Urgent response needed after floods in Sudan kill 65 and affect more than 185,000 people

Tuesday, 18 August 2020 23:49 Written by MHI

Source

MHI

Posted 18 Aug 2020 Originally published 18 Aug 2020

UK charity Muslim Hands is urgently calling on supporters to donate so that vital relief can reach those affected by the floods in Sudan. On 29th July prolonged intense heavy rains caused the first wave of severe flooding, which has since continued, killing 65 people, and affecting more than 185,000.

The infrastructure of more than 30,400 homes are damaged, 14,000 homes have been destroyed, and livelihoods are now at threat with the death of 700 cattle. Thousands of water sources have either been contaminated or are non-functional and the risk of disease outbreaks is extremely high. Sudan is in the midst of its rainy season, which lasts from June to October. More heavy rainfall is expected in the coming months, wreaking havoc in 17 of the 18 states that make up the country, such as the north, south and west of Darfur, White Nile and the Khartoum states.

Muslim Hands's initial response will be to distribute £25,000 of emergency aid which will include food packs and other essential items, such as mosquito nets, plastic sheets, and mats to protect against the environment to over 1000 families in Khartoum. Sudan is also one of the worst hit countries in regard to Covid-19 in Africa coupled with an outbreak of polio. Muslim Hands will also distribute PPE and medication to protect those that are now vulnerable and susceptible to the disease.

To find out more about Muslim Hands and the work we do visit our website muslimhands.org.uk or call 0115 9117222.

Dr Basel Alkhder, Muslim Hands Emergency Lead, said:

‘The floods have caused utter devastation in Sudan, leaving thousands displaced. The country’s infrastructure is damaged leaving the nation prone to disease, with malaria now rife. This vital aid is needed for survival and means the difference between life and death. We are calling on our supporters to donate so we can reach those who need it the most. Unfortunately, this is just the first wave of what is yet to come in the next few months, and therefore we must act now.’

Dr Ismail Abdalla, Muslim Hands Sudan Country Manager, said:

‘We would like to thank the donors for their kind and continuous support to the needy people of Sudan since 1994. The floods this year is something exceptional and there is suffering on every street in Sudan. The rain is heavy, and people have no shelter, left helpless. The main highway is destroyed and for people to use alternative routes is difficult as fuel is hard to come by and is expensive. The water has taken everything, people have lost their livestock, their lives and with the current pandemic sweeping through Africa, we are under immense pressure. The people of Sudan are extremely affected, and recent events have taken away their smiles. So please help we are in need of your donations.’

ENDS

Notes to editors

Established in 1993, Muslim Hands is an international aid agency and NGO which aims to be at the forefront in delivering relief from poverty, sickness and the provision of education worldwide – regardless of race, religion or gender.
Muslim Hands works in over 30 countries worldwide.
Muslim Hands has been working in Sudan for over 15 years, supporting various projects which focus on education, livelihoods, health, and food security. Its operations started in July 2004 and was registered at the Humanitarian Aid Commission in September 2003. Muslim Hands main office is in Omdurman in Khartoum.
We rely on voluntary donations to continue our vital work. You can donate now by calling 0115 911 7222 or visit our website muslimhands.org.uk

Source=https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/urgent-response-needed-after-floods-sudan-kill-65-and-affect-more-185000-people

Ethiopia,Egypt and Sudan agree to resume talks on the Nile on Tuesday

Monday, 17 August 2020 11:20 Written by Sudan Tribune

AUGUST 17, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Source: Sudan Tribune

August 16, 2020 (KHARTOUM) – The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Irrigation in Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have agreed to resume difficult negotiations on the Renaissance Dam next Tuesday.

Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Omer Gamar Eldin speaks to reporters on 29 April 2020 (SC photo)

The minister of the three riparian countries held a videoconference meeting on Sunday convened by South African Foreign Minister, the current chair of the African Union, after the postponement of the talks for a week on the request of the Sudanese government.

“At the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, we the Foreign and Irrigation Ministers of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, agreed in a meeting held on Sunday to resume negotiations next Tuesday,” said Foreign Minister Omer Gamar Eldin.

Gamar Eldin added that the parties agreed to compile their positions papers in one document with the support of African Union experts and observers.

“The draft will be submitted to the AU chairman to review it and considering if it can become a basis for an agreement between the three countries,” he added.

For its part, the Irrigation ministry said in a separate statement that Sudan demanded returning to the agenda set by the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his letter of August 4, 2020, and included in the report of African experts submitted to the African mini-summit on July 24, 2020.

The report recommended a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD and ensured “Ethiopia’s right to freely develop future upstream projects as long as they are in accordance with international law”.

In Cairo, the foreign ministry issued a statement saying that during the meeting Egypt stressed the need to conclude a legally binding agreement that regulates the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam.

The deal should “preserves the rights of the three countries, secures their water interests, and limits the impact of this dam and its effects on the two downstream countries”.

Ethiopia sovereign rights

Speaking in a virtual meeting with the Ethiopian in the Nile River riparian countries on 15 August, foreign minister Gedu Andargachew stressed that the Renaissance Dam “corrects historical imbalances” in the use of the Nile water.

“The minister said since the Nile river basin holds 2/3 of Ethiopia’s water resources, utilizing it is a matter of sovereignty and an essential requirement for the development of the country,” further said a statement issued by the Ethiopian foreign ministry.

Ethiopian Diaspora contributes to financing the $4 billion hydropower dam being built on Blue Nile river.

Iran's president says UAE made 'huge mistake' with Israel deal

Sunday, 16 August 2020 14:48 Written by Reuters

(Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has made a “huge mistake” in reaching a deal toward normalising ties with Israel, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a speech furiously condemning what he called a betrayal by the Gulf state.

The Iranian hardline daily Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said “the UAE has turned itself into a legitimate target for the resistance”, according to its website.

The UAE-Israel agreement announced on Thursday, which U.S. President Donald Trump helped to broker, is seen as aimed at bolstering opposition to regional power Iran.

In his televised speech, Rouhani warned the UAE against allowing Israel a “foothold in the region”.

“They (the UAE) better be mindful. They have committed a huge mistake, a treacherous act. We hope they will realise this and abandon this wrong path,” Rouhani said without elaborating.

In a front-page comment, the newspaper Kayhan said: “The UAE’s great betrayal of the Palestinian people ..., will turn this small, rich country which is heavily dependent on security into a ‘legitimate and easy target’ for the resistance.”

Iran often refers to militant forces and regional countries opposed to Israel and the United States as a “resistance” front.

Rouhani said the deal seemed aimed at ensuring that Trump wins another term in the U.S. presidential election in November and referred to the fact that it was announced in Washington.

“Why then did it happen now? If it weren’t a wrong deal, why was it then announced in a third country, in America? So a gentleman in Washington wins votes, you betray your country, your people, Muslims and the Arab world?”

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement the UAE-Israel deal would “accelerate the process of the destruction of the child-killing Zionist regime (Israel)”.

Source=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-emirates-iran-idUSKCN25B0BE

Exclusive: Inside the secret world of US commandos in Africa

Tuesday, 11 August 2020 15:12 Written by Martin Plaut

AFRICA, UNITED STATES

Date: 10/08/2020 Author: Martin Plaut

Investigation reveals the scale of operations of America’s elite combat troops in Africa

Nick Turse, Sam Mednick in Ouagadougou and Amanda Sperber in Nairobi

Source: Mail & Guardian

United States Special Operations forces (SOF) — including Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets and Marine Corps Raiders — are the US military’s most highly trained soldiers, specialising in counterterrorism, counter-insurgency, and “direct action” combat raids, among other missions. Their operations are shrouded in secrecy.

Although US commandos operate on the African continent with the agreement of host governments, ordinary Africans are rarely told about the full extent of US activities — nor offered a say in how and why Americans operate in their countries. Even basic information, like the sweep and scope of deployments by elite US troops and clandestine combat by American commandos on the continent, is mostly unreported across Africa.

But a Mail & Guardian investigation can, for the first time, reveal where US special operators have been active on the African continent — and offer exclusive details about low-profile missions that have been largely kept under wraps.

In 2019, US Special Operations forces were deployed in 22 African countries: Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania and Tunisia.

This accounts for a significant proportion of US Special Operations forces’ global activity: more than 14% of US commandos deployed overseas in 2019 were sent to Africa, the largest percentage of any region in the world except for the greater Middle East.

These figures come from information provided to the M&G by the US military’s Special Operations Command and Africa Command (AFRICOM).

An interview with Donald Bolduc, a retired brigadier general and head of Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA) until 2017, shed further light on these operations. He said that as of 2017, US Special Operations forces had seen combat in 13 African nations. America’s most elite troops continued to be active in 10 of those countries — Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia and Tunisia — last year.

ADVISE, ASSIST, ACCOMPANY

The military footprint of the United States in Africa is extensive. Previous reporting has revealed the existence of a string of military bases across the continent. Formerly secret 2019 AFRICOM planning documents show that there were 29 bases located in 15 different countries or territories, with the highest concentrations in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.

More secretive still are the activities of US special operators. Their presence in African countries is rarely publicly acknowledged, either by the US or host nations; citizens are not told what these elite troops are doing on their land.

The US military is tight-lipped about exactly what its elite forces do in each country, but special operators have long conducted missions that range from capture-or-kill commando raids to training missions.

The M&G has spoken to a wide range of sources to fill in the blanks, including US military officers and diplomats; active and retired US special operators; African government and military sources; recipients of US military training in Africa and civilian witnesses. What emerges is a comprehensive picture of US special forces activities in Africa.

Some operations are conducted under the auspices of the so-called 127e programs, named for a budgetary authority that allows US Special Operations forces to use local military units as surrogates in counterterrorism missions. For reasons of security, Special Operations Command will not release information on 127e programs, said spokesperson Ken McGraw.

However, the M&G has confirmed that in recent years the US has conducted at least eight 127e programs in Africa, most of them in Somalia. These activities in Somalia were conducted under the code names Exile Hunter, Kodiak Hunter, Mongoose Hunter, Paladin Hunter and Ultimate Hunter, and involved US commandos training and equipping troops from Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda as part of the fight against the Islamist militant group al-Shabab.

Currently, the US is conducting two 127e programs in Somalia, according to an AFRICOM official.

The number of ground missions carried out by US commandos in Somalia has never previously been revealed, but US Air Force documents obtained by the M&G and corroborated by Bolduc indicate the scale of these efforts. The documents, from the 449th Air Expeditionary Group based at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, show that the US and partner nations conducted more than 200 ground missions against al-Shabab between June 2017 and June 2018.

This number is no anomaly. “That’s about average, annually, for the time I was there, too,” said Bolduc, who headed Special Operations Command Africa from April 2015 to June 2017.

Africa Command characterises missions with partner forces as “advise, assist and accompany” or “AAA” missions, but such operations can be indistinguishable from combat. During a 2017 AAA mission, for example, Navy SEAL Kyle Milliken, a 38-year-old senior chief petty officer was killed and two other Americans were wounded in a raid on an al-Shabab camp about 65km west of Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital.

AFRICOM does not disclose the number of advise, assist and accompany missions by country, but in an email to the M&G, the command acknowledged 70 such missions in East Africa in 2018, 46 in 2019 and seven in 2020 as of early June.

Among the other special ops-oriented efforts that are still active in the region ― as of February this year ― is Oblique Pillar, an operation that provides private contractor helicopter support to Navy SEALs and the units of the Somali National Army whom they advise; Octave Anchor, a low-profile psychological operation focused on Somalia; and Rainmaker, a highly classified signals intelligence effort.

Another major theatre of US special operations is northwest Africa. Much of the world, for example, first became aware of US military operations in Africa in October 2017, after the Islamic State (IS) ambushed American troops near Tongo Tongo in Niger, killing four US soldiers — two of whom were Green Berets. Those troops belonged to Operational Detachment-Alpha Team 3212, an 11-man unit working with a Nigerien force under the umbrella of Juniper Shield.

Juniper Shield is the United States’ marquee counterterrorism effort in northwest Africa, involving 11 nations: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia. Under Juniper Shield, US Special Operations forces have long trained, advised, assisted and accompanied local partner forces conducting missions aimed at terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda and its affiliates, Boko Haram and IS. The effort, according to the AFRICOM documents, was ongoing as of February.

The other key activity in the region is Exercise Flintlock — an annual special operations training exercise, conducted by Special Operations Command Africa, focused on enhancing the capability of nations in West Africa to plan and conduct counterterrorism missions. Participating African nations included Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

Libya has also been a major focus. Last year, the United States withdrew its commandos from Libya as the civil war there flared. “Due to increased unrest … a contingent of US forces supporting US Africa Command temporarily relocated from the country in response to security conditions on the ground,” AFRICOM announced in April 2019. Those troops have never returned, according to AFRICOM spokesman John Manley. But that has not, apparently, halted US operations focused on Libya.

According to the AFRICOM documents, Operation Junction Serpent — a surveillance effort in Libya that began as part of the 2016 campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in the coastal city of Sirte — is still active. Under Junction Serpent, Joint Special Operations Command or JSOC — the secretive organisation that controls the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 and other special mission units — was given special authority to develop targeting information for air strikes. A sister operation named Odyssey Resolve, involving intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights over Libya, was another component of the special operations campaign of air strikes in Sirte and was also ongoing as of February.

A ‘CREEPING BUILD-UP’

Not all of the places where US commandos operate in Africa are in or near war zones. Take, for example, Botswana — one of the continent’s most established and peaceful democracies.

In response to questions from the M&G, the US Embassy in Botswana said that elite US troops participated in Exercise Upward Minuteman, a three-week training event held in June 2019 at the Thebephatshwa Air Base in Molepolole. The training involved 200 National Guardsmen from the North Carolina National Guard and an unspecified number of soldiers from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF). It includes everything from weapons training to air and ground assault simulations.

“The US Military enjoys a strong bilateral security co-operation relationship with the BDF since its inception. As such, we conduct a variety of military-to-military engagement that at times includes special forces. Over the recent years we have conducted SOF-specific expertise exchanges in 2017 and 2019,” said the embassy’s public affairs officer, Ineke Margaret Stoneham.

National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from North Carolina, New Jersey and Alabama train with Soldiers of the Botswana Defense Force for Exercise Upward Minuteman 2019 at Thebephatshwa Air Base, Botswana.

Botswana’s armed forces enjoy a relatively clean reputation. This is not true of all the countries with which the US has partnered. Take Burkina Faso, where US special operations units have trained Burkinabe security forces in countering improvised explosive devices, and advised them ahead of counter-terrorism operations. In July, a Human Rights Watch report implicated Burkinabe soldiers in mass killings in the northern town of Djibo — and this is not the first time they have been accused of serious human rights violations.

Temi Ibirogba, a programme and research associate with the Africa Program at the Center for International Policy, warned that training, equipping and assisting the militaries of nations accused of human rights violations empowers them and provides justifications for abuses. “If the most powerful democratic nation in the world is supporting your military, you’ll surely believe that the human rights violations you’ve committed are excusable,” she told the M&G.

Speaking on background, a US State Department spokesperson told the M&G that, “The United States is deeply concerned by the growing number of allegations of human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by state security forces in the Sahel, including those documented by Human Rights Watch.”

The spokesperson added: “We exclude from assistance and training individuals or units guilty of human rights violations. We will, therefore, be following ongoing investigations closely to determine how these allegations will affect our legal obligations under US law. To date, we have no information indicating that US-trained or -equipped individuals or units have been implicated in any of the abuses reported.”

Andy Duhon, a former US Special Operations forces officer with more than a decade of experience operating in the Sahel region, questioned the effectiveness of the US military’s involvement in Africa. He said that the US does not understand what African countries want and, as a result, is unsure how to best intervene.

“The US isn’t doing enough. It wants to help but it needs to do a better job of understanding grassroots organisations, governments and the military, instead of just sending money towards long-term training and equipment programmes,” said Duhon.

Comfort Ero, the International Crisis Group’s Africa Program Director, said that the extent of US Special Operations forces in Africa illustrates the “creeping build-up” of the US military on the continent. Although, she added, it’s a mixed message: “There’s a build-up on the one hand, and restraint on the other. It’s clear that the US does not want to be on the frontline.”

Ero said that the lack of transparency ― from both US and African governments ― on the US military’s presence in Africa is a cause for concern, as is their apparent willingness to work with authoritarian governments. “It does feed into that broader concern that some states are being propped up … the US is seen as legitimising and further prolonging authoritarian tendencies, or states [that] are not seen as having legitimacy.”

No war feed the people in Eritrea

Wednesday, 29 July 2020 22:37 Written by Petros Tesfagiorgis

JULY 29, 2020 ERITREA HUB NEWS

Where on Earth does a child sell cigarettes and other small items to earn few cents to help his family locked-down at home except in Eritrea?

Child selling cigarettes Asmara

By Petros Tesfagiorgis

The Eritrean government is beating the drums of war against the TPLF/Tigray in collusion with PM Abiy Ahmed whilst the Eritrean people suffer from food and water shortages. This is a gravely irresponsible move that shows the Government is not concerned about the life of the Eritrean people. It is time to rise up against this blatant disregard for human life and say loud and clear “No War Feed the People”. The Eritrean people have been yearning for peace and justice for close to six decades but instead have gone from a thirty-year independence struggle to a twenty-nine-year dictatorship that refuses to hear the concerns and cries of the people.

There are growing concerns over an impending famine as alarming reports of food shortages have been reported from various regions of Eritrea. People are crying for help; many are bombarding their relatives in the diaspora to send money for basic food rations. At the time of my posting there was news by J- studio of the burials held in Church compounds of children who had died as a result of hunger and malnutrition in the highlands of Eritrea. This should serve as a warning bell that unless the people have access to food the world will see another famine on the level of Yemen. As an attempt to cover up the dire situation and suffering of the Eritrean people from the international community the regime has refused to grant access for a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights; Ms. Daniela Kravetz.

Today, as the global community is at war with the invisible enemy that is Covid-19, people in impoverished countries like Eritrea lack the food, personal protection equipment (PPE) and health services needed to stop the spread of the virus. This was acknowledged globally and wealthier countries have agreed to provide support to developing nations. For example, the EU has pledged to provide assistance worth more than €15.6 billion for countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Balkan region to fight the corona-virus pandemic, of which €3.25 billion is to be channelled to Africa, including €1.19 billion for the Northern African neighbourhood countries.

What is happening in Eritrea?

During the lock down period, the Eritrean regime has not provided food and other necessities to the people Guidelines are strictly enforced, and people who attempt to leave their homes in search of food are assaulted by the armed forces. As a consequence, the population who are already living below the poverty line are starving and looking outward for help.
Life in prisons: Amnesty International has reported that due to overcrowding, poor healthcare, lack of sanitation and hygiene options the thousands of Eritreans in official and unofficial prisons are left defenceless against COVID-19.
The Afar Eritreans that inhabit the Southern Red Sea survive on fishing, trade and farming and all have been banned resulting in severe malnutrition. In the Western Lowlands in Haicota and surrounding areas children are dying from starvation.
The UN called on Eritrea to free political and low –risk offenders to reduce the threat of COVID-19 in crowded jails. The regime refused and the UN has maintained its silence.
The regime closed 27 health centres run by the Roman Catholic Church in 2019. The consequences have opened a big hole in the nation’s health system. I quote from Paolo Lambruschi Friday 5 June 2020 Source: L’ Avvenier: – “In the region inhabited by the people of Afar, 30-year-old Halima Mohammed died in the Badda crater area on Sunday. The pregnant woman passed away bleeding on Sunday 31 May 2020 for lack of medical assistance. Many other women and children may have died of starvation and disease in silence in the area where only 20% have water and electricity.

The regime in Eritrea refuses help from the International Community: Why?

The United Arab Emirates has been providing food and medical aid to several countries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and commanders at its Eritrean base in the port of Assab/Red Sea, offered to donate aid to the local population the Afar people. The proposal was turned down in no uncertain terms by the Governor, General Teklai Kifle. Eritrea is completely militarized. There is no space for civil societies to express their pains and sufferings.

A plane full of Covid-19 supplies donated by the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma and his Alibaba Group was refused landing in Asmara Airport and returned back to its base in Addis Ababa.

The Exposure: What the Eritrean regime has failed to understand is that the phenomenon of Covid-19 has exposed Isaias’s brinkmanship of exploiting events to oppress the people of Eritrea. Thus the regime in Eritrea has politicized the virus phenomenon and opted to use it as a weapon to starve the people and weaken their resolve to demand the end of repression and oppose his damaging interference in the internal affairs of Ethiopia.

The people are not challenging the power of Isaias. Why wage war by denying them access to food.

The people of Eritrea were jubilant when peace with Ethiopia was signed in July 2018. They believed there would no longer be reason to hold the youth hostage in army garrisons and that this peace deal would end the Human right violations across the country. However, their dreams have been shattered with the continuation of unabated repression. Isaias has squandered the best moment ever to make genuine peace with Ethiopia and above all with his own people by ending the gross human rights violations and the ‘No war, No peace’ scenario that devastating Eritrea economically and socially since 2002. Isaias has become corrupted by power; he cannot be redeemed. As the saying goes “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. He is indifferent to the pains and suffering he is inflicting on the people. Belatedly the two donors the UN and EU have come to understand that Isaias is incapable of ending repression. It is appalling to see the Eritrean Government represent the people of Eritrea – in any UN meetings. – Because in practice he is at war with the people. The representative of the regime participated during 44th session of the Human Rights commission their mission is to hide the shortage of food and to lobby that the mission of the Special rapporteur is ended. It is not ended but they want let her visit Eritrea. Not refuse to let her visit Eritrea. The question of children dying of starvation is not raised because there is no body to raise it. The victims have no voice. The issue which is threatening the life of the people of Eritrea is not raised. The starvation is preventable but the UN and EU failed to listen to the plight of the people. That is why those of us from UK, Germany and Holland who participated during the virtual meeting on Eritrea in German on 25/6/2020 have agreed to take the starvation case with EU and then with UN.

Today Dictator Isaias is naked, he has no clothes. He is totally exposed. The EU and UN policy of engagement with the regime have failed. The EU and UN aid funds for development in order to create jobs, improve the HR violations and to stop the flow of refugees to exile has not been successful.

We, the just seekers, have to exploit the present reality and engage in rigorous advocacy campaigns to solicit food to the people.

Furthermore, the UN allowed Eritrea, to become a member of the human rights commission in order to appease PIA and his new ally PM Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia. This is a blunder, a mistake of historical proportion. The UN learned this truth belatedly. But would they accept their mistakes and pay back to the people of Eritrea by convincing the regime stops starving the people or threaten the regime to revive the issue of “bring the regime to ICC for the crime against humanity the regime committed in Eritrea since 1991.

During the meeting of the 44th session of the Human Rights commission –The Special Rapporteur said she has seen no evidence of a tangible improvement in the human rights situation in the country. She remains deeply concerned by widespread human rights violations. Representatives of countries expressed their concern about the violations and 35 of them voted to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur to one more year. This shows how much they resent the regime.

All this has created a conducive environment for justice seeker to act now. On 25 June 2020 there was virtual intergroup discussion on Eritrea in the German Parliament, Bundestag. In conclusion Cooperation with the wider Eritrean democracy movements was recommended.

In America, Michael Rubin wrote “The time is now for U.S. officials to reach out to Eritreans, both inside the country and out, and put plans in place to help build the institutions Isaias Afwerki has left weakened or destroyed.

These are signs that the international community have given up on Isaias and the justice seekers in Diaspora can seize the momentum to engage in a rigorous advocacy campaign.

This change has brought about a conducive environment to contact those who have expressed solidarity with the oppressed people of Eritrea and who are willing to support our activities. We, Eritreans who participated in the conference -did not waste any time and agreed to get together and talk about how to exploit this international solidarity. We were from 3 European Countries and are members of active organisations. We agreed to work together to raise the issue of food shortage with the UN and EU. The names are Mr Muluberhan Temelso, the Director General of the Foundation of Human Rights for Eritreans/ the Netherlands. The foundation filed a complaint against the European Commission in court for using unpaid labour from the national service. Dr Awet Kessete and his colleague Mr Temelso Gebresus are from the Eritrean Associations for Democracy/Germany and myself a member of Eritrea Focus UK.

It is important at this stage to think about launching peace movement as the slogan goes “No war feed the people”. To make our peace effort “pro-active”. No Tigreans blood should be spilled by Eritreans and vice versa. Also no blood of other nationalities in Ethiopia. War brings more deaths and destruction. We the people of the horn can live in peace and harmony. Fighting against each other is an invitation for proxy wars.

The End

At the moment Eritrea Focus have launched an appeal – to the UN secretary general to solve the food problem.

To add your name please sign by emailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sources

https://eritreahub.org/eritrea-and-covid-19-petition-the-un-to-prevent-starvation

https://asenatv.com/an-appeal-to-the-un-to-prevent-imminent-starvation-and-a-humanitarian-crisis-in-eritrea/

Eritrea weighs role in Egypt-Ethiopia dispute over Nile dam

Tuesday, 28 July 2020 22:03 Written by Ayah Aman

AL-Monitor

Eritrea’s president visited Cairo against the backdrop of the faltering talks on the Nile dam dispute, raising questions about Eritrea’s role in helping reach an agreement between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.

A general view of the Blue Nile River as it passes through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, near Guba, Ethiopia, Dec. 26, 2019. Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images.

Ayah Aman

@ayahaman

TOPICS COVERED

Water Issues

Jul 17, 2020

CAIRO — During his two-day visit to Cairo on July 6-7, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki held bilateral talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, focusing on the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and security in the Red Sea, with the aim to support regional security and stability, spokesman for the Egyptian presidency Bassam Radi said.

This is the fifth visit Afwerki has paid to Cairo since Sisi took office in 2014. This time, however, his visit came as Egypt failed to reach a binding agreement with Ethiopia on the filling and operation of the GERD, which Cairo believes will damage its interests in the Nile waters.

Afwerki had previously visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 2, and Khartoum, Sudan, on June 25. Observers believe that such visits are part of Eritrea's mediation efforts to resolve the dispute between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.

The Egyptian-Eritrean rapprochement over the decades has always been a source of trouble for Ethiopia, which has repeatedly accused Egypt of using Eritrea as a pressure card and of destabilizing the situation in Ethiopia. This rapprochement has also furthered the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict that dates to the Eritrean War of Independence in the 1990s, while the situation of “no war, no peace” between the two countries has constantly fueled regional tension in past years.

The historic conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea ended after the two parties signed a peace agreement in July 2018; as a result, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2019.

Yet, following Afwerki’s visit to Cairo, the Eritrean Ministry of Information said July 11 that the peace agreement with Ethiopia had not met Eritrea’s expectations. The ministry added in a statement on its website, “Two years after the signing of the Peace Agreement, Ethiopian troops continue to be present in our sovereign territories. … Trade and economic ties of both countries have not resumed to the desired extent or scale.”

In this context, a diplomatic official specialized in African affairs told Al-Monitor, “Cairo is open to all regional and international initiatives designed to resolve the dispute over the GERD. Egypt and Eritrea have common interests that are not limited to bilateral files. There is ongoing coordination in handling the regional dossiers in the Red Sea region on the one hand, and the relations with Ethiopia on the other.”

Speaking to Al-Monitor on the role Eritrea can play in the conflict between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the GERD, Hamdy Abdel Rahman Hassan, a professor of political sciences at Cairo University, said, “Under the rule of Afwerki, Eritrea [became] a key actor in the power equation in the Horn of Africa given its important geostrategic position. President Afwerki is able to act at the foreign level and exploit the [disputes] to his own interests.”

Abdel Rahman Hassan added, “Eritrea’s president already announced his position on the GERD in 2016. He believes that the dam exceeds the development needs of Ethiopia. There are multiple signs indicating that the Eritrean position is in favor of Egypt, particularly after the tripartite negotiations [on the dam] have come to a crossroad.”

Since he took office in April 2018, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been seeking to resolve his country’s disputes with Eritrea and Somalia. Yet the tension and domestic challenges have prevented a genuine implementation of the rapprochement policies.

“Eritrea has been reluctant to rely on him [Ahmed] in light of the unstable domestic situation in Ethiopia, while Ethiopian forces continue to occupy the disputed areas,” Abdel Rahman Hassan said.

He noted, “Eritrea’s geographical location and relations with the Gulf countries — especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — can serve as strategic support for Egypt, particularly in case of escalation.”

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Eritrea’s Ambassador to Cairo Fasil Gebreselasie denied that Sisi and Afwerki touched on the aspects of military cooperation when it comes to the GERD crisis. He said, “There is focus on enhancing cooperation and coordination in handling the regional security and economic files.”

He added, “President Afwerki offered what’s within Eritrea’s ability to resolve the dispute over the GERD.” However, he refused to give details on the Eritrean initiative.

Suleiman Hassan, an Eritrean political analyst and expert on African affairs, told Al-Monitor, “The Eritrean president is aware of the nature and complexities of the political stage in Ethiopia, as well as of the stalled talks on the GERD. He can play an important role in bringing closer the views of the political regimes in Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in order for them to overcome the differences.”

Hassan added, “The Ethiopian opposition — which supports the former regime that belongs to the Tigrayan ethnic group, and which was the source of historical enmity with Eritrea — has used Ahmed’s policies of rapprochement with Egypt to oppose him. This will make it difficult for the current [Ethiopian] political regime to strike an agreement with Egypt on the GERD.”

However, it is in Eritrea’s interests to mediate the GERD dispute, according to Suleiman, who explained, “Eritrea is well aware that the return of the former regime to the rule in Ethiopia is not in its [Eritrea’s] interest. This is especially true in light of attempts to push Ethiopia and Eritrea into military skirmishes on the border, like what happened with Sudan in March.”

“Any Egyptian-Ethiopian interim agreement on the GERD that serves domestic peace and stabilization in Ethiopia will have a positive impact on Eritrea's interest,” he added.

The success of the mediation efforts led by Eritrea or the African Union to resolve the Nile dam dispute still depend on the Ethiopian current political regime’s ability to adopt a clear position and control the volatile situation — and this without using the GERD’s dossier to gain popularity and confront the opposition campaigns that believe any agreement on the GERD with Egypt goes against Ethiopia’s interests.

Source=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/07/eritrea-mediation-egypt-sudan-ethiopia-nile-dam-dispute.html

Eritrea: The Stench in Asmara City Center

Monday, 27 July 2020 13:36 Written by asmarino.com

Taking a ‘passeggiata’ in Asmara these days exhibits a unique experience - that the city is dogged by misfortunes.

A ‘passeggiata’ is an Italian expression which mostly refers to the late afternoon walks Asmarinos dutifully used to take in their beloved city center. One would see groups of elderly people taking leisurely walks under the big palm trees. They would occasionally stop to greet acquaintances and have a chat with friends. Others would stop at bars for a drink before heading home. One could also see boisterous boys out there who would come out in droves to have fun while young girls would also enjoy the walk arm in arm.

Asmara in 1960

Now the ‘passeggiata’, according to travellers’ stories, belongs to days gone by.

Michela Wrong, in her book ‘I didn’t do for you’, described Asmara as a special place time had forgotten. She writes:

“ … the Italian architects of the 1930s unleashed the full, incongruous force of their Modernistic creativity.”

The author describes Asmara as a city ‘whose beauty has a sombre tinge, for it has been premised on tragedy’. She then goes on to write how ‘conflict kept Asmara locked in time, creating in the process an accidental architectural treasure’.

Ms Wrong doesn’t stop there; she adds that ‘these days, the vigorous designs have lost their clean-cut certainty’. It is true the once-lauded, fine Italian-era buildings are ruined and rundown, and have not been renovated for years.

Those paragraphs were written after the Badme war – early 2000s. One cannot help but wonder how the author would have reacted had she had the opportunity to re-visit Asmara once again.

Fast-forwarding to 2020, Asmara can hardly be described by kind and endearing expressions for it has lost its lustre and almost all the qualities it used to possess. In simple terms, Asmara is no more.

Travellers’ Stories

Due to loss of interest and unscrupulous nature of the government, Eritreans do not visit Asmara as much as they used to. Visits to Asmara generate unnecessary misgivings and frustrations for the visitors. Asmara is under paralyzing bureaucratic control which has made the city unfit to receive visitors.

One visitor described Asmara as a ghost town. ‘It is a town devoid of young people and entertainment’, he said. He also said it is ‘a depressed town that has nothing to offer to visitors anymore’.

A lady who was born and raised in Asmara said ‘Asmara is just a notion in my head because it has lost the glow it once had when I was growing up there’. ‘The inhabitants seem resigned and drifting aimlessly’, she added.

Asmara public toilets closed

A third traveller talked about the stench in city center. For reasons unknown, the municipality shut down all the public latrines that were located throughout the city. ‘Now’, he said, ‘people are seen relieving themselves everywhere in full view. One cannot pass alongside the back entrance of the famous Asmara Cathedral’.

Indeed, people are seen covering their noses when they pass through the side street next to the building of ‘Education Center’ – the stairs that lead to the former Italian school.

In the evening the situation is even worse. People, who need badly to relieve themselves, with no bathroom in sight, simply let themselves go everywhere.

It is strange to witness some PFDJ operatives are continually projecting Asmara as a clean, efficient city that is worth visiting. The truth is Asmara does not have functional public bathrooms anymore, to say the least. Sickeningly, modern dwellings do not have enough water to flush the toilets. In short, Asmara can be described as a big rural village without proper sanitation.

Mai Jah Jah

There is no adequate water in the city. It suffices to see recent pictures of ‘Mai Jah-Jah’, once with a beautiful cascading water feature, now filled with refuse.

Yes, it is strange to read government publicities that state “Renovation of public toilets are underway in Asmara” (Shabit.com). The story even produces names of Asmara residents who express ‘satisfaction with the government initiative taken to renovate the community facilities’.

Shabait: Renovation of public toilets

As Eric Hoffer, American moral and social philosopher put is, Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.

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TPLF Accuses Eritrea of Plotting to Disrupt Elections in Tigray Region

Friday, 24 July 2020 19:18 Written by ERITREA HUB NEWS

JULY 24, 2020 ERITREA HUB NEWS

Source: Ezega News

By Staff Reporter

Debretsion-elections July 21, 2020 (Ezega.com) — The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) accused the Eritrean government of joining forces with Addis Ababa and regional government to disrupt the planned elections in Tigray region next August.

Briefing Journalists on Monday, TPLF chairman and deputy president of the Tigray region, Debretsion Gebremichael said TPLF witnessed provocation from the federal government of Ethiopia to “disrupt the election,” and called on the people in the region to stand united and repel possible attacks.

“Tigray region will be a burial ground for those forces which are attempting to obstruct the election,” Debretsion warned.

According to the TPLF chair, there have been noticeable activities “near the region’s border and bordering areas” that are intended to impede the election.

“Armed men are roaming in border areas and trying to mobilize the public to boycott the election,” he added.

“Tigray region will conduct the elections as per the schedule by taking experiences from countries that conducted elections amid coronavirus infections,” Debretsion said.

Debretsion also blamed the federal government of conspiring economic sabotage against the Tigray region by blocking roads linking to other regions and disrupting the teaching and learning process by shutting down internet connections.

Debretsion made the statement after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed paid a visit to Asmara where he also visited Sawa, the country’s main military training ground.

Yemane Geberemeskel, Eritrea’s Information Minister, tweeted that the leaders reviewed the progress achieved and obstacles encountered in the past two years in the implementation of the historic peace deal in July 2018.

“The two sides agreed to further bolster the prevailing, all-rounded, cooperation between the two countries,” said Yemane in a statement posted.

Addressing the parliament, Prime Minister Abiy warned his government will not tolerate any attempt to conduct an election in any part of Ethiopia.

Debretsion said business establishments owned by ethnic Tigray investors are being attacked as the government continues firing several ethnic Tigray people who were working in federal offices.

The deputy president also accused Addis Ababa of detaining officials of the Tigray region and shutting down Tigray TV and Demtse Weyane TV.

Earlier, the federal police arrested TPLF members including Tewolde Debretsadik, Atsbeha Alemayehu and Tesfalem Yidego, Law and Justice Research Center Director in the rank of State Minister for alleged transferring of national affairs for foreign terrorists.

Ethiopia’s PM Abiy: today’s AU summit reached “breakthrough” agreement on Nile

Wednesday, 22 July 2020 17:26 Written by Martin Plaut

Date: 21/07/2020

Author: Martin Plaut

This is the Prime Minister’s statement. These are the key sentences:

“The Extraordinary Meeting undertaken at the Heads of State and Government level concluded with all parties reaching a major common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement. Accordingly, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan agreed for further technical discussions on the filling to continue in the AU led process and proceed to a comprehensive agreement.”

Screenshot 2020-07-21 at 18.18.59