http://ascenteq.com/project/epdp

EPDP Information Office

In a strongly-worded memorandum addressed to the Foreign Ministry of Denmark, the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) criticized the recent report of the Danish Immigration Service (DIS) which, after a visit to Eritrea, said the situation in the country  is not “as bad as reported” and wrongly called Eritrean asylum seekers as “economic refugees”.

In the memorandum urging the branches of the Danish government to ignore the report, the EPDP believed that the Danish team’s report has “reached an utterly erroneous and dangerous conclusion that we see as a travesty of justice and an added insult to injury to the Eritrean pe

ople currently condemned to live under the worst repressive regime in the whole of Africa, if not the world.”

The EPDP regretted the wrong picture conveyed by the DIS report which intended to deny all world bodies including the UN Human Rights Rapporteur who has been denied entry to Eritrea while the likes of DIS are welcomed by the Asmara regime which is well aware of the wishes of the visiting team.

Below is the full text of the EPDP memorandum to Denmark.

******

To: H.E. Mr. Martin Lidegaard,  

The Foreign Minister of Denmark,

Copenhagen

Mr Martin Ldegaard

Subject: Eritreans Fleeing All-Round Repression at Home Are Genuine Refugees. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      12 December 2014

 Dear Mr. Martin Lidegaard,  

We, in the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), one of the mainstream opposition organizations in exile struggling for change and democratization through people-power,  received with shock and dismay the recent report by the Danish Immigration Service (DIS) which reached an utterly erroneous and dangerous conclusion that we see as a travesty of justice and an added insult to injury to the Eritrean people currently condemned to live under the worst repressive regime in the whole of Africa, if not the world.

The DIS report wished to show that the political and human rights situation in Eritrea is not “as bad as reported” by many honorable bodies including the UN Human Rights Rapporteur and her two submissions endorsed by the UN Human Rights Commission, which in turn upgraded its concern about Eritrea by establishing a UN Commission of Inquiry on that regime’s excesses. The UN Human Rights Rapporteur was denied entry to Eritrea. The same fate could await the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea because their findings would not pre-drafted conclusions, as the case was with DIS’s report, which is already judged as a gross distortion by many sources including Professor Gaim Kibreab, the only Eritrean source the DIS fact finders approached. The report forces its readers to easily conclude that it is a shallow document apparently drafted by not-so-serious team of “fact finders” who could not even see why their mission was so welcome by the regime in Asmara. We are not surprised that they did not see any checkpoints on their pre-planned travel to two localities south of Asmara.

Dear Foreign Minister,

We are aware that Denmark is not the only country pressurized by domestic politics to find an excuse to call Eritrean asylum seekers as “economic refugees” which they are not. We recall that the Italian Government sent a high level mission to Eritrea last summer and expressed its wish to resume work with the regime in Asmara with which it had no relation for a long time. UK government team is now on visit to Eritrea. We hope that its conclusions are not pre-drafted.

As you may very well know, Sir, we are talking about the most disquieting case in regard to gross violations of political, economic, social and human rights in Africa.  One would even dare say that the open-ended national service that has been turned into an illegal act of forced labour is by itself sufficient to inflict havoc to the life of an entire nation. But our country has many more worrisome causes that turned it into a hell on earth. Eritrea is, Sir, a country where:

• No elections have been held for the past 23 years;
• No constitution exists and no rule of law can be dreamt of; 
• No freedom of  press and assembly is allowed;
• No free worship by the faithful permitted;
• No basic human rights respected;
• No private entrepreneurship allowed to thrive;
• No quality or higher education encouraged; the list of no’s is endless……..

These are among the key causes of refugee outflows in any part of the world. Becoming a refugee is not a choice, and only to reiterate: those Eritreans who are fleeing the country are doing so because they were deprived of all basic political and human rights under the repressive regime that made the country unlivable for the time being.

Mr. Lidegaard,

An increasing number of Eritreans inside the homeland and those in diaspora is currently engaged in an ever growing struggle to bring about a positive change in the country. But until then, people are forced to flee, and those who escape arrest or death while crossing the borders are bona fide refugees who deserve temporary protection until the situation is changed. At this moment in time, all Eritreans fleeing the regime in Asmara are genuine refugees and deserve your support and protection.

We, therefore, request your esteemed Ministry to share this message with the Danish Government, the Danish Parliament and the Danish Judiciary. We are asking Denmark and its people to ignore the shallow DIS report and instead continue to give Eritrean asylum seekers at least temporary but adequate protection until the situation in our country is changed to the better through the growing struggle of our people inside the homeland and those in the diaspora.  

Sincerely yours,

Wolde-Yesus Ammar,

Head, EPDP Foreign Relations Office

CC: Danish Government; the Danish Parliament, and the Danish Ministry of Justice.