Asylum seekers made to wear coloured wristbands in Cardiff
Written by Diane TaylorRefugees say they were forced to wear bands at all times in accommodation provided by Home Office contractor
A coloured wristband on the arm of an asylum seeker, which indicates that they are entitled to meals at Lynx House. Photograph: Gareth Everett/Huw Evans Agency
Sunday 24 January 2016 15.14 GMT Last modified on Monday 25 January 2016 00.50 GMT
Asylum seekers in Cardiff are being issued with brightly coloured wristbands that they must wear at all times, in a move which echoes the “red door” controversy in Middlesbrough and has resulted in their harassment and abuse by members of the public.
Newly arrived asylum seekers in the Welsh capital who are housed by Clearsprings Ready Homes, a private firm contracted by the Home Office, are being told that they must wear the wristbands all the time otherwise they will not be fed. The wristbands entitle the asylum seekers, who cannot work and are not given money, to three meals a day.
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It follows the news that asylum seekers in Middlesbrough had complained their houses were targeted after people realised all front doors were painted the same colour red by the private firm responsible for housing them, G4S.
Eric Ngalle, 36, spent a month in Lynx House in Cardiff, where initial accommodation is provided for asylum seekers, before he was granted refugee status in November 2015. He is now working as a writer and making a theatre production with the Arts Council of Wales.
He said: “My time in Lynx House was one of the most horrible experiences in my life. I hated wearing the wristbands and sometimes refused to wear them and was turned away from food.
“If we refused to wear the wristbands we were told we would be reported to the Home Office. Some staff implemented this policy in a more drastic way than others. I made a complaint about the wristbands to Clearsprings but nothing was done. We had to walk from accommodation about 10 minutes away to Lynx House to get food and sometimes when we were walking down the street with our wristbands showing.
“On the road we had to walk down there is often heavy traffic. Sometimes drivers would see our wristbands, start honking their horns and shout out of the window, ‘Go back to your country.’ Some people made terrible remarks to us.
“If you take off the wristband you can’t reseal it back onto your wrist so if you want to eat you have to wear it all the time. Labelling them on a daily basis with silver, red or blue tags only serves as a reminder that they are still wearing the garments of an outcast.”
Photograph: Gareth Everett/Huw Evans Agency
Maher, 41, who recently stayed at Lynx House but has now been granted refugee status, said he was very angry about being forced to wear the wristband.
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“When you walk down the street all the local people who see this brightly coloured band know who we are and where we live,” he said. “We feel we are not equal with this community. All the time I tried to hide the band so people could not see it.”
Asylum seekers in the UK are not allowed to work or claim mainstream benefits. Some receive a small amount of money or an Azure card to use in supermarkets.
But newly arrived asylum seekers placed in what is known as initial accommodation by the Home Office receive neither money or an Azure card. They are placed in hotel-style accommodation and given three basic meals a day.
Mogdad Abdeen, 24, a human rights activist from Sudan, spent three months in Lynx House at the end of last year. He has now been moved to different accommodation in Cardiff while he waits for a decision on his claim.
“This wristband is discrimination, clear and simple. No band, no food. We are made to feel that we are second-class humans. People in Lynx House are scared of meeting new people in case they see the wristband and give them problems.
“Sometimes when we are standing outside Lynx House queueing for food people shout out of their car windows ‘refugee, refugee’. When we complain about the wristbands nobody listens to us.”
When some of the occupants of Lynx House were asked if they were willing to be identified, all refused saying they were scared that they might be punished for speaking out. Instead they agreed to have their hands photographed wearing the bands.
Chloe Marong, coordinator of the Trinity Centre in Cardiff, which supports asylum seekers and refugees, has expressed concern about the wristbands.
“We have raised concerns about these wristbands with the Home Office and Clearsprings but so far nothing has been done. These wristbands mark asylum seekers out and further stigmatises them in an already very hostile environment,” she said.
Adam Hundt of Deighton Pierce Glynn solicitors said: “Concerns about this practice have been raised with us and we have been looking at it. Asylum seekers are a very scared and vulnerable group and the last thing they want to do is stand out from the crowd.
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“In some areas it can be dangerous for them to do so, so it is easy to understand how asylum seekers feel they are being branded with these brightly coloured wristbands which draw unwelcome attention to them and make them feel ashamed. It is particularly concerning that wearing the wristbands is linked to whether or not they get food or go hungry. It should be possible to come up with a system to ensure that people are fed without publicly humiliating them and undermining race relations.”
Photograph: Gareth Everett/Huw Evans Agency
The operations director of Clearsprings Ready Homes, said: “The UK has, over recent months, seen a larger population of asylum seekers. In turn volumes of people in initial accommodation sites, including Cardiff increased quickly.
“Clearsprings has taken steps, agreed with the Home Office to increase capacity in line with this demand in the form of additional self-catering accommodation.
“Those clients in the self-catering units receive a weekly allowance in the form of supermarket vouchers and those in full-board accommodation are issued with a coloured wristband that bears no other logo or text identifying its use or origin. Full-board clients are required to show their wristbands in order to receive meals in the restaurant.”
The company said it had been operating the system since May 2015 because of the increased numbers of asylum seekers.“As well as being subject to regular Home Office inspections we are contractually required to undertake stringent monthly inspections of the initial accommodation provision and rectify any defects within contractual timescales,” Clearsprings said.
The Home Office declined to comment.
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In Memory of Martyr Seyoum O. Michael
UK 'using misleading information' to return Eritrean asylum seekers
Written by Kate LyonsFriday 22 January 2016 14.04 GMT
Report says Home Office guidance that it was safe to send Eritreans home is based largely on discredited Danish report
Eritrean migrants in the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais, France. Photograph: Etienne Laurent/EPA
The Home Office is using misleading and biased information to decide the fate of Eritrean asylum seekers, an independent report has found, as its author claims the government distorted evidence to make it easier to reject them.
The report, published on Friday, analysed two Country Information Guidance (CIG) documents issued by the Home Office last year. The advice says that it is now safe to return asylum seekers to the east African country.
But an inquiry by the Independent Advisory Group on Country of Origin Information, has concluded the policy recommendations made in the documents are “completely divorced from relevant objective evidence”. Its report adds that unless the CIG advice is completely rewritten, the Home Office unit responsible for producing them will be “viewed as totally lacking credibility”.
Dr John Campbell, the author of the report, said the findings were damning. He alleges the documents rely heavily on a discredited Danish report, misquote sources, blur policy and “facts”, and fail to acknowledge significant human rights issues in the country.
He said: “The Home Office report does not conform to the professional standards which country information reports are expected to meet. Instead it is based on a highly selective use of information and it deliberately distorts information to support its own conclusions, namely that it is now safe for the UK to return Eritrean asylum seekers to their home country.”
There remain significant international concerns over human rights breaches in Eritrea, including the forced conscription of children and elderly people into military service and the rape of female conscripts.
“An undergraduate would be failed for this sort of thing,” said Campbell, a reader in the anthropology of Africa and law at the University of London, who has been a country expert on asylum claims from Eritrea and Ethiopia since the mid-1990s.
The report concludes that “the only possible way forward for the Home Office is to completely rewrite both CIG reports”, including recommending that approximately 20% of one of the reports should be deleted.
Eritreans account for the largest group of people applying for asylum in the UK, with 3,726 Eritrean nationals applying in the year ending September 2015.
The Home Office advised it was not safe to return most asylum seekers to Eritrea until it controversially updated its country advice in March 2015, claiming that citizens who left Eritrea without permission – many of them to escape its infamous indefinite military service – would not face persecution if they returned. The advice resulted in the number of Eritreans granted protection in the UK plummeting from a 73% approval rate in the first quarter of 2015 to 34% in the second quarter.
The Home Office guidance also stated that Eritrea’s indefinite national service had been shortened to between 18 months and four years. However the independent report released on Friday is scathing of this claim, saying it is based upon assurances from the Eritrean government that have not been supported by any policy announcements or evidence.
Campbell’s report was critical of the Home Office for basing its guidance largely on a 2014 report commissioned for the Danish government, from which the researchers involved and the Danish government have since distanced themselves.
“The CIGs have a total over-reliance on one source [the Danish report] which bucked the trend of all objective evidence on human rights in Eritrea,” said Campbell.
“I’ve looked at each of the arguments [the Home Office] have made and the forms of evidence they used. Not only have they misquoted sources but they’ve disregarded a whole range of material that bears on the question of whether it’s safe to return, such as: are there independent courts in Eritrea?”
The report also says the Home Office guidance ignores well substantiated evidence from various sources that children are forced to participate in the country’s indefinite military service and have been sent to war as child soldiers.
“Making decisions about whether or not to grant refugee protection is often a matter of life or death, yet the government’s own statistics reveal it gets a staggering number of decisions on Eritrean cases wrong,” said Maurice Wren, the chief executive of the Refugee Council.
“The government should not let its obsession with controlling immigration override its legal and moral responsibility to protect refugees.”
Campbell said: “There are roughly 2,000 Eritreans a month who are leaving their country. We’re talking about a lot of human lives. A lot of human suffering is being caused by this policy.”
According to Campbell, unless the Home Office revises its guidance, it will be left with a “dead policy”, which the asylum claims tribunal will not be able to use.
“They will have to revise it, absolutely. Increasingly the evidence I use is going to be used by other immigration lawyers and the sector will have a dead policy because the tribunal will not be upholding the guidance,” he said.
The Home Office has not responded to requests for comment.
ሃገሮም ክበጽሑ ዝገሹ ኣብ ወጻኢ ዝነብሩ ኤርትራውያን ዜጋታት ዝንቀሳቐስሉ ሸርፊ ናቅፋ ደልዮም ናብ ባንክ ኤርትራ ኣብ ዝኽድሉ፣ ብዘይድሌቶም ናይ ባንክ ሕሳብ ክኸፍቱ ከም ዝተገደዱ ሓቢሮም። እቲ ናይ ባንክ ሕሳብ ምስተኸፍተ ከኣ እቲ ባንክ ነቲ ናብ ናቕፋ ክሽረፈሎም ዘቕረብዎ ዶላር ወሲዱ፡ 5,000 ናቅፋ ጥራይ ሂቡ ከም ዘፋነዎም እውን እቲ ነዚ ብዝምልከት ካብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራ ዝረኸብናዮ ሓበሬታ ኣነጺሩ። እቶም ነዚ ሐበሬታ ዝለኣኹልና ወገናት እዚ ስጉምቲ ቅድሚኦም ናብ ኤርትራ ኣብ ልዕሊ ዝገሸ በጻሕቲ እውን ከም ዝተፈጸመ ኣቃሊዖም።
ምስዚ ብዝተተሓሓዘ ወሃብቲ ስራሕ ኣብ ኤርትራ በተን ብገዛእ ገንዘቦም ብባንክ ዝፍቀዳሎም 5,000 ናቕፋ ደሞዝ ሰርሓተኛታት ክኸፍሉ ብዘይ ምኽኣሎም፣ ስድራ ቤታቶም ኮነ ስድራቤታት ሰራሕተኛታቶም ኣብ ጸበባ ከም ዝርከባ፡ እቲ ዝረኸብናዮ ሓበሬታ ብተወሳኺ ገሊጹ።
ኣቐዲሙ ብገለ መርበባት ሓበሬታ ከም ዝተገለጸ፣ ኣብ ኤርትራ ብሰንኪ እዚ ባንኪ ኤርትራ ክሰርሓሉ ጀሚሩ ዘሎ ኣገባብ፡ ሰብ መርዓን ካሊእ ውራያትን፡ መዓልቲ ቆጸራ ኣብ ምቅያርን ኣብ ክሳራን ከም ዝበጽሑ ተገሊጹ ምንባሩ ዝዝከር እዩ። ሕጂ ከኣ ውራይ ክህልወካ እንከሎ፡ ካብ ባንክ ከተውጽእ፣ ብገዛእ ገንዘብካ፡ ዝርዝር ወጻኢታትካ ክትጠቅስን ውራይ ከም ዘለካ ንምርግጋጽ መሰኻኽር ከተቕርብን ዘገድድ ቅጥዒ ምውጽኡ ኣብ መርበባት እንተርነት ተለጢፉ ኣሎ።
እዚ ናይ ራስያ ተግባር ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ሎሚ ብጥረ ገንዘብ ኮይኑ ደኣ ብዙሕ የዛርብ ኣሎ እምበር ሓድሽ ፍጻመ ኣይኮነን። ህግደፍ ኤርትራውያን ዜጋታት ርሂጾም ዘምጽእዎ ገንዝብ ኣሕዲጉ፣ ተመሊሶም ባዕሉ ብዘዳለዎ ቀጥዒ መሊኦምን መሳኻኽር ኣቕሪቦምን እሞ ድማ ምስቲ ዝደልይዎ ዓቐን ብዘይመጣጠን ዓቐን ንክወስዱ ምግዳዱ ንውርደቱ ዘቃልዕ እዩ። ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ኣብ ውሽጢ ይኹን ኣብ ወጻኢ ዝነብሩ ደገፍቱ እውን ካብዚ ውርደትዚ ዝድሕኑ ኣይኮኑን። በቲ ካልእ ገጹ እዚ ኩነታት ናይቲ ጉጅለ ናይ መወዳእታ ውድቀት ዘበስር ተርእዮ እዩ።
حزب الشعب الديمقراطي يناشد القمة الإفريقية أن تحذو في الشأن الارتري حذوَ مفوضية حقوق الانسان الدولية
Written by اعلام حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الارتريفي مذكرة بعث بها حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الارتري الي رئيسة مفوضية الاتحاد الافريقي ناشد الحزب القمة رقم ( 26 ) للمفوضية الافريقية لحقوق الانسان أن تضع الشأن الارتري الحقوقي ضمن أجندتها وتبادر بالإسراع الي مناقشة الأوضاع المتردية للحقوق السياسية والانسانية في ارتريا.
في المذكرة التي بعث بها الي الدكتورة/ نيكوسازانا دلاميني زوما أعرب السيد/ منقستئاب أسمروم رئيس الحزب عن أمله في أن تقوم المفوضية الافريقية لحقوق الانسان بالاهتمام بما يجري في ارتريا بما يحول دون المزيد من تدهور الأوضاع المفضية الي التمزق وما يعقبه من انهيار البلاد الي وضع الدولة الفاشلة. ونوهت المذكرة الي ما صدر في 2015م من المستشارية الأممية لحقوق الانسان من قرارات متعلقة بحقوق الانسان في ارتريا بالإضافة الي ما توصلت اليه لجنة تحقيق خاصة من إدانة صارخة لنظام اسمرا بخصوص المعاملة السيئة للغاية للمرأة.. (انظر نص المذكرة في نهاية هذا التقرير الإخباري..).
قمة المفوضية الافريقية لحقوق الانسان رقم ( 26 ) بدأت أعمالها في الحادي والعشرين من يناير 2016م وستتواصل أعمالها الي نهاية الشهر. كانت الدكتورة/ زوما رئيسة مفوضية الاتحاد الافريقي قد استبقت القمة في السابع عشر من يناير 2016م بقاعة نيلسون مانديلا بمكاتب رئاسة الاتحاد بافتتاح النقاش في الملتقى الثامن للاتحاد الافريقي لمناقشة قضايا الجندرة.
تحدث هذا اللقاء الإعدادي للقمة عن آمال وتوقعات المرأة الافريقية من القمة ( 26 ) لمفوضية حقوق الانسان الافريقية من التطبيق الفعال لقرارات احترام الحقوق الانسانية ذات الصلة بالجندرة في افريقيا فضلاً عن مشاريع تقوية وتعزيز دور المرأة في المجتمع.
نص المذكـــِّــــــــرة:
الي حضرة الدكتورة/ نيكوسازانا دلاميني زوما رئيسة مفوضية الاتحاد الافريقي لحقوق الانسان / أديس أبابا
التاريخ: 20 / 1 / 2016م
الموضوع: طلب وضع الشأن الارتري الحقوقي ضمن أجندة قمتها السادسة والعشرين
عزيزتي رئيسة المفوضية:
حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الارتري حزب معارض ينشط ويناضل بالمنفى من أجل التغيير الديمقراطي، يسر حزبنا أن يبعث بهذه المذكرة الحاوية لرسالة خاصة وعاجلة للشعب الارتري الي القمة رقم ( 26 ) للمفوضية الافريقية لحقوق الانسان التي تبدأ أعمالها في الحادي والعشرين من يناير 2016م يناشد فيها القمة إعطاء نظرة خاصة لقضايا المرأة بصفة أخص والجندرة بصفة أعم. وبهذه المناسبة الهامة والسعيدة كلنا أمل أن تضع فخامة قمتكم الشامخة أوضاع حقوق الانسان في ارتريا نصب أعينها كما سبقكم الي ذلك مجلس حقوق الانسان الدولي ومفوضية حقوق الانسان بالاتحاد الاوربي.
سيدتي الرئيسة:
في هذه الأيام التي نتفيأ فيها ظلال الذكرى الثالثة والخمسين لتأسيس منظمة الوحدة الافريقية ومرور ثلاثين عاماً علي إقرار ميثاق حقوق الانسان والشعب الافريقي ينتظر الشعب الارتري وسائر الشعوب الافريقية من قمتكم الأبية الكثير من القرارات الحازمة والفعالة تجاه التدهور المريع لأحوال حقوق الانسان في هذه البلدان عامة وارتريا علي وجه الخصوص. وكما لا يخفى عليكم فإن ارتريا واحدة من دول افريقيا الأربعٍ وخمسين التي ترتكب الانتهاكات الفظيعة التالية لحقوق الانسان:
- علي الرغم من مرور أكثر من ربع قرن علي استقلال البلاد فإنها حتى اليوم بلا دستور.
- لا وجود ولا احترام لأي حق من حقوق الانسان الأساسية.
- لا وجود لحرية التعبير والاجتماع.
- لا يسمح بحرية ممارسة الشعائر الدينية
- لا توجد أية ضمانات للتمتع بحق الحياة.
- لا وجود لحرية الحركة.
- لا وجود لحرية ممارسة النشاط التجاري الخاص.
- تدهور التعليم في جميع مراحله الدراسية.
- العمل غالباً ما يكون سخرةً أو بمقابل غير نقدي.
- لا وجود لنظام معاشي أو ضمان اجتماعي وحقوق ما بعد الخدمة.
علماً أن ما تقدَّم قليلٌ من كثير.
عزيزتي الدكتورة/ زوما:
إن ما يسود ارتريا من وضعٍ سياسيٍّ، اجتماعيٍّ، اقتصاديٍّ لا يطاق، فضلاً عن انتهاك بشع لحقوق الانسان يجب أن يجد التفات واهتمام الاتحاد الافريقي وعامة الافارقة. ارتريا اليوم ثالث دولة في العالم من حيث تصدير اللاجئين، ارتريا في ظل نظام حكم الفرد الدكتاتوري القمعي تنحدر سياسياً واجتماعياً واقتصادياً نحو مصير الدولة الفاشلة لذا فإن شعبها في انتظار كريم نجدتكم وشهامتكم الافريقية المنـْــقـِــذة.
وضع المرأة الارترية لا يختلف في شيء عما تقدم ذكره من أوضاع مأساوية تعيشها البلاد كافة، وفود وممثلو الاتحاد الافريقي علي علمٍ ودراية كافية بما حواه تقرير لجنة مفوضية حقوق الانسان بالأمم المتحدة المكون من 483 صفحة وما صدر عن لجنة التحقيق هذه من قرارات وتوصيات في 2015م. فضلاً عن ذلك ورد في تقرير 2015م أن حكومة ارتريا لم تقم بإنفاذ ما وقعت عليه من الاتفاقية الدولية لمناهضة كافة أشكال التمييز ضد المرأة وغيرها من الاتفاقيات والمعاهدات الدولية والاقليمية المتعلقة بحقوق الانسان عامة.
سيدتي رئيسة المفوضية الافريقية:
وضع ارتريا اليوم قضية عاجلة وملحة من قضايا افريقيا الجديرة بالمناقشة والاهتمام، لذا نحن علي ثقة وأمل كبير أن تضعوا الشأن الارتري عامة ووضع المرأة فيها خاصة علي رأس جدول أعمال قمتكم الموقرة الخاصة بحقوق الانسان. كما لا يفوتني بهذه المناسبة أن أناشد السادة حضور القمة الافريقية (26) لحقوق الانسان إعطاء التفاتة خاصة لقضية المرأة.
هذا وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام والتقدير
منقستئاب أسمروم
رئيس حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الارتري
ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰደህኤ
“ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ኣብ መንጎ ኤርትራውያን ውድባት ተቓውሞ ስኒት ዝፈጥር፡ ኩሉ ኤርትራዊ ተቓዋማይ ኣንጻር ስርዓት ህግደፍ ኣብ ዝካየድ ቃልሲ አእጃሙ ከበርክት ዘኽእልን ዘተባብዕን፡ ክሳብ ውድቀት ስርዓት ህግደፍ ንዘሎ መድረኽ ቃልሲ ዝመርሕ፡ ምስ ኩሎም ናይ ለውጢ ሓይልታት ናይ ሓባር መድረኽ ንምፍጣር ኣብ ዝግበር ጻዕሪ፡ ንምዕዋቱ ከይተሓለለ ቀዳምነት ሂቡ ክሰርሕ ቅሩብ ምዃኑ ደጊሙ የረጋግጽ።” እዚ ኣብ 2ይ ጉባአ ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብ ዝተወሰኑ ኣገደስቲ ውሳነታት ብፍላይ ንናይ ደንበ ተቓውሞ ሓቢርካ ምስራሕ ካብ ዝምልከት ዝተወስደ እዩ። ብመንጽር እዚ ሰደህኤ ናብ ምዕዋት እዚ ውሳነኡ የብጽሕ’ዩ ዝበሎ ሓሳብ ብዘይምውልዋል ክድግፍን ክሳተፎን ናይ ግደነት እዩ። እዚ ክበሃል እንከሎ ግና ነዚ ውሳነኡ ሒዙ ብመትከል “እንካን ሃባን” ናይ ካልኦት ዝሓሸ መዋጸኦ ኢሉ ዝኣመነሉ ሓሳብ ናይ ምቕባል ኣፍደግኡ ክፉት ምዃኑ ክዝንጋዕ ዘይግበኦ እዩ።
እዚ ናይ ሓባር መቃለሲ ጽላል ናይ ምፍጣር ዕማም፡ ናይ ሓባር እምበር ናይ ዝኾነ ሓደ ውድብ ወይ ሰልፊ ብሑት ሓላፍነት ኣይኮነን። ከምኡ ስለ ዝኾነ ኢና ድማ “እንካን ሃባን” ንዝብል ኣምር ከነግንኖ እንግደድ። እዚ ገገዛኻ ዓጺኻ ዘይኮነስ ብሓባር ተራኺብካ ብናይ ሓባር መስርሕ ዝረጋገጽ እዩ። እዚ ዕማም ብባህሪኡ ፖለቲካዊ ዕማም ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ኣብ መስርሕ ዝረጋገጽ እምበር ኣብ ናይ ሓደ መዓልቲ ውሳነን ኣዋጅን ዘብቅዕ ኣይኮነን። እቲ መስርሕ ብፍላይ ኣብ ከምዚ ናትና ብናይ ሓጐጽገጽ ዝሓለፈ ተመኩሮ፡ ዝክኣል ግና ዘይልሙጽ ጉዕዞ ምዃኑ ብዓንተቦ ምርድኡ ኣዝዩ ጠቓሚ እዩ ዝብል እምነት ኣለና። ናይቲ ዝተናወሐ መስርሒ ጀማርን ናይቲ ብእንካን ሃባን ዝግራሕ ልዝብን ፈላሚ ወይ ዓዳሚ ኣካል ውሱን ክኸውን ይኽእል። እቲ ዘልዕሎ ሓሳብ ኣብ ሕልና ብዙሓት ዝጸንሐ፡ እንተደኣ ኮይኑ ከኣ ናይ ብዙሓት ንክኸውን ግዜ ኣይወስደሉን እዩ። ናይቲ ዝለዓል መዛረቢ ዛዕባ ቅኑዕነት ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ናይቲ ፈላሚ ኣካል፡ ዕጉስ፡ ተስፋ ዘይቆርጽ፡ ጸዋርን ዘይተረድኦም ወገናት ብግቡእ ንክርድእዎ ግዜ ዝህብ ምዃን ከኣ ወሳኒ ብጽሒት ኣለዎ።
ኣብዚ ቀረባ ግዜ ኣብ ፍራንክፈርትን ናይሮብን ሓደስቲ ተበግሶታት ተወሲድም። ብፍላይ እቲ ብመድረኽ ንሃገራዊ ዘተ ዝተዓደመ ተበግሶ ናይሮቢ፡ ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞና ካብቲ እትጽበዮ ዝነወሐ ግዜ ዝወሰደ ዘተታትን ክትዓትን ተኻይዱ። ኣካላት መድረኽ እውን ተበግሰኦም እንታይ ከም ዝመስል ንምብራህ ሰፊሕ መብርሂ ክህብሉ ጸኒሖም። እንተኾነ እቲ ዘረባ ብዛዕባቲ ጉዳይ ሕጂ እውን መሊኡ ኣይሰኸነን። መብዛሕትኡ ካብቲ ክወሃብ ዝጸንሐ ሚዛናት፡ ካብ ሓልዮትን ጽፉፍ መንገዲ ምብሃግን ዝነቅል ስለ ዝኾነ ዝተባባዕ እዩ። ዝተወሰነ ግና መሰል ናይቶም በሃልቱ ንከይትግህስ’ኳ ጠቕሊልካ ትጉሕፎ ተዘይኮነ ኣተባባዒ ኣይነበረን። ከምዚ ዓይነት ዕድመ ክቐርብ እንከሎ፡ ብዛዕባቲ ዓዳሚ፡ ግዜን ቦታን ኣኼባ ክትሓስብ እኳ ንቡር እንተኾነ፡ ቀንዲ ኣድህቦኻ ግና ኣብቲ መዕደሚ ኣኼባ ዝኾነ ዛዕባ ክኸውን ከም ዝግበኦ ሰደህኤ ይኣምን። ንሓደ ኣካል ይኽን ፖለቲካዊ ትካል ብዝምልከት፡ ትማሊ ዝብሎ ዝነበረ ምድህሳስ’ኳ ጽቡቕ እንተኾነ፡ ነቲ ናይ ሎሚ ቅሩብነቱ ከይትቕበል ብናይ ትማሊ ሚዛን ክትእሰር ወይ ግዙእ ክተከውን ምፍታን ቅኑዕ ኣተሓሕዛ ጉዳይ ኣይኮነን። “ጽባሐ ከምዚ እንተተገብረ፡ ናብ ዘይኣምነሉ ኣቕጣጫ ሒዙኒ እንተኸደኸ?” ዝብሉ ስግኣታት ኣይሃልዉ ምባል’ኳ ዘጸግም እንተኾነ “ብጽባሕ ሰጊእካ ሎሚ እገለ ቅዱስ፡ እገለ ርኹስ” ክትብል ምፍታን ግና ግጉይን ኣብ ስግኣት ዘንብርን እዩ። ንሎሚ ብናይ ሎሚ ውድዕነት ንጽባሕ ድማ ብናይ ጽባሕ ምምዛን እዩ እቲ ቅኑዕ። ደሓር ኣብ ልዕሊ ካለኦት ካብ ተጠራጠርካ ንስኻውን ከም እትጥርጠር ምዝንጋዕ ኣይግባእን። እንተ ናይ ጽባሕ ተሓታትነት እታ ሴፍ፡ ዝነበረና መዝነት ብዘየገድስ ኣብ ቅድሚ ኩልና ተሳሒላ ዘላ እያ። ትማሊ ኣብ ላዕለዋይ ጽፍሒ ስለ ዘይነበርካ ጽባሕ ኣይትሕተትን ዝብል ስነ-መጐት ከኣ ኣይስርሕን እዩ።
ከም እምነት ሰደህኤ፡ ቀዳማይ ምዕራፍ ቃልስና ምውጋድ ጉጅለ ህግደፍን ናብ መድረኽ ምስግጋር ምብጻሕን እዩ። ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ንክፈርስ ካብ ዘኽእሉ ምዕባለታት ቅድሚት ዝስራዕ ከኣ፡ እቲ ጉጅለ ከም ናይ ህልውናኡ ዋልታን መኸታን ገይሩ ክወስዶ ዝጸንሐ ሓይሊ እንዳተሸርመመ ክርሕረሖ እንከሎ እዩ። ናይቲ ራሕሪኻዮ ምምጻእ ድርኺት ውጽኢት ቃልሲ ደንበ ተቓውሞ ይኹን፡ ውሽጣዊ ዕግበት ናይቲ ራሕሪሕዎ ዝመጽእ ኣካል ካልእ ኮይኑ፡ ንዓና ንደለይቲ ፍትሕን ለውጥን ሓደ ኣወንታዊ ስጉምቲ ንቕድሚት እዩ። እቲ ነቲ ስርዓት ዝራሕረሐ ኣካል ስጉምቱ ኣበሪኹ፡ እንተ ምስቲ ዝጸንሐ ውዱብ ሓይሊ ሓቢሩ ወይ በይኑ ከምዚ ናይ መድረኽ ነብሱ ወዲቡ ኣንጻርቲ ንዝተወሰነ ግዜ ዝድገፎ ዝነበረ ሓይሊ ዲክታቶር ምቅላስ ክጅምር እንከሎ ከኣ፡ ንደንበ ተቓውሞና ሓደ ዘይኮነስ ብዙሕ ስጉምትታት ንቅድሚት እዩ። ንሱ እቲ ነባር ሓይሊ ተቓውሞ ከኣ ነዚ ሓደሽ ሓይሊ ተቓውሞ ብሓጐስ “መጺእካለይዶ ክጽበየካ” ብዝብል ሰናይ ዜማ እምበር፡ ናብ “ንምንታይ መጻእካና” ብዝዛዘወ ኩራን ጸዋግ ገጽን ክቕበሎ ጌጋ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ከምቲ ቀደም “ ……. ሓጋዚታ ተረኣየትስ መዲዳ ትሓብእ” ዝበሃል ዝነበረ እዩ ዝኸውን።
እዚ ንዋሰኣሉ ዘለና ፖለቲካዊ ሜዳ ደንበ ተቓውሞ፡ ብሕጂ ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞ መጺኦም ዝውደቡ ወሲኽካ፡ ናይ ኩላትና ኣንጻር ዲክታቶር ክንቃለስ ዝተሰለፍና ወገናት ናይ ሓባር መቃለሲ እምበር፡ ዝኾነ ካባና ግድምና፡ ሃይማኖት፡ ዕድመ፡ ጾታ ይኹን ካልእ ሸነኻዊ ማእከል መሪጹ፡ ንዝፈተዎ ናይ ምፍቃድ ንዝጸለኦ ከኣ ናይ ዘይምቕባል ስልጣን ኮነ መሰል ዘለዎ የለን። ንኣብነት ከምዚ ተበግሶ መድረኽ ኣብ ምምዛን ዝንጸባረቕ “ደነጉዩ ናብ ደንበ ተቓውሞ ዝመጸ ኣካል ስለ ዝኾነ ተዓዳማይ ተዘይኮይኑ ዓዳማይ ክኸውን የብሉን፡ በቲ ካልእ ወገን ድማ ኣብቲ ናይ ተቓውሞ ነዊሕ ግዜ ዝጸንሑ ከመይ ገይሮም ብዞም ሓደስቲ ተዓዲሞም ይጋብኡ” ዝዓይነቱ ሓሳብ ዝንጸባረቐሉ መድረኻት ኣሎ። እዚ ግጉይን ንቕድሚት ዘየሰጉምን እዩ።ንመሰል ናይቶም ዕድመ ተቐቢሎም ዝተሳተፉ ከይገሃስካ ንገዛእ ርእስኻ ነቲ ዕድመ ዘይምቕባል፡ ግና ነውሪ ኣይኮነን። ዓደምቲ ከኣ ዕዱማት ተሳቲፈምሉ ኣብ ዘተባብዕ ውጽኢት ክበጽሑ እንከለዉ፡ እቲ ውጽኢት ናይቶም ተሳተፍቲ ናይ ሓባር ውጽኢት እምበር ናይ ዓደምቲ ጥራይ ገይሮም ብምውሳድ ክንየቱ እንተ ተፈቲኖም ግጉይ እዩ።
ናይ ሓደ ምቅርራብ ምፍጣር ብቐጥታ ነቲ ቅድሚኡ ዝነበረ ፈተነታት ንምፍራስ ዝዓለመ ክኸውን ናይ ግድን ኣይኮነን። እቲ ዳሕረዋይ ተበግሶ፡ ኣብ ቅድሚ ባህጊ ህዝቢ ዝሓሸ ኮይኑ ኣብ ናይ ውድድር ሜዳ ተሰዓሮ ግና ዘጋጥም እዩ። ኣብ ፖለቲካ ምንባር ኣብ ውድድር ምንባር ማለት ስለ ዝኾነ፡ እቲ ውድድር ብሰዓርን ተሰዓርን ክስነይ ባህርያዊ እዩ። እንተኾነ እቲ ውድድር ብሰዓራይ/ሰዓራይ ክዛዘም እውን ተኽእሎ ምህላዉ ክንዝንግዕ ኣይግበኣናን። እዚ ዳሕረዋይ ምዕቡል ክልቴኻ ተረባሕቲ ትኾነሉ ኣወጋግና ፍልልይ ግና ንዓና ብተመኩሮ ህልኽን “ነዛ እምባይ መን ይወርሳን” ዝመጻእና ቀሊል ከምዘይኮነ ንዝንግዖ ኣይኮነን። ኣብ ሓደ ኣጋጣሚ ኣብ ናይሮቢ ዝተሳተፉ ወገናት፡ ዕላምኦም ንሃገራዊ ባይቶ ደሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ምፍራስ ከም ዝኾነ ኣምሲልካ ክቐርብ ተዓዚብና ኣለና። ኣብዚ ክሲ ሰደህኤ ኣብ ናይሮቢ ስለ ዝተሳተፈ፡ ስሙ ብዙሕ ግዜ ይጽዋዕን ይኽሰስን ነይሩ። ብእምነትና ሓደ ከም ባይቶ ዝኣመሰለ ውደባ እንተ ክፈርስ እንተክሕይል ዝውሰን ብውሻጣዊ ትሕዝቶኡ እዩ። ካብዚ ውደባዚ ብናቶም ነጻ ውሳነ ወጻኢ ዝጸንሑን ዘለዉን ከም ሰደህኤ ዝኣመሰሉ ኣካላት፡ እንተኾነ ንረብሓኦም ስለ ዘይኮነ ምፍራስ ባይቶ ከም ቀንዲ ማእከል ቃልሶም ኣይሓዝዎን። ምናልባት ከምኡ እንተዝገበሩ’ውን ድፍኢቶም ግዳማውን ዘይወሳንን ስለ ዝኾነ ዝርገምሉ ዝኾነ ይኹን ምኽንያት የለን። ሕጂ ብዛዕባ ህልውና ባይቶ ቀንዲ ዝፈልጡን፡ ዝሕተትሉን እቶም ከታትይዎ ዝጸንሑ ዋናታቱ እዮም። እቲ ባይቶ ናይ ህዝቢ እዩ ካብ ተባሀለ ከኣ እቶም ዝምልከቶም ኣካላት ብዛዕባኡ ንህዝቢ ክሕብሩ ግደታ ኣለዎም።
ምስ እዚ ኩሉ ውረድ ደይብ፡ ናይ ሓባር ጽላል ተቓውሞ ምፍጣር ሓያል ቃልሲ ዝሓትት እምበር፡ ዝከኣል ምዃኑ ሰልፍና ይኣምን። ካብዚ እምነቱን፡ ካብቲ ኣብ ጉባአኡ ነዚ ብዝምልከት “ ነቲ ክሳብ ሕጂ ዓንቂጹ ዝጸንሐ፡ ዘይምትእምማንን ዘይምጽውዋርን ገታኢ ባህሊ ንምውጋድ ኣብ ዝግበር ጻዕሪ ሰልፍና እጃሙ ከበርክት ወሲኑ።” ብዝብል ዘስፈሮ ቅርቡነትን ነቒሉ እዩ ኣብ ተበግሶ ናይሮብን ፍራንክፈርትን ዝተሳተፈ። መጻኢ እውን ባና ናይ ራህዋ ዝረኣየሉ ንቕሎ ኮይኑ ክሳብ ዝተራእዮ ክቕጽሎ እዩ።
22 ጥሪ 2016
ኣብ ሓንቲ ሃገር ህዝቢ ዘይሓንጸጾ ቅዋምን፡ ህዝቢ ዘይመረጾ መንግስትን ዝትከል፡ ነቲ ዜጋ ንከገልግል ዘይኮነስ ተገልጋሊ እዩ ዝኸውን። ኣብዚ ህሞት እዚ ከኣ ኩሉ እቲ ጸጋታት እታ ሃገር ኣብ ትሕቲ ገበተ ኢድ ውሑዳት ስለዝወድቕ እቲ ቁጠባዊ ትሕዝቶን መነባብሮን ህዝቢ ዝደኸመ ይኸውን እሞ ብድኽነት ክላቐ ይነብር ።
እቲ ብህዝቢ ዘይተመርጸ መንስቲ እምበኣር፥ ንመሰላትን ፍትሕን ዲሞክራስን ከተኣታቱ እንተኾይኑ እታ ረብሓኡ ክትጠፍእ ምዃኑ ስለዝግምት ኣይቀርባን እዩ። ምኽንያቱ እቲ ብህዝቢ ዝምረጽ መንግስቲ ኣብ ትሕቲ ቁጽጽር ህዝቢ ብምዃኑ ከምድላዩ ልዕሊ ሕጊ ክኸይድ ስለዘይክእል። እቲ ዘገርም ግን እቲ ነዚ ከምዚ ዓይነት ስርዓት ለዊጡ ኣብ ክንድኡ ዲሞክራሲያን ዲሞክራሲያውነትን ከስፋሕፍሕን፡ ፍትሒ ከንግስን ኢሉ ዝብገስ ኣካል እውን እንተኾነ ኣብ ግብሪ ከውዕል ኣይርከብን።
ብዙሕ ምንቅስቓሳት ነቲ ናይ ለውጢ ሓይልታት ደረኽቲ ዝኾኑ ምስ ተላዕሉ ነቲ ዝተላዕለ ጨውዮም ኣብ ናይ ገዛእ ርእሶም ስልጣን መደያይቦ ይጥቀምሉ፡፡ ከም ኣብነት ኣብ 1974 ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ዝተኻየደ ህዝባዊ ናዕቢ መንግስቱ ሃይለማርያም ግርም ገይሩ ብዝኣለሙ መሰረት እቲ ስልጣን ኣብ ኢዱ ጨቢጡ። ስልጣን ኣብ ትሕቲ ቁጽጽሩ ምስ ኣእተወ ከኣ “ወይለኺ ዲሞክራሲ” ብዝብል ኣምር ተዋሒጡ ንህዝቢ ኢትዮጵያ ድከቱ ኣስትይዎ። ከምኡ እውን ኣብዚ ቀረባ ግዜ ኣብ ግብጺ ዝተኻየደ ህዝባዊ ናዕቢ ነቲ ስልጣን ዝሓዘ ሓይሊ ነቲ ህዝባዊ ጠለብ ከማልእ ዝግበኦ ክንሱ ንጎኒ ገዲፉ ኣብ ናይ ስልጣን ምግባት ገጹ ኣድሂቡ።
እቲ ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓስ ይኹን፡ ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ኣብ ዲሞክራስን ፍትሕን ዘለዎም ኣረዳድኣ ማዕረ እንተዘይኮይኑ ሓላፍ ዘላፍ ይኸውን እሞ ዲሞክራሲ ውሕስነት ኣይህልዎን። ከመይሲ ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓስ ንዲሞክራሲ ኣብ ህዝቢ ከስርጽን ነተን ዘለዋ ሰልፍታት ንዲሞክራሲ ብኸመይ የተግብርኦ ምክትታትልን ስለዝኾነ። ካብዚ ወጻኢ ግና ኣንጻር ሰልፍታት ክስለፍ ይኹን ንህላዌ ሰልፍታት ምንጻግ ግና ፍትሕን ሰላምን ከውሕስ ኣይክእልን እዩ።
ስለዚ ህዝባውያን ምንቅስቓሳትን ፖለቲካውያን ሰልፍታትን ንዲሞክራሲ ብኣፍ ጥራሕ ክጭርሕዋ እንተኾይኖም ምልካዊ ስርዓት እዩ ክዕምብብ። ምኽንያቱ ንርእይቶ ህዝቢ ሰሚዒካ ኣብ ግብሪ ንምውዓል ዝተግብርን ዝከታተልን ዝቆጻጸርን እንተዘየልዩ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ምሕደራ ኣይትከልን እዩ። እዚ ከእ ምስ ርእይቶን ድሌትን ህዝቢ ይገራጮ እሞ ህዝቢ ኣብ ኣገልጋልነት ደረጃ ወዲቑ ፖለቲካውን ቁጠባውን ጸቕጢ የጓንፎ። ዲሞክራሲ ከምቲ ግቡእ ምስ ክብርን ስራሕን ተወሃሂዱ ክኸይድ ከሎ እዩ ትርጉም ዝህልዎ እሞ ሰልፍታት ንጠለብ ህዝቢ ተግበርቲ፥ ምንቅስቓሳት ከኣ ንጠለብ ህዝቢ ኣቕረብቲ ክኾና ኣለወን። ሰልፍታትን ምንቅስቓሳትን እምበኣር ነንበይነን ወይ ከኣ ከም ተጻረርትን ሓድሕደን ተጓነጽትን ጌርካ ምቕራብ ወይ ከኣ ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓሳት እምበር ሰልፍታት ኣየድልያን ምባል ንምልኪ ምዕዳም ጥራሕ እዩ
ካብዚ ብዝተረፈ፥ ብስም ዲሞክራሲ እናጨረሐ ዝወዳደብ ሰልፍታት ይኹን ምንቅስቓሳት ኩሉ ንሓቀኛ ዲሞክራሲያዊ መስርሕ ይበቕዖን የተግብሮን ማለት ኣይኮነን። ኣብዚ ኩነት እዚ እቶም ተበለጽቲ ኣብ ትሕቲ ሽፋን ናይ ዲሞክራሲያ ጭርሖ ተሓቢኦም፡ ነቶም ነታ ዲሞክራሲ ክሰርሑላ ዝጽዕሩ ከናሽው፡ ከነኣእሱን ከቖናጽቡን ስረሐይ ኢሎም ኢዮም ዝተሓሓዝዎ። ሽዑ ኣብ መወዳእታ እቲ ሓፋሽ ህዝቢ ነቲ ሓቂ ፈሊጡ ኣብ ጎኒ እቲ ቅኑዕ ራኢ ሒዙ ዘሎ ወገን ንኸይዓስል ከም ዝዕገት ምስ ገበሩ ከኣ ንሰልፍታት ከም መነሃሃሪ ሽግር ገይሮም ክቕርቡ ይፍትኑ።ተሳትፎ እቲ መሰረት ኣልሲ ዝኾነ ህዝቢ እንተደኣ ትሑት ኮይኑን ከምኡእውን እቲ ዝነበረ ቁጽሪ መሰረት ቃልሲ እናተባሕጎጐ ከይዱ ዓቕምን ክእለትን እተን ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ስለዝጎድል ንድልየታት ህዝቢ ዘንጸባርቕ ክሰርሓ ይሽገራ። እቲ ኣንጻር ሰልፍታት ዝግበር ጐስጓስ ህዝባዊ ተቐባልነት ስኢነን ነቲ ዝኽተለኦ ዘለዋ ፖለቲካዊ ፍልስፍና እቲ ህዝቢ ከም ዝይበሎ ምግባር ዝዓለመ እዩ።
ከምዚ ካብ ኮነ፡ ውድባት ወይ ሰልፍታት መሰረታት ኣብ ዝወሓድሉ ወይ ከኣ ኣካል ህዝቢ ዝኾኑ ተራ ኣባላት ዘይብሉ ውደባ በየናይ መገዲ ኢዩ ክሰርሕ ዝኽእል። ውድብ እኮ ገንዘብ፥ ተወፋይነት ክኢላ ዓቕምን ሰብኣዊ ጉልበትን የድልዮ። ብዘይ እዞም ዝተጠቕሱ ባእታታት ውድብ ይኹን ሰልፊ ከድምዕ ኣይክእልን እዩ። ተመሊስካ ነተን ሰልፍታት ምሕማይን፡ዲሞክራሲ እናጨራሕካ ውድባት ኣየፍረያን ውድባት ፈሽለን እየን እናበልካ ብምምጽዳቕ ዲሞክራሲ ኣይዕንብብን እዩ።
ሎሚ ከኣ ሕሉፍ ሓሊፉ ህዝብን ሰልፍታትን ንምፍልላይ ብማለት ንኣድላይነት ሰልፍታት ንምድምሳስ ዝግበር ጻዕሪ ናይ ገዛእ ርእስኻ ሕቡእ ኣጀንዳ ምህላው እዩ ዝእምት። እዚ ከኣ ልክዕ ምስቲ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ኣብ ግዜ ነጻነት ኣብ ፈለማ መደርኡ ውዳባት ሰልፍታት ኣየድልያን እየን ዝበሎ ዝሰማማዕ እዩ።
ልክዕ እዩ ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓስ ደራኺ ሓይሊ ናይ ለውጢ ኮይኑ ንሓደ ገባቲ ስርዓት ኣብ ምውዳቕ እውን የቀላጥፍ እዩ። እዚ ግን ብዘይህላዌ ሰልፍታት ክኸይድ እንተኾይኑ ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓስ ጥራሕ ብመሰረቱ ናይ ብሓቂ ንህዝባዊ ሃገራዊ ኣጀንዳ ይውክል’ዲዩ? ሓቀኛ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ፖለቲካዊ ትካላት ኣለዎ’ዶ? ኢልካ ምሕታት ኣገዳስነት ኣለዎ። ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓስ መሳርሒ ኮይኑ መላእ ህዝቢ ሓደ ዓይነት ራኢ ይውንን እዩ ኢልካ ምሕሳብ ግን የዋህነት እዩ። ነዚ ዝተፈላለየ ራኢ ናይ ህዝቢ በተን ዘለዋ ሰልፍታት እዩ ዝምእከል።
ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓስ ኣብ ልዕሊ ፖለቲካዊ ተግባራት ጽልዋ ከም ዘለዎ ርዱእ ኮይኑ፡ እተን ሰልፍታት ክተሓባበራን ክደጋገፋን ይግባእ። እዚ ምስ ዝህሉ እዩ ለውጢ ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ ስርዓት፥ ለውጢ ኣብ ባህሊ ክዕምብብ ዝኽእል። እቲ ንግርጭታትን ረብሓታትን ናይ ምምእካልን ጸጋታትን ስልጣንን ናይ ምምቕራሕ ክሰላሰል እተን ሰልፍታት ህዝቢ ብዝጠልቦ ክቕየዳ ይኹን ህዝቢ ዝጠልቦ ንኽፍጽማ ከኣ ይግደዳ።
ድራር መንታይ
نحو مظلة نستظل بها جميعاً
Written by اعلام حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الارتريللظل أو المأوى قيمة ومعنى كبيرين في ثقافة مجتمعنا، وهذا لا يرجع الي فوائده المباشرة فقط كأن يقينا الحر والبرد والمطر والعواصف، بل لأنه يعني لنا ما هو أكبر من ذلك، مادياً ومعنوياً، إذ إن الظل مأوى ومأمن وعزة وكبرياء وحجم ووزن، وفي مأواه ومسكنه يناقش الانسان ما يهمه من قضايا محلية، اقليمية ودولية. إذاً لا فرق بين الظل أو المأوى من جهة والمجلس الجامع أو التشاوري من جهة أخرى. المسكن أو المأوى يتنوع ويتشكل في بلادنا حسب العادات والتقاليد والتنوع المناخي، فقد يكون من الأخشاب أو الأحجار أو الطين ...الخ. وفوق هذا وذاك فإن المأوى أو الظل مكان ذو طابع اجتماعي يبذل ثماره لتؤوي من بحاجة الي مأوى وحماية. قد يؤوي المنزل الواحد أناساً من مشارب شتى والمنزل هو القاسم المشترك الوحيد بينهم وصاحب الفضل عليهم جميعاً.
الظل واحد، لكنه مأوى لكثيرين، وتحت الظل الذي يعترف سكانه بأنه ملكية مشتركة بينهم يسهم السكان بما يستطيعون من قدرات في بناء أو ترميم ما يستظلون به. وحتى يقوم الظل بوظيفة الإيواء للجميع يجب علي السكان التكاتف في بنائه والحفاظ عليه قوياً متيناً بالحرص الدائم علي وحدة القوى المقيمة علي الحد الأدنى مما يتفق عليه السكان من أهداف أو مبادئ. لا يعقل أن يضم المأوى المشترك شخصيات لا تتفق علي شيء من الأشياء، إذ لا يمكن أن يكون المنزل لبعض السكان ملجأً من البرد ولآخرين مكاناً للتلذذ باستنشاق الهواء البارد من جميع منافذ المنزل. إذاً يتوجب علي الكل التعاون مع الكل لإنجاز الأهداف المشتركة انطلاقاً من منصة المنزل الواحد ذي المصالح المتحدة والأهواء المتعددة، إذ لا نصر دون التماسك والتكاتف والحرص المشترك علي المصلحة المشتركة التي هي المأوى المشترك. وكل مأوى يقوم علي النفاق، أي علي إبطان الشر والأنانية وإظهار الحب وطيب المعشر لن يحقق سكانه نصراً ولا نجاحاً. المظلة الجامعة وسيلة لتحقيق النصر وليست في حد ذاتها نصراً تنتهي عنده الغايات.
من الناحية النظرية علي الأقل ليس بين مكونات معسكر المعارضة الارترية من خلاف علي إقامة المظلة الجامعة، لكن المشكلة تكمن في ضعف الحرص علي بناء مظلة فاعلة أو تفعيل وتمكين المظلة القائمة، وهذه إشكالية تتخلل أعمالنا كلها لا المظلة فقط. تجاربنا تؤكد أن جميعنا علي علم بما يعوق مسيرتنا نحو العمل المشترك. لكن المؤسف أننا مع إلمامنا بكلٍّ من الداء والدواء فشلنا في إيجاد العلاج المناسب. أهم أسباب هذا الفشل فتكمن في الاستبداد بالرأي وادعاء الصواب المطلق، الدوران حول متاهة المرارات القديمة، عدم التحرر من أسر التشبث بالمصالح الشخصية والفئوية الضيقة، عدم الاعتراف بعطاء الفرقاء الآخرين، النظر الي الماضي وحزازاته بدلاً من روح التسامح والنظر الي الأمام. تناسي دورنا وانتظار المبادرة من الآخرين مع أن الأمر يهم كل المعنيين به. كثرة التنظير وقلة التضحية والإنجاز تجاه كل ما يصب في المصلحة الوطنية العامة. عمداً أو بغير قصد هناك عدم اكتراث لمراعاة خصوصية الوضعية الارترية.
بما أن الهدف السياسي الأكبر ملك للجميع يجب أن ندرك أنه من المستحيل أن ينجزه كلٌّ منا وحده، وهنا تكمن ضرورة إقامة المظلة المشتركة لإنجاز ذلك الهدف المشترك. إلا أن هذا يستغرق من الزمن ما يستغرقه نضالنا السياسي. عندما ننظر الي قائمة ما أنجز وما لم ينجز من أهدافنا وأحلامنا نجد الكفة السالبة هي الراجحة. وإذا تركنا الماضي البعيد جانباً وقمنا بتقييم تجربة العشرين عاماً الأخيرة من عمر نضالنا نجد أنفسنا قد مررنا بمحاولات عديدة للم الشمل، ففي حقل الائتلافات السياسية نجد قوى سياسية ارترية قد اتحدت فيما عرف بتجمع القوى السياسية الارترية، ثم التحالف الديمقراطي الارتري، فالمجلس الوطني الارتري للتغيير الديمقراطي. إن عدم إنجازنا شيئاً ذا بال بعد كل هذه المحاولات لا شك يعتبر مقياساً كافياً لما انحدرنا اليه من ضعف. نجاحنا في إقامة المظلة الجامعة أو عدم نجاحنا له أثر علي كل ما نحلم به من أهداف قريبة أو بعيدة. تمكـُّــننا من إقامة المظلة خطوة أولى في مسيرة انتصار نضالنا الدءوب. أما إذا فشلنا في هذه المهمة فهذا بالتأكيد سيرد مسيرة إنجاز أهدافنا الي الخلف وفي أفضل الظروف يجعلها تراوح مكانها. وهناك العديد من الأمثلة والنماذج علي ما نقول وتكفي الحالة من العراق الي ليبيا مصدراً ثراً لأخذ الدروس والعبر. ومن المخزي والمخجل أن نمر علي هذه الدروس والعبر مرور الكرام بلا نظرة متفحصة ولا اعتبار.
إن إقامة المظلة الجامعة ليس مهماً فحسب، بل هو مهمة من الطراز الثقيل للغاية، وثقل وأهمية ذلك لم نستقيها من تجارب الآخرين، بل نستقيها من تجاربنا. إنها تـُــبـْــنـَـى بجهود الجميع لا بجهود القلة القليلة ولا بالطرق الملتوية والوسائل المبتسرة. قد تتم المبادرة بهذا العمل من ركنٍ ما ثم تنمو وتتسع، لكنها لا تـُــزرع اليوم لتـُــورِق وتـُـحـْــصـَــدْ غداً. كما تقدَّمَ في هذه السطور لم تثمر جهودُنا السابقة لإقامة المظلة، لكن هذا لا يغلق البابَ أمام محاولاتنا الجديدة بحجة فشل محاولاتنا السابقة، ذلك أن قصورنا أيضاً من عوامل الفشل، إذ كل نجاح في المستقبل يعتمد علي استخلاص دروس وأخطاء الماضي والحاضر. فهل نحن جاهزون لتلقي تلك الدروس؟ إن التعلم من الماضي هو اللبنة الأولى في بناء صرح المستقبل.
بما أنه لا بديل أمامنا فستظل محاولاتنا إقامة المظلة سوف تتواصل. ضمن هذه الجهود كان لقاءا فرانكفورت ونيروبي في الآونة الأخيرة، وكل تحفظ أو احتجاج علي مكان، زمان، مستضيفي، حضور وأجندة اللقاءين يأتي من قبل من لم تشملهم الدعوة بالذات ليس أمراً مستغرباً ولا يجب أن يكون مثيراً للهلع والانزعاج. المزعج والمؤسف هو أننا بدلاً من أن نعتبر ذلك خطوة في الطريق الي المظلة الجامعة للكل ونتبادل التهاني بيننا بهذا النصر، نعود للخلف ونثير الضغائن ضد من أعدوا أو شاركوا في اللقاءين، أفراداً وتنظيمات، هذا ومع احترامنا لكل من خاضوا في هذا الوحل، فإننا ننبههم الي أنهم بفعالهم هذه وإن نالوا من أشخاص أو هيئات فإن نيلهم من مصالح الشعب والوطن كان أنـْــكـَـى وأكثر. لذا يجب أن نتناسى خلافاتنا ومراراتنا كي ننقذ الوطن ببناء المظلة الجامعة التي نستظل بها جميعاً.
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ሰደህኤ፡ ኣኼባ ኣፍሪቃ፡ ከም ኮሚሽ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ሕቡራት መንግስታት ንጉዳይ ኤርትራ ክዛረበሉ ሓቲቱ
Written by ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ሰደህኤሰልፊ ደሞክራስ ህዝቢ አርትራ ናብ ኣደመንበር ኮምሽን ሕብረት ኣፍርቃ ኣብ ዝለኣኾ መዘክር፡ ናይቲ ኮምሽን መበል 26 ኣኼባ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣፍሪቃ ጉዳይ ኤርትራ ኣብ ኣጀንዳኡ ክሰርዖን፡ ነቲ እንዳገደደ ዝኽይድ ዘሎ ኩነታት ፖለቲካውን ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኤርትራ ካብዚ ዘለዎ ግዜ ከይበለዐ ንክዛረበሉ ጸዊዑ።
እዚ ካብ ኣቦመንበር ሰደህኤ ኣቶ መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም ናብ ዶ/ር ንኮሳዛና ድላሚኒ ዙማ ዝተላእከ መዘክር፡ ኣፍሪቃዊ ትካል ሰብኣዊ መሰላት፡ ንከምዚ ናይ ኤርትራ ዝኣመሰለ ምብትታንን ውድቀት ሃገር ከስዕብ ዝኽእል ዛዕባታት ክዕገተሉ ኣብ ዝኽእል ክዛረብ ዘለዎ ተስፋ ገሊጹ። እቲ መዘክር ነቲ ኣብ 2015 ብኮሚሽን ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ቤት ምኽሪ ጸጥታ ንኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝምልከት ዝተወሰነ ከምኡ ኣውን ነቲ ብፍሉይ ኮሚተ ብዛዕባ ኣተሓሕዛ መስለ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኣብ ልዕሊ ስርዓት ኤርትራ ዝቐረበ ነቐፈታ ኣዘኻኺሩ። ምሉእ ትሕዝቶ ናይቲ መዘክር ብኸምዚ ዝስዕብ ምስዚ ዜና ተተሓሒዙ ኣለና እነሆ።
መበል 26 ኣኼባ ኮሚሽን ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣፍሪቃ ብ21 ጥሪ ተጀሚሩ ክሳብ መወዳእታ’ዚ ወርሒ ክጸንሕ እዩ። ዶ/ር ዙማ ኣደመንበር ኮሚሽን ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ብ17 ጥሪ ኣብ ማአላይ ቤት ጽሕፈት ናይቲ ሕብረት ኣዳራሽ ነልሰን ማንደላ፡ 8ይ ናይ ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ናይ ጾታ ጉዳይ ቅድመ- ኣኼባ ምይይጥ መድረኽ ከፊተን እየን። ኣብዚ ናይ ምድላው ኣኼባ ብዛዕባ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ካብ መበል 26 ኣኼባ ኮሚሽ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት፡ ንደቂ ኣንስትዮ ዝምልከት ክውሰን ዝጽበየኦን ተዛመድቲ ጉዳያትን ፕሮጀክት ምሕያል ደቂ ኣንስትዮን ተዛሪበን።
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ምሉእ ትሕዝቶ ናይቲ ብሰደህኤ ናብ መበል 26 ኣኼባ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ዝተላእከ መዘክር
ናብ ክብርቲ ዶ/ር ንኮሳንዛና ድላሚኒ ዙማ ኣደመንበር
ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ፡ ኣዲስ ኣበባ
ዕለት 20 ጥሪ 2016
ዛዕባ፡ ጉዳይ ኤርትራ ኣብ መበል 26 ኣኼባ ሰብኣዊ መሰለት ኣፍሪቃ ከም ኣጀንዳ ምሓዝ
ክብርቲ ኣደመንበር ኮሚሽን ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ።
ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰደህኤ) ካብ ኤርትራ ወጻኢ ምእንቲ ደሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ዝቃለስ ናይ ተቓውሞ ሰልፊ እዩ። ሰልፍና ነዚ ፍሉይን ህጹጽን መልእኽቲ ናይ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝሓዘ መዘክር ናብዚ 21 ጥሪ 2015 ዝጅመር ንጉዳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ፍሉይ ቆላሕታ ዝህብ፡ መበል 26 ኣኼባ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ክሰድድ እንከሎ፡ ሓጐስ ይስመዖ። ስለዚ ኣኼባኹም ንኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኣብ ኤርትራ ከምቲ ኣብ ሕቡራት መንግስታትን ሕብረት ኢውሮጳን ኣዛራቢ ኮይኑ ዘሎ፡ ከም ቀንዲ ውዑይ ኣጀንዳኹም ጌርኩም ክትዛረብሉ ብሃንቀውታ እንጽበዮ እዩ።
ክብርቲ ኣደመንበር
ኣብዚ መበል 53 ምምስራት ኣህጉራዊ ውድብ ኣፍሪቃን መበል 30 ዓመት ምጽዳቕ ቻርተር ዘብኣዊ መስልን መሰል ህዝብን ኣፍሪቃን ዝዝከረሉ እዋን፡ ኤርትራውያንን ካልኦት ህዝብታት ኣፍሪቃን ካብዚ ኣኼባኹም፡ ነቲ እንዳኸፈአ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ዝምልከት ብዙሕን ኣገደስትን ውሳነታት ይጽበዩ ኣለዉ። ከም ዘይትስሕትዎ፡ ኤርትራ እዚ ዝስዕብ ዘሕፍር በደላት ዝፍጸማ ዘሎ ሓንቲ ካብተን 54 ሃገራት ኣፍሪቃ እያ።
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ድሕሪ 25 ዓመት ነጻነት ሎሚ እውን ሕገመንግስቲ የለን
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ዝኽበር መሰረታዊ ሰብኣዊ መሰል የለን
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መሰል ሓሳብካ ምግላጽን ምእካብን የለን
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ናይ እምነት ነጻነት ኣይፍቀድን
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ናይ ህይወት ነጻነት ውሑስ ኣይኮነን
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ናይ ምንቅስቓስ ነጻነት የለን። ብሕታዊ ትካል የለን። ኣብ ኩሉ ደረጃታት ጽሬት ትምህርቲ የለን
ናይ ስራሕ ክፍሊት የለን። ናይ ጡረታ ስርዓት የለን። ኮታ እቲ ዝርዝር መወዳእታ የብሉን
ክብርቲ ዶ/ር ዙማ
እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ዘይጽወር ማሕበረ-ፖለቲካውን ቁጠባውን ዝያዳ ኩሉ ድማ ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት፡ ንሕብረት ኣፍሪቃን ኣፍሪቃውያንን ከተሓሳስቦ ምይግባእ። ሎሚ ኤርትራ ብብዝሒ ስደተኛታት ካብ ዓለም 3ይቲ ሃገር እያ። ኣብ ትሕቲ ጨቋኒ ናይ ሓደ ሰብ ዲክታቶርያዊ ምምሕዳር ሕብረተሰባ ለሚሱ ዳርጋ ናብ ዝፈሸለት ሃገር ትገማገም ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ህዝባ ንክድሕን ኣፍሪቃዊ ስጉምቲ ትጽበ ዘላ እያ።
ጉዳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኤርትራ ካብዚ ዝተጠቕሰ ኩነታት ዝተፈልየ ኣይኮነን። ኩሎም ተወከልቲ ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃን ልኡኻትን ብዛዕባ’ቲ 183 ገጻት ዝሓዘ ጸብጻብ መርማሪት ኮሚሽን ሕቡራት ሃገራትን መደምደምታ ኮሚተ ውሳነ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት 2015 ዝርድእዎ እዩ። ልዕሊ ኩሉ ብዛዕ ውዕል ኣንጻር ኩሉ ግህሰታት መሰል ደቂ ኣንስትዮ፡ ጸብጻብ 2015፡ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ነቲ ዝፈረመሉ ውዕል ከኽብር ኣይበቐዐን።
ክብርቲ ኣደመንበር ኮሚሽን ኣፍሪቃ፡
ሎሚ ኤርትራ ኣፍሪቃዊት ዛዕባ ኣያ። ንሕና ነዚ ኣብ ግምት ኣእቲኹም ኣብዚ መበል 26 ኣኼባ ሰብእዊ መሰል ኣፍሪቃ ከም ቀንዲን ውዑይን ኣጀንዳ ብምውሳድን ንጉዳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ፍሉይ ግምት ብምሃብን ክትሕዝዎን ብዝግባእ ኣብ ግምት ከም እተእትውዎን ንኣምን። ምስዚ ብምትሓሓዝ ነዚ ዕድልዚ ተጠቒመ፡ ላዕለዎት ልኡኻት መበል 26 ኣኼባ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ሕብረት ኣፍሪቃ ንጉዳይ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ፍሉይ ግምት ክህብዎ መልእኽተይ የቕርበሎም።
ምስ ኣኽብሮት
መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም
ኣቦመንበር ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰደህኤ)
ራዲዮ ድምጺ ሓርነት 16/1/16 إذاعة صوت الحرية
Written by Radio Voice of Liberty SwedenEPDP Asks African Summit to Discuss Eritrea as the UN Human Rights Commission Does
Written by EPDP Information OfficeIn a memorandum sent to the Chairwoman of the Commission of the African Union, the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) urges the 26th AU Summit on Human Rights to put Eritrea on its agenda and try to address the ever worsening political and human rights situation in the country before it gets too late.
Addressed to Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma by the EPDP Chairman Menghesteab Asmerom, the memorandum hoped the African organization will seriously tackle issues like the situation in Eritrea which caused a societal breakdown and near state failed. The EPDP memorandum reminds Africa of the 2015 decisions of the UN Human Rights Council as well as the criticisms of the Eritrean regime by a special committee on the rights of women. (The full text of the EPDP memorandum can be read at the end of this news item).
The 26th AU Summit on Human Rights, with particular focus on women's rights, is due to open tomorrow, 21 January, and last till the end of the month.
Dr. Zuma, the AU Commission Chairwoman, opened at the Nelson Mandela hall at the AU headquarters on 17 January the 8th AU Gender Pre-Summit which is discussing what African women are expecting the current AU Human Rights Summit to decide on effective implementation of decisions on respecting gender related human rights in Africa and women's empowerment projects.
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Full text of the EPDP Memo to the 26th AU Summit on Human Rights
To: Her Excellency Dr. Nkosanzana Dlamini Zuma,
Chairwoman,
the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa
Date: 20 January 2015
Subject: Have Eritrea as Agenda Item of this 26th AU Summit on Human Rights
Dear AU Commission Chairwoman,
We in the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an opposition organization in exile that struggles for democratic change in Eritrea, feel pleased to address this memorandum carrying an exceptionally urgent Eritrean people's message to the 26th Summit of the African Union (AU) on Human Rights, with special focus on women, which is opening tomorrow, 21 January 2016. We thus wait with crossed fingers to learn that the sad human rights situation in Eritrea will be one of your hot agenda items, as it has been recently at the meeting halls of the UN and European Union.
Dear Madam,
At this 53rd year of the existence of the continental organization which also marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, Eritreans and the rest of the African peoples are expecting from this AU Summit more serious action on addressing the widespread human rights violations in the continent.
As you know, Eritrea, one of the 54 AU member states, is, shamefully, a country where:
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No constitution exists after 25 years of statehood;
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No basic human rights are respected;
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No freedoms of press or assembly are allowed;
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No free worship permitted;
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No security to life is guaranteed;
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No free mobility; no private sector; no quality education at any level;
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Literally no paid work, no pension system .... the list of no's is endless.
Your Excellency Dr Zuma,
The situation in Eritrea should concern the AU and all Africans. Because of the humanly intolerable socio-political, economic and above all human rights situation in the country, Eritrea is one of the third largest refugee producer countries in the world today. Under a ruthless one-man dictatorship, it is already a broken society, nearly a failed state - if it is not already there - and urgently looks for some African action to help salvage of what remains of the society.
Equally distressing is the situation of women in Eritrea. All AU participant delegations may be aware of the 483-page report of the UN Commission of Inquiry and the conclusions of the UN Human Rights Council of July 2015. On top of that, a UN special committee scrutinizing state failures in the implementation of the Convention to Eliminate all forms Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) reported during 2015 that the Eritrean regime has failed to defend and respect women's human rights as enshrined in that Convention which was, ironically, signed by the Eritrean regime.
Dear AU Commission Chairwoman,
Eritrea is an African issue and we trust you will consider having it as one of the hot agenda items of this 26th AU Summit on Human Rights, with special focus on the rights of women. Kindly also let this modest memorandum be shared with all head of delegations to this 26th AU Summit on Human Rights, with particular focus on women's rights.
Respectfully yours,
Menghesteab Asmerom,
Chairman, Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) in exile.
Analysis: This is Africa’s North Korea
Written by Mercedes Sayagues
© Oded Balilty African migrants stand inside Holot detention centre. Eritrea is not at war, but its president, Isaias Afwerki, uses the threat of a bloody conflict to justify human rights abuses, among them indefinite national service. Eritrea is losing its youth through mass migration. But what is everyone fleeing, asks Mercedes Sayagues.
There is something odd in the camps hosting Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia and Sudan. Generally, refugee camps in Africa burst with women and children - but mostly young men cram the Eritrean camps.
Equally odd is that tiny Eritrea (population around 4.5 million) ranks, along with Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia, among the world’s five top source countries of asylum-seekers. Some 5 000 young Eritreans flee every month, by UN estimates.
Up to 10 percent of the population has left. The majority of Eritrean migrants take the deadliest route to Europe, across Sudan, Egypt and Libya. Throughout their desperate journey, they may fall prey to vicious human trafficking.
In eastern Sudan, the Rashaida militias kidnap migrants until relatives pay ransom, then pass them along the trafficking chain. Sinai trafficking is especially cruel. Smugglers torture migrants by open cellphones so their relatives hear their screams. Over the years, it is estimated they have killed between 5 000 and 10 000 Eritreans. Closer to Europe, hundreds of Eritreans have drowned in the Mediterranean.
Yet Eritrea is not at war. What are the refugees fleeing?
“A totalitarian state bent on controlling Eritreans through a vast security apparatus to control, silence and isolate individuals, depriving them of their fundamental freedoms,” says a 2015 report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea.
In 483 pages of grim reading, it describes a nation living in fear of forced labour, arbitrary imprisonment, disappearances, extrajudicial executions, torture (including sexual torture), inhumane jails, spies, arbitrary land expropriations, and restrictions on freedom of expression, conscience and movement - human rights violations on a scope and scale seldom seem elsewhere.
The 1997 constitution was never implemented and national budgets never tabled. A census is forever delayed. There are no independent NGOs or media. Internet is scarce and slow. Reporters Without Borders ranked Eritrea last among all countries in press freedom last year.
Only four religions are allowed: Eritrean Orthodox, Sunni Islam, Roman Catholic and Lutheran. Pentecostals and Jehovah Witnesses are persecuted and jailed unless they recant their faith.
UN researchers trying to document Eritrea’s success achieving some of the Millennium Development Goals have been denied entry.
So were members of the UN Commission of Enquiry, which had to rely on 550 interviews with Eritreans abroad.
Eritrea’s repression and isolation have earned it the nickname of Africa’s North Korea - a closed country where people need a pass to travel between towns and a hard-to-obtain exit visa to leave.
The worst is open-ended military conscription lasting up to a decade. Conscripts as young as 15 and as old as 50 work as indentured labourers in mining, infrastructure projects and farms, often owned by the military. They are poorly fed, abused, exploited and enslaved, says the report.
Those caught trying to escape or deported back to Eritrea are considered traitors, tortured and jailed.
For these reasons, Eritreans are automatically granted asylum in many European countries. The government argues that this is a pull factor. In any case, Eritrea is suffering “drastic depopulation”, warned the Catholic bishops in a rare letter of protest in 2015.
Migration levels are becoming “unsustainable”, says the International Crisis Group.
“Ending the exodus requires greater engagement with Eritrea - potentially ending a decade of isolation that has been both self-imposed and externally generated.”
Only Eritrea's latest betrayal
Constant betrayals. This phrase sums up Eritrea’s sad history.
Colonised by the Italians at the end of the 19th century, it was freed of Mussolini’s fascist rule by British troops in 1941. The Brits plundered port and factories, then handed the country over to the UN.
Disregarding Eritrea’s wish for independence, in 1950 the UN set up a federation with Ethiopia. The Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, promptly annexed Eritrea. The UN kept shamefully quiet, and in 1961, a 30-year-long liberation struggle began.
As the Cold War gripped the Horn of Africa in the 1980s, Americans and Soviets successively aided and dropped Eritrea, in a deadly game of shifting military alliances. Throughout these vagaries, Eritrea continued to fight pretty much alone.
Holed up since mid-1970 in a vast underground complex in the harsh, northern Sahel Mountains, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) eventually overran Mengistu Haile Miriam's army and achieved independence in 1993.
The EPLF was the Western media’s darling: an egalitarian, progressive, communal, frugal guerrilla force united over tribal, religious and gender fault lines. It was big on gender equality, for women’s education and against child marriage and genital mutilation. A third of its fighters were women.
Underground factories produced munitions as well as sanitary pads.
Twenty-three year later, the UN reports that Eritrean woman prisoners are not given sanitary pads, can't shower for months and are crowded in filthy cells without proper toilets.
This shift from liberation to oppression is the work of guerrilla leader-turned-president-for-life, Isaias Afwerki.
In 1998, Isaias provoked a two-year war with Ethiopia. Afterwards, Eritrea plunged into dictatorship.
Eritrean meddling in Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia, supporting rebels and al-Shabaab, led the US to threaten to declare it a state sponsor of terrorism.
The UN imposed sanctions and began scrutinising its shadow economy. It found an illicit financial system based on money-laundering, arms trafficking and payouts from patrons like Libya, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Generals shared kidnapping ransoms with the Rashaida militia and exploited conscript forced labour.
The government exacts a 2 percent tax from Eritreans working overseas in exchange for consular services. The newest revenue is gold mining. In 2011, the Canadian company Nevsun, 40 percent owned by the state, started exporting gold. Another profitable asset is Eritrea’s location on the Red Sea. Its closeness to Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Egypt brings opportunities for funding and leverage with Saudis, Iranians, Houthis and Russians.
A small coterie of generals and advisers benefits from business and patronage but running the country is tightly controlled by Isaias.
“Eritrea is a personally owned political-business corporation which risks disintegrating when its founder-owner dies or is removed,” writes Alex de Waal in his book, The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa.
A heavy drinker, Isaias is in poor health and lacks a succession plan. Yet his absence might bring more turmoil.
Eritrea could become “an oligarchic system run by a cartel of generals and party fund managers, or a deregulated and violent political marketplace”, writes De Waal.
This would amount to yet another betrayal to Eritreans’ hopes for democracy.
Testimonies of brutality
A former prison guard recalled: “They cannot wash or shower. There is no health care. The men get to the point that their testicles are infected. They are screaming with pain. They are not allowed to wear shoes, their feet are swollen from the bruises.”
One detainee reported: “It is called the butchery because there is blood everywhere. I saw one pregnant girl lose her baby from the beating. She was caught trying to go to Sudan. I was in the queue after her to be punished. I could see her getting hit with a thin stick… all over her body by four men. She began bleeding.”
Mother of a toddler detained because her husband left the country: “I was handcuffed, very tight, an iron stick placed between my hands, a stick behind my knees and attached to my hands. Then, hung upside down, placing the stick between two tables, and beaten. I was beaten for 17 days with a stick or a whip, sometimes also slapped. They were bringing my baby in front of me and then they were beating me. When my child became sick, they asked me to bring 50 000 nakfa and I was released.”
A man jailed: “We were beaten every other day. My friend was beaten on the testicles with a stick. When he came back, everything was bloody. He could hardly walk, his testicles swelled to bigger than the size of a fist. He was in a lot of pain… He died shortly after.” - UN Commission of Enquiry
Eritrean refugees
Worldwide:
36 000 registered by UN
Of these:
In Ethiopia: 130 000
In Sudan: 126 000
In Israel: 37 000
UNHCR 2015
Mercedes Sayagues is a Knight International Journalism Fellow
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Media.