Articles

Sunday, 25 November 2018 14:16

Is Eritrea about to send troops to Somalia once more?

Written by Martin Plaut

November 25, 2018 Martin Plaut News

Reports are beginning to circulate that as part the deal President Isaias struck with Somalia in Ethiopia, he is preparing to deploy troops to support the government in Mogadishu.

There is no confirmation at the moment that this is about to take place. But, as Kjetil Tronvoll remarks, if it did take place it would mean an end to plans to reduce the length of National Service, which currently continues indefinitely.

Sending Eritrean troops to Somalia would – of course – solve one of President Isaias’s dilemmas: what to do with thousands of demobilised young men and women, for whom he has no work. Having them hang around towns, including Asmara, could prove very difficult. With nothing to do and all day to do it they might become restless and law and order could evaporate.

Eritrea’s forgotten wars

Far better to send them on another foreign adventure.

This would not be Eritrea’s first international intervention: it has had a number of forgotten wars since independence.

These include conflicts in:

Sudan
Somalia
Congo
Djibouti
Yemen

Back into Somalia

President Isaias invervened in Somalia in the past.

The previous occassion followed the re-location of Somalia’s Islamic Courts to Eritrea in 2007, after the invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia.

Eritrea subsequently sent advisers and military equipment to the Islamist group, al-Shabaab, which arose out of the Islamic Courts.

As the UN Monitors put it in their 2011 report to the Security Council: “Asmara’s continuing relationship with Al-Shabaab, for example, appears designed to legitimize and embolden the group rather than to curb its extremist orientation or encourage its participation in a political process. Moreover, Eritrean involvement in Somalia reflects a broader pattern of intelligence and special operations activity, including training, financial and logistical support to armed opposition groups in Djibouti, Ethiopia, the Sudan and possibly Uganda in violation of Security Council resolution 1907 (2009).”

In President Isaias’s own words

Although the president later denied supporting Al-Shabaab, this was not always his position. As he declared in 2009: “We support all resistance from anyone in Somalia.”

This came in an interview with Channel 4 – the independent British news channel.

This is what he said:

In an interview with Channel 4 News Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki defended Somalia’s militants saying that as his country supported all Somalis it would be a “mistake” to limit this support to “one or two groups.”

“We support all resistance from anyone in Somalia,” he said.

“Somalis have worked with outside forces for money for fame for what have you. They have collaborated with outsiders, we are against collaborators – we are with Somalis.”

“You may not agree with the ideology of al-Shabaab, Somalis may not agree with the ideology of al-Shabab but it’s up to them to have their own ideology. You need to respect their choice.

“Categorising anyone political group as terrorist isn’t qualified as a common understanding of that qualification. Now, anyone in any government will call an opposition a terrorist organisation.”

Mr Afwerki claimed that the United States and its allies had “created a situation of chaos in Somalia by providing weapons” to warlords but that he didn’t think a culture of blame was the solution.

“I wish we had the resource and we had the ability to support Somali resistance in any way. Physically, it hasn’t been possible. Theoretically, we may want to see that happen.

“We don’t want to get into this cycle of accusations and counter-accusations on who’s being supplying this or that faction in Somalia for the last 20 years.

“We would like resistance to succeed in Somalia and Somalis to be left alone to find a solution for their own problems without an external intervention.

“If you agree to that, pull out from Somalia. Don’t supply weapons to warlords. Don’t divide and weaken Somalia. You leave Somalia to Somalis and Somalis will find a solution for themselves. As long as this conflict continues, we remain supportive of the resistance in Somalia in any form.”

Intervention in 2019

If the report quoted at the start of this article is correct, and the Eritreans go into Somalia again, it will be on the other side.

They will be backing President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” – not Al-Shabaab.

However this would not alter one fact: young Eritreans would be dying in a foreign land.

That has been the pattern of foreign policy followed by President Isaias since 1991: he is unlikely to change.

Sunday, 25 November 2018 14:12

In an Eritrea – Ethiopia common market, who wins?

Written by Martin Plaut

November 24, 2018 Martin Plaut Other, Research & information

The past is not a sure means of predicting the future, but it is an important indicator. So what happened during the Ethio-Eritrea Common Market which existed between the effecive independence of Eritrea and the outbreak of the border war (1991-1998)?

Here is one assessment by Professor Worku Aberra, of Dawson College, Westmount, Quebec. If anyone has reached a different conclusion, please get in touch.

Below is the conclusion and the full paper can be found here: The Ethio-Eritrea Common Market (1991-1998)

Conclusion

“The decision of the transitional government to enter into a preferential trade agreement with the EPLF that benefitted Eritrea was not due to its carelessness, negligence, indifference, naiveté, hubris, or incompetence. It was a rational political decision that the TPLF leadership made to consolidate its grip on power in the early 1990s, but it resulted in a net economic loss for Ethiopia and a net economic gain for Eritrea.

The common market allowed the EPLF to transfer a large amount of Ethiopia’s resources, worth billions of dollars, to Eritrea over eight years. The transferred resources generated income, foreign exchange, and employment for Eritrea. Khadiagata (1999, p. 43), for example, asserts that the common market produced some 300,000 jobs in Eritrea.

Beyond the common market, the strategic alliance that the two fronts forged in the early 1990s, in part based on their shared negative attitude if not outright enmity towards Ethiopia, enabled the EPLF to acquire Ethiopia’s physical assets in Eritrea and to forego Eritrea’s share of Ethiopia’s national debt without any compensation or obligation to Ethiopia.

The preferential treatment of Eritrea at the expense of Ethiopia by the TPLF-controlled government is emblematic of its resolve, even today, to stay in power by pursuing policies that undermine Ethiopia’s economic interests, national unity, and political transformation to democratic governance.”

Sunday, 25 November 2018 12:07

ኢሳይያስ ሒዝዎ ዘሎ መንገዲ ሓደገኛ ምዃኑ ተገሊጹ

Written by ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ሰዲህኤ

ኣቶ ወልደየሱስ ዓማር ሓላፊ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣህጉራዊ ዝምድናታት ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) እቲ ካብ ነዊሕ ግዜ ጀሚሩ ንሓደገኛነት ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ብዝምልከት ክንሰምዖን ክነንብቦን ዝጸናሕና ሎሚ ብተግባር ንርእዮ ኣለና ኢሉ። ንሱ ነዚ ዝገለጸ ኣብቲ ብቤት ጽሕፈት ጉዳይ መንእሰያት ሰዲህኤ ዝጽዋዕ ወርሓዊ መደብ ፓልቶክ ዕዱም ጋሻ ኮይኑ ብ24 ሕዳር 2018 “ተራ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ኣብ ምብላሕ ብደሆታትና’ ኣብ ትሕቲ ዝብል ዛዕባ ዘቕረቦ መበገሲ ሓሳብ እዩ።

ኣቶ ወልደየሱስ ዓማር ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ብኣጻብዕ ዝቑጸሩ ኤርትራውያን፡ ገለን ነቲ ዝኸዶ ዘሎ ናይ ጥፍኣት መንገዲ ሓደገኛ ሳዕቤን ስለ ዘይተረድኡ፡ ገለን ከኣ እቲ ሓደገኛ ጉዕዞ እንዳተረድኦም ብውልቃዊ ሕሳባት ተሻቢቦም ደድሕሪ ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ ዝጐዓዙ ከም ዘለዉ ጠቒሱ። ብኣንጻሩ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ዳርጋ ኩሉ ኤርትራዊ ክበሃል ብዝኽእል ኣንጻር’ዚ ኢሳይያስ መሪጽዎ ዘሎ ሓደገኛ ጉዕዞ ምዃኑ ብብዙሕ ኣብነታት ኣሰንዩ ገሊጹ። ኢሳይያስ ነቲ መልክዕናን ምንጪ ሓይልናን ዝኾነ ብዙሕነትና ብሓደገኛ ጥበብን ሰላሕታዊ ኣገባብን ከም መፈላለዪ ኣባሊሑ ከም መዳኸሚ ኤርትራን ኤርትራውነትን ክጥቀመሉ ከም ዝጸንሐን ሕጂ እውን በዚ ግጉይ መንገዲኢ ይቕጽል ከም ዘሎ ዝገለጸ ኣቶ ወልደየሱስ፡ ሃስያታቱ ሓድነት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ሓደጋ ብምውዳቕ ኮነ ምስ ጐረቤት ኢትዮጵያን ካለኦት ሃገራትን መልክዑ ዝሓለወ ኣብ ናይ ሓባር ረብሓ ዝተሰረተ ዝምድና ከይህልወና ክዕንቅፍ ከም ዝጸነሐ ናይ ገዛእ ርኡሱ ሃብታም ተመኩሮ ብምድህሳ ኣስፊሑ ኣብሪሁ።

ኣብዚ ኢሳይያስ ነቲ ደሓን ዝነበረ ኤርትራዊ መንነትን ልኡላውነትን ግዜ እንዳሓለወ በብቑሩብ እንዳሸራረፈ ኣብዚ ሕጂ ዘለዎ ሓደገኛ ደረጃ ምብጽሑ ዝተገልጸሉ ኣኼባ፡ ኩነታት ኤርትራ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ናይ ቃልሲ ድሕረ ባይታና ብዘየገድስ ንኹልና ፈተውቲ ሃገርን ህዝብን ኤርትራውያን ከቢድ ሻቕሎት ከም ዘሕደረልናን ከቢድ ሃገር ናይ ምድሓን ሓላፍነት ከም ዘሰክመናን ኣብዚ ኣኼባ ተንጸባሪቑ። ብዙሓት ጸሓፍትን ተመራመርትን ኤርትራውያን ከም ዘረጋገጽዎ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ንውድብ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ንሃገርን ህዝብን እውን ከም ናይ ውልቁ ንብረት ቆጺሩ ክጣላዕ ድሕር ዘይብል ምዃኑ ከም ዝተረጋገጸ ብኣብነታዊ ተመኩሮታት ተሰንዩ ቀሪቡ። ኣብ ቅድሜና ሓያል ብደሆ ከምዘሎ ዝገለጸ ኣቶ ወልደየሱስ ቂም፡ መላኽነትን ክሕደትን ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ ካብ ቀደም ጀሚሩ ናይ ውልቁ እምበር ነቲ ዝመርሖ ዝነበረ ውድብ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ሓርነት ኤርትራን ተጋደልትን ከምዘይውክል ብንጹር ኣስፊሩ።

“ዝተወሰነ ካብ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንኢሳይያስ ይፈትዎ ነይሩ ክኸውን ይኽእል፡ ኢሳይያስ ግና ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከምዘይፈትዎ ብተግባር ክረአ ጸኒሑ እዩ” ምስበለ ኣቶ ወልደየሱስ፡ ኢሳይያስ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከምዘይፈቱ፡ ምስ ጓና ኮይንካ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ሓይሊ ብምድኻም፡ ንህዝቢ ኣጓኒኻ ውልቃዊ ውሳነታት ብምውሳን፡ ከረጋግጾ ጸኒሑ ሕጂ ብዝገደዶ መልክዕ ብቕሉዕ ኣገባብ ይቕጽሎ ኣሎ ኢሉ።

ድሕሪቲ ሰፊሕ መግለጺ ብተሳተፍቲ፡ ካብ ቀደም ንኢሳይያስ ብቐረባ ዝፈልጥዎ ነባራት ስለምንታይ ብዓንተቦ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዘይምሕባሮም፡ ኢሳይያስ እዚ ኩሉ ጸይቂ ንክፍጽም ዝሓገዞ ኣጋጣምታት፡ ንጽልዋ ኤርትራዊ ሓይሊ ተቓውሞ ኣብ ከባቢና ኣብ ዝረአ ዘሎ ምዕባለታት ዝምልከቱ ዝርከብዎም ሕቶታት ቀሪቦም ግቡእ መብርሂ ተዋህብዎም። ብዘይካዚ እቲ ቀንዲ ጉዳይ ዝሓለፈ ጉዳያት ምዝርዛር ዘይኮነ መጻኢኸ እንታይ ንግበር ኣብ ዝብል ብዙሓት “ኢሳይያስ ከይተወገደ ኣብ ኤርትራ ራህዋ ኣይረጋገጽን” ዝመልእኽቶም ሃነጽቲ ሓሳባት ብምቕራብ ኣኼባ ተዛዚሙ።

Saturday, 24 November 2018 11:38

In the name of peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the people of Eritrea have to be sacrificed:The repression in Eritrea is ignored

Written by Petros Tesfagiorgis

By Petros Tesfagiorgis 11-22-18

The amazing peace campaign by the new Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahamed (PMAA) is one of the key moments in the history of Ethiopia. When PMAA signed peace with Eritrea, I was over the moon with happiness. I wrote an article on an Eritrean and Ethiopian websites encouraging my fellow Eritreans to be part of this remarkable initiative. For us, Eritreans, peace is priceless. However, for the people of Eritrean peace is not only with Ethiopia but more important internal peace that ends repression which is destroying the fabric of the Eritrean society.

However, President Isaias has failed to take advantage of this wind fall momentum. He has not released all prisoners of conscience, ended repression and become part of the movement bringing democracy to Eritrea. If he did adopt these win-win policies Isaias could have resigned with dignity and live the life of an elder, until his creator recalls him. For his part PMAAi s ignoring the repression in Eritrea. Yes the people of Eritrea are being sacrificed in order to appease his soul mate Isaias.

But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has missed the point, it is in Isaias DNA to thrive and rejuvenate through conflict. He is already creating a problem. Questions are being raised by Ethiopians about his interference in Ethiopian internal affairs. Indeed, he has become part of the conspiracy to isolate and weaken the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the vanguard of the people of Tigray. This is in support of the Amhara -who felt that their right to rule Ethiopia from the Centre Addis Ababa came to end when in 1991 the TPLF army defeated the military regime and entered Addis Ababa in triumph, forming a government with other groups that represented the Amhara, Oromo and Southern people. Since then those Amhara who were part of Emperor Haile Selassie’s regime, or the Military Junta, have hated the TPLF. This, despite the fact that TPLF/EPRDF transformed the country from an undeveloped, famine stricken country, into a country with the highest economic growth in Africa. They build the infrastructure of roads and services and more that 40 universities, which provide the oppressed nationalities the skilled man power to govern themselves. More than that, they introduced a federal system of government that helped the formerly oppressed nationalities to be confident in themselves and to affirm their rightful place in Ethiopia. Because of that the Amhara hate the TPLF and they have to alley with a devil to destroy them.

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It is absolutely right to bring some corrupt TPLF/EPRDF officials to court and persecute them. But to politicise it in such a way as to undermine the heroic struggle of the people of’ Tigray is wrong. Isaias’s outburst of: “Game Over” has said it all although I don’t like Johar’s extremist politics his complaint that PM Abiy is getting orders from the Arabs and Isaias is beginning to make sense.

The people of Eritrea has nothing to do with the interference of Isaias in the internal affairs of Ethiopia. On the country,we want to see a united, strong and prosperous Ethiopia at peace with itself and its neighbours. That is why many of us “justice seekers” resent the unholy alliance between PMAA and Isaias in order to damage the TPLF. Also there are things unforgettable: that it is the TPLF and the people of Tigray who unequivocally supported the right of Eritreans to determine their future because they were clear about the colonial history of Eritrea. While the Amhara movements such as EPRP (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party) wavered. They sought armed struggle training in the liberated areas of Eritrea on the basis of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”. It is dangerous game which does not serve the interest of the Ethiopian people including the ordinary Amhara, because they too were oppressed under the feudal repressive Amhara rule.

For us Eritreans, it is the welfare of the people that has to be central to the peace. Peace is meant to bring repression to an end; to allow people to freely build their shattered lives and engage in economic and social development. In peace Ethiopia can have an access to the sea and there will be economic cooperation between the countries of the region that may develop into a Horn of Africa common market. Many Ethiopian intellectuals accuse TPLF/EPRDF of repression at home but when it comes to Eritrea they maintain silence. It is a double standard devoid of principle. Their claim about our brothers/sisters to Eritreans is a fake. Some Ethiopian know that Isaias is abusing the people of Eritrea, that he has side-lined them and impoverished them by mismanaging the society and the economy. Also, he had undermined the struggle for independence that encouraged some Ethiopians to dismiss it as a failure.

In his article Mamo Muchie said “Moving from failed 1991 -1993 transition to the 2018 re-union transition. From his perspective the victory of 1991 and the referendum in which the people of Eritrea voted for independence is a failure and a disaster." Eritreans are conscious of their own history (our own) history, his remarks exposed his chauvinist mind set.

For Eritreans who fought for 30 years, it was a victory against the illegal annexation of Eritrea to Ethiopia which resulted in the destruction of our democratic institutions, including our political parties, student organisations and trade unions. It resulted in the abolition of Eritrean languages (Tigrinya and Arabic) which was replaced by Amharic, the ruling class language. All this gave rise to the beginning of arms struggle: the rest is history that led to an extraordinary achievement: independence. It was an amazing victory.

For Mamo Muchie it is OK to see Eritrea an ex-Italian colony, ripe to be appropriated by repressive feudal rulers of Ethiopia, unaware of the loss to life and property through air raids bombing of villages, and burning houses in addition to the death of thousands of fighters.

This perspective is not unique to Ethiopian intellectuals. In history we find that those who benefited from a repressive system have a different perspective of history from their victims. Mamo may have short memory but under the Amhara feudal rule Ethiopia was labelled a “prison of nationalities”. The 1974 revolution, spearheaded by the Ethiopian University progressive students was designed to get rid of the feudal repressive system and to allow all nationalities to participate in the Government as equal partners.

Take the example of the Oromos. The Oromos have different perspective of history to that of the Amharas. For them Menelik1I is a brutal colonizer. I quote from a publication titled OROMIA- a brief introduction by Gadaa Melban.

The Oromos were colonized during the last quarter of the 19^th century by a black African nation –Abyssinia. During the invasion Menelik reduced the Oromo population by about half. After colonization, Menelik continued to treat Oromos with utmost cruelty. Many were killed by colonial settlers, died of famine and epidemics of vicious diseases, or are sold as slaves. Haile Selassie consolidated Menelik’s gain and with the use of violence obstructed the free operation of the process of natural and historical development of the Oromo society. The military junta headed by Mengustu Haile Mariam (believed to be a distant relative of Menelik) continued on the path of Menelik and Haile Selassie in the oppression of Oromos.

The Amhara have a different perspective of this history. For the Amhara, the Amhara king, Menelik 11 (17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913) is a legend. From his seat, Addis Ababa- Shoa –) he invaded the South inhabited mostly by Oromo’s and other minorities and build a strong feudal Ethiopia. He is a king warrior and a modernized opened modern schools and built roads. He famously is known for defeating the Italian army at the battle of Adwa in 1906. (see picture)

Mamo Muchie’s perspective is shared by many Ethiopians. They think that there was no need for Eritreans to fight for their independence and that it is a failure. This is simply incorrect. Many leaders of liberation movements who took up arms against occupation and seize power ended up as dictators. But their right to fight for independence was not disputed.

Petros Tesfagiorgis article 2

The key question is this: Are Ethiopians going to respect Eritrean sovereignty? The people of Eritrea expected the marking of the boundary on the ground to take place, since Prime Minister Abiy has accepted the outcome of the boundary commission. But Isaias says there is no need for this boundary.

The Eritrean people are being side-lined in the peace process. Isaias refused to end repression, hence, the Eritreans have no choice but to wake up, and stand up against these injustices in order to bring democratic change in Eritrea. The Eritreans in Diaspora have already risen up to the challenge and are engaging in debates and conferences to build united resistance with their aim of “power to the people”.

An understanding of history and acknowledgement of historical wrongs are essential to any honest and accurate evaluation of the present. To continue

The end

Source=http://www.aigaforum.com/article2018/In-the-name-of-peace-eritrean-sacrifice.htm