Tuesday, 03 November 2020 23:23

መመሊሱ ዝዓርግ ዘሎ፡ እንጽርጽሮት ህግዲፍ

Written by ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ሰዲህኤ

ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

መራሒ ህግዲፍ ኣብ ስልጣን ካብ ዝድይብ፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝብና ዝፍጽሞ ዘሎ ወጽዓ ኣመና ብዙሕን መሪርን ብምዃኑ ምዝርዛሩ ዘጸገም እዩ። እቲ ኩሉ ዘውርዶ በደልን ሕሱም ተግባራትን ከኣ፡ ናይቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዘለዎ ክቱር ንዕቀት፡ ቅርሕንትን ብደዐን መግለጺ ኢዩ። ከምቲ “ዝወዓለን ይንገርካ፡ ዝሰሓተን ይምከርካ” ዝብሃል፡ እቲ ቀንዲ ንምረት ወጽዓ ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ ዝፈልጦን ዝርደኦን ባዕሉ እቲ ኣብ እንግድዕኡ ዝወርድ ዘሎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እዩ። እዚ ክበሃል እንከሎ ግና፡ ብፍላይ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ካብ ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም እውን ዝተሰወረ ኣይኮነን።

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንወጽዓ ህግዲፍ “ኣሜን” ኢሉ ኣይተቐበሎን። ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ብውሽጥን ወጻእን ዘስመዖ ዘሎ ናይ “ህግዲፍ ይኺደልና” ድምጺ፡ መመሊሱ ይብርኽ ኣሎ። ኣብ ወጻኢ ይኹን ኣብ ውሽጢ ሃገር በብደረጃኡ ነቲ ጉጅለ ዝኹንን ዘሎ ድምጽታትን ናይ ሕራነ ተበግሶታትን ብቐሊሉ ዘይግመት እዩ። እዚ ነቲ ጉጅለ ዝብድህ ዘሎ ካብ ነዊሕ ናይ ቃልሲ ተመኩሮ ዝተዋህለለ ዓቕሚ እዩ። ህግዲፍ ዝለመዶ ንጉዳያት ናይ ሓቢእካ ምኻድ ግጉይ ጥበብ እንዳተሳዕረ፡ ኣዕናውን ኣጽናትን ተግባራቱ ተቓሊዑ ናይ ብዙሓት መዛረቢ ኣጀንዳ ይኸውን ከም ዘሎ ርእዩ፡ ቀርኑ ከም ዝተወቕዐ ብዕራይ የንጸርጽር ኣሎ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ በቲ ክብደት ናይቲ ኣብ ልዕሊኡ ዝወረድ ዘሎ ተወዳዳሪ ዘየብሉ ዘየናሕሲ ተግባራት ህግዲፍ፡ “ስለምታይ እዩ ነቲ ኣብ ልዕሊኡ ዝወርድ ዘሎ ወጽዓ ብዝምጥን ደረጃ ኣንጻሩ ዘይተላዕለ?” ዝብል ሕቶ በብኹርናዑ ካብ ምቅላሕ ዓዲ ኣይወዓለን።

ናይ ህግዲፍ ናይ ጸገም ኣፈታትሓ ንሓደ ጉዳይ ኣብ ምግጣም ዘይኮነ፡ ኣብ ምሕባኡን ካብኡ ምህዳምን እዩ ዝመርጽ። ነቲ “ሓባእ ቁስሉስ ሓባእ ፈውሱ” ዝብል ኣታሓሳስባ ኣዝዩ ስለ ዝፈርሆ ኣይምረሓሉን እዩ። እቲ ፍርሁ ከኣ ንዘጋጥም ብደሆ ዘበድህ ኣተሓሳስባን ትብዓትን ካብ ዘይምውናን ዝነቅል እዩ። ኤርትራ ሕገመንስቲዶ ኣየድልያን እዩ?፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ተወዲቡ ኣንጻር ጉጅለኻ ዝቃለስ ናይ ለውጢ ሓይሊ ኣሎዶ?፡ ተሓለቕቲ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ናብ ኤርትራ ኣትዮም ክዕዘቡዶ ይፍቀደሎም’ዩ?፡ ስለምንታይ ናይ ፖለቲካን ናይ ሕልናን እሱራት ናብ ቤት ፍርዲ ዘይቀርቡ ወይ ብናጻ ዘይፍትሑ?፡ ትሕዝቶ ናይቲ ቅድሚ ክልተ ዓመታት ምስ መራሒ ኢትዮጵያ ዝገብርካዮ ስምምዕ እንታይ እዩ?…….. ውዘተ ዝብሉ ሕቶታት ካብቶም ድቃስ ዝኸልእዎ ዘለዉ እዮም። እንተኾነ ከምቲ “ሕኑቕ እንታይ የውጽእ ዘይዓፍራ” ዝበሃል፡ መልሲ ስለ ዘየብሉ ምርጫኡ ምጽቃጥን ምሕባእን እዩ። ሓደሓደ ግዜ ከኣ ኣብ ክንዲ ኣብ ባይታ ዘሎ ሕቶ ምምላስ፡ ተመሊሱ ሓታታይ ኮይኑ ይቐርብ። እዚ ኩሉ እምበኣር ናይ ምሕያሉ ዘይኮነ ናይ ፍርሑን ስግኣቱን መርኣያ እዩ።

ሎሚ ግና፡ በቲ ሓደ ወገን ወጽዓ ህግዲፍ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ሓደ ኣብ ልዕልቲ ካልእ እንዳተደራረበ ኣዝዩ ስለ ዝኸበደ፡ በቲ ካልእ ወገን ከኣ እቲ ጉጅለ ሓቀኛ መንነቱ ንምሕባእ ከቕርቦ ዝጸንሐ ምስምሳት እንዳተጸንቀቐ ስለ ዝኸደ፡ ኢሳያስን ዘራጊ ኣተሓሳስባኡን ናይ ብዙሓት መዛረቢ ኣጀንዳ ኮይኖም ኣለዉ። ርግጽዩ ኤርትራ ብሰንኪ ኢሳያስ “ናይ ኣፍሪቃ ሰሜን ኮርያ” ተባሂላ ካብ እትጥመቕ ነዊሕ ግዜ ኮይኑ እዩ። ኣብዚ እዋናትዚ ከኣ፡ ብሓደ ወገን ጠበቓታት ሽወደን ብሜላዊ ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ይኸስዎ ምህላዎም፡ በቲ ካልእ ወገን ከኣ፡ ቆንስል ኤርትራ ኣብ ሆላንድ ኣብታ ሃገር፡ ካብ ዝነብሩ ኤርትራዊ ዝመበቆሎም ጸልማት ተጐልቢቡ ብምስምስ 2% ገዛገዛ እንዳ ኳሕኮሐ ገንዘብ ብምቕራሙ፡ ብሰበ ስልጣን እታ ሃገር መጠንቀቕታ ተዋሂቡ። እዚ ነቲ ጉጅለ ኣብ ርእስቲ ዝጸንሖ ዓበድበድ ሕማም መርዘን ኮይንዎ ኣሎ። እዚ ሓድሽ ኮይኑ ንጠቕሶ ኣለና እምበር፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኤርትራውያን ዝፍጽሞ ግህሰት ጠጠው ከብል፡ ደረት ዘየብሉ ግዱድ ዕስክርና ከቋርጽ ብዝተፈላለያ ኣህጉራውን ዞባውን ትካላት ካብ ዝንገሮ ነዊሕ ኮይኑ እዩ። እዚ ጉጅለ ሕሉፍ ሓሊፉ ኣብ ባሕሪ ብሓደጋ ንዝሃለቑ ዜጋታትና ኣፍልጦ ዝኸልእን ሬሳታትቶም ዝጽየፍን ምዃኑ ተወሲኽዎ ሎሚ ምስሉ ተደዊኑ’ዩ።

ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ ቅኑዕን ንህዝብን ሃገርን ዝሓልን ሓላፍነታዊ ኣተሓሳስባ እንተንዝነብሮ ነዚ ባዕሉ ዝፈጸሞ ገበናት ክንሱ፡ ብዝተፈላለዩ ወገናት ዝንገሮ ዘሎ ቆላሕታ መሃቦ። እንተኾነ ብርታዐኡ ኣብ ህልኽ ስለ ዘኹድድ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝገብሮ ከይኣኽሎ፡ ናብ ዞባና ከላብዖ ይጽዕት ኣሎ። በይኑ ከይከውን ከኣ ብባህሪ ዝመሳሰልዎ መተኣጉድቲ ሓዊ ካብ ምድላይ ዓዲ ኣይውዓለን። እቲ ብ”ዓራቒ መሲልካ ረቕራቒ” ዝግለጽ መጣቖሲ ባህሪኡ ከኣ ሎሚ’ውን ኮለል ኢሉ ይረአ ኣሎ። ብዙሓት ለኪምካ ናይ ምጥፋእ ባህሪኡ ዝተረድኡ ወገናት ከኣ በቶም መዛምድቱ መራሕቶም ኣቢሎም “እዚ ሰብዚ ካብ ጉዳይና ዘይቅዱስ ኣእዳዉ ይኣክበልና” ዝትሕዝቶኡ ተሪር መልእኽቲ የመሓላልፉ ኣለዉ። እዚ ከኣ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣንጻርዚ ጉጅለ ይካይዶ ኣብ ዘሎ ቃልሲ በይኑ ከምዘይኮነ ዘረድእ እዩ።

እዚ ጉጅለ ሓድሽ ተሓናፋጣይ ስለ ዘይኮነ፡ ሎሚ “ዘንጸርጸረ ዓጋዜንሲ ኣብ ምውጋእ በጽሐ” ዝብል ኣበሃህላ ኣይምልከቶን ይኸውን። ግና ከኣ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ እንጽርጽሮቱ መመሊሱ ይዓርግ ከም ዘሎ ንዕዘቦ ኣለና። ሎሚ ንኣካይዳኡ ባይታ ብዝኸልእ ኣተሓሳስባን ኩነታትን ተኸቢቡ ስለ ዘሎን ካብዚ ተኸቢብዎ ዘሎ ኣውጺኡ ዕደመ ዘንውሕ ጥዑይ ኣተሓሳስባ ስለ ዘየብሉን ኣብ ቅድሜኡ ዘላ ሓንቲ ምርጫ’ያ ንሳኸኣ ለኪምካ ምጥፋእ እያ። ከምኡ ስለ ዝኾነ እዩ ከኣ መፍትሒ ጸገም ብእሂንምሂን ሓቢርካ ምዕዋት እምበር ውግእ ኣብ ዘይኮነሉ ዘበን ውግእ ዝመርጽ። ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ኣብ ኤርትራ ነዚ ግጉይ ምርጫኡ ዝእምት ምንቅስቓስ የካይድ ከም ዘሎ ምልክታት ኣሎ። እዚ ምልክታትዚ ናይ ምሕያሉ ዘይኮነ፡ ተስፋ ዝቖረጸ ናይ “ተለኻኺምና ንጥፋእ” ምዃኑ ህዝብና ኣስተብሂሉ ክቃለሶ ዝግበኦ’ዩ። ህዝብና ድሕሪ ሕጂ ናብ ዘይረበሓሉ ህውከት ከምዘይኩብኮብኳ ፍሉጥ እንተኾ፡ ከነዘኻኽሮ ግና ናይ ግድን እዩ።

ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም ንናይ ህዝብና ተደጋጋሚ ምሕጽንታ ኣብ ግምእት ኣእትዩ፡ ነቲ ንህግዲፍ ንክቐጽዕ ብዝተፈላለዩ ወገናት ዝቀላቐል ዘሎ ምልክታት ዝያዳ ከሕይሎ ንጽውዕ። ንሕና ሓይልታት ለውጢ ከኣ፡ ልዕሊ ኩሉ ኢሳያስን ጉጅለኡን፡ ንሓንሳብ ዓራቓይ ንሓንሳብ ድማ ዘራይ መሲሎም ዘዕለብጥዎ ዘለዉ፡ ናይ እንጽርጹረት እምበር ናይ ብርታዐ መግለጺ ከም ዘይኮነ ተረዲእና ሓቢርና ከይለኻኸሙ ከነፋንዎም ይግበኣና።

Published in EPDP Editorial

Tigray President calls on his people to prepare for war

Written by ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS

NOVEMBER 3, 2020 ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Debretsion Gebremichael – President of Tigray Region – has gone on television to warn his people to prepare for a looming war.

Debretsion Gebremichael

He says repeatedly that the Tigrayan people want peace but if war is waged against them, they are prepare to fight and to win.

Tigray President’s speech

This war, he adds, is being waged by the Federal Governmentt of Ethiopia and a foreign power, i. e. the Eritrean regime. He calls on Eritrea’s armed forces and its people to work hard to prevent this war.

The people of the region have had costly wars in the past, he says, and have no need for further conflicts. Instead they should be working to end the poverty of their people. President Debretsion pleads repeatedly for all differences to be amicably and peacefully resolved.

The tone of the President’s speech was measured, dignified and eloquent.

Tuesday, 03 November 2020 22:55

The State Department can and should stop Eritrea’s illegal ‘diaspora tax’ in the USA

Written by Michael Rubin

NOVEMBER 3, 2020 ERITREA HUB NEWS

Source: Washington Examiner

by Michael Rubin

November 02, 2020

The greater Washington area has become a refuge for Eritreans fleeing one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships.

While great hope accompanied Eritrea’s independence almost three decades ago, freedom fighter-turned-independence leader Isaias Afwerki imposed a regime that rivals only North Korea and Turkmenistan in the level of its totalitarianism. In the latest Freedom House rankings, Eritrea even slipped behind Kim Jong Un’s hermit kingdom.

To escape mandatory and indefinite conscription (essentially state-sanctioned, lifelong slavery), many Eritreans flee and make the hazardous journey across desert and sea to Europe and, if lucky, eventually to the United States. Given the economic ruin that Isaias has wrought upon his homeland, he has long been willing to turn a blind eye toward this flight given how the remittances sent back to their family members helped Eritrea stay afloat.

The problem with dictators, whether Isaias, Kim, or Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is that they are seldom satiated by their own wealth: There is always something more they want, and they waste no effort trying to extract it from their own citizenry.

So, too, it has become with Isaias. Not content to wait for remittances to come from abroad, Isaias has sought to use the long arms of his dictatorship to levy a “diaspora tax” on Eritreans abroad, including those who now call themselves Americans. Within Eritrea, Isaias is the law. He bases demands for a “rehabilitation and recovery tax” on proclamations he issued in 1991 and 1995. Eritrean court journalists and regime apologists can say that the tax is legal, but the nature of law in Isaias’s Eritrea is akin to Louis XIV’s famous quip, “L’etat, c’est moi.” In short, the law is only the word of an absolute dictator and nothing more.

Imposing the tax inside the U.S. would be illegal on Eritrea’s part, but it would not be the first time countries have used their embassies for purposes that violate diplomatic protocols. President Jimmy Carter, for example, closed the Iranian Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue not because student radicals loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran but rather because the new Iranian regime had run an operation from the property to kill a former Iranian diplomat living in Bethesda. Turkey, likewise, now uses its embassy just up the street to spy on political opponents real or imagined.

The State Department and U.S. law enforcement should neither ignore the evidence that Eritrea is abusing its diplomatic missions nor the precedent. In December 2011, U.N. Security Council Resolution 2023 called on Eritrea to “cease using extortion, threats of violence, fraud and other illicit means to collect taxes outside of Eritrea from its nationals or other individuals of Eritrean descent.” Isaias has simply ignored the call, and flagrantly so.

In 2013, for example, Canada expelled Eritrea’s consul-general after he ignored warnings to stop extorting, harassing, and threatening Eritrean emigres unless they forfeited 2% of their earnings to the government. The move had no discernible impact on Isaias, as a subsequent investigation showed that the consulate continued its extortion scheme. In 2018, the Dutch Foreign Ministry expelled Eritrea’s top diplomat in the Netherlands after he too ignored calls to stop the embassy’s taxation of the Eritrean community as a prerequisite for access to any goods and services, and the Dutch government may soon do it again. The United Kingdom has likewise investigated Eritrea for allegedly using its diplomats to threaten and coerce Eritreans living there to remit money directly to the government. A study conducted jointly by the DSP-groep, Tilburg University, and European External Policy Advisors found that Eritrean diplomats or unofficial government intermediaries also collected funds in Belgium, Italy, Norway, and Sweden and that the Eritrean government made collection of its levy part of its broader surveillance and intimidation scheme.

The problem appears to be worsening. The Eritrean government has defined Eritreans as “any person born to a father or mother of Eritrean origin in Eritrea or abroad,” imposing citizenship and its obligations on naturalized citizens, including Americans who have never stepped foot in Eritrea and have neither the desire nor the intention to do so. Survey respondents report at least some taxation of state welfare benefits paid by their new countries to those of Eritrean origin. While some Eritreans refuse to pay the tax in the belief they will never return to Eritrea, should they need to engage the embassy, they must first pay the tax levied and accumulated from the time they fled the country. If, for example, they must register a power of attorney, they might need first to pay tens of thousands of dollars in back diaspora tax assessments. Likewise, if they need documents such as marriage certificate copies to support emigration and asylum claims, they will find themselves blocked until they pay accumulated diaspora tax.

Eritrean diplomats, for their part, deny that the diaspora tax is illegal and liken it to U.S. taxation of its citizens living abroad, something to which European countries do not subject their citizens. U.S. double taxation is bad policy on Washington’s part, but the American analogy is simply inaccurate. The U.S. negotiates double taxation treaties with various governments. That the Eritrean regime will threaten the family members of its nationals abroad to compel diaspora tax payments likewise places it firmly in the camp not of the U.S. but rather of North Korea, Turkmenistan, or, in the past, Moammar Gadhafi’s Libya or Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

The Eritrean violation in Washington both of normal diplomatic protocols and U.N. Security Council Resolution 2023 is unapologetic. The Eritrean Embassy in Washington might be temporarily closed, but its website solicits diaspora tax payments and states simply, “Eritreans who live abroad contribute 2% of their net income to rebuilding Eritrea.” It demands Eritreans turn over documents such as W-2s, U.S. tax returns, and Social Security statements so that Eritrean officials can calculate the tax owed. The Eritrean Mission in New York, however, remains open.

Ending illicit Eritrean activity on U.S. soil would be both easy and is necessary. For the State Department, the issue should not only be Eritrea but the fact that ignoring such violations gives a green light to other countries (from China to Turkey to Iran) to violate diplomatic norms at their U.N. missions and Washington embassies or interests’ sections. The European approach of simply expelling diplomats does not work because Isaias and his government simply rotate new officials in to continue the old practices. Instead, it might be time to shutter the embassy and U.N. mission if demonstrably in violation until such a time as Isaias commits both to canceling the diaspora tax and refunding the money extorted from Eritrean immigrants to the U.S.

Michael Rubin (@Mrubin1971) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a former Pentagon official.

Monday, 02 November 2020 22:23

The EU says Ethiopia a “cause for deep concern” as Tigray warns of war

Written by Martin Plaut

NOVEMBER 2, 2020MARTIN PLAUTETHIOPIA, NEWS

Source: EU High Representative

NOVEMBER 2, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Tigray president warns of war

Source: EU High Representative

Ethiopia : Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on the latest developments

Brussels, 02/11/2020 – 16:39, UNIQUE ID: 201102_18

Statements by the HR/VP

Developments in Ethiopia are a cause of deep concern. All parties as well as Ethiopia’s neighbours must act to reduce tension, eliminate inflammatory language and abstain from provocative military deployments. Failure to do so risks destabilising the country as well as the wider region.

Building a national consensus through an inclusive national dialogue, comprising all the relevant political actors, is now more important than ever. This will be the key to a democratic and prosperous future for the Ethiopian people. Coercion or the threat of force can never be an alternative.

The European Union is firmly committed to supporting reforms in Ethiopia and reiterates that the only way to ensure the success of this endeavour is to uphold the rule of law while respecting human rights. This will also guarantee the possibility of free, fair and credible elections in 2021.