NOVEMBER 8, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Source: New York Times

A senior United Nations official said it had become extremely difficult to travel inside Tigray, forcing the organization to suspend food distributions to vast camps along the border with Eritrea that house thousands of refugees.

 

Some humanitarian workers were stuck outside the regional capital, Mekelle, as they waited for clearance to travel from Tigray, said the official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

 

Ann Encontre, head of the U.N. refugee agency’s branch in Ethiopia, said operations to assist asylum seekers had been badly affected in Tigray. “You can’t go in and out of the region, and the air traffic has stopped,” she said.

 

The government says its operation is targeted at Tigray’s leaders and not ordinary citizens.

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The reckless Isaias and the light - weight Abiy are crafting some kind of a plan with a sinister motive to rick havoc in the region where instability is already the daily currency. whatever the two amigos are conniving to do,  the Eritrean people may be trapped   in bloodshed spilled out from the anticipated Ethiopian civil war being incited by the war lord, Isaias Afeworki and his willing accomplice, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The   Eritrean people gave  its all in the 30 year war for independence as a result of which thousands of its sons and daughters were fallen. Even though no war is justifiable at any time the suffering of our people in that period of struggle can be said it was legitimate because there was a noble cause behind the pain. Other wars fought throughout the Horn of Africa and beyond were illegal. The sad part is even after independence the people never got a breathing space much less to be rewarded with a democratic administration which was well earned. The suffering never ceased anyway.

At the time when Eritrean mothers just came fresh out of tears, Isaias opened unprovoked hostilities with Ethiopia (1998 - 2000) on one hand to tighten his grip on Eritrea by coming out victorious (in his own delusional thinking) and on the other to feed his insatiable greed for power or ambition beyond Eritrea. Anyway he didn’t think twice, he went on with his disastrous plan and sent our boys and girls underfed and under equipped into the merciless fire line. The   outcome of these adventurous provocations were quite predictable. Well over the figure Isaias admitted (19,000) of our   young lives were snuffed for no reason or rhyme. Those who were wounded are at least twice of the dead. Think about the continuously grieving Eritrean families. What is even harder to grasp is that the guy never accepts responsibility nor does he show any remorse for the devastation of lives and property which he alone caused by pushing our kids into the “Bademe” war that should have never been fought in the first place.

Throughout the years of his life in the struggle for freedom, Isaias had a parallel agenda for Eritrea. On the surface he used to act like he was for independence but in his heart he never wished to see a sovereign Eritrea. He showed this attitude way before the victory through his secretive meetings with the enemy at different times and places. Yet this treason was tolerated by his inner circle. In fact he used to consider the EPLF as his own private organization and this too was tolerated by a larger circle inside EPLF. After the joint forces of EPLF and TPLF pushed ELF out of the arena, Isaias got his unchecked freedom to do whatever he wished to do. And so the absence of Jebha in the arena gave him more latitude to the extent that he began to feel he owned the whole country. Consequently, he lost any accountability and transparency to the structures of the organization he eventually led to the sunset despite all the blood - letting and martyrdom of the brave fighters.

At last when Isaias made certain that there is no single soul in Eritrea who has the mendacity to question or challenge his actions, he brought his hidden dream out on the surface for everyone to know. Besides the lease or sale of the southern tip of the Red Sea (Assab) area to the oil sheiks, his first show down was his flight to Addis Ababa where he signed a bilateral agreement with prime minister Abiy Ahmed to deliver him the sovereign country of Eritrea. Imagine the arrogance of the dictator, all this was taking place without the consent of the owners of the country, Eritrean people that is. At this point those who didn’t know who Isaias   was and those who were only suspicious of him, now you know we had an undercover president who was spying for Ethiopia against our country. Admittedly, he was waiting for a convenient time to merge the country to his homeland, Ethiopia. Indeed, he did it at the time when Eritrea reached at her lowest point. In the height of his arrogance, the dictator said in Addis:  Ethiopia and Eritrea are one country, those who think otherwise do not understand history. Among other things he also shamelessly added that the liberation war of Eritrea against Ethiopia was a meaningless endeavor. One cannot find enough words to condemn his betrayal to the people and the country of Eritrea. 

Up to this date the two leaders continue their undiplomatic shuttle between Addis and Asmara in the hope of finalizing the handing over of Eritrea to Ethiopia. In the process however, they were well aware that they have a common enemy in Tigray which both of whom agree to either diminish or wipe them out militarily to realize their dreams. As long as the Weyane remains tall and unyielding,  the amigos cannot freely shake and move the country as they wish without often looking to their shoulders. Right now, we are all witnessing prime minister Abiy is moving and shuffling army command   centers from one area to the other in his effort to strike at Weyane positions. Do not also forget that Abiy is greatly depending on the promise of Isaias that he would simultaneously put pressure on the Weyane points from the northern flank so that the Tigrayans would in the end be sandwiched between the two lawless bandits who deserve to appear in the International Court for genocide in Eritrea and Ethiopia. 

Regardless of the outcome of their planned invasion of Tigray, the agenda of recolonizing Eritrea is alive and well. Read the opinions of the experts of the horn region like Martin Plaut and other Eritrean analysts on the topic. They all warn that occupation of Eritrea is a gathering danger waiting to happen. Since the faith of our country fell in the hands of Isaias and his co-conspirators, is there anything the opposition can do at this time to rescue Eritrea from the power crazed day - light hyenas (shulul Akerit) led by the arch salesman, Mr. Afeworki before it is too late? In my humble opinion yes, the opposition can do a plenty good by conducting one of a kind intensive diplomatic campaign to let the world know that Ethiopians are about to commit a crime over a sovereign people and country of Eritrea by invading their country and annex it to Ethiopia. Why wouldn’t   they when such a rare opportunity presents itself to them. From here on the future of Eritreans is facing humiliation and pain in the hands of our neighbors but For Isaias, it will be a heroic home coming with a priceless bounty for Ethiopia. 

Suggestion: Essentially the opposition is working hard to bring the aimlessly scattered organizations at least one step closer to each other. In the meantime however, considering the urgency of the dire conditions in Eritrea the opposition should and must form a special team to lobby the UN, EU, AU and other relevant countries to stop the imminent danger being weaved by Isaias and negus Abiy. I would rather not go into the technicalities or details of the team, nevertheless the group must be composed of experts in diplomacy and .skilled in languages. Please do not postpone this because once Ethiopia occupies our country, do not expect the world will be shocked; the super powers, African leaders, the Arabs and Israel will not condemn, sanction or force Ethiopia to withdraw from Eritrea. This, because (a) they hate the guts of Isaias, (b) they all believe Ethiopia deserves access to the sea, (c) they see there is nothing wrong with being united, after all it is right that works it is might. 

P.S. Do not discount the first part of this piece as simply rehashing the past. We have to own the bad and not so bad, it is our history and we have to always remember it and yes we have to rehash it.

The second part is the tragedy being predicated upon our sovereign state by Isaias  and his yes men. It was not written out of fear or paranoia, it is a real danger coming which all of us should take seriously. Who among us is not convinced that Isaias and Abiy are playing with fire, may be those who believe Isaias   can do no wrong? Let’s hope the big hole he is digging for us may be his grave. 

*Unfortunately after I finished this piece the war between Tigray and Ethiopia flared up immediately. However, I decided to go ahead and let it be posted.

By Asfaha Woldemichael