorship in Eritrea.

Explanations were given by  branch leaders and senior party cadres on all the agenda items before the floor was opened for  questions and wide-ranging discussions. Meeting participants concentrated on condemning  the repeated mistakes made by the ruling clique which is now selling out the territorial sovereignty of the country.

Also discussed were past and ongoing mistakes of the one-man dictatorship. Discussants wondered why the Eritrean people tolerated a leader and clique bent at shamelessly excluding everybody he disliked in finalizing the question of national constitution, national flag, national anthem, the question of the land, the national currency etc. The discussion participants, who did not shy away from mentioning Isaias Afeworki by name, stressed that these issues always required inclusion of all stakeholders in their finalization in order to safeguard national unity of the people and the integrity of the sovereign state of Eritrea.

The two meetings of the Central Germany branch also repeated their old call upon the Eritrean opposition organizations to defer their secondary differences and start a joint action plan to remove the cancerous regime within the shortest time possible.   

ጨንፈር ፍራንክፎርትን ከባቢኡን ንመጎዓዝያ ምእንቲ ክምችእ ኣብ ክልተ ቦታ፡ ማለት ኣብ ካስል ብዕለት 23 ጥሪ ኣብ ፍራንክፎርት ድማ ብዕለት 28 ጥሪ 2018 ወርሓዊ ኣኼባታት ኣካይዱ። እዚ ኣኼባታት‘ዚ ፈላሚ ኣኼባ ናይ 2018 ብምዃኑ፡ ብኣቦመንበር ጨንፈር ብሰላምታን እንቋዕ ናብ 2018 ብሰላም ኣብጽሓና ዓመተ ሰላምን ጥዕናን ዓወትን ድማ ይግበረልና ብምባል ብናይ ጽቡቕ ምንዮትን ምስ ተኸፈተ፡ ኣብቲ ኣጀንዳታት ተኣትዩ። ኣብ ክልቲኡ ኣኼባታት ዝነበሩ ተመሳሰልቲ ኣጀንዳታት ድማ፡-

1 - እዋናዊ ሓደሬታታት ሰልፍናን፡ ሃገርናን፡ ዞባናን ሃለዋት ደምበ ተቓውሞን፤

2 - ንዞባ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ኣንጸላልዩዎ ዘሎ ሓደጋታት፤

3 - ስርዓት ህግደፍ ዝፈጥሮ ዘሎ ወጥርታትን ኢደ-ወነናዊ ስጉምትታትን፤ ዝብሉ ኔሮም።

እቶም ኣጀንዳታት ሓደ ብሓደ ኣኼበኛታት ተዘራሪቦሙሎም። ድሕሪ‘ቲ እዋናዊ ሓበሬታታት ምልውዋጥ፡ ኣብቲ ካልኣይን ሳልሳይን  ኣጀንዳታት ስፍሕ ዝበለ ምርድዳእ ተኻይዱ። እዚ ከኣ መላኺ ኢሳያስ ንስልጣኑ ንምንዋሕን ንግዝያዊ ረብሓኡን ክብል፡ ኣብ ዘይምልከቶ ጉዳይ ኢድ እናኣእተወ፡ ንመሬትን ማያትን ኤርትራ መተሃላለኽን ዓውደ-ውግእን ንምቕያሩ ዘይሓላፍነታውን ኢደ ወነናውን ስጉምትታት ዝወስዶ ዘሎ ብምዅናን፡ ንዝኾነ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክመጽእ ዝኽእል ሽግር ድማ ሓላፍነቱ ባዕሉ ዝስከሞ ምዃኑን ኣኼበኛታት ኣስሚሮሙሎም።

ከምቲ ግቡእ እቲ ንመላእ ህዝቢ ዝምልከት ጉዳያት ከም ሃገራዊ ቅዋም፡ ሃገራዊ ሰንደቕ ዓላማ (ባንዴራ)፡ ሃገራዊ መዝሙር፡ ሃገራዊ ባጤራ፡ ጉዳይ መሬት ወዘተ… ፥ ብሓደ ውድብ ወይ ሰልፊ ወይ‘ውን መራሒ ይኹን ብሔር፡ ክውሰኑ ዘይግብኦም እዮም። ኢሳያስ ኣፎርቂ ግን ብግስ ከይበለ ጀሚሩ ኩሎም እዞም ዝጠቐስናዮምን ካልኦትን ብኢደወነኑ እናወሰኖም ክመጽእ ጸኒሑ እዩ። እዚ ድማ ንሓድነት ህዝቢ ዝዘርግን ንልኡላውነት ሃገር ዝደናደንን፡ ዜሩ ዜሩ ድማ ንሃገር ዘጽንትን ዘብርስን እዩ ዝኸውን። እዚ ስለ ዝኾነ ድማ ኣኼበኛታት፡ ነዚ ጉዳይ‘ዚ ህዝቢ ክነቕሓሉን ይኣክል ክብልን መጸዋዕታኡ የቕርብ።

ደምበ ተቓውሞ‘ውን እንተኾነ፡ ነዚ ጸገማት እዚ ንምእላይ ብቐዳምነት እቲ ዘሎ ስርዓት ካብ ሱሩ ተማሕዩ ከልግስ ስለ ዝግባእ፤ ኣብ መንጎኦም ዘሎ ፍልልያት ካልኣዊ ቦታ ኣትሒዞም፡ ነቲ ድሕሪ ውድቀት እቲ ስርዓት ክፍጸም ዝግብኦ ጉዳያትን ሕጂ ዝጥለብ ዘሎ ቀዳምነት ክወሃቦ ዘሎዎ ጉዳያትን ኣለልዮም፡ ኩሉ ዓቕምታቶም ኣወሃሂዶም ተወሃሂዶም ክሰርሑ ኣኼበኛታት ምሕጽንታኦም ኣቕሪቦም።

ኣኼባ ካስሰል ንክልተ ሰዓት ኣኼባ ፍራንክፎርት ድማ ንሰለስተ ሰዓት ዝወሰዱ ኔሮም። ኣኼባታት ድማ ብጽቡቕ ምርድዳእ ተደምዲሞም።

The Executive Committee of the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) on 28 January 2018 held its regular meeting at which it reviewed party performances during past four months and took decisions on a number of important ongoing activities, including matters related to the Party Renewal plan and the party proposal of June 2017  for the formation of a joint platform and common action in the opposition camp.

In opening the meeting, EPDP Chairman Menghesteab Asmerom accessed a number of issues adversely affecting the Eritrean people and further underlined the importance of the meeting at this crucial hour when the Red Sea region is facing heated tensions and the Eritrean forces struggling for democratic change have not yet taken the required steps to become a force to be reckoned with. This was followed by discussion on past and forthcoming activities of each of the nine the Executive Committee offices.

It is to be recalled that the extraordinary meeting of the EPDP Central Council on 21 January 2018 discussed and took decisions enhancing the findings of the Commission for Party Renewal and designated organs and individuals in carrying out the priority tasks in the plan which was initiated by the Central Council in October 2016 and expected to be carried on by the party leadership and the Commission till the third EPDP Congress in 2019. 

ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ብ28 ጥሪ 2018 ስሩዕ ኣኼባኡ ኣካይዱ። ኣብ መኽፈቲ እዚ ኣኼባ ብጻይ መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም ኣቦመንበር ማእከላይ ባይቶን ፈጻሚ ሽማግለን ሰዲህኤ ኣብ ዘስመዖ ቃል፡ ብዛዕባ ህልዊ ኩነታት ሰልፍን ኣብ ኤርትራን ዞባናን ዘሎ ምዕባለታትን ኣገጣጥማኡን ብዝምልከት ነቲ ብ8ን 15ን ጥሪ 2018 ዘውጸኦ መግለጽታት ብምጥቃስ  ዳህሲሱ። ድሕሪ መኸፈቲ ቃል ኣቦመንበር መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም ናይ ትሻዕቲኡ ኣብያተ ጽሕፈት ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ናይ ዝሓለፈ 4 ኣዋርሕ ጸብጻባት ቀሪብሉ ብሰፊሑ ምስተዘትየሉ ከም ሰልፋዊ ሰነድ ጸዲቑ።

ኣኼባ ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ኣብዚ ኣኼባኡ፡ ካብ ዝተመያየጠሎም ጉዳያት ሓደ ንምሕዳስ ሰልፊ ዝምልከት ነይሩ። በዚ መሰረት ነቲ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ኣብ 21 ጥሪ 2018  ብኮምሽን ምሕዳስ ሰልፊ ንዝቐረበሉ ጸብጻብ ዳህሲሱ ዝተመያየጠሉ ናይ ኣተገባብራ ጉዳያት መሰረት ብምግባር፡ ኣገደስቲ ውሳነታት ኣሕሊፉ። ብዘይካዚ ብመሰረት እቲ ብ4 ሰነ 2017 ዘውጸኦ ብሓባር ናይ ምስራሕ እማመ ዝምልከት ክሳብ ሕጂ ዘሎ ኩነታት ገምጊሙ፡ ናይ ትግባረ ውሳነታት ወሲኑ። ብዘይካዚ ብዛዕባ ካብ ዝተፈላለዩ ኣካላት ሰልፊ ንዝቐረበሉ ምምሕዳራዊ ጉዳያት ዝምልከት ተመያይጡ ንኣወጋግንኡ ዝምልከት ውሳነታት ኣሕሊፉ። እዚ ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ብመሰረት ቅዋም ሰልፊ ኣብ 7ይ ኣኼባ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰዲህኤ ተመዚዙ ንሓደ ዓመት ዝመርሕን ዕለታዊ ኩነታት ሰልፊ ዝከታተልን ድሕሪ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ዝስራዕ ዝለዓለ ኣካል ሰልፊ  እዩ።

እዚ ከምዚሉ እንከሎ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰዲህኤ ብ21 ጥሪ 2018 ፍሉይ ኣኼባ ኣካይዱ። ኣብዚ ኣኼባኡ ብኣቦመንበር ሰዲህኤ ብጻይ መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም ዝቐረበሉ እዋናዊ ሓበሬታ ሰሚዑ ምስተመያየጠ ብዛዕባቲ ቀንዲ ዝተኣከበሉ ጉዳይ ምሕዳስ ሰልፊ ዘትዩ። ኣብዚ ዘትኡ ከም መበገሲ ዝወሰዶ  ነቲ ብኣቦመንበር ናይቲ ኣብ 7ይ ስሩዕ ኣኼባ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ዝቖመ ኮሚሽን ምሕዳስ ሰልፎ ብጻይ ፍስሃየ ሓጐስ ዝቐረበ ሰፊሕ ንድፊ እዩ። ባይቶ ኣብቲ ሰፊሕ ንድፊ ኮሚሽን ምሕዳስ ሰልፊ ኣብ ዘካየዶ ምይይጥ ካብቲ ንድፊ ኣየስርሕን ዝበሎ እንዳነከየ ተሪፉ ዝበሎ ድማ እንዳወሰኸ ኣድላይ ምትዕርራይ ድሕሪ ምክያድ ከም መበገሲ ሰነድ ምሕዳስ ሰልፊ ኣማዕቢሉ ኣጽዲቕዎ። ባይቶ ኣብዚ ኣኼባኡ እዚ ኮሚሽን ንምሕዳስ ሰልፊ ዘገድሱ ጉዳያት እንዳጽነዐን ቀዳምነቶም እንዳሰርዐን ንክጸድቁ ናብ መሪሕነት ብምቕራብ ስረሓቱ ክሳብ 3ይ ጉባአ ሰልፊ ዝቕጽል ምዃኑ ኣነጺሩ። ኣብ ኣባላት ሰልፍን ህዝብን ኣድላይ ምብርባር ምክያድ፡ ብዝተፈላለዩ ምኽንያታት ካብ ቃልሲ በዂሮም ዘለዉ ሓይልታት ለውጢ ምብርባርን ደንበ ተቓውሞ ናይ ሓባር ጽላል ዝፈጥረሉ ኩነታት ንምርካብ ጻዕርታት ምክያድን ኣብ መስርሕ ምሕዳስ ቆላሕታ ካብ ዝወሃቦም ዕማማት ምዃኖም ከኣ ኣኼባ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ኣነጺሩ።

ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰልፊ ኣብ 2ይ ጉባአ 4 ዓመታት ክመርሕ ብዲሞክራሲያዊ ኣገባብ ዝተመረጸ ኮይኑ፡ ብመሰረት ቅዋም ሰልፊ  ኣብ ዓመት ሓደ ግዜ ስሩዕ ኣኼባ ዘካይድን ከም ኣድላይነቱ ንፍሉይ ኣኼባ ዝጽዋዕን ድሕሪ ጉባአ ዝለዓለ ሰልፋዊ ኣካል እዩ።

ኣቦመንበር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ኣቶ መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም ኣብ ዓመታዊ ኣኼባ ናብ ዘለዉ መራሕቲ ኣፍሪቃ ኣብ ዝጸሓፎ መጸዋዕታ፡ ኤርትራ ምስዚ ዶባ ምስ ሱዳን ምዕጻዉ ጠቕሊላ ካብ ዓለም ከይትዕጾ ኣጠንቂቑ`። እቲ ዝኸፈአ ሳዕቤን ቅድሚ ምምጻኡ ስጉምቲ እንተዘይተወሲዱ፡ እዚ ኩነታ ናብ ናይ ህዝቢ ሓያል ጥምየት ከየመርሕ ከም ዘፍርሕ’ውን ስግኣቱ ገሊጹ።

እቲ ብ27 ጥሪ 2018 ናብ ኣቦመንበር  ኮሚሽን ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ኣቶ ሙሳ ፋኪ ማሃማት ዝተላእከ መዘክር  ሰዲህኤ፡ ነቶም ካብ 28 ጥሪ ጀሚሮም ንክልተ መዓልታት ዝእከቡ መራሕቲ ኣፍሪቃ፡ ናይ ኤርትራ ባዕለ እገዳ ካብ ቀንዲ መዛረቢ ኣጀንዳታቱ ሓደ ክኸውን ጸዊዑ። ኣተሓሒዙ ድማ እቲ ጉዳይ ቀዳምነት ክወሃቦ ዝድለለየሉ ምኽንያት ብሰንኪ ጨቋኒ ምምሕዳር ስርዓት ኣስመራ፡ ኣብታ ሃገር ናይ ዘለዉ  ሚልዮናት ሰባት ናይ ሞትን ሕየት ጉዳይ ስለ ዝኾነ እዩ ኢሉ።

ብዘይካዚ መልእኽቲ ሰዲህኤ፡ ተሳተፍቲ መበል 30 ዋዕላ ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ብዛዕባቶም ኣብ እስራኤል ኣብ ኣጸጋሚ ኩነታት ዘለዉ መብዛሕትኦም ኤርትራውያን ዝኾኑ 40 ሺሕ ኣፍሪቃውያን ስደተኛታት ዝሕግዝሉ ኩነታት ብተገዳስነት ክመያየጡ ኣትሪሩ ተማሕጺኑ።

ምስዚ ከኣ እቲ መዘክር፡ እዚ ኣፍሪቃዊ ኣኼባ ኣብ ቀይሕ ባሕርን ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃን ዝረአ ዘሎ  ወጥሪ ንምህዳእ ኩሉ ዝከኣሎ ንክገብር  ጸዊዑ። ኣብዚ ኣኼባ መራሕቲ ኣፍሪቃ፡ ዋና ጸሓፊ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣንቶንዮ ጉተረዝን መራሒ ፍልስጥኤም ማሕቡድ ዓባስን’ውን ይሳተፉ ኣለዉ።

In an urgent message to African leaders currently meeting in Addis Ababa, EPDP Chairman Menghesteab Asmerom warned that Eritreans, shut out from the entire world after the recent closure of border with the Sudan,  are now totally "exposed to a looming mass starvation" unless action is taken to avert the worst before things get too late.

In the message dated 27 January and addressed to African Union Commission Chair, Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the EPDP Chairman reminded African leaders taking part at the two-day summit opening Sunday, 28 January, that Eritrea's self-imposed embargo should be among the top agenda items in because it will be a matter of life and death of millions in the country who are by  impoverished by the ongoing disastrous policies of the belligerent regime in Asmara.

The EPDP message also strongly appealed to the participants of this 30th Assembly of African leaders to seriously discuss as to what AU can do to help the 40,000 Africans stranded in Israel, a vast majority of them from Eritrea.  

In addition, the message urged the African summit meeting "to do its utmost to help cool down the tensions heating up in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa region".

Printed below is the full text of the EPDP Chairman's message to African leaders at the 30th  Assembly of the AU which is also being attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

*********

An Appeal to AU's Attention to  Beleaguered Eritreans

To: H.E.  Mr. Moussa  Faki Mahamat,

Chairman,

The  African Union Commission, 

Addis Ababa,  Ethiopia

CC: African Heads of State and Government at the 30th AU Summit,

27 January 2018

Your Excellency Au Commission Chairman,

On behalf of the leadership and members of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an opposition organization in exile, I feel honoured to address this message wishing  a resounding success to this 30th Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) meeting under the important theme, "Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa's Transformation".

We share the view that corruption, in all of its ugly aspects, is one of the central root causes of the ongoing suffering of our peoples in the continent, and we hope that conclusions of this summit will show a renewed resolve to fight this plague. 

Secondly, and while appealing to this Assembly to do its utmost to help cool down the tensions heating up in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa region, we also wish to call upon you to discuss the problem of endangered lives in Eritrea because of a self-imposed embargo. The people are completely shut out from the outside world and are no doubt  exposed to a looming mass starvation.

 Dear AU Commission Chairman  and Assembly Participants,

As you know, Eritrea's borders with Djibouti and Ethiopia have been closed since a long time, and the only outlet for limited commerce and trade for the people was the Sudan until two weeks ago. Even the unlikely sea rout to Yemen is not available for known reasons. The only "open" outlet is the unreachable blue sky.

Dear Madams/Sirs at the 30th AU Assembly,

You are well aware that the regime in Asmara is in total isolation due to its own bad relations with its neighbours and most of the outside world. You know, as we do, that the UN sanctions were targeted and had no adverse effect on the people. Those nominal UN sanctions, most of which are unfortunately not fully implemented to this day, were meant to serve only three purposes: 

• To control the sale/purchase of weapons by the belligerent regime;
• To check bank accounts and visa applications of a few regime figures, and
• To stop illegal money extortions by the embassies of the rogue regime.

The regime has been alleging that the "UN sanctions were affecting the people". That was an fabricated excuse, a pure lie. It is  the self-imposed embargo - isolation of the country from all of its neighbours -  that has pauperized the entire population which is now at the brink of a looming mass starvation following the closure of the Sudan border.

This is an alarm call, Sirs/Madams, and we hope you will take note of it.  

Needless to add, problems of beleaguered Eritreans at home and abroad are endless. To say it briefly, we hope you will also take note of the 40,000 African refugees/migrants in Israel, 30,000 of them from Eritrea, now being threatened to either leave Israel to "anywhere" till April 2018 or face endless prison term. Their plight no doubt deserves the attention of this 30th AU Assembly of African leaders. I trust ,Sir, that your esteemed office will share this message with all participants of this two-day summit  opening on Sunday, 28 January 2018.

Respectfully  yours,

Menghesteab Asmerom, Chairman,

Tthe Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP)