Tuesday, 27 September 2016 23:18

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Written by

Dear Madam/ Sir,

The human rights situation in Eritrea, in general, and the condition of the Eritrean political prisoners, in particular, has been worsening every time for the past several years until it has become a big concern at global level. As Professor Kjetil Tronvoll, a Norwegian human rights activist has aptly described it in his booklet on human rights in Eritrea (1991-2009), what prevails in that country since 1991 is a prison-like situation of a people in a siege. The endless and ever increasing exodus of people out of Eritrea is a concrete evidence for the truth of this expression. At this epoch, it is difficult to imagine for an entire nation to live for 25 long years under total deprivation and gross violation of the very basic human and political rights. Needless to say, Eritreans have been and are condemned by their own regime to live without any civil and political space one can think of: no national constitution, no national elections, no independent judiciary, no freedom of expression, no freedom of association, no freedom of religion, no freedom of mobility .. the list of no's is endless.

Only to stress, all the economic and political power is dominated by the small clique in the so-called People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). The unjustifiable covers used to justify absolute control of economic and political life of the people include "nation-building, internal security, stability, national unity and the protection of state sovereignty."  In a word, the present and the future of the nation has been stolen - especially of its young generation, who had been hijacked by the illegitimate regime and forced to indefinite service (forced labour) nowadays being rightly equated with modern-day slavery.

The erroneous policies of the repressive regime in Asmara, including its meaningless 'self-reliance', have brought the disaster we are witnessing in Eritrea today. The only areas where the regime excelled are inhumane treatment of its own people, and building over 360 prisons where tens of thousands languished for years, and many died of bad treatment. Since the territorial 'liberation' of the country, persons  with different opinion, especially those thought to be influential to mobilize people such as senior cadres of its own and from the opposition camp, religious leaders, human rights activists, journalists, nationalistic singers, and a number of other recognized individual in the society have been kept in prisons for decades, or just disappeared.

Some reliable information from prison escapees and ex-members of prison staff discloses that many of the detainees lost their lives and others are paralyzed physically and mentally because of torture, inhumane living conditions, including inadequate food, water, health services.   

As the main objectives of the Amnesty International Norge are seeking the release of political prisoners to upholding the whole spectrum of human rights, bringing torturers to justice, change oppressive laws, and free people jailed just for voicing their opinion including ensuring humane treatment and conditions of detention for all detainees regardless of the reasons for their arrest and detention and to alleviate the suffering of their families, particularly by facilitating communication between detainees and their relatives, we the Eritrean community in Norway, therefore, wish to remind your esteemed organization to take the necessary measure to help change the situation of Eritrean prisoners and their distress of their families.

Dear Madam/ Sir,

Through this modest memorandum, we once more wish to request the Amnesty International Norge to redouble its efforts in playing a tangible role in:

Ø  Helping stop torture and other forms of ill-treatment up on all Eritrean prisoners;

Ø  Release of all prisoners of conscience without conditions;

Ø  Address the ongoing disappearance of Eritreans and their incommunicado imprisonment;

Ø  Improvement of conditions of detention as regards food, water and health services Including an end to prolonged solitary confinement;

Ø  Effective legal process so that people can challenge their detention and treatment.

Ø  Independent Monitoring bodies make regular visits to detention places.

Ø  Rapid and regular access to lawyers, doctors and relatives.

Ø 

Ø  Restoring the right of family visitations to Eritrean prisons;

Ø  To ensure respect for legal safeguards and

Ø  Facilitate the release of the detainees and their return to their society.

Finally, we believe that the Amnesty International Norge, in cooperation with fraternal organizations like the International Amnesty, concerned Norwegian and Eritrean authorities, the Norwegian Red Cross and ICRC and other non-governmental organizations, would bring  change in the life and condition of the Eritrean prisoners.

Respectfully yours,

1, Medhanie Habtezghi                  (Eritrean Peoples’ Democratic Party) -------------------

2, Dawit Araya Tesfu                       (Eritrean Peoples’ Democratic Party) ------------------

3, Mebrat Berhane                           (Eritrean Peoples’ Democratic Party)  ------------------

4, Nureldaim A Mohammed           (Eritrean Youth for Change)               --------------------

5, Michele Pagallino                       (Eritrean Youth for Change)               -------------------

6, Senait Teweld Ilfu                       (Eritrean Youth for Change)               --------------------

Oslo, 26 09 2016

ንሰልፊ ደሞክራኢ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጨንፈር ኖርወይን ንስምረት ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ንለውጢ ኣብ ኦስሎን ከባቢኣን ዝውክል ሓደ ናይ ሓባር ልኡኽ ኣብ ማእከላይ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣምነስትይ ኢንተርናሽናል  ኖርወይ (Amnesty Internationa Norway) ብዕለት 26 መስከረም 2016 ምብጻሕ ፈጺሙ። እቲ ጉጅለ ልኡኽ ብኣቦ መንበር ቤት ጽሕፈት ጉዳያት ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ  ብጻይ መድሃኔ ሃብተዝጊ ዝተመርሐ ኮይኑ፣  ብጻይ ኢሳያስ ሓጎስ ካብ ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፣ ከምኡውን ወከልቲ ኣባላት ማሕበር መንእሰያት ንለውጢ ኦስሎን ከባቢኣን ዝኾኑ ብጾት ሰናይት ተዎልደ፣ ሚካኤል ፓጋነሊን፣ ኑርኣዳይም ኣደም መሓመድን  ዝቆመ ሓምሽተ ዝኣባላቱ ነበረ። ኣቀዲም ኣቢሉ ብዕለት 23 መስከረም 2016 እውን ሓደ ካልእ ጉጅለ ናይዚ ማሕበራት ብተመሳሳሊ ዕላማ ምስ ኣሰናዳዊ ዕለታዊ ዜና ናይ ኡትሮፕስ ዝተባህለ ጉጅለ ጋዜጠኛታት ዝኾነ ኣቶ ኣረ ቮግት ሞኡም ( Are Vogt Moum)ተራኺቡ ከምዝነበረን ተመሳሳሊ ሓበረታ ከምዝሃበን ክፍለጥ ተኻኢሉ ኣሎ።

ወኪል ክልቲኡ ማሕበራት ዝኾነ ልኡኽ ኣብቲ ናይ ምብጻሕ ተልእኾኡ ኣብ  ጠረጴዛ ኣህጉራዊ ጉዳያት ንኩነታት ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ምስ ዝከታተል በዓል መዚ ኣቶ ጀራልድ ካዶር ( GERALD KADOR FOLKVORD) ተራኺቡ፣ ምስቲ ብጽሑፍ ዘረከቦ መተሓሳስሰቢ ድማ እቲ ጉጅለ ልኡኽ ኣብ ኩነታት ሕልሉፍ ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣብ ኤርትራ ብሓፈሸ፣ ብፍላይ ድማ ኣብ ኩነታት ናይ ፖለቲካ እሱራትን ስድራቤታቶምን ኣተኲሩ ሰፊሕ መብሪሂ ሂቡ። እቲ ጉጅለ ኣብ መግለጺኡ ስርዓት ፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስ መሰል ደቂ ሰባት ዝሕመረቶም ዝተፈላለዩ ኣህጉራዊ ውዕላትን ስምምዓትን ንምትግባሮም ዝተቀበልን ዝፈረመኳ እንተኾነ፣ ንማሕበረ ሰብ ዓለም ኣደናጊሩ፣ ካብ ዝፈረመሉ ኣህጉራዊ ግቡኣቱ ሪሒቁ፣ ካብ 1991 ኣትሒዙ ክሳብ ሎሚ ብዘይ ዝኾነ ክስን ፍርድን ኣብ ዝተፈላለየ ኣብያተ ፍርዲ ዳጒኑ ዘጋፍዖምን ዘሳቅዮምን ዘለዉ ናይ ፖለቲካ እሱራት ማእለያ ከምዘይብሎም ገሊጹ። ኩሎም ናይ ፖለቲካ እሱራት ኣብ ኤርትራ ከምዝተኣሱሩ እንተዘይኮይኑ፣ ድሕሪ ምእሳሮም ኣብ ከመይ ኩነታት ከምዘለዉን ብምንታይ ምኽንያት ከምዘተኣስሩን ኣበየናይ ቦታን ኣብ ከመይ ኩነታት ከምዝርከቡን ክፍለጥ ከምዘይከኣል ድሕሪ ምሕባር፣ እዚ ኩነታትዚ ንኹሉ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለምን ህዝቢ ኤርትራን ዘሻቀለ ኮይኑ፣ ካብ ማንም ንላዕሊ ግን ንስድራቤታቶም ን10ታት ዓመታት ኣብ ከቢድ ሻቅሎት ከምዝነብሩ ዝገበረ ዘሕዝን ኩነታት እዩ ክብል እቲ ልኡኽ ኣምሪሩ ገሊጹ።

ስርዓት ኣስመራ ካብ 1991 ኣትሒዙ ንሊዕሊ 25 ዓመታት ብዘይ ቅዋምን ሕግን ዝመርሕ፣ ንግዝኣተ ሕጊ ዋጋ ዘይህብ፣ ዝኾነ ሃገራዊ ምርጫን ብዝሒ ሰልፍታትን ዘየፍቅድ፣ መትከላዊ ኣህጉራዊ መሰላት ሓሳባትካ ናይ ምግላጽ፣ ምንቅስቃስ፣ ምትእኽኻብ ወዘተ ዘየፍቅድ፣ ንኹሉ ኣፍራይን ኣድማዕን ሓይሊ ናይቲ ህዝቢ ኣብ ቲሕቲ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ዝብል ሽፋን ዘለዎ ሃገራዊ ባርነት ቆሪኑ ዝሓዘ፣ ኮታስ ንኹሉ ፖለቲካውን ቁጠባውን ሓይሊ ናይታ ሃገር ንበይኑ ገቢቱ ብምሓዝ ንህዝቢ ኣብ ትሕቲ ዕጹብ ኣርዑት ምልኪ ተምበርኪኹ ከምዝነብር እንዳ ፈለጠ፣ መንግስታት ኤውሮጳ ጥራሕ ዘይኮነስ ሕብረት ኤውሮጳውን ብቀንዱ ምስዚ መላኺ ስርዓትዚ ክደናገጽ ምፍታኑ፣ ዝሕዝንን ግርምቢጣዊ ኣካይዳን ከምዝኾነ እቲ ልኡኽ ወሲኹ ሓቢሩ።

ብምቅጻል እቲ ጉጅለ፣ ኣምነስትይ ኢንተርናሽናል ኖርወይ፣ ምስ ኩሎም ዝምልከቶም ኣህጉራውያንን ከባብያውያንን ኣካላት ተወሃሂዱ ብምስራሕ፣ ደሃይ ናይዞም ን10ተታት ዓመታት ሃለዋቶም ዝጠፍአ ናይ ፖለቲካ እሱራትን ስድራቤታቶምን ክገብርን፣ ንምፍትሖምን ብስድራቤታቶም ናይ ምብጻሕ ባይታ ንኽፍጠርን ጺዒቱ ክሰርሕ ተማሕጺኑ።

ኣቶ ጀራልድ ካዶር ብወገኑ፣ ምስቲ ኮሚሽሽን ምርማሪ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ሓቡራት ሃገራት ኣብ ኤርትራን ዝሃገቶን፣ ዝተፈላለያ ሻራ ዘይብለን ኣህጉራውያን ዘይምንግስታውያን ትካላትን ዝወሃብ ሓበረታን፣ ምስቲ ካብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣምነስትይ ኢንተርናሽናል ኣብ ናይሮቢ ብቀጥታ ዝረኽቦ ጽጹይ ሓበረታን ወሲኹ፣ ኩነታት መሰል ደቂ ሰባት ብሓፈሻ ኩነታት ፖለቲካውያን እሱራት ድማ ብፍላይ ኣብ ኤርትራ ካብ ግዜ ናብ ግዜ ኣሻቃሊ እንዳኾነ መጺኡ ከምዘሎ ሓቢሩ። ሕብረት ኤውሮጳውን ኣብዚ ኣዋንዚ ካብ ዲክታቶርያዊ ባህርያት መንግስቲ ኤርትራን፣ ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣብ ኤርትራን ንላዕሊ፣ ብዝሒ ዋሕዚ ስደተኛታት ዝዓጠጦ ይመስል ክብል ስኽፍታኡን ቅረታኡን ገሊጹ። ንሱ ብተወሳኺ ብወገን ቤት ጽሕፈቱ፣ ዝኾነ ካብ ኤርትራን ዒራቅን ዝመጽእ ሓታቲ ዕቁባ ብግዲ ንዓዱ ክምለስ ከምዘይብሉ ደጋጊሙ ንመንግስቲ ኖርወይ ከተሓሳስብ ከምዝጸንሐ ሃቢሩ፣ ንኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣብ ኤርትራ ድማ ወትሩ ከምዘከታተሎን ምስ ብጾቱ ኮይኑ ዝከኣሎ ክገብር ከምዝኾነን ተመባጺዑ።

 

ክፍሊ ዜናን ሓበረታን ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጨንፈር ኖርወይን ማሕበር ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ንለውጢ ኦስሎን ከባቢኣን

APPG on Diaspora, Development and Migration (DDM), APPG on Refugees and the Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN)

Chair: Baroness Young of Hornsey Speakers: Dr Kibreab Gaim, Dr Lul Seyoum, Dr Jonathan Campbell, Michela Wrong and Dr Heaven Crawley

Monday, 12 September 2016 16.00-17.30, Committee Room 16 House of Commons

This panel discussion was organised to look at the uneven response to refugees arriving in Europe with a particular focus on those originating from Eritrea. 

This event was chaired by Baroness Young of Hornsey, co-chair of APPG DDM, who expressed her gratitude to the APPG on Refugees and the collaboration with the Migrants’ Rights Network to organise the event. Baroness Young highlighted the importance of gaining a sense of forward movement within this very complex, difficult and highly politicised subject.  She hoped that the event would be positive, in the sense that solutions and recommendations might develop from the discussion. Baroness Young explained that part of the reason for establishing the APPG DDM is to try and reframe the way we think about these issues. She expressed the way refugees are represented in the media and other spaces is problematic. This event would aim to explore why there is such an 'uneven' response to refugees arriving in Europe, with particular focus on those originating from Eritrea, and to also raise awareness about how diaspora communities can contribute to solutions.

Dr Kibreab Gaim - Research Professor at London South Bank University

Dr Gaim focussed on assessing why post-independence Eritrea is one of the major refugee producing countries in the world. He also set out to address how those who fled Eritrea had been received by the European Union, and why the concerning policy in the UK had suddenly changed.  

Dr Gaim explained that the major driver of forced migration from Eritrea is the indefinite National Service. The National Service, when first introduced, required all Eritrean citizens between the ages of 18 - 40 to serve for 18 months as a strategy to strengthen their country, which was initially popular among Eritreans. However, the service soon became open-ended and now lies at the heart of the cause of forced migration. Dr Gaim emphasised that once an individual joins, they are not allowed to leave and are not paid properly- thereby becoming a slave of the state. 

Currently in Eritrea, the State controls economic activity, there are no opposition parties and no opposition politics is tolerated. People who flee are considered traitors. Immigration is only possible once an exit visa has been obtained from the government which is very difficult to obtain and often denied.

The indefinite National Service has been equated with forced labour, and the UN equates forced labour to a modern form of slavery, which Dr Gaim emphasised as a motive for Eritreans who are fleeing. Dr Gaim also stated that up to 90% of Eritrean refugees are aged between18-24; further demonstrating the ational service as a driving force of migration. 

Dr Gaim went on to talk about the sudden change of UK policy, particularly after March 2015. He elaborated that the change in UK policy suggests that the situation in Eritrea had improved, implying violations of human rights might have ceased, when in fact there was no change in Eritrea - "the dismal state prevails". Dr Gaim stated that the changes in the UK's policy are a result of 'fact-finding' missions in Eritrea. He explained that in 2014, Danish authorities sent three civil servants on a 'fact-finding' mission to Eritrea as a response to a sudden, dramatic increase in the number of Eritreans arriving in Denmark. During Denmark's election year the leading party panicked as the right wing began to gain support in response to rising levels of migrants arriving. Dr Gaim suggests, the 'fact-finders' were actually going to Eritrea to find anything they could to support high-level rejection of asylum, this was later met with a lot of criticism which led to the Danish Government dropping the enquiry and discrediting the report. 

Surprisingly however, the UK government then adopted all of the recommendations of the Danish Immigration Service, basing its updated policy on their recycled ideas. Dr Gaim remarked that the UK government could have used reliable information from sources such as the UN Commission but instead chose to base their new policy exclusively on the Danish report. The UK currently has a new policy that is not substantially different from the one they had before.

In summary, Dr Gaim's presentation emphasised the indefinite National Service in Eritrea as the main force of migration. He stressed that the UK's 2014 policy was based on the discredited work of a Danish 'fact-finding' mission in Eritrea, which had aimed to find evidence that would justify denying Eritreans asylum in Europe.

Dr Lul Seyoum - spokesperson, influencer, fighter for women's rights and founder and director of International Centre of Eritrean Refugees and Asylum Seekers ICERAS 

Dr Seyoum began her presentation with a reflective moment to remember all those who have perished on their way to safety. She explained that in that short pause, 10 people across the world had fled their countries; one person flees their country every three seconds. She then went on to tell the story of the Lampedusa Ship Wreck of 2013, where over 350 people died, including 270 Eritreans. Dr Seyoum elaborated on how the uneven response to refugees is due to the crisis often being identified with numbers, with the lives lost becoming mere statistics. To counteract this, she told the personal story of Helen, a mother of 3 children who perished at sea while travelling to Sweden to find freedom, security and a better future. 

Dr Seyoum went on to explain the work of ICERAS, the International Centre of Eritrean Refugees and Asylum Seekers. She stressed that it is important to understand that not all refugees come to the UK; in the West the largest number go to Germany and then the USA, with 86% of refugees migrating to developing countries. 

Dr Seyoum finished by emphasising the need for a broader and brighter picture. We must remember that many children perished before and after the tragic death of Alan Kurdi, a child whose body was photographed being carried from the sea by his distressed father - images which captured public sympathies and increased public empathy towards Syrian refugees. 60 million displaced people worldwide should prompt us to ask ourselves what our role is. If we are to avoid such loses then there should be full engagement from all of us. She ended her presentation with a quote by Martin Luther King: "Our lives begin to end when we are silent about things that matter".  

Dr Jonathan Campbell - Researcher at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

Dr Campbell's research has recently focused on the British Asylum System although today he aimed to provide a very clear trajectory of Home Office Policy, beginning from 2013. Dr Campbell explained that the Home Office's concern with Eritrea dates back to 2013, at the time when large numbers of 'migrants' were crossing the Mediterranean, many trying to move North into central Europe, to Calais and then the UK. Around this time was also the emergence of the British Government's Policy, nicknamed by the UK's European colleagues as an "à la carte" approach, in which the UK would pick and chose which groups of migrants or policies to support and which to neglect. This led to a situation whereby the UK in effect withdrew from dealing with the migrant crisis in Europe. Dr Jonathon stated that this withdrawal of the UK then contributed to the broader 'crisis' in Europe. 

A significant number of Syrian refugees are largely recognised by the UNHCR as refugees due to the Middle Eastern conflict, ultimately because most countries in Europe were engaged with that conflict in some way. As the 'migrant crisis' developed, it became clearer however that among the Syrians were a large number of Eritrean nationals, all of whom had been able to secure some sort of status or protection. This situation then raised concern across Europe - starting in Denmark, progressing to Norway and then the UK. 

Dr Campbell went on to explain the process of the Danish 'fact-finding' mission, as Dr Gaim had outlined earlier in the discussion. He pointed out how in Eritrea there was no high-level political violence visible - as was the case with Syria. In 2014, the Danish government sent researchers to Eritrea to discover what was driving the migration. As Dr Gaim had outlined previously, Dr Campbell stressed that the research of these missions was not academic in any way. The researchers had consulted with officials which is problematic as they themselves are complicit in the human rights violations which Eritreans are fleeing.

Dr Campbell explained that once the reports were published, the purpose of these missions became very clear; to prevent Eritreans from entering Europe. The missions would usually take the form of very short visits, mainly only to the capital of Eritrea, Asmara, and would usually only involve speaking to government officials. The investigators do not move around the country and crucially have no access to sites such as detention centres and prisons. These factors combined mean that the principal source of information for the tours is the information provided by high level Eritrean officials. So, with the exception of the latest policy (which is still largely dependent on this kind of research), all the 'fact-finding' missions are dependent on anonymous Eritrean officials, and thus cannot be verified. Nonetheless, the Danish, Norwegian and UK reports are all based on such anonymised reports, and all conclude that it is safe (for Eritreans) to go home. Dr Campbell argues that the Home Office officials are seemingly seeking to do anything to prevent refugees from entering Europe.

Following on from the conclusion that it is safe for Eritreans to return home, the UK government argues that all Eritreans need to do is 'regularise' the situation with the Eritrean Government. The Home Office states that individuals returning to Eritrea simply have to pay a 2% income tax on their income earned overseas, and sign a 'letter of apology' at an Eritrean embassy. Dr Campbell outlined that the individuals returning to Eritrea even have to pay the 2% tax on any benefits or asylum seekers allowance and show all receipts at an embassy (i.e. even if the individual did not earn wages). The UK Home Office argue that if Eritreans 'regularise' themselves with officials in Asmara, no reprisals will be taken against them. The Eritrean government maintains that it is improving the National Service by increasing the pay and reducing the contracted duration of service. 

The UK Home Office say that the Eritrean Government is not acting in a way that contradicts the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in terms of how nationals are treated upon their return to the country. However, Dr Campbell argues that after three years of these promises, there is no evidence of this. A large problem is there is no independent monitor of human rights in Eritrea, meaning that there is no independent organisation to provide information on what is actually happening, no independent access to the detention centres or prisons, and there have certainly been no changes in Eritrean policy.  

He explains that over the last 2 years, the UK Home Office has in effect sought to create its own objective evidence and has published in excess of 600 pages of evidence in the policy since early 2014. 

Dr Campbell concluded by emphasising that things are not alright. The Home Office is deliberately creating an illusion, in an attempt to create objective evidence for immigration officials to use as a basis for rejecting asylum. The situation in Eritrea has been made very clear; we are refusing to allow people their freedom of movement across the planet. Eritreans are thus being rejected refugee status and often being forced to live destitute in the streets. 

Michela Wrong - Journalist and Author who has spent almost two decades reporting on Africa

Michela began by paying respect to the work that has been done by all the other speakers to help refugees across the world. She went on to say that her line of work and expertise can offer something different to the discourse. Michela finds that we talk a lot about the refugee crisis, often in a way that the public are so concerned with the crisis and what's happening with the individuals, that we strip the account of a political, geo-strategic and historical context - and this is what she can bring. 

Michela explained that the Eritrean government is not as popular as it once was - when she first visited Eritrea in the 1990s - but that it certainly enjoys some popularity, and every government needs a narrative with which it presents its case, to its public and to the West. Many people remark on the hostility of the Eritrean government towards the West, without considering that there might be a reason for that, which is what she wanted to remind

us of. She added that if we don't attempt to see things from that other perspective then we are likely to find a puzzling hole at the heart of the situation.

Michela shared her understanding that Eritrean refugees are young and often fleeing military service, but that nobody has explored how the government actually justifies enforcing the military service. Her work in Eritrea began in 1996, when the government that had been in power for three years and had huge support from the population after winning independence. Contrasting that to today, the country has an enormous, totally 'disproportionate' army with open-ended military service - and there is some historical reason for that.

She went on to talk about the 1998-2000 'new war' that broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea over a border dispute, highlighting that up until then the two countries and their rebel movements got on quite well. Going back to war with one another was a huge shock to the communities, and over 100,000 people died (on both sides). Following that, an international agreement allocated some parts of the disputed territory to Ethiopia, and other parts to Eritrea. This was incredibly important - politically and emotionally. 

Ethiopia has never since moved its troops out of the area, which Michela suggested may be because they would have found that move too humiliating. Essentially there has now been a 16 year stand-off between the countries, involving many tense moments - the worst of which was in June 2016 when several hundred people on both sides were killed. Michela feels that the Eritrean population are extremely worried about the situation and the prospect of having another major war. 

The Eritrean government argues that they are being occupied by Ethiopia and so in order to keep Ethiopia from increasing their hold on Eritrean territory, anyone who can take up arms must come to the defence of the nation. Michela suggested that the Eritrean government would argue that elements of society such as democracy, human rights and the free press are luxuries that cannot be afforded. She elaborated that within this narrative of the Eritrean government's perspective, the West is generally viewed as being hostile and uncomprehending, as well as being in the wrong as it has done nothing to put pressure on Ethiopia to observe the international border ruling. 

So, the question then becomes whether or not this reasoning is enough to justify the onerous, endless military service. Michela highlighted that analysts argue that this is not a way to win a war; if Eritrea are invaded by Ethiopia- their large, demoralised, young and unhappy army, would not be very effective at defending their country.  Smaller, well-paid, voluntary armies are much more effective at winning wars.

Michela finished by introducing the idea that every government in Africa - Eritrea included - is fearful of the Arab Spring, and perhaps part of the reason for the regime in Asmara is crowd control. By enforcing a patriarchal duty in the population and require them to defend their country, they are prevented from becoming a threat to the regime.

Dr Heaven Crawley - Professor of International Migration at Coventry University 

Dr Crawley began by stating that she hoped to shed light on the politics of the narrative in relation to the current 'crisis', because the crisis as experienced here in the UK is very different to the narrative experienced elsewhere. She focused on the way that certain assumptions underpin policy.

Dr Crawley argued that all across Europe throughout the 'migrant crisis', assumptions haven't shifted over time - they have just become more entrenched. The sort of assumptions that were underpinning policy at the beginning of the 1990s still exist. One assumption about the dynamics of migration is to do with the linearity of movement - the idea that people just move from A to B, for example from Asmara to London. 

There is a fundamental disconnect, which is not new, between how European policy makers (including in the UK) understand and conceptualise forced migration, and how they then understand the process by which people come to be in this situation. 

Dr Crawley suggested that even though we have this knowledge and understanding about what's going on in these areas (such as Eritrea and Syria), there remains an underpinning scepticism about why people have truly left their countries. Dr Crawley argued that underpinning every conversation about forced migration is the assumption that

people are moving by choice. Even in conversations about Syria, which have in some ways received a preferential treatment in the media, and despite knowing what we know about what has happened in Homs, there remains the assumption that the refugees could have done something else - they did not have to make this journey.

Dr Crawley then spoke about her research, which involved interviewing 500 people who had landed in Greece or Italy over the course of five months. They had aimed to gain more of an understanding of the back-story of the crisis, and a perspective that is not so centred on the Mediterranean. Dr Crawley emphasised that the Western and UK media covering the crisis is often fixated with the border into Europe, and so loses the historical and global context of the situation.

During the interviews the researchers spoke to 30 Eritreans and it was indeed very clear that the primary driver for migration is the forced indefinite military service, with two thirds of interviewees speaking specifically of this. Another key factor is that it is not at all easy to leave Eritrea as an exit visa must be obtained to do so and it is very difficult to be granted one. As a result of this, smugglers are used to get people out of Eritrea. An assumption is often that smugglers are only used to get people in to countries, but in Dr Crawley's research it became clear that most people had been involved with smugglers in order to get out of countries (as is the case for Eritrea and Syria). It was also evident that the majority of refugees had experienced violence and witnessed death during their departure and journey. Dr Crawley found that people's journeys commonly take years as people get held up in places like Sudan and Libya. Usually in this scenario people try to make a life for themselves but often don't succeed. People need livelihoods, and when they can't find that (such as in Libya), they think that Europe might offer them something different.

This led on to Dr Crawley explaining that the idea of 'the pull of Europe' is undermined by all of her research. There is an assumption for example that if a country starts granting asylum to lots of Eritreans, then that will cause many more Eritreans to come. She argued that actually people don't necessarily find out that information. In her research, the most important factor influencing where people migrate to is family. If displaced people have family members or friends who can support and help them to re-establish their lives, then that makes the difference. This is why when refugees are occasionally offered relocation places such as Poland they often say no - as they do not have any family or friends there to help them rebuild their lives.

Final Remarks

 Dr Gaim: Ethiopia has defied the will of the international community; the EEBC (Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission) ruling was supposed to be final and was supported by the EU, UN and US government. The question that Eritreans need to ask is whether or not keeping them in arms is likely to improve the defence capability of the country or not. The Eritrean government is eroding the defence and security of the country

 We should campaign against the occupation of Eritrea, and remind ourselves that the international community is not a charitable community, it is a self interest community

 Dr Campbell: no Eritrean has ever gained asylum in Israel, Israel would view them as 'traitors'. Israel is currently using the UK Home Office policy to refuse Eritreans, we must recognise the impact of regional and global politics

 Dr Crawley: we must challenge the assumptions that underpin policy and reflect on the dichotomy that exists between 'refugee' and 'economic migrant' status   Need to recognise the complexity of the problem, we like to contain the problem as far away from us but this is not going away

 Dr Seyoum: it is time to view refugees as people who are our tomorrow - they will make a positive difference to our ageing populations in

The passing away of  Osman Ahmed, an Eritrean freedom fighter and humanitarian activist in Kassala, Sudan, on 26 September 2016, was deeply mourned by two non-profit associations  registered in France and Switzerland whose main objectives have been supporting projects for the education of refugee children and taking care of disabled Eritreans and former freedom fighters who lacked support of close  family members.

Osman Ahmed served for many years as the director and supervisor, respectively, of the Centre for Disabled Persons in Kassala and the Wad-Sherifey Refugee School near Kassala in the Eritrea-Sudan border. The Association for Disabled Eritreans (ADE), legally registered in France  15 years ago, with branches in many parts of the world, has been taking care for nearly 30 disabled persons in Kassala. The Geneva-based Swiss association for Eritrean children (ASEE, in French: Associaiton Suise Enfance-Erythree) has been supporting for 11 years the Wad-Sherifey Refugee School with over 600 needy refugee children who are taught in Eritrean curriculum and languages.

SwissFrenchNGOsMournlossofOsmanAhmed 2

Soon after learning about the untimely death of Osman Ahmed, the president of ADE, Tesfai Teklezghi in France, and Sophia Ammar, representative of the ASEE executive committee in Geneva, issued messages expressing deep loss to family members of the deceased as well as to the beneficiaries of the humanitarian projects they support in East Sudan.

ADE posted its condolence message in Eritrean websites, while ASEE sent its condolence message to the family and the school through Dr. Habtemichael Tekle, who heads the overall administrative responsibility of the Wad-Sherifey School as president of the Eritrean Red Cross-Crescent Society (ERCCS). In his turn, Dr. Habtemichael also reassured ASEE that he and his colleagues will do all what is possible to continue the work vacated by the loss of Osman Ahmed. Meanwhile, Father Ghebrai Bedemariam, an Eritrean priest in Kassala who used to channel ASEE support to the Wad-Sherifey Refugee School expressed to ASEE his shock and dismay of the passing away of Osman whom he described as a reliable work colleague and "so gentle,  sociable and humble" compatriot. During the past several years, both ADE and ASEE received regular situation and financial reports and related updates of their respective projects in Kassala and Wad-Sherifey.

SwissFrenchNGOsMournlossofOsmanAhmed 3

The deceased activist, Osman Ahmed, was born in the mid-1950s in a township near Asmara and joined the Eritrean liberation struggle at the age of 20, and lost his right-arm in one of the fierce battles in the liberation war. In recent years, he suffered of kidney problem but was recently promised by UNHCR to have a kidney transplant outside Sudan. It was while the arrangement of his travel were underway that he suddenly passed away in the early hours of 26 September. In spite of his lost of his right arm and the kidney complications, Osman Ahmed never ceased providing his reliable services to the beneficiaries at the humanitarian projects he closely took care of.

Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:02am GMT
 
 
 

Nevsun, which had revenues of $357 million in 2015, denies the allegations and touts its mine as a model of responsible development. In its own legal filings, it says the Eritrean military never provided labor to the mine. Even if it did, the company argues, Nevsun was not directly responsible for employing the workers.

The Canadian company owns 60 percent of the Bisha Mining Share Company (BMSC), which owns and operates the mine, and the Eritrean state owns the remaining 40 percent. BMSC in turn hired Segen, an Eritrean government firm, to do construction work at the mine.

Bemnet says he worked for Segen, not Nevsun. But his lawyers say Nevsun should be held responsible for what happened at the mine, alleging Nevsun had authority over Segen and did not take reasonable steps to prevent mistreatment of workers.

Todd Romaine, Nevsun's vice president of corporate social responsibility, denied the allegations and said in a written statement that the company "will vigorously defend itself in court." He said BMSC is "an employer of choice" in Eritrea and provides "well-paying, intrinsically rewarding jobs for local people ... The company has made a significant financial contribution to the country in terms of taxation, royalties, local employment (and) supply chain."

Romaine said Nevsun has a screening process to ensure that no conscripts work at the mine. "Nevsun is a force for good in Eritrea," he said.

Nevsun also says that if its prohibition against the use of conscripts was ever breached, state-controlled Segen was to blame. It says that it had been obliged by the Eritrean government to use Segen to build the mine, and that Nevsun had no control over Segen. Reuters tried to contact Segen via telephone and email, but received no comment.

Alem Kibreab, director-general of Eritrea's Department of Mines, said no conscripts worked at Bisha, and that some migrants made up stories of mistreatment in the hope of gaining permission to stay in Europe.

In affidavits filed with the Canadian court, several workers from the mine have backed up Nevsun. Kahsay Gebremichael, a foreman with Segen, said that he had worked at Bisha for seven years, by choice. "I was not forced to work at the Bisha Mine by anyone. I can quit my job if I want to," he said in an affidavit filed in November 2015.

Bemnet and the other former workers involved in the lawsuit were living in Ethiopia, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland when they swore affidavits in 2014 and 2015. Reuters was unable to contact them and their lawyers declined to make them available for interviews, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.

But Reuters has reviewed the former workers' detailed allegations and, while their case is not new, this article draws on court records that have not been previously reported, including Bemnet's affidavit. It also draws on accounts of two former foreign workers who helped build the mine: One said employees of Segen endured tough conditions in 2009 and 2010, working without adequate food, water or shelter.

The Eritrean government dismisses criticism of its national service program as politically motivated and biased. Government officials deny that national service involves forced labor and say a program to improve pay began in mid-2015. They insist conscription remains vital for the security of the nation, which only secured independence from Ethiopia in 1991 after decades of conflict.

NATION BUILDING

Bemnet spent his first weeks of military training at a camp called Wia, near the Red Sea, where he slept on the ground in the open, according to his affidavit. Next he was moved to a desolate stretch of coastline, where he worked seven days a week, completing more training, gathering large stones and building houses. He was still there in September 2006, when, halfway around the world, then Nevsun Chief Executive John Clarke pitched Eritrea to mining investors at one of the industry's top conferences, the Denver Gold Forum.

Canada is home to hundreds of small mining companies, many exploring for gold both in Canada and around the world. Staffed by a few executives and a small board of directors, these companies buy mineral claims and raise a few million dollars at a time to pay for exploratory drilling. One strategy is to focus on countries where poor infrastructure, skill shortages or political unrest have made mining difficult, leaving rich deposits untouched.

Clarke's presentation focused on Gash Barka, a region in western Eritrea where gold was mined during the colonial era. No one had built or operated a mine in the country for decades because of the risk of conflict and fears the government might expropriate assets. So Clarke promoted the project, which he called Bisha, by emphasising Eritrea's good roads and well-educated people.

"Given that it is a poor country, they're just using their resources extremely well, including their youngsters, who do a couple years national service after university, everybody contributing to nation building," he said, in a presentation that until recently was available online.

Clarke, who is no longer with Nevsun, did not respond to requests for comment.

National service in Eritrea, which still fears attack from its far larger neighbor Ethiopia, has no set length, according to the government. The country has been ruled by former Marxist guerrilla leader Isaias Afwerki since independence. In 1998, in the midst of a border war with Ethiopia, Isaias declared a state of emergency and extended national service.

Eritrea's Information Minister, Yemane Ghebremeskel, told Reuters that the length of national service had originally been 18 months, but that it had been "prolonged" because of border tensions with Ethiopia. He did not specify how long national service now lasts.

A U.N. commission charged with investigating human rights abuses in Eritrea said in a June 2015 report that all sectors of the Eritrean economy rely on conscripts. Most citizens are conscripted before they finish high school, and undergo limited military training before being assigned to jobs. Some are sent to work in construction or farming, or as civil servants or engineers. In a statement, Eritrea said the allegations of human rights abuses are "totally unfounded and devoid of all merit."

"CONTINUOUSLY HUNGRY"

By September 2008, the Bisha mine had its permits and work was underway at the site. As mining companies often do, Nevsun hired an engineering, procurement and construction management firm to run construction, selecting a South African company called Senet. One of Senet's employees was Mike Goosen, a civil construction supervisor who arrived in 2009.

Day to day, Goosen and other Senet staff supervised Segen, the Eritrean government-owned contractor brought in to do construction work. While Senet declined to comment on its work at Bisha, citing the ongoing legal action, Goosen told Reuters he became friendly with some Segen workers, though they lived some distance from the main camp. He visited their camp and was alarmed by the conditions he found. None of the buildings had proper windows or doors. Workers slept on the floor, with no mosquito nets. "We had a lot of them going down with malaria," he told Reuters.

The workers were "continuously hungry," he said, and subsisted on lentil soup and bread. Drinking water was left in the hot sun all day. Goosen said he asked cooks at the main camp to set aside leftover food for Segen workers but Segen managers told him to stop.

In affidavits filed to support the lawsuit against Nevsun, former Eritrean workers described rations of lentil soup and bread. "We were always tired and hungry, and fell ill very often," reads the affidavit of Mihretab Yemane Tekle, who said he worked at the Bisha mine from February to October 2010, and now has refugee status in Ethiopia. "Many conscripts caught malaria at Bisha."

In an affidavit filed in June 2014, Segen manager Abadi Gebremeskel Alemayo described the death of a worker named Berhane, who he said was a conscript.

"One day, he was building partitions in the residences for the foreign workers, and he just collapsed," he said. "In his report, the doctor said it was heat stroke. I buried him myself - I took his body to his village and buried it."

Abadi, a safety officer at Bisha, said in his affidavit that he knew some of the workers were conscripts because he attended a Segen meeting in mid-2009 at which the use of conscripts was discussed. Reuters was unable to contact Abadi for comment.

ESCAPE

Segen workers were on site in significant numbers during the mine's initial construction from 2008 to 2011. In February 2009, for example, more than half the workers on site were from Segen, according to a Senet progress report filed with the Canadian court.

In a 2013 press release, Nevsun said it first heard allegations that conscripts were working at Bisha in early 2009. In response, Nevsun instructed Senet to change Segen's contracts to explicitly prohibit the use of national service members. Nevsun also told Senet to start screening workers to ensure there were no conscripts at the mine. Court filings from Senet say screening began in May 2009; the system involved workers providing certificates to show they had finished national service.

It is unclear how effective the screening was, said a foreign worker who was on site at the time and spoke on condition of anonymity. Segen would put off filing paperwork, telling Senet that its workers were no one else's business. When papers did arrive, they were photocopies of Eritrean documents that no one outside Segen understood because they were written in the local language of Tigrinya, the foreign worker said.

In an affidavit for the court case, Senet project director Pieter Theron described the screening process, and said that as far as he knew, the Eritrean military was not involved in building Bisha. Theron declined requests for comment. In his affidavit, he said allegations about harsh working conditions were not consistent with his observations: "It is simply not the case that individuals worked in dangerous conditions and were often injured or ill."

Bemnet arrived at Bisha with the rest of his military unit in February 2010, according to his affidavit. He was told to take off his military uniform, and given grey coveralls to wear, with "Segen" across the back. An officer laid out some rules for his time at Bisha. He was not to tell anyone that he was a national service member. If asked about his pay he should say he was being paid $21 to $22 per day. He would actually be paid 450 nakfa per month, about $1 a day, according to the legal claim.

Bemnet and other conscripts were sometimes allowed to spend time in a nearby town. One Sunday in July 2010, he stayed late in town, eating and drinking with a friend, according to his affidavit. In the early hours, a group of military men came to retrieve him. Bemnet said they accused him of trying to desert and leave Eritrea. He was tied up with his friend, he said, with only short breaks for five days, and then sent to prison.

Bemnet said he was not sent back to Bisha after his release in November 2010, but remained in national service. In 2011, stationed near the Ethiopian border, he saw a chance to escape and swam across a river with two other men. From Ethiopia, Bemnet traveled to Sudan, Libya and across the Mediterranean to Italy. Like thousands of other Eritreans, he applied for asylum in Germany.

Many Eritreans aiming for Europe cross the Sahara into Libya, risking death by dehydration, starvation and violence in the desert. In Libya, some are kidnapped by Islamic State, and executed or enslaved before they can attempt to cross the Mediterranean. The United Nations refugee agency reported that 11,564 Eritreans made it to Italy in the first seven months of 2016. That was more than from any country other than Nigeria.

REGRET

In 2013, Human Rights Watch published a report about the alleged use of conscripts at Bisha. Anticipating the report, Nevsun sent out a press release that expressed "regret if certain employees of Segen were conscripts ... in the early part of the Bisha mine's construction phase." It hired Lloyd Lipsett, a Canadian human rights lawyer, to assess the mine.

Lipsett's reports have focused on the period since he was hired. In a 2015 report he said he had found nothing to corroborate allegations against the company, but that it was difficult to draw conclusions about anything before 2013.

In an interview, Lipsett said there were limits to what he could do and how reliable witnesses were. "It's hard in a country like Eritrea where there is, I think, a plausible and potential risk that people may feel intimidated or be threatened with reprisal," he said. "I think you just have to work at it, and see what the weight of the evidence points to ... If someone is directly lying, I can't say that I will always catch that."

In February, Nevsun invited Reuters to visit the mine and interview managers and government officials on site and in Eritrea's capital, Asmara. During that tour, Romaine, the company's vice president for corporate social responsibility, said: "We take all allegations very seriously, but to date, based on all our extensive investigations, we have not found any corroborating evidence to support the allegations being made."

(Martell reported from Toronto, Blair from Asmara; Additional reporting by Jim Morris and Nicole Mordant in Vancouver, and Selam Gebrekidan in New York; Editing By Richard Woods and Simon Robinson)

Source=http://af.reuters.com/article/eritreaNews/idAFL3N1BY3I4?pageNumber=6&virtualBrandChannel=0

ብዕለት 23 መስከረም 2016 ክልተ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ዝርከብዎም ዓሰርተ ክልተ ግዱሳት ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ተቀማጦ ከተማ ኣስከር ኖርወይ ብዛዕባ ምቋም ሃገርን ምትእትታው ዲሞክራስን ጽዑቅ ናይ ፍርቂ መዓልቲ ትምህርቲ ብኣቦ መንበር ቤት ጽሕፈት ጉዳያት መንእሰያት ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝኾነ ብጻይ መድሃኔ ሃብተዝጊ ተዋሂብዎም። ዕላማ ናይቲ ዝተዋህበ ኮርስ ኤርትራውያን ዜጋታት ኣብ ዝሃለዉ ይሃልዉ፣ ኣብ መዳይ ሃገር፣ ደሞክራሲ፣ ፍትሒ፣ መሰል ወዲ ሰብ፣ ሃገራዊ መሰል፣ ሃገራዊ ግቡእ፣ ቁዋም፣ ወዘተ ኣብ ዝብሉ ኣምራት ሓቀኛን ብቁዕን ኣፍልጦ ብምውናን፣ ተሳትፎኦም ኣብ ጉዳይ ሃገር ከም ዘዕዝዙ ንምግባር እዩ።

ተሳተፍቲ ናይዚ ሓጺር ኮርስ ኣብ መወዳእታ፣ በቲ ዝተዋህቦም ኮርስ ዕግበቶም ድሕሪ ምግላጽ፣ ንብድሕሪ ሕጅውን እንተኾነ፣ ዝከኣል እንተኾይኑ እዚ ኮርስዚ እንተ ወሓደ ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ 6 ወርሒ ሓደ ግዘኢ ክወሃቦም፣ ንሳቶም ድማ ግቡእ ምድላዋት ገይሮም ክጸንሑን ብመንገዲ መራኸቢ ብዙሃን ገሮም ዝያዳ ክጥርነፉ ከምዝኽእሉ ሓቲቶም። ወሃቢ ኣስተምህሮ ብጻይ መድሃኔ ብወገኑ፣ ኣብ ዝኾነ ግዜ ድልው ምዃኑ ብምሕባር  ንተበግሶኦም ኣተባቢዑ።

እቲ ኮርስ ብክለሰ ሓሳብን ብግብርን ዝወሃብ ኮይኑ፣ ብመሰረት ራፍቶ ዝበሃል ንዕብየት ደሞክራስን ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን ኣብ ኣብ ዓለምና ዝሰርሕ ዘይምንግስታዊ ኖርወጃዊ ትካል ብዝሃቦ ስልጠናን መሳርሕን ዝተሰነየ እዩ። ትካል ራፎት ኣብ ዕለታት 18 ን 19 ሰነ 2016 ካብ ዝተፈላለያ ከተማታት ኖርወይ ንዝተኣከቡ ብጻይ መድሃኔውን ዝርከቦም 13 ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ናይዚ ትምህርቲዚ ጽዑቅ ናይ ክልተ መዓልቲ ስልጠና ከምዝሃበን፣ ኣኣብ ከባቢኦም ተመሊሶም ነዚ ዝቀሰምዎ ትምህርቲ ከካፍሉ ዕዮ ሂቡ ከም ዝሰደዶምን ዝዝከር እዩ።

ወኪል ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ጨንፈር ኖርወይ ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ

ዕለት 25 09 2016

ተጋዳላይ ዑስማን ኣሕመድ መሓመድ ፡ ብዝሓደሮ ሕማም፡ ብ26 መስከረም 2016 ሰዓት 1፡00 ናይ ንግሆ፡ ኣብ ከሰላ ካብ’ዛ ዓለም ተፈልዩና። መስዋእቲ ደኺመ ዘይፈልጥ፡ ብትዕግስቱን ጠባዩን ንኡድ ተጋዳላይ ዑስማን ኣሕመድ፡ ንቤተ-ሰቡን ኣባሉ ንዝዀነ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ዓቢ ክሳራ ኢዩ። ስለ’ዚ ድማ’ዩ ሰዲህኤ ብመስዋእቲ ተጋዳላይ ዑስማን ኣሕመድ መሪር ሓዘንን ስንባደን እተሰምዖ።

 

ስውእ ዑስማን፡  ነፍሱ ይምሓር፡ ኣብ 1956 ..  ኣብ እምባደርሆ ተወሊዱ።ወዲ ዕስራ ዓመት እንከሎ ድማ፡ ግንቦት 1976 ምእንቲ ሃገራዊ ናጽነት ኤርትራ ንኽጋደል ኣብ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ (ተሓኤ) ተሰሊፉ። ኣባል በጠሎኒ 669 ኢዩ ነይሩ። 1978 .፥ ተሓኤ ሓራ ዘውጻአን ከተማታት ንምሓዝ ብደርጊ ዝተኻየደ ዳግመ-ወራር፣ ኣብ መረብ ድሕሪ ናይ ወርሕን ፈረቓን ዝወሰደ ምክልኻልዓድ ዃላን መንደፈራን ሒዙ ንዓረዛ ክወርድ እንከሎ ኢዩ ስውእ ዑስማን ኣብ ዓደ-በዛ ተወጊኡ።

ስውእ ዑስማን፡ ኣብ ርእስ’ቲ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ቦታታት እተኻፈሎምውግኣት ዘጋጠሞ መቝሰልቲ፡ እቲ ዝኸበደ ንየማናይ ኢዱ፡ ካብ መንኵቡ ዝፈለየ ውግእ ማይ ምነ ኢዩ ነይሩ። ምስ’ዚ ኵሉ ግን፡ ካብ ቃልስን ገድልን ጠሪሱ  ተፈልዩ  ኣይፈልጥን ኢዩ።  ዋላ ኣብ’ዚ ዳሕረዋይ ዓመታት፡ ብሕማም ናይ ክልቲአን ከላሊቱ ይሳቐ እኳ እንተነበረ፡  ኣብ ገድላውን ማሕበራውን ዕማማቱ ፈጺሙ ጕድለት ኣየርኣየን። ብኣንጻሩ እኳ ደኣ፡ ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ስደተኛታት ወድሸሪፈይ ከም ኣባል ምምሕዳርን መምህርን፡ ኣብ መደበር ኣካለ-ጽጉማን ከም ኣባል ምምሕዳርን ኣላዪን፥ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ናይ ሰዲህኤ  ጽፍሕታት ድማ፡ ከም ኣባል ምምሕዳርን ሓላፍን ኰይኑ ከይሰልከየ ብተወፋይነት ከገልግል ጸኒሑ። ኣብ ርእስ’ዚ፡ ኣብ’ቲ ዝነብረሉ ከባቢ ካብ’ቶም ቀዳሞት ተጠቐምቲ ኤለክትሮኒካዊ ሚድያ እውን ኢዩ ነይሩ።

 

ሰዲህኤ፡ ንመዋቲ መንግስተ-ሰማይ፡ ንቤተሰቡን መቓልስቱን ድማ እግዚኣብሄር ጽንዓትን ጠልን የውርደልኩም እናበለ፡ ናይ ወሪድኩም ዘሎ መሪር ሓዘን ተኻፋላይ ምዃኑ ይገልጽ።

 

ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ

26 መስከረም 2016

بقلوبٍ ملؤها الحزن والألم ينعي حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الارتري الي الشعب الارتري ومناضليه المناضل/ عثمان أحمد دين الذي حدثت وفاته بمدينة كسلا السودانية في ستة وعشرونمن سبتمبر 2016م.

 

ولد الشهيد بضاحية إمبا درهو القريبة من العاصمة أسمرا في منتصف الخمسينيات من القرن الماضي والتحق بجبهة التحرير الارترية مقاتلاً في صفوفها وهو في حوالي العشرين من العمر، وظلت يداه علي الزناد حتى أصيب في معركة تحرير ماي مني إصابة بالغة اقتلعت يمناه من مفصل الكتف فضلاً عن جروح متناثرة في جسده عبر مختلف سنوات النضال.

 

الإعاقة شبه الكلية لم تقعد بالشهيد عن تحقيق أعلى درجات التفوق والإبداع في العديد من الإنجازات الخلاقة في الأنشطة النضالية، عضليةً كانت أو ذهنية، كما كان من أوائل الناجحين في دخول عالم التواصل الاعلامي الالكتروني بكفاءة نادرة.

 

عمل الشهيد قبل وبعد التحرير في مجال تقديم الخدمات الاجتماعية للشعب والمناضلين، حيث أشرف في جهد مخلص ومتواصل علي كلٍّ من معسكر معاقي حرب التحرير الارترية بكسلا ومدرسة اللاجئين الارتريين بضاحية ود شريفي، فكان هو المشرف الإداري علي تلك الأنشطة ولسانها الاعلامي البليغ في آن، وظل يؤدي أعماله بجد وإخلاص حتى ألزمه المرض العضال الفراش الي أن لقي ربه.

 

حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الارتري إذ يشارك أسرة الفقيد والشعب الأحزان في وفاته لا يملك إلا أن يسأل الله تعالى للفقيد الرحمة والغفران وأن يلهمنا

وذويه الصبر وحسن العزاء.

 

وإنا لله وإنا اليه راجعون 

Monday, 26 September 2016 11:36

Inside Eritrea's exodus

Written by
Posted on Monday, 26 September 2016 09:32

 

By Mark Anderson in Asmara
Migrants, most of them from Eritrea, jump into the water from a crowded wooden boat as they are helped by members of an NGO during a rescue operation at the Mediterranean sea, about 13 miles north of Sabratha, Libya. Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP/SIPA

MIGRANTS, MOST OF THEM FROM ERITREA, JUMP INTO THE WATER FROM A CROWDED WOODEN BOAT AS THEY ARE HELPED BY MEMBERS OF AN NGO DURING A RESCUE OPERATION AT THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, ABOUT 13 MILES NORTH OF SABRATHA, LIBYA. PHOTO: EMILIO MORENATTI/AP/SIPA

The Africa Report gains rare access to Eritrea, where tough living conditions are pushing young people out of the country and into perilous journeys to neighbouring countries and beyond.

Outside a cafe on the crossroads of a busy intersection in Asmara, three 25 year olds sip macchiatos and catch up on the latest gossip in the bright morning sunshine. Punctuated by sips of coffee and drags on cigarettes, the conversation soon turns to people who have ‘skipped’, a term used for those who have fled from Eritrea’s national service programme.

“Between us, we probably know about 300 people who have skipped in the last few years,” says Birhane, 25, who works as a mechanic in a government-owned garage. “They are leaving because we have to do what the government tells us to do.”

When Birhane, Henok and Adonay were born in 1991, Eritrea had just gained independence from Ethiopia. Liberation struggle leader Isaias Afewerki – and current president – had commanded a rebel group that seized control of the country from Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. At the outset of independence, many people across Eritrea were optimistic about their future.

Migration crisis

Today, the atmosphere in Asmara is markedly different than it was at the dawn of Eritrea's independence. A bloody border war with Ethiopia between 1998 and 2000 inflicted massive human and economic damage to the country. The threat of renewed conflict hangs heavily over the government in Asmara.

Buses, bicycles and ageing European cars dot the roads of the capital. Its well-preserved Italian colonial heritage can be seen everywhere: from the espresso-sipping patrons lounging on terraces to the world-famous art deco architecture.

More than a dozen people interviewed on the streets of Asmara said they are desperately gathering cash to pay forsigre dob(a border crossing). Eritrea is now in the throes of a migration crisis.

Gaim Kibreab, a professor of refugee studies at London’s South Bank University, says Eritrea is the world’s “fastest-emptying nation”. About 400,000 people are estimated to have left Eritrea in the past decade. The United Nations (UN) and human rights activists estimate that as many as 5,000 Eritreans flee the country illegally every month. The Eritrean government says the real number is closer to 1,000 per month because Ethiopians often pretend to be Eritrean when seeking asylum abroad.

It is not just young people leaving. Middle-aged professionals are giving up on the country as well. “I know of thousands of people who have left,” says Demsas, 49, who has a master’s degree from a Western country, as he strolls down one of Asmara’s main streets. “We can feel it in Asmara.”

The government acknowledges that people are leaving in droves, but says it is part of an international conspiracy to weaken Eritrea. “The policy of the United States for the past 10 years has been to encourage the migration of Eritreans, especially Eritrean youth and especially Eritrean educated youth,” Yemane Ghebreab, director of political affairs for the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) and a close advisor to President Isaias, tells The Africa Report.

“If they can encourage migration and especially desertion from the Eritrean army, which has been a main objective of this policy, then they will have achieved their aim of weakening Eritrea,” he says.

For law-abiding Eritreans, it is hard to avoid the national service programme, which involves conscription into the military to work on government projects. Hundreds of soldiers are known to storm neighbourhoods in Asmara every few months. Known as a giffa, the event sees the troops block off traffic and set up a cordon around the area before going house to house in search of people who have not enlisted in national service.

Trapped

With few exceptions, Eritrea’s men and women over the age of 18 are required to work for an indefinite time. The national service programme, which initially lasted 18 months, was extended to an indefinite period during the border war with Ethiopia.

Young Eritreans say they feel trapped by the government. If they are caught deserting from national service, the government hands down brutal punishments. But if they stay, they are resigned to a life earning a monthly wage of 500 nakfa, equal to about $20 on the black market. “All of us are still in national service. We don't get enough [money] to live on,” says Henok.

The government is changing some elements of the national service. Those drafted in 2001 or earlier are being allowed to leave, but even then they are still required to work for the government. The maximum salary if you have been demobilised is 4,000 nakfa, equivalent to $165 on the black market, according to Hagos Ghebrehiwet, the ruling party's director of economic affairs and a close advisor to President Isaias.

The PFDJ realises that national service wages are not enough to live on, says Hagos. "You cannot say [the national service wage] is enough for living, but from what it was and from what we are doing to control inflation – to make the buying power of nakfa higher – this is a big improvement."

Multiple crimes

The UN’s Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea said in June that Eritrea’s government has committed crimes against humanity in a bid to “perpetuate the leadership’s rule”. These crimes include enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, persecution, rape and murder.
Eritrea’s government categorically denies the report’s findings. “This is a very biased report that lacks professionalism,” director of political affairs Yemane says. “Eritrea has by far a better record on human rights than many countries.”

Eritrean government officials are quick to point out that Ethiopia has failed to honour the Algiers Agreement, a 2002 peace accord signed by Isaias and Ethiopia’s former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Under that agreement, Ethiopia is required to withdraw troops from Badme, a contested town between the two countries.

“No one has called for Ethiopia to withdraw from Badme,” says Yemane. “In the long term, it's a failure for the region. If, in 2002, Ethiopia had accepted the decision, normalised its relations with Eritrea and moved forward, it could have had a better situation in which to address the structural problems it faces in the country,” he says referring to popular protests in Ethiopia’s Oromo and Amhara regions.

“The national service itself [...] is because of [Ethiopian troops on the border],” says Hagos. “All the issues that are raised and are being discussed [about migration] are related to [Ethiopian occupation].”

But on the streets of Asmara, people are skeptical of the real danger that Ethiopia’s government poses to the country. “There is no threat from Ethiopia,” says Birhane. “The government uses that to get us to do what they want.”

Last year, the government announced it would void all currency notes issued before the middle of 2015, saying the new notes are a means to curb counterfeiting and rein in the black market. It also put a limit on the amount of money people could withdraw from their bank accounts, saying it wanted to encourage people to use cheques and mobile-money facilities.

“There is a restriction on cash use; no restriction on expenditure,” says Hagos. “Cash is the basis for illegal activities like human trafficking.” He says people will be able to more widely use debit and credit cards by 2017. But for, now there are not many businesses that accept cheques or credit cards.
Since the introduction of the new currency, the black market exchange rate has been halved.

“With this new currency, people don't have access to their money,” Demsas says, adding that he used to be able to afford to take his family of four out to dinner several times a month. Since the new currency was introduced, he has been struggling to afford basic foodstuffs. “What do they expect us to do?” he asks as he wals past the Bank of Eritrea. “That logo should be turned upside down,” he says.
Wealthy Eritreans can pay high-ranking government officials between $5,000 and $6,000 to be smuggled out of the country and then driven to Khartoum, according to human rights activists Meron Estefanos. The fee for a similar journey across the border with Ethiopia is $2,000 to $3,000, she says.

Kidnapped

For most Eritreans – those who do not have rich friends and relatives overseas – the journey to Europe can take years. Natnael Haile, who now lives in Sweden, says he was drafted into the army at age thirteen. After spending seven years repairing army cars on a desolate military base, he crept out of his dormitory one night in 2008. He paid smugglers $400 to take him into Sudan, where he was kidnapped and sold to nomads in the Sinai Desert. Gangs in the Sinai Desert prey on migrants. They have been found to kidnap and then torture them until their families pay a ransom.

Natnael escaped and went to a refugee camp in northern Ethiopia, where he spent three years before trying his luck again. He took the same route to Sudan but ended up staying there for a year and a half before paying $1,600 to travel to Libya. He was kidnapped again and was forced to pay $3,500 to be freed in Tripoli. There, he met Ermias, a Tunisian smuggler who charged $1,600 to travel on a boat that was doomed to sink off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island, which is considered a gateway to Europe by many refugees.

The dangerous journey to Europe does not deter many Eritreans. "We would all leave tomorrow if we had the money," says Adonay.

Some names have been changed to protect people's identities.

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