ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ምስ ጐረባብቱ ህዝብታት ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ብዞባ ኮነ ብዓለም ደረጃ እንተዝወዳደር እውን፡ “እምቢ ንመግዛእትን ወጽዓን” ኢሎም መሰሎም ብቃልሶም ካብ ዘረጋገጹ ህዝቢታት ቅድሚት ዝስራዕ እዩ። ኣብቲ ጌና ቀጻሊ ዘሎ ጉዕዞ ቃልሱ ጽንዓቱ፡ ትብዓቱን ሓድነቱን ምስጢር ዓወቱ ምዃኑ ዝተረድኡ ናይ ግዳም ገዛእቲ ኮኑ ዘቤታውያን ወጻዕቲ ነዚ ምስጢር ናይ ዓወቱ ዝኾነ ባህርያቱ ከዳኽሙ ቅድም ላሕ ኢሎም፡ ሎሚ’ውን ይቕጽሉ ኣለዉ። ቅድም ናጽነቱ ከም ዘይከልከልዎ፡ ሎሚ’ውን ናይ ግዜ ጉዳይ እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ ወሳንነት ህዝባ ዝረጋገጸሉ ዲሞክራስያዊት ኤርትራ ካብ ምህናጽ ኣይክዓግትዎን እዮም።

እወ! ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክሳብ ሎሚ ሞሳ ናይቲ ዝኸፈሎ ክቡር ዋጋ ኣይረኸበን፡ ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ምስ ግዜ መግዛእቲ እንዳወዳደረ፡ “ባዕለይዶ በላዕየይ ጸዊዐ” ብዘብል ምረት ክንዲ ዝያዳ ዝተቓለሰ፡ ዝያዳ ተወጻዕን ተበዳልን ኮይኑ ምህላዉ ይረአ ኣሎ። ንዝሓለፈ ሰላሳ ዓመታት ብሰንኪቲ ሕድሩ ዝበለዐ መላኽዒ ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ ዝመርሖ ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ፡ “ድምጹ ኣብ ዘይስመዓሉ” ሃለዋት  ይደሃኽ ምህላዉ ንዕዘቦ ኣለና። “ነዚ ኣፉ ዝተለጉመ  ህዝቢ ድምጺ ንኹኖ” እንብል ከኣ ካብዚ ነቒልና ኢና።

ኣብ ትሕቲ ወጽዓ ምንባር ብህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝተጀመረ ኣይኮነን። ርሑቕ ከይከድና፡ ጐረቤቱ ህዝቢ ሱዳን ዳርጋ ንሰላሳ ዓመታት፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ  ምምሕዳር ዑመር ኣልበሽር ኣብ ተመሳሳሊ ወጽዓ ጸኒሑ። ግን ከኣ ምሉእ ዳኣ ይግበሮ እምበር ብቓልሱ ንበሽር ኣልጊስዎ እዩ። ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ ምእንቲ ናይ ለውጢ ንፋስ ካብ ሱዳን ናብ ኤርትራ ከይነፍስ፡ ኣብ ሱዳን እውን ሓቀኛ ናይ ለውጢ ድምጺ ንከይስማዕ ኢድ ኣእትዩ ንሓያሎ ዓመታት ክዘርግ ከም ዝጸንሐ ዝዝንጋዕ ኣይኮነን። እቲ ምዝራግ ናይ ህግዲፍ ሎሚ እውን ኣብ ሱዳን ምልክታቱ ይረአ ኣሎ። ናይቲ ጉጅለ ኢድ ኣብ ምግዳድ ጸገማት ምብራቕ ሱዳን ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ መድረኻት ኣዘራራቢ ኮይኑ ምህላዉ ከኣ መረጋገጺ እዩ።

ተመኩሮ ቃልሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ጥራይ ተሓጺሩ ዝነበረ ዘይኮነ፡ ካብ ኤርትራ ወጻኢ ዘሕድሮ ጽልዋታት ነይርዎ እዩ። ብፍላይ ከኣ ኣብ ሱዳንን ኢትዮጵያን ጽልዋኡ ርኡይ ነይሩ። ኣብ ሱዳን ዘነበረ ወጽዓ ምስ ናይ ኤርትራ ዝመሳሰል እምበር፡ ዝሓሸ ምንባሩ ፍሉጥ እዩ። ካልእ ይትረፍ ሱዳናውያን ኣብ ገዛእ ዓዶም ኣብ ፖሊታዊ ኮነ ሲቪላዊ ምልዕዓላት ናይ ምውዳብን ናይ ተቓውሞ ሰልፍታትን ኣድማታትን ናይ ምክያድን ተኽእሎ ነይርዎም። ሳላዚ ዕድል ምርካቦም ከኣ ነቲ ወጻዒ ጉጅለ ብማዕዶ ዘይኮነ ብቐረባ ኣብ ኣፍንጫኡ ኮይኖም ክከታትልዎን ድቃስ ክኸልእዎን ኣኽኢልዎም። ሳላዚ ተኽእሎዚ ከኣ  ንምምሕዳር ዑመር ኣልበሽር ብዘይጐነጻዊ ህዝባዊ ማዕበል ኣወጊደምዎ። ህዝቢ ሱዳን ናብዚ ዓወትዚ ካብ ዘብቅዕዎ ቀንዲ ምኽንያታት  ኩሎም ኣብ ለውጢ ረብሓ ዘለዎም ምስ ኩሉ ፍልልያቶም ብሓባር ኣንጻር ናይ ሓባር ወጽዓኦም  ክስለፉ ምብቀዖም እዩ። ካብዚ ሓሊፉ ናይታ ሃገር ሰራዊት ምስ ህዝቡ ምስላፉ ኣብነታዊ ብጽሒት ነይርዎ።

ብዙሓት ወገናት ነቲ ነዊሕን መሪርን ተመኩሮ ቃልሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ግምት ኣእትዮም፡ ናይ ለውጢ ንፋስ ካብ ኤርትራ ናብ ሱዳን ኣብ ክንዲ ዝነፍስ ብኣንጻሩ ኮይኑ ክብሉን ከስተንትኑን ይስምዑ እዮም። በዚ ኮነ በቲ  ሎሚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብ ተመኩሮ ህዝቢ ሱዳን ክቐስሞ ዝግበኦ ናይ ቃልሲ መስርሕ  ኣለዎ። ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ ክልተ ዓመታት፡ ቅድም  ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ድሕሪኡ ከኣ ኣብ ሱዳን ናይ ለውጢ ድምጽታት ምስተሰምዐ ኣብ ኤርትራ  እውን ጽልዋ ከምዘሕድር ናይ ብዙሓት ግምት ነይሩ። ብግብሪ ግና ትሕቲ ግምት ኮይኑ። ከምኡ ዝኾነሉ  ምኽንያት ከኣ፡ ክጽናዕ ዝግበኦ እዩ።

ገለ ካብቲ ጐሊሑ ዝተራእየ፡ እቲ  ናይ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ለውጥታት ንኤርትራ ክንድቲ ትጽቢት ዝተገብረሉ ዘይምጽላዉ ምኽንያት፡ እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝገዝእ ዘሎ ጉጅለ፡  ለውጢ ናብ ኤርትራ ከይልሑኽ፡ ተሓላቒ ልኡላውነት ሃገር ተመሲሉ፡ ንህዝቢ ጅሆ ሒዝሉ ዝነበረ ኣጀንዳታቱ ብተጻራሪ  ቀይሩ፡ ኣብተን  ሃገራት ኢድ ኣእትዩ ዝፈጠሮን ዝፈጥሮ ዘሎን ዕግርግርን ምዝራግን እዩ። በዚ ኣቢሉ ከኣ “ለውጢ ኣብ ሱዳን ኮነ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ብዘይካ ህውከትዶ እንታይዶ ጠቒሙ እዩ?” ዝብል ስምዒት ኣሕዲሩ፡ ህዝቢ ሰጊኡ ንለውጢ ዝካይዶ ቃልሲ ከም ዘዋድቖ ንምድራኽ ይጽዕር ኣሎ። እቲ ምስዘን ክልተ ጐረባብትና ሃገራት ብመሬት ንዝራኽብ ዶባት ንሓንሳብ ምዕጻዉ ንሓንሳብ ድማ ምኽፋቱ ከኣ ናይዚ ስግኣቱ ምልክት እዩ። እዚ ምዕጻውን ምኽፋትን ምስ ኤርትራ ዘራኽብ ዶባት፡ ናይ ለውጢ ንፋስን ዲሞክራስያዊ ጽልዋን ንምዕጻው ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ብስእነት መሰረታዊ ቀረባት ቀጺዕካ፡ ብዛዕባ “ካብዚ ዝኸፈአ ኣይተምጸኣልና”  ምህልላ እምበር፡ ብዛዕባ ዝሓሸ መጻኢ ከም ዘይሓስብ ንምግባሩ እዩ። እንተኾነ ንህግዲፍ ደኣ ይመስሎ ይኸውን እምበር፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራስ ክሳብ ዝተወጸዐ ኣንጻር ወጽዓ ምቅላስ ከዋድቖ እዩ ኢልካ ምጽባይ  ዘበት እዩ። ማሕለኻታት ህግዲፍ በቲኽካ፡ ካብ ተመኩሮ ህዝቢ ሱዳንን ካለኦት ለውጥታትን ተመኲርካ ቃልስኻ  ምሕያልን ምብርባርን፡ ሕጂ እውን ኣብ ቅድሚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ካልእ ዘይዓሞ መሰረታዊ ሓላፍነት እዩ።

ካብዚ ጌና ብዙሕ ጸገማት ዘለዎን ኣብቲ ዝዓለሞ ክበጽሕ ብዙሕ ብደሆታት ዝጽበዮ ዘሎን ተመኩሮ ለውጢ ህዝቢ ሱዳን፡ ክመሃር ዝግበኦ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጥራይ ኣዘይኮነ፡ ዝያዳ ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ እዩ። ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ ህዝቡ ኣብ ከመይ ዝኣመሰለ መሪር ወጽዓ  ከም ዘሎ ንሱ ዝምህርን ዝሕብርን እምበር፡ ኣብ ማእከል እቲ ማዕበል ወጽዓ ስለ ዘሎ “ከምዚ እዩ” ተባሂሉ ኢልካ ዝንገሮ ኣይኮነን። ጉጅለ ህግዲፍ ንህዝብና ዝብድሎ ዘሎ ከኣ ንዓኡን ካለኦት ትካላት ጸጥታን ተጐዝጒዙ እዩ እምበር ብኻልእ ተኣምር ኣይኮነን። ስለዚ ከምቲ ሰራዊት ሱዳን ዝገበሮ፡ ምስ ህዝቡ እምበር ምስቲ ወጻዒ ጉጅለን ትካላቱን ክስለፍ እዋናውን ወድዓውን ኣይኮነን። እቲ ጉጅለ መስመር ኣስሒቱ ዘይሩዘይሩ ንኤርትራዊ ጉዳይና ሓላሊኹ ናብ ዝኸፈአ ዝወስድ ዘይምልከቶ መንገዲ ህውከት ከየእትዎ ክጥንቀቕ ይግበኦ። ኤርትራዊ ናይ ለውጢ ሓይልታት እውን ካብዚ ኣብ ከባቢና ዝረአ ዘሎ ለውጥታት ንኩነታት ሃገርናን ቀጻሊ ረብሓ ህዝብናን ኣብ ግምት ብምእታው ዝውሰድን ዘይውሰድን ተመኩሮ መሚኻ ናይ ምቕሳሙ ሓላፍነት ከም ዘለዎም ክዝንግዑ ኣይግበኦምን።

OCTOBER 27, 2020 MARTIN PLAUT NEWS

Source: Africa Express

By Cornelia Toelgyes on October 27, 2020

Special for Africa ExPress
Cornelia I. Toelgyes
27 October 2020

A new fundraiser in the Netherlands puts the Asmara regime in trouble . For months, the embassy of the former Italian colony accredited in The Hague has been knocking on the doors of Eritrean residents in the Netherlands, forcing them to “voluntary” donations of at least one hundred euros to fight the coronavirus.

Now Stef Blok, Dutch foreign minister, has asked the dictatorship for an explanation. The minister stressed that it is really worrying that Eritrean diplomats are again asking for money from their fellow citizens living in the Netherlands. And finally he added: “I do not rule out possible measures against these actions.

Stef Blok. Dutch foreign minister

Already in 2018, Halbe Zijlstra, the then foreign minister, declared the diplomatic representative in The Hague, the chargé d’affaire of Asmara, Tekeste Ghebremedhin Zemuy, as persona non grata, as the regime insisted on demanding money from members of the Eritrean diaspora in the Netherlands. Blok invited the recipients of the unfortunate requests to send a report to the Public Prosecutor, so that he can open a file.

According to a list that was sent to ARGOS , the Dutch radio station, the regime has already collected more or less 155 thousand euros, partly from supporters and organizations sympathetic to the Eritrean dictatorship, but there are also the names of people who fled from the oppression of the government of Isaias Afeworki. In fact, among the recipients there are many refugees already in possession of regular documents and others still waiting in refugee centers. Some confirmed that they had even received threats: if they did not pay, the families who remained in Eritrea would no longer be able to enjoy food stamps.

Isaias Afeworki, president of Eritrea

Isaias’s troubles don’t end in Holland . Reporter sans Frontières Organization (RSF) filed a complaint for crimes against humanity with the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office for International Crimes against the President of Eritrea and 7 other people, for the extra-judicial arrest of the Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak.

Dawit, imprisoned and in total isolation since 2001 in one of the hundreds of prisons throughout the country, is the longest-detained journalist in the world.

Dawit Isaak, Eritrean-Swedish journalist in jail since 2001

RSF denounced not only Isaias, president of Eritrea since 1993, but also three ministers – the head of the department of Justice, Information and Foreign Affairs, as well as four other people (administrative and security officers).

Journalist and poet of Eritrean origins, with a Swedish passport in his pocket, Dawitt had returned to Asmara to found a newspaper aimed at launching new reforms, strongly supported by the then Minister of Fisheries, Petros Solomon (former Minister of the Interior, then of Foreign Affairs) and by the other 14 “dissidents” also sunk in the regime’s prisons in September 2001. The arrest of the journalist coincides with the request of the “fifteen” to publish the application of the Constitution in the local media, ready but closed in a drawer since 1996.

In these 19 years Dawit has never been allowed to meet his lawyers, much less his family members, representatives of the UN or the Swedish government. The last evidence of existence in life dates back to 2005. He is probably held captive in the Eiraeiro Detention Center, in the middle of the desert of the Northern Red Sea region, where sun-heated containers are used as cells.

Cornelia I. Toelgyes
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@cotoelgyes

OCTOBER 27, 2020 ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Source: BBC Tigrinya

[Note: Partial computer translation. Original below plus further information]

Debretsion Gebremichael, President of the Tigray Regional State, has sent a letter to the 70 leading countries of the world.

The Federal Government of Tigray State has sent a budget to the Federal Government of Tigray State.

Let us test the infrastructure and social services of the Federal Government of Tigray.

If I lose my temper, I will lose my temper.

ዶ/ር ደብረጽዮን ንልዕሊ 70 መራሕቲ ሃገራት፡ ዞባውን ዓለምለኻዊ ውድባትን ደብዳበ ሰዲዶም

ቅድሚ ሓደ ሰዓት

ርእሰ ምምሕዳር ክልል ትግራይ ዶክተር ደብረጽዮን ገብረሚካኤል: ንልዕሊ 70 መራሕቲ ሃገራት፡ ዞባውን ዓለምለኻዊ ውድባትን፡ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ነዚ [ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ] ዝካየድ ዘሎ ፖለቲካዊ ኩነታት ክከታተሎን ዝምሕጸን ደብዳቤ ሰዲዶም።

መንግስቲ ክልል ትግራይን ፌዴራልን ነንሕድሕዶም ኣፍልጦ ስለዝተኸላልኡ፡ መንግስቲ ፌዴራል ንመንግስቲ ክልል ትግራይ ባጀት ብምኽልካሉ ነቲ ወጥሪ አዕሪጉዎ ኣሎ።

እቲ ንማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ዝተዘርገሐ ደብዳበ፡ መንግስቲ ፌደራል፡ ንትግራይ ኣብ ዝምደብ በጀት ብምኽልካል መሰረተ ልምዓትን ማሕበራዊ ኣገልግሎት ክቖርጽ እንተፈቲኑ: ኣብ ሰላምን ሓድነትን እታ ሃገር ሓደገኛ ኣሉታዊ ፅልዋ ከምዝህልዎ ኣፍሊጡ።

• “ዝተዓጽወ መንገዲ ከተኽፍት ዘይትኽእል እንተኾይንካ፡ ስልጣን ምልቃቕ እዩ”
• ስለምንታይ’ዩ: ዘረባ ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ ንብዙሓት ዘይተውሓጠሎም?

ብሰንኩ ንዝመጽእ ሳዕቤን ድማ፡ እቲ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘሎ ሓይሊ ከምዝሕተቱሉ እቲ ደብዳበ የፍልጥ።

መንግስቲ ፈደራል፡ ብመሰረት ውሳኔ ቤት ምኽሪ ፌዴሬሽን ንመንግስቲ እቲ ክልል ዝወሃብ ባጀት ከምዘየሎ ንታሕተዎት ምምሕዳራት፡ ንወረዳታት፡ ከተማታትን ቑሸታትን ሓገዝ ዝወሃበሉ ኣገባብ ኣሰራርሓ ከምዘመቻቹ ምግላጹ ይዝከር።

እቲ ናብ መራሕቲ ሃገራት ዓለም ዝተጻሕፈ ደብዳበ እቲ ብሕታዊ መፍትሒ ናይዚ ሽግር፡ እቲ ብፈደራሊስት ሓይልታት ዝቐረበ ሰላማዊ እማመ ምዃኑን ንህወሓትን ህዝቢ ትግራይን ብተናፀል ዝካየድ እማመ ፍታሕ ከምዘየምጽእ ይሕብር።

ዛጊድ እቲ ብኣውሮጳዊ ሕብረት ዝተጀመረ ስጉምቲ ዝንኣድ ይኹን እምበር ምስቲ እታ ሃገር ኣትያቶ ዘላ ቅልውላውን ከጋጥም ዝኽእል ሓደጋ ምብታታንን ግን ዝመጣጠን ኣይኮነን ይብል እቲ ደብዳበ።

ሕዚ እውን እታ ሃገር ኣጓኒፍዋ ዘሎ ፀገም ኣብ ምፍታሕ: ንኹሎም ሓይልታት ዘካተት ልዝብ ከምዘድልን ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ግደኡ ክፍጽምን መንግስቲ ትግራይ በቲ ዝጸሓፎ መልእኽቲ ደጊሙ ጸዊዑ።

እቲ ደብዳቤ፡ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ስለዘጽቀጠ፡ ዶ/ር ኣብዪ ኣሕመድ ነቲ ዘይሕገ መንግስታዊ ተግባራቱ ክደፍአሉ ኣኽኢልዎ እዩ ክብል ይነቅፍ። ኣብዚ እዋን፡ መንግስቲ ፈደራል ምስ ህዝቢ ናብ ኵናት ክኣቱን ኣብ ልዕሊ ደሞክራስያዊ ስርዓት ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ልዕሊ ሓድነት ሃገር እውን ሓደጋ የውርድን ኣሎ ኢሉ።

ድሕሪ እቲ ኣብ ሚያዝያ 2018 ዝተኸስተ ለውጢ ክልቲኦም ወገናት ነዊሕ ከይጸንሑ ብጥሕሰት ሕገ መንግስቲ ክካሰሱ ምጽንሖም ይፍለጥ። ብሰንኩ ከኣ እቲ ኣብ መንጎኦም ዝነበረ ዝምድና ኣዝዩ ላሕሊሑ ሓደገኛ ክስተት ከይፍጠር ስግኣት ምህለው ፖለቲከኛታት እታ ሃገር ይገልጹ።

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Source: Ezega News

Isaias Afwerki, Abiy Ahmed Plotting War Against Tigray Region: TPLF

By Staff Reporter

October 25, 2020 (Ezega.com) — The Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) said Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed are plotting war against it and the people of Tigray.

In a statement issued over the weekend, TPLF called on the people of Eritrea and Ethiopian defence forces to stand by its side to avert the bloodshed and end autocratic rules of the leaders.

“The leaders are cementing personal relations by ignoring brotherly ties between the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia and the dictator leaders would be held accountable for all chaos that may happen,” the statement said.

TPLF blamed Prime Minister Abiy for seizing power illegally and practicing a unitary administration and bargaining to sell the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in exchange of  big ransom.

It also accused Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of committing treason through establishing alliance with foreign forces in a bid to surrender the people and governing party of the Tigray region.

“Abiy’s led government does not have legal ground to conduct restructuring of the regiments in the army as its term had already ended on October 5, 2020. Accordingly, the decisions with regard to the army’s restructure are not acceptable,” the statement reads

The governing party of Tigray also urged members of the federal army to refuse commands from Abiy who is commander in chief of the Ethiopian defence forces.

The statement further said the planned regiments that will be deployed in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar city are intended to surrender the Tigray government.

The regional government has demanded the federal government to release the annual budget to the Tigray region without any preconditions. “TPLF said the budget is reimbursement the region had paid in the form taxes to the federal government and the ‘illegal force’ does not have legal ground to freeze the budget.” it said.

“If the” illegal force” cuts the budget to the Tigray region against the constitutional right of the people in Tigray, it will be tantamount to declaring war and the authorities in Addis Ababa will be held accountable for all chaos that will happen thereof.”

Relations between Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigray region have been deteriorating after the latter unilaterally held elections last September in defiance of the upper house’s decision to postpone national polls due to Covid-19.

The Upper House of the Federal Parliament later voted to exclude the region from official matters and imposed a range of harsh measures, including budget cuts, against the region.

Critics say although Abiy had ruled out military action against the region, war  could break out soon if disputes continue this way.

https://martinplaut.com/2020/10/25/israel-sudan-agreement-will-ease-deportation-of-asylum-seekers-sources-say/

View all posts by Martin Plaut

The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants said it was too early to predict the implications of normalization. “Israel has diplomatic relations with Eritrea and with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and at the same time it maintains a policy of non-refoulement in regard to their citizens who seek asylum in Israel. Even if Israel were to end its non-refoulement policy in regard to Sudan, the state will still be obligated to examine all the asylum requests from Sudanese citizens – an obligation Israel has evaded for over a decade, with various excuses,” the group said.

Source: Ha’aretz

Establishment of ties is expected to change policy, despite international refugee convention mandating that asylum applications be examined on case-by-case basis

Noa Landau, Lee Yaron | Oct. 25, 2020

The planned normalization of relations with Sudan will facilitate the repatriation of asylum seekers back to that northeast African country, sources in Israel say.

While Israel has in the past cited the principle of non-refoulement for its agreement not to forcibly repatriate asylum seekers from Eritrea, with Sudan the official position is that the absence of diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Khartoum prevents Israel from deporting Sudanese nationals.

The establishment of ties is expected to change that stance, despite international conventions mandating that asylum applications be examined on a case-by-case basis.

According to the UN Refugee Convention and statements by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in recent months, even if a peace agreement is reached, removing one of the obstacles to repatriation, Israel is still obligated to examine all applications for refugee status. The convention prohibits deporting anyone to a country where their life or liberty are in danger, and in recent days a number of massacres have been reported in Sudan.

In a statement Saturday, the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants said it was too early to predict the implications of normalization. “Israel has diplomatic relations with Eritrea and with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and at the same time it maintains a policy of non-refoulement in regard to their citizens who seek asylum in Israel. Even if Israel were to end its non-refoulement policy in regard to Sudan, the state will still be obligated to examine all the asylum requests from Sudanese citizens – an obligation Israel has evaded for over a decade, with various excuses,” the group said.

“It’s important to note that Sudan’s leaders today are the same generals that perpetrated the genocide in Darfur and the ethnic cleansings in the Nuba Hills and in the Blue Nile. Unfortunately, also in recent months a numbers of horrific massacres have been reported against, among others, internally displaced people who sought to return to their lands. We share the hope of the Sudanese asylum seekers to return to their country in peace and in security, without any fear for their lives or their liberty.”

On the eve of his February visit to Uganda, where he met with Sudanese officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a promise to the Likud Central Committee: “We stopped a million infiltrators from entering the country from Sinai. A huge difference. We have already removed one-third of those who still got in, and we’re going to remove the remaining two-thirds. We’re working on it; you’ll hear news soon.”

In late September, the High Court of Justice extended by three months the state’s deadline for deciding the status of asylum seekers from Darfur, after the state informed the court of secret developments in relations with Sudan “that could affect the result of the petition” to the court, according to the ruling. Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and justices Yael Willner and George Karra ruled that in light of the classified materials submitted to them, they would allow the state to submit an additional update in January before ruling on the case.

In March 2019, the court ordered the state to explain why it refused to give temporary resident status to Darfuris. Since then, the state has repeatedly postponed replying to the court with various excuses; then in September came the three-month extension.

There are currently 6,285 Sudanese citizens in Israel, one-fifth of all asylum seekers. They have fled the genocide in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile region since 2003.

In other places around the world, Darfuris are usually granted refugee status. In Israel, 4,500 of them have filed for refugee status but have been waiting for an answer for years, some for over a decade. Israel has not replied to their requests either way. Only in one case was refugee status granted to a Sudanese national. Without an answer to their applications, most asylum seekers from Sudan live in Israel without legal status or rights.

UNHCR officials have said that in light of the relations between Israel and Sudan and Israel’s protection of Sudanese asylum seekers over the past 15 years, the situation must be examined cautiously, “even in light of the political changes in Sudan, the continuing crises in conflict regions and the quality of the diplomatic relations between the states.”

Sharon Harel, a senior official with the UN refugee agency in Tel Aviv, told Haaretz in the past that if conditions changed so as to enable the safe return of refugees to Sudan, the agency could assist with “voluntary” repatriation.

“There are thousands of pending asylum applications from Sudanese citizens,” she said. “Those of asylum seekers who still claim their lives would be in danger if they were returned must be examined in accordance with international standards as part of the convention on refugees.”