By Samrawit

Who is not inspired by the movement and demand for change in the Middle East and North Africa? Even in the most democratic country, America, Wisconsin labor solidarity demonstration in mid February , shortly after the stepping down of Hosni Mubarak, is somehow believed (by many,  including me) that it was influenced by the wave  of movement for rights staged in Tunisia , followed by Egypt.  Protests against repressive regimes, demands for both political and economic rights are going on in Bahrain, Yemen Syria and Libya. And the list goes on. It is contagious and we, Eritreans, are not immune. But are we there yet?

Not surprisingly we have common issues with many of those countries. Some of us still talk about our grandfather who died in Tripoli and we still remember Hanish Islands conflict, a very recent incident, after independence that involved a son, brother, father or someone we know and our nation as a whole. But our common feature or the youth goes beyond.  Our young population has being cut off from political and economic life, work, education, leading to deeper poverty. And in the case of Eritrea, just like adding salt to injury, the young generation is not allowed to move freely even inside Eritrea (you will need menkesakesi  wereket ( mobility  permit papers) as they call it), freedom of expression(even to a limited level) is out of question and there is this endless forced conscription and national service (which is by the way the regime’s strategy to control the youth).  In a nutshell those are similarities and differences that we need to look, at least to have an idea where we stand, in terms to our beloved Eritrea, in this crucial moment in history. 

To elaborate on the furnishing ground that is fundamentally present in all the uprisings ,the young generation reached collective consciousness that goes beyond the mere understanding of the situation in which they are in. this collective consciousness leads to identifying oneself in a group rather than individual, with a future jeopardized by a government which blocks all ways and means for improvement and development. So where do we stand as Eritreans?

Without doubt, we all are aware of the dictatorial leadership in Eritrea that has so far since independence  had made the life of the Eritrean people a race to nowhere with its unrealistic and rigid policies that interfere with their daily life, while leaders and  few of the haves enjoy many privileges. the haves will pay under the table and those in power will break the rules to exempt a family member from going to saw or leave the country without fulfilling national obligations(as they call it). And mind you they are not traitors, but you are if you stand for your right. 

The hypocrisy is everywhere. Just to mention an example on December 2009 a group of Eritrean football players failed to return to Eritrea after participating in regional tournament in Kenya. In a country like Eritrea where the rights are reserved for the very few, you have little option but use the small opportunity window. And in many cases those young men were either denied to pursue higher education (with a rigid system that would not allow them to take part in matriculation more than once, or would not give them an opportunity to develop fully to their potential as professional players. While the president of the dictatorial regime was not aware(at least that is what he said in his interview with Aljazeera), the Minister of Information Ali Abdu called the young Eritreans traitors. And not long than a year and half, Mr Ali Abdu made sure that his eldest daughter (born in Eritrea) flee Eritrean before she reached 11^th grade(a time when she will have to go to Sawa). The story goes on and the basic human rights of Eritrean citizens are crushed day after day , and the act of boldness and courage is demonized.  An impoverished and less educated population with limited access to means of communication and no right to assemble, the tactics of demonizing and instigating fear seems to work to some level. As a person who had been there, I believe that our young Eritreans are conscious (even those who proclaim their support for regime in power) of the violations and exploitation.  Our youngsters are aware that their fathers/mothers lived it, aunts/uncles and elder siblings lived it too, and instead of harvesting the works of the older generation, or finding themselves one level higher than their predecessor, still they find themselves less educated, financially dependent and absolutely not involved in political decision making. So if collective consciousness is there what is lacking to lead to a non-violent uprising in Eritrea? The suggested answer here is our young people need to see themselves as a political group rather than individuals mistreated and trying to solve their predicament on individual terms, when it should be on collective terms.  

 We lack such approach in Eritrea not as a result or failure of our youngster comprehension of the matter, rather as a result of the existing dictatorial government policies. With no rights to assemble or belong or establish youth, workers and other interest groups (only those run by the government National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students, National Union of Eritrea Women, workers association are permitted) and with crippled access to communication and utilization of the new technology including internet (censored and limited access) the situation is more and more complicated.

But still the question remains, are we there yet? Again we will need to look how they did it in Tunisia, Egypt and the rest of the Middle East. The amazing role technology is playing, particularly internet and mobile is hard to replicate in Eritrea. And another thing is our youngsters do not enjoy a little window of freedom of expression and there are no opposition parties or civil rights movements in Eritrea. But still is there a way? Though they had a little window in some of those countries such as Egypt their demands were not heard in the past, or there was no mass movement as such.

As we are now trying to find answers to the popular uprising and movement that is going on, those young people all those years had made it their job to build consciousness about nonviolent uprising and utilized many channels, including distributing written copies from books that advocate peaceful uprising that others had implemented in the past (translated copies from Gene Sharp’s book “From Dictatorship to Democracy”). And that we can do in the case of Eritrea with all the limits and hurdles.  So we are almost there, but we need to equip our young generation inside the country with information, education directly targeted to them that uses the languages they understand and the media outlet that is more accessible. And based in our history and current situation, print and radio is the best option to prompt ideas and encourage action inside Eritrea.