Tv Demtsi Hezbi -Interviews Abdulkerim & Alganesh
Mediterranean migrant crisis: More than 4,200 rescued off Italian coast; 800 drowned migrants to be given burial
Written by AFP/Reuters
Photo: More than 200 survivors were brought to the Sicilian harbour of Augusta. (Reuters)
More than 4,200 migrants trying to reach Europe have been rescued from boats in the Mediterranean in last 24 hours, the Italian coastguard said on Saturday.
In some of the most intense Mediterranean migrant traffic of the year, a total of 4,243 people have been saved from fishing boats and rubber dinghies in 22 operations involving ships from nations including Italy, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and Britain.
The Italian navy said 17 corpses had been found on one of the boats off Libya. Details of the nationalities of the victims and how they died have not yet been released.
The bodies and more than 200 survivors were brought to the port of Augusta in eastern Sicily aboard the Italian navy corvette Fenice, the coastguard said.
Migrants escaping war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East this year have been pouring into Italy, which has been bearing the brunt of Mediterranean rescue operations.
Most depart from the coast of Libya, which has descended into anarchy since Western powers backed a 2011 revolt that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.
If there is anyone in Europe or in the world who thinks one's own conscience can be buried at a depth of 387 metres, France and Italy will go and tell them that this is not possible.
Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi
Calm seas are increasingly favouring departures as warm spring weather sets in.
About 800 migrants drowned off the coast of Libya last month, when their 20-metre long fishing boat capsized and sank, making it the Mediterranean's most deadly shipwreck in living memory.
That spurred the European Union to agree on a naval mission to target gangs smuggling migrants from Libya, but a broader plan to deal with the influx is in doubt due to a dispute over national quotas for housing asylum seekers.
The EU plan to disperse 40,000 migrants from Italy and Greece to other countries met with resistance this week, with Britain saying it would not participate and some eastern countries calling for a voluntary scheme.
The UN refugee agency estimated about 35,500 migrants have arrived in Italy from the beginning of the year up to the first week of May, a number which has grown considerably since. About 1,800 are either dead or missing.
'Sisters and brothers' to be recovered and buried
Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi has repeated his commitment to refloat the wreck of the trawler which sank in April with the deaths of around 800 migrants and lay to rest the victims.
The Italian navy located the wreck in early May lying 85 nautical miles north of the Libyan coast.
Investigators say pictures of the wreck show bodies lying nearby, on the bridge of the ship and inside the hull.
We will bring this boat to the surface and we will give a grave to these men and to these women, to these sisters and these brothers.
Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi
"When this boat capsized and sank, we committed ourselves to go and check if there really were as many bodies as the survivors said," Mr Renzi said after talks with French prime minister Manuel Valls.
"I made this commitment and I would like to confirm it once again."
"We will bring this boat to the surface and we will give a grave to these men and to these women, to these sisters and these brothers."
"If there is anyone in Europe or in the world who thinks one's own conscience can be buried at a depth of 387 metres, France and Italy will go and tell them that this is not possible," he said.
Just 28 survivors were rescued and taken to Italy and 24 bodies were picked up and buried in Malta. The survivors included a Tunisian and a Syrian who are suspected of being the captain of the trawler and his second-in-command.
Source=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-31/more-than-4000-migrants-rescued-off-italian-coast/6509818
AFP/Reuters
Radio Eritrean FORUM: Interviews Mr. Hamid Drar
Written by Radio Eritrean Forum
مظاهرةضخمة في العاصمة واشنطن يوم 19 يونيو 2015لتعبير عنمعاناةضحاياذبح الأبرياء وا حادث غرق جماعي المتكررة فيالبحر
Written by الحركة الشعبية الإريترية للعدالة - امريكا الشمالية
على الرغم من التضحيات الهائلة من أجل الحرية والعدالة والحياة السلمية، تعرض الشعب الإريتري إلى أسوأ حكم استبدادي. تحول النظام إلارتري إلى نظام القمع الشديد والعبودية. ونتيجة لذلك، يضطر الناس إلى الفرار من بلادهم بأعداد كبيرة بحثا عن حياة طبيعية، ويخاطرون الموت عن طريق عبور الحدود يخضع لحراسة مشددة وا يتعرضون للخطف والاغتصاب. ويضطرون لدفع عشرات الآلاف من فدية المال أو يتعرضون لخطر الموت والحصاد الأعضاء البشريةمثلالكلى. وا بعد دفع مبالغ مالية كبيرة يزدحمو في قوارب صيد صغيرة لعبور أعالي البحار. ونتيجة لذلك، الآلاف من الإرتريين تعرضولغرق جماعي في البحر الأبيض المتوسط.
وقعت الكثير من المآسي من الغرق الآلاف من الإرتريين في أعالي البحر الأبيض المتوس وعلى شواطئ ليبيا . كارثة غرق 365 إرتريين في بوابات جزيرة لامبيدوسا الإيطالية في أكتوبر 2013 فاجأ العالم واهتزت الاريتريين في كل انحا العالم. على الرغم من الجهود المتكررة لإنهاء معاناة اللاجئين، واصلت مآسي النزوح الجماعي. في أبريل 2015، غرق أكثر من 350 إريتري وهلك في وسط البحر الأبيض المتوسط.
لإضافة الطين بلة، تعرض الإرتريين والعديد من اللاجئين الأبرياء لعاملية خطف وا قتل بقطع رأس وا أعدام رميا بالرصاص.
الآلاف من الإرتريين الذين يعيشون في ظل الرعب والموت بدون حماية قانونية والتمثيل الشرعي منتشرة في العديد من البلدان. هذه المعاناة والمصاعب تحدث في الدول المجاورة وا في ليبيا وعلى أبواب أوروبا وا داخل إسرائيل.
الاتحاد الأوروبي ودولة إسرائيل لديها مسؤولية قانونية وأخلاقية لحماية وا احترام حقوق اللاجئين الارتريين. ؤ لكن بدلا من حماية الضحايا ، فإنها تحاول استرضاء النظام في إريتريا من خلال توفير المساعدة المالية. المفارقة المذهلة - لا يمكن تصورها هي - أن السبب الجذري للنزوح واغرقوالموت الجماعي والبؤس الارتريين - أن يكون الشريك والمستفيد من المعاناة الضحايا.
الألموالمعاناةلضحايا ارترية تدعوجميع المؤسسات والمنظماتالدوليةلإنقاذاللاجئينوالمهاجرينفي أقرب وقت ممكنة. من أجل الاستجابة لدعوتهم وا للعمل من أجل حل معقول وعاجل - سيعقد مظاهرةضخمة في واشنطن في 19 يونيو 2015 من جميع الارتريين وأصدقاء إريتريا. سوفينقلالمتظاهرين رسائلهم في بوابة البيت الأبيض و الكابيتول هيل ويطلبون من الولايات المتحدة والاتحاد الأوروبي والأمم المتحدة والمؤسسات الدولية الأخرى لحماية ضحايا غرق وا مذبحة .
الرجاء من كل المواطنين الارترين وا جميع الكنائسوالمساجد ومنظمات حقوق الانسان والهيئاتالمدنيةوالسياسية التدافع للمشاركه في المظاهره الضخمة فيواشنطن.
الحركةالشعبيةالإريترية للعدالة - امريكا الشمالية
ህዝባዊ መጸዋዕታ ኣውያት ህልቀት ባሕሪ ንምስማዕን ሽበራዊ ማሕረዲ ንምኹናንን ዝዓለመ ዓቢ ሰላማዊ ሰልፊ ኣብ ዋሺንግተን ዲሲ
Written by ህዝባዊ ምልዕዓል ኤርትራውያን ንፍትሒ - ሰሜን ኣሜሪካ
እታ ብኣእላፍ መስዋእቲ ጀጋኑ ደቃ ነጻ ዝኾነትን፣ ምእንቲ ሓርነትን ፍትሕን ሰላምን መዘና ዘይብሉ ዋጋ ዝኸፈለት ሃገርና ኤርትራን ህዝባን፣ ኣብ ትሕቲ ሕድሪ ሰማእታት ዝጠለመ ኣረሜናዊ ምልካዊ ጉጅለ፣ ኣብ ምልካዊ ባርነትን ጭቆናን ጸልማት ቤት ማእሰርቲን ተቖሪና። መንእስያትን ኣቦታትን ኣዴታትን ቆልዑትን ንቡር ሂወት ንምርካብ እግሮም ናብ ዝመርሖም ሃጽ ኢሎም ብኣሽሓት ናብ ስደት ክውሕዙ ካብ ዝጅምሩ ነዊሕ ግዜ ኮይኑ ኣሎ። ኣብ ዶባት ካብ ናይ መቕተልቲ ሃድን ድሕሪ ምስጋር፣ ኣብ ጎረባብቲ ሃገራት መፍቶ ነጋዶ ደቂ ሰባት ኮይኖም ሂወቶምን ኣካላቶምን ኣብ ዕድጋ ከም ኣቕሓ ይሽየጥን ይልወጥን ኣሎ። ካብ ጎረባብቲ ሃገራት ናብ ህራርሞ ምደረበዳ ሰሃራ ናብ ሊብያ ክጓዓዙ ብዙሓት ይሞቱን፣ ቀለብ ኣሞራን ኣራዊትን ይኾኑ ኣለው።
ድሕሪ እቲ ንዓለም ዘሰምበደ ናይ 360 ኤርትራውያን ጃምላዊ ህልቀት ላምፓዱሳ ፣ ኣብ መላእ ዓለም ዝርከቡ ኤርትራውያን፣ ብሓያል ነድሪ ክድገም የብሉን፣ እምቢ ንስቕታ፣ እምቢ ንምልኪ ኢሎም ፣ ህዝቢን ሃገርን ንምድሓን ሰፊሕ ምልዕዓል ከም ዝጀመሩ ዝዝከር እዩ። ይኹን ኣምበር፣ ስደትን ህልቀትን ክጎድልስ ይትረፍ ካብቲ ዝነበሮ ናብ ዝኸፈአ ደረጃ ተሰጋጊሩ። ቅድሚን ድሕሪን ላምፓዱሳ ተደጋጋሚ ዓበይቲ ህልቀታት ተራእዮም። ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ዝኸድዎ ቦታታት ኣብ ሕስረትን ውርደትን ተሓላቒ ዘይብሎም ሰባት ኮይኖም ብኣማኢት ይጠፍኡ ኣለዉ። ኣብ ወርሒ ሚያዝያ 2015 ልዕሊ 350 ኤርትራውያን ካብ ሓንቲ ጃልባ ጥሒሎም። ዜጋታትና ብኻራ ሽበራዊ ጉጅለታት ከም እንስሳ ይሕረዱን ይርሸኑን ኣለው።
ኣብዚ እዋን እዚ፣ ኤርትራውያን ንሓደጋታት ህልቀት ባሕርን፣ ንሓደጋታት ሽበራዊ ማሕረዲን ምርሻንን፣ ንሕሱም ምልካዊ ጭኮናን ኢሰብኣዊ ማእሰርትን መቕተልትን ተሳጢሖም ይርከቡ። ኣሽሓት ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ሊብያን እስራኤልን የመንን ካልእ ቦታታትን፣ ኣብ ቅድሚ ዓይኒ ኤውሮጳን ዓለምን፣ ብዘይ ዑቕባን ሕጋዊ ቅቡል ተሓላቒን ኣብ ኣስካሕካሒ ኩነታት ኣለው።
ኤውሮጳዊ ሕብረትን፣መንግስቲ እስራኤልን ኣህጉራዊ ትካላትን ኣብ ኣፍደጊኦምን ኣብ ሃገሮምን ናይ ዘለዉ ደቂ ሰባት ሂወት ናይ ምድሓን ሓላፍነት ኣለዎም። ይኹን እምበር፣ ኣብ ክንዲ ንጠንቂ ስደትን ህልቀትን ካብ ሱሩ ምፍታሕ፣ ነቲ ምንጪ ናይቲ ሽግር ዝኾነ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ደገፋት ክገብሩን ምልካዊ ስርዓት ኣጉል መብጽዓታት ክገብር ክጠባብሩ ይፍትኑ ኣለው። እቲ ዘገርም፣ እቲ ቀንዲ ተሓታቲ ናይ ባርነትን ስደትን ህልቀትን ዝኾነ ምልካዊ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ፣ ኣብ ክንዲ ብገበናቱ ዝሕተትን ኣብ ፍርዲ ዝቐርብን፣ ወኪልን ተጸዋዕን ኮይኑ ብስቓይ ግዳያት ክነግድ፣ ኣዝዩ ዘስደምም ስጊንጢር እዩ።
ስለዚ ከኣ፣ መላእ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ፣ ብዝለዓለ ነድሪ፣ እምቢ ንምልኪ፣ እምቢ ንህልቀት ዜጋታት፣ እምቢ ንማሕረድን ምርሻንን ንጹሃት ኢሎም፣ ድምጺ ናይ እቶም ድምጺ ዘይብሎም ኣሕዋቶምን ደቆምን ብምዃን መልእኽቶም ዘመሓላልፉሉ - ዓቢን ኣድማዒን ሰላማዊ ሰልፊ - ኣብ ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ ተዳልዩ ኣሎ።
እዚ ሰላማዊ ሰልፊ ንድሕነት ህዝቢን ሃገርን ዝዓለመ ኮይኑ፣ ኣብ ድሮ ዕስራ ሰነ መዓልቲ ጀጋኑ ሰማእታት ኤርትራ ፣ ብ19 ሰነ 2015፣ ኣብ ሕምብርቲ ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ - ካብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኤውሮጳዊ ሕብረት ተበጊሱ ናብ ዋይት ሃውስ፣ ቀጺሉ ናብ ቦታ ኮንግረስ አሜርካ ካፒቶል ሂል ክምርሽ እዩ። ንሰብኣዊ ክብሪን መሰልን ኤርትራውያን፣ ኩሎም ኣህጉራዊ ትካላትን መንግስታትን ህጹጽ ጻዕርታት ክግበሩ ክጠልብ እዩ።
ህዝብን ሃገርን ኤርትራ ንምድሓን፣ መላእ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ዜጋታት ኤርትራን ፈተውቲ ኤርትራን፣ ኣብያተ-ክርስትያናትን፣ መሳጊድን፣ ተጣበቕቲ ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን፣ ህዝባዊ ትካላትን ውድባትን ኣብዚ ዓቢን ኣድማዕን ሰላማዊ ሰልፊ ክሳተፉን፣ ብስሙር ድሙቕ ድምጺ ናብ ኩሎም ወሰንቲ ኣህጉራዊ ትካላትን መንግስታትን መልእኽቶም ከመሓላልፉ ህዝብን ሃገርን ኤርትራ ይጽውዓና ኣሎ።
ዓቢ ሰላማዊ ሰልፊ ኣብ ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ ፣
ዓርቢ 19 ሰነ 2015
ህዝባዊ ምልዕዓል ኤርትራውያን ንፍትሒ - ሰሜን ኣሜሪካ
Big Rally in Washington DC on June 19, 2015 To Condemn the beheading of Innocent Victims and To Voice the Cry of Victims of Mass Drowning at High Seas
Written by People’s Solidarity of Eritreans for Justice
Despite immense sacrifices of Eritreans for freedom, justice and peaceful life, the Eritrean people are subjected to a worst tyrannical rule. The regime has turned Eritrea into a nation of extreme oppression and servitude. As a result, the people are forced to flee their country in droves in search of normal life, risking death by crossing heavily guarded borders. Soon they are subjected to kidnapping, rape; and they are forced to pay tens of thousands of ransom money or risk death and organ harvesting. After paying big sums of money they are crammed into small fishing boats to cross the high seas. Consequently, thousands of Eritreans are drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.
Many tragedies of drowning of thousands of Eritreans occurred in the high seas and at the shores of Libya with no or little media and world attention. Then, the catastrophic drowning of 365 Eritreans at the gates of the Italian island of Lampedusa in October 2013 stunned the world and shook Eritreans. Despite repeated efforts, the tragedies of mass exodus and mass drowning continued. In April 2015, more than 350 Eritreans and many others were drowned and perished in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. To add insult to injury, Eritreans and many other innocent refugees are being kidnapped and beheaded or executed by firing squad.
Hundreds of thousands of Eritreans are living under the shadow of terror and death with no legal protection and legitimate representation scattered in many countries. All these sufferings and hardships are happening in neighboring countries, in Libya and at the gates of Europe and inside Israel.
European Union and the state of Israel have legal and moral obligation to protect and honor their human rights. However, instead of protecting the victims, they are attempting to appease the regime in Eritrea by providing financial assistance. The unimaginable irony is - that the root cause of the mass exodus and Eritrean misery - to be partner and beneficiary of the mass suffering - is a stunning paradox that can only worsen the situation. The extreme condition of our brothers and sisters is sending a clarion call for action to end their suffering.
In order to heed their call for action for meaningful and urgent solution - a big rally of all justice and peace loving Eritreans and friends of Eritrea will take place in Washington D.C. on June 19 2015. The rally will deliver its messages at the gate of the White House and March to the Capitol grounds and call upon the United States, the European Union and the United Nations and other international institutions to protect victims of oppression.
All freedom and justice loving Eritreans and friends of Eritrea are urged to join hands and march in Washington D.C. All Eritrean churches, mosques, human right organizations, communities, civic entities and organizations are urged to heed the call for action for meaningful solution.
People’s Solidarity of Eritreans for Justice
It Is Eritrea and Its People that EPDP Represents at International Conferences
Written by EPDP Information Office
EPDP Information Office
When a delegation of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) attends a regional or international conference - like the ones it recently attended in Niger, Leipzig, Stockholm, Tunisia and Rotterdam – it presents not a party message but it represents Eritrea, and the message is always a loud cry of Eritrea and its people. For example, see in annex to this report the full text of the message shared with participants of the recent conference of the Progressive Alliance held between 22 and 23 May in Rotterdam, Holland.
At the Rotterdam conference, all the statements and interventions made by members of the delegation were about the major problems faced by our people today. The meetings of heads of participant delegations, the steering and resolution drafting committees, and the workshops focused on gender problems were ripe opportunities in which the EPDP delegation members could tell the sad Eritrea narrative that included the maltreatments at home and the risks of refugees in the deserts and high seas.
Aside from the formal meetings, EPDP delegations get the opportunity of meeting with so many important state and party figures and exchange notes with them about Eritrea in the past 24 years under a repressive one-man rule.
The Progressive Alliance, which now enjoys the membership of 106 labour, socialist and social democratic parties and over 30 affiliated associations, holds conferences in different parts of the world. The Rotterdam conference on gender equality was attended by delegations representing 46 parties, a good number of them ruling parties in their respective countries.
EPDP delegation members posing with Mr. Mustafa Ben Jaafer, head of the social democratic Ettakatul party of Tunisia. He is the man who chaired the commission that drafted and gave Tunis its exemplary constitution now put to full effect.
During the boat tour and dinner of conference participants, EPDP’s Ms Adiam Tefferi took the opportunity of having an extensive chat about the plight of Eritrean women with Ms. Kirsten Meijer, the international secretary of the Dutch Labour Party that hosted the Rotterdam conference.
The Mayor of Rotterdam, Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb, flanked by EPDP delegation members
Annexed is Full text:
Eritrean Statement at PA Conference
On Gender Equality and Decent Work
Rotterdam, 22-23 May 2015
Distinguished Delegations of Fraternal Parties and Associations,
We, addressing this message to you fraternal forces and comrades-in-struggle, are representatives of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), a force engaged in a non-violent struggle for democratic change in our country. A mainstream Eritrean democratic party in exile, the EPDP is a founding member and signatory of the PA declaration adopted at the Leipzig conference of 24 May 2013.
We are pleased to note that, in addition to expressing PA commitments to promote human rights, the joint pursuit of freedom, justice, social equality, sustainability and international solidarity, this Rotterdam conference is determined to highlight and address the problems of gender inequality, and in doing so show the ways of addressing the plight of women everywhere, including of those much abused and distressed Eritrean women, as pronounced earlier this year by a Specialized UN Committee on discrimination against women. (See details in annex below).
Dear PA Conference Participants,
You are well aware that the government in Eritrea is the most repressive dictatorship in Africa today. It is also well known that no rule of law exists in Eritrea whose ratified constitution was rendered null and void by the president. No national elections have taken place in the past 24 years in the country where free press, free association and very basic human rights including the freedom to worship one’s chosen faith are totally non-existent. The last time the rubber stamp assembly of the ruling party met was in February 2002!!
The forced military conscription of all citizens between the ages of 18 and 70 (!!) years in the army and militias, and the open-ended “national service” or forced labour that literally became modern-day slavery brought life in Eritrea to a standstill. Any opposition or criticism of the wrong policies of the regime leads to risks of cruel torture, disablement or slow death. Well over 10,000 persons languish in over 300 prisons without recourse to legal courts. No wonder that the Eritrean society is now at a state of breaking down. This breakdown of a highly militarized society is also very likely to cause havoc in the region and much beyond it.
The suffering of hundreds of thousands of Eritrean refugees in the entire region has remained a disturbing development for years. The tragedies faced by a large number of Eritreans in the Sinai, the Libyan desert and the Mediterranean Sea are also only examples of a bigger problem at home.
Dear Comrades and Friends,
This delegation is taking the liberty of reiterating the party’s calls to this forum to give adequate attention to peoples languishing under unbearable types of governance that do not allow any consideration of addressing gender inequality and decent work. To this end, and as a top priority,
- We in the EPDP ask the Progressive Alliance to organize a special meeting on the problem of peoples in the Horn of Africa and see how the PA can help distressed peoples like the Eritreans to overcome their problems.
- There is an urgent need of supporting non-state civil and political actors towards building their capacities to become alternative democratic forces in those states under repressive regimes that do not allow multi-party democracy.
- PA member parties to establish a special group that follows up the situation of gender inequalities in Africa and other less developed regions of the world.
No doubt, gender inequality, the theme of this conference is of great concern to us all. Although the wrong policies of the dictatorship in Eritrea affect every citizen, the problems faced by Eritrean women are much worse. The situation of Eritrean women, who paid dearly in the liberation struggle and whose basic rights were relatively respected during the armed struggle, was reverted to square one in the past 24 years after liberation. The observations of an important UN body, that are included to this message below, will give PA meeting participants a picture of the condition of Eritrean women today.
Sincerely yours,
Menghesteab Asmerom,
Chairman,
The Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) in exile
Annex
Situation of Women in Eritrea
The UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea and the UN Human Rights Rapporteur for Eritrea have been compiling disquieting human rights abuses in Eritrea covering the period 1991 to the present. Their mid-term report in March 2015 affirmed that the autocratic government in Asmara brought the Eritrean people to the brink of losing “hope for their future”. The UN Inquiry Commission is expected to submit its final report to the UN Human Rights Council on 26 June 2015.
The report will no doubt reveal, inter alia, the tragic situation of women in Eritrea although the problem was also very recently scrutinized by another specialized UN committee whose 6 March 2015 statement severely criticized the Eritrean regime for utter failure to respect women’s rights enshrined in a convention that the Eritrean regime itself has already signed.
The UN Committee on Convention to Eliminate all forms Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) discussed women’s situation in Eritrea on 26 February 2015. Its concluding observations contain serious concerns on lack of basic steps needed in the protection and promotion of women’s rights. It said no improvement in the situation can be expected without a constitution and respect of the rule of law.
Prevalence of sexual abuse of women in the Eritrean army, absence of criminal action against sex offenders, the open-ended “national service” that force women and families to escape from the regime, and the presence of small arms at every corner in the country were mentioned among the concerns of the CEDAW committee that believed they should be addressed “as a matter of high priority”. Listed below are excerpts from the CEDAW committee’s concluding observations.
From UN CEDAW Observations:
6: The Committee considers that the indefinite national service, the ineffective implementation of the 1997 Constitution and the suspension of the National Assembly, have resulted in a deterioration of the rule of law and resulted in a serious refugee crisis which pose a challenge to the implementation of the Convention. Therefore the Committee urges the State party to implement the recommendations contained in the present concluding observations as a matter of high priority.
8(e): Concerned about [t]he proliferation of small arms and the accessibility of firearms to individuals in the framework of the national service and their impact on the security of women.
9(b): Prevent, investigate, prosecute in criminal courts, and punish all cases of violence against women and girls in the national service and at the Sawa Military Training Centre, implement a policy of zero tolerance and provide legal aid, rehabilitation programmes and compensation to victims;
11(a): Ensure the effective implementation of the 1997 Constitution of Eritrea and expedite the planned Constitutional review process, within a clear timeframe and with transparent procedures …
13(b): Ensure that all cases of violence and discrimination against women covered by the Convention are brought under the jurisdiction of criminal instead of military courts, including when violations of the law are committed by military or public officials;
20(c): Alleged perpetrators of sexual violence against women in the national service are rarely prosecuted.
22. …it is concerned about reports that numerous women and girls, including unaccompanied children who are fleeing the country become victims of human trafficking and smuggling.
24. …it is concerned that women remain underrepresented in senior government positions and at reports that the measures taken only benefit women sharing the views of the political party in power.
25(b): Expeditiously hold free and fair elections to the National Assembly and other elected bodies, ensuring that all women, including those from disadvantaged groups and those holding divergent opinions, can vote and stand for election;
49: It also invites the State party to consider ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court [other international treaties].
EPDP delegation with party representatives from Angola, Kenya and Swaziland.
ሰዲህኤ ኣብ ዝካፈሎም ኣህጕራዊ መጋባያታት ብዛዕባ ኤርትራን ህዝባን ጥራሕ ኢዩ ዝዛረብ
Written by ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ሰዲህኤ
ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ)፡ ኣብ ዝካፈሎም ከም ናይ ኒያሚ፡ ላይፕዚግ፡ ስቶክሆልም፡ ቱኒስን ሮተርዳምን ዝኣመሰሉ መጋባእያታት ዘሕልፎም መልእኽትታት ብዛዕባ ነብሱ ዘይኰነስ፡ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራን ህዝባን ኢዩ ዝጣበቕ። ንኣብነት ምስ'ዚ ተታሓሒዙ ዘሎ ኣብ'ቲ ካብ 22-23 ግንቦት 2014 ኣብ ሮተርዳም፡ ሆላንድ እተጋብአ ዋዕላ ዝተዘርግሐ ኣብ ጥብቆ ዘሎ ጽሑፍ ተመልከት።
ኣብ ሮተርዳም ኣብ እተሰላሰለ ዋዕላ ገስጋሲ ምሕዝነት፡ ብኣባላት ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ ዝተጻሕፉ ይኹኑ ዝተዘርግሑ መልእኽትታት፡ ብዛዕባ ጸገማት ህዝብና ጥራሕ ኢዩ ዝገልጹ። መራሕቲ ናይ ልኡኻት፡ ኣካያዲትን ውሳኔታት እትነድፍ ሽማግለን ናይ ምምይይጥ ዓውደታትን (ዎርክሾፕ) ዘካየድዎም ኣኼባታት ብዛዕባ "ጾታዊ ማዕርነት" ዝብል ቴማ ኢዮም ዘትዮም። ኣብ'ዚ ኣኼባታት'ዚ ድማ፡ ኣባላት ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ፡ ብዛዕባ ኵነታት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኤርትራን ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታትን ንምግላጽ ጽቡቕ ዕድል ረኺቦም ኢዮም።
ኣባላት ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ ካብ የማን ንጸጋም (መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም፡ ወልደሱስ ዓማር፡ መሓሪ ተስፋማርያም፡ ኣድያም ተፈራ ምስግና)
ኣብ ግዜ ዕረፍቲ ድማ፡ ኣባላት ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ፡ ምስ ኣባላት መሪሕነት መንግስታትን ሰልፍታትን እናተራኸቡ፡ ብዛዕባ ሃለዋት ኤርትራን ህዝብና ኣብ ዝሓልፉ 24 ዓመታት ዘሕልፎም መረርቲ ተመኵሮታትን ምግላጽ፡ ምልላይን ኣድራሻታት ምቅይያርን ዝኣመሰሉ ዕማማት የካይዱ ነይሮም።
ገስጋሲ ምሕዝነት 106 ናይ ዕዮ፡ ማሕበረ-ዲሞክራስያውያንን ዴሳውያንን ሰልፍታትን 30 ዝዀነ መሓዙት ማሕበራትን ዘጠቓልል ጽላል ኰይኑ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ኵርንዓት ናይ ዓለም ዋዕላታት ይገብር። ኣብ ዋዕላ ሮተርዳም ዝተኻፈሉ ሰልፍታት 46 ኰይኖም ብዙሓት ካብኦም ድማ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘለዉ ሰልፍታት ኢዮም።
ኣባላት ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ ምስ ኣቶ ሙስጣፋ ቢን ጃዕፈር፡ ኣቦ መንበር ማሕበረ-ዲሞክራስያዊ ሰልፊ ኣልተከቱል ናይ ቱኢዝያ። ቢን ጃዕፈር፡ ኣቦ መንበር ኮሚሽን ንቅዋም ናይ ቱኒዝያ ዝነደፈት ኮሚቴ ዝወሰድዎ ስእሊ።
ናብ ወደብ ሮተርዳም ብጃልባ ዑደት ኣብ ዝተገብረሉ ናይ ድራር ግብዣ፡ ወይዘሮ ኣድያም ተፈራ ምስግና፡ ምስ ወይዘሮ ኪርስተን ማየር፡ ኣህጕራዊት ሰክረታርያ ናይቲ ንዋዕላ ገስጋሲ ምሕዝነት ዘአንገደ ሰልፊ ዕዮ ሆላንድ፡ ተራኺባ ብዛዕባ ሃለዋት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኤርትራ ንምዕላል ዕድል ረኺባ።
ከንቲባ ከተማ ሮተርዳም፡ ኣቶ ኣሕመድ ኣቡጣልብ ምስ ኣባላት ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ
ምሉእ ትሕዝቶ ናይ'ቲ ኣብ ዋዕላ ሮተርዳም ዝተዘርግሐ መልእኽቲ ሰዲህኤ ከም'ዚ ዝስዕብ ኢዩ።
መግለጺ ሰዲህኤ ብዛዕባ ጾታዊ ማዕርነትን ፍሓዊ ስራሕን ኣብ ዋዕላ ሮተርዳም፡ 22-23 ግንቦት 2015
ክቡራትን ክቡራንን ልኡኻት ኣሓት ሰልፍታትን ማሕበራትን
ንሕና፡ ነዚ መልእኽቲ'ዚ ነመሓላልፈልኩም ዘለና፡ ኣባላት ናይ'ቲ ብሰላማውን ፖለቲካውን ቃልሲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ንምምጻእ ዝቃለስ ዘሎ መሓዛኹም ዝዀነ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ) ኢና። ሰዲህኤ፡ ሓደ ካብ'ቶም ቀንዲ ምእንቲ ዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ዝቃለሱ ሰልፍታት ኰይኑ ኣባል ናይ'ቲ ብ24 ግንቦት 2013 ኣብ ላይፕዚግ እተሰላሰለ መስራቲ ጕባኤ ገስጋሲ ምሕዝነትን ተጣባቒ ናይ'ቶም ኣብኡ ዝጸደቑ ውሳኔታትን ኢዩ።
ኣብ ርእስ'ቲ፡ ገስጋሲ ምሕዝነት፡ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት፡ ናጽነት፡ ፍትሒ፡ ማሕበራዊ ማዕርነት፡ ዘላቒ ሰላምን ኣህጕራዊ ምድግጋፍን ንምርግጋጽ ዝኣተዎ መብጽዓታት፣ ኣብ ዋዕላ ሮተርዳም፡ ንጾታዊ ማዕርነት ከም ቀንዲ ቴማኡ ብምውሳድ፡ ብዛዕባ ኣብ ኵሉ ኵርንዓት ናይ ዓለም ዝርከባ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ፡ እንተላይ ብዛዕባ'ተን፡ ብመሰረት ጸብጻብ ፍልይቲ ሽማግለ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ዝጐሳቘላ ዘለዋ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኤርትራ ክዛተ ምምራጹ፡ ንሕና ከም ሰዲህኤ መጠን ክብ ዝበለ ክብርን ሓጐስን ይስምዓና። (ኣብ ታሕቲ ዘሎ ጥብቆ ተመልከት)
ክቡራትንን ክቡራንን ተኻፈልቲ ዋዕላ
ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ስርዓት ኣዝዩ ጸቓጥን ዲክታቶርያውን ስርዓት፡ ብሕጊ ዘይግዛእ ነቲ ብህዝቢ ዝጸደቐ ቅዋም ውን ፕረሲደንት ኤርትራ ብኢደ-ወነኑ ደው ከምዘበሎን ትፈልጡ ኢኹም። ኣብ ዝሓለፉ 24 ዓመታት ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝተኻየደ ሃገራዊ ምርጫታት የለን። ኤርትራ፡ ናጽነት ናይ ፕረስ፡ ናጽነት ናይ ምእካብን ካልኦት መሰረታውያን መሰላት ወዲሰብ፡ እንተላይ መሰል ናይ ኣምልኾ ዘይኽበረላ ሃገር ኢያ ኰይና ዘላ። እቲ ስርዓት ባዕሉ ዘቖሞ ፓርላማ፡ ኣብ ለካቲት 2002 ምስ ተኣከበ ብድሕሪኡ ተኣኪቡ ኣይፈልጥን።
ኣስገዳድ ዕስክርናን ደረት ዘይብሉ መደብ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎትን ወይ ድማ ባርነትን ናይ'ቶም ኣብ መንጐ 18 ክሳብ 70 ዓመታት ዝዕድሚኦም ዜጋታት ንንቡር ህይወት ናይ ኤርትራውያን ዘሪግዎ ኢዩ። ዝዀነ ይኹን ተቓውሞ ኣንጻር ፖሊሲታት ስርዓት ህግዲፍ፡ ናይ ማእሰርቲ፡ ዓዛብን ሞትን መቕጻዕቲ ኢዩ ዘስዕበልካ። ልዕሊ 10,000 ዝዀኑ እሱራት፡ ብዘይ ክስን ፍርድን፡ ኣብ 300 ኣብያተ-ማእሰርቲ ተዳጒኖም ኣለዉ። ኤርትራ፡ ከም ደውላ ናብ ፍሽለትን ምብትታንን ገጻ'ያ ተምርሕ ዘላ። እዚ ድማ ኣብ'ቲ ዞና ኣሉታዊ ኣሰራት ክህልዎ ኢዩ።
በማእት ዝቝጸሩ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ኣብ'ቲ ዞና ዘሕልፍዎ ዘለዉ ስቅያት ኣዝዩ ኣሻቓሊ ኢዩ። ኣብ ሊብያ፡ ሲናን ማእከላይ ባሕርን ንኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ዘጋጥሞም ዘሎ ሓደጋታት መርኣያ ናይ ሃለዋት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ውሽጢ ኢዮም።
ክቡራትን ክቡራንን ኣዕሩኽን መቓልስትን
ህዝብና ኣብ ትሕቲ ዘይጽወር ሕማቕ ምምሕዳር ዘሕልፎ ዘሎ ሓሳረ-መከራ፡ ንጾታዊ ማዕርነት ይኹን ፍትሓዊ ስራሕ ኣብ ግብሪ ንምውዓል ኣዝዩ ኣጸጋሚ ምዃኑ እናኣመትና፡ ተኻፈልቲ ዋዕላ ነዞም ዝስዕቡ ጕዳያት ግቡእ ትዅረት ክትህቡሎም ንምሕጸን።
1. ገስጋሲ ምሕዝነት፡ ብዛዕባ ሽግራት ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ ዝዝቲ ፍሉይ ኣኼባ ክጽውዕን ግዲኡ ኣብ ምቅላል ናይ'ዚ ጸገማት'ዚ እንታይ ምዃኑ ክግምግምን ሰዲህኤ ይጽውዕ፤
2. ንዘይመንግስታውያን ሲቪላውያንን ፖለቲካውያንን ተዋሳእቲ መተካእታ ናይ'ቲ ዲክታቶርያዊ ስርዓት ንምዃን ዘብቅዖም ናይ ዓቕሚ ምምዕባል ስልጠናታትን ደገፋትን ክግበረሎም፤
3. ኣብ ኣፍሪቃን ካልኦት ዘይምዕቡላት ዞባታትን ንዘሎ ዘይምዕሩይ ጾታዊ ኵነታት እትከታተል ፍልይቲ ኣካል ወይ ሽማግለ ምቛም።
ጾታዊ ማዕርነት ዝብል ቴማ ኣገዳሲ ምዃኑ ዘካትዕ ኣይኰነን። ግጉይ ፖሊሲታት ዲክታቶርያዊ ስርዓት ኤርትራ ንዅሉ ዜጋ ዝሃሲ'ኳ እንተዀነ፡ ሃሰያታቱ ኣብ ልዕሊ ማዕርነት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ግን ዝኸፍአ ኢዩ። እቲ ኣብ ሜዳ ብቓልሰንን ብመስዋእተንን ዘረጋገጽኦ ዝምድናዊ ማዕርነት፡ ኣብ'ዞም ዝሓለፉ 24 ናይ ናጽነት ዓመታት ንድሕሪት ኢዮም ተመሊሶም። መታን ተኻፈልቲ ዋዕላ ሮተርዳም ግቡእ ግንዛበ ክህልወኩም፡ ሓደ ትካል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ዝገበሮ መጽናዕቲ ኣተሓሒዝና ሰደልኩም ኣለና።
ምስ ምስጋና
መንግስተኣብ ኣስመሮም
ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤ
ብመርማሪት ኮሚቴ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ዝቐረበ ንኵነታት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝገልጽ ጽሑፍ
መርማሪት ኮሚቴ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣብ ኤርትራ ካብ 1991 ኣትሒዛ ክሳብ ሕጂ ክፍጸም ዝጸንሐ ዘሰንብድ ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ክትእክብ ጸኒሓ። ኣብ ወርሒ መጋቢት 2015 ኣብ ዘቕረበቶ ክፊላዊ ጸብጻባ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝገዝእ ዘሎ ዲክታቶርያዊ ስርዓት ንናይ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ናይ መጻኢ ተስፋታት ከምዘጸልመቶ ኢያ ጠቒሳ። እቶ ኮሚቴ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ናይ መወዳእታ ጸብጻባታ ኣብ ዝመጽእ ዘሎ ወርሒ ሰነ 2015 ኢያ ከተቕርብ።
እዚ ጸብጻብ'ዚ፡ ነቲ ዘሕዝን ሃለዋት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኤርትራ ዘቃልዕ ክኸውን ምዃኑ ዘጠራጥር ኣይኰነን። ቅድም ክብል፡ ኣብ 6 መጋቢት 2015 ብኻልእ ፍልይቲ ትካል ሕቡራት ሃገራት ዝወጸ መግለጺ፡ ንስርዓት ኤርትራ ብግህሰት ናይ'ቲ ዝፈረመሉ ውዕላት ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ዝኸስስን ዘቃልዕን'ዩ ነይሩ።
ኮሚቴ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ኣንጻር ኣብ ልዕሊ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ዝፍጸም ኵሉ ዓይነት ኣድልዎን ፍልልያትን ብ26 ለካቲት 2015 ብዛዕባ ሃለዋት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኤርትራ ተዘራሪቡ። ንመሰላት ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኤርትራ ንምኽባር ክውሰድ ዘለዎ መሰረታዊ ስጕምታት ዘይምህላዉ ድማ ኣዝዩ ኣሻቓሊ ጸገም'ዩ ኣብ ዝብ መደምደምታ በጺሑ። ብዘይ ግዝኣተ-ሕግን ብዘይ ቅዋምን እዚ መሰላት'ዚ ክሕሎ ከምዘይከኣል ድማ ኣስሚርሉ።
ኣብ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ብስፍሓት ዝግሃድ ዘሎ ጾታዊ ዓመጽ፡ ኣንጻር ዓመጽቲ ዝውሰድ ሕጋዊ ስጕምታት ዘይምህላው፡ ደቂ ኣንስትዮን ስድራታትን ክሃድማ ዝድርኽ ዘሎ ደረት ዘይብሉ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎትን ኣብ ኵሉ ኵርንዓት ኤርትራ ተዘርጊሑ ዘሎ ንኣሽቱ ብረትን ገለ ካብ'ቶም ነቲ ኮሚቴ ዘሻቕሉ ጕዳያት ምዃኖም ተጠቒሶም። ስዒቡ ገለገለ ካብ'ቲ ጸብጻብ ዝተረኽቡ ጥቕስታት በብቕጽሮም ከነስዐልኩም ኢና።
6. ደረት ዘይብሉ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት፡ ናይ 1997 ቅዋም ኣብ ግብሪ ዘይምውዓሉን ንባይቶ ኤርትራ ምድስካልን ግዝኣተ-ሕጊ ከይሰፍን ዓንቂፉ። ከም ሳዕቤኑ ድማ፡ ነቲ ውዕል ኣብ ግብሪ ንምትርጓም ዘየኽእል ዋሕዚ ናይ ስደተኛታት ኣኸቲሉ። ስለ'ዚ፡ እቲ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘሎ ሰልፊ (ህግዲፍ ማለት ኢዩ) ነዚ ኣብ ጸብጻብ ተዘርዚሩ ዘሎ ትዕዝብትታት ኣብ ግብሪ ከውዕሎ ኣለዎ፤
8(e)፡ ብዛዕባ'ቲ ብስም ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ተዘርጊሑ ዘሎ ማእለያ ዘይብሉ ፈኰስቲ ብረት ኣብ ልዕሊ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ዝፈጥሮ ጸጥታዊ ስግኣት ከም ዘሎ ብምግንዛብ፤
9(b). ኣብ ልዕሊ ደቂ ኣንስትዮን ኣዋልድን ኣብ ወተሃደራዊ መደበር ታዕሊም ሳዋ ዝፍጸሙ ኵሉ ዓይነት ግፍዕታት ምክልኻል፡ ምምርማርን ንገበነኛታት ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕጊ ከምዝቐርቡ ምግባር ብሓደ ሸነኽ፤ ነተን ግዳያት ድማ፡ ሕጋው ደግፍን ናይ ትሃድሶ መደባት ምስራዕን ካሕሳ ከምዝኽፈለን ምግባርን፤
11(a)፡ ናይ 1997 ቅዋም ኤርትራ ኣብ ግብሪ ከምዝውዕል ምግባርን ነቲ በብእዋኑ ክግበር ተመዲቡ ንቅዋም ደጊምካ ምርኣይ ዝብል መስርሕ ብግሉጽ ኣገባብን ኣብ ግዜኡን ምክያድ፤
13(b)፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ዝፍጸሙ ኣብ'ቲ ውዕል ተጠቒሶም ዘለዉ ዓመጻትን ፍልልያትን ኣብ ክንዲ ኣብ ወተሃደራዊ ቤት ፍርዲ፣ ኣብ'ቶም እንተላይ ንወተሃደራትን ሰበስልጣንን ብይን ዝህቡ ናይ ገበነኛታት ቤት ፍርዲ ከምዝርኣዩ ምግባር፤
20(c)፡ ኣብ ልዕል ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ስጋዊ ዓመጽ ዝፍጽሙ ገበነኛታት ኣብ ሳዋ፡ ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕጊ ሳሕቲ እንተዘይኰይኑ ኣይቀርቡን ኢዮም፤
22. ....ብዛዕባ'ቶም ብዙሓት ካብ ሃገሮም ዝሃድሙ ዘለዉ ደቂ ኣንስትዮን ኣዋልድን እንተላይ ኣለይቲ ዘይብሎም ህጻናት ብዙሕ'ዩ ዘሻቕለና፤
24. ... ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ኣብ ላዕለዋይ ናይ መንግስቲ ጽፍሕታት ብግቡእ ዘይተወከላ ምዃነን ዘሻቕል ኢዩ። እተን ኣብ ላዕለዋይ ስልጣን ዘለዋ ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ንርእይቶ ናይ ህግደፍ ዝድግፋ ጥራሕ ኢየን፤
25 (b)፡ ንሃገራዊ ባይቶን ካልኦት ብውድድር ዝቖሙ ኣካላትን ዝግበሩ ምርጫታት ናጻን ፍትሓውን ኰይኖም፡ ኵለን ደቂ ኣንስትዮ እንተላይ እተን ዝተፈልየ ርእይቶ ዘለወንን ኣባላት ህሱያት ጕጀለታት ዝዀናን ደቂ ኣስንትዮ ክመርጻን ክምረጻን ዘፍቅድ ክኸውን ይግባእ፤
49፡ እቲ ናይ መንግስታዊ ሰልፊ፡ ነቲ ናይ ኣህጕራዊ ቤት ፍርዲ ዝምልከት ቅዋም ሮማ ከጽድቕ ክቕበልን ንዕድም።
ልኡኽ ሰዲህኤ ምስ ወከልቲ ሰልፍታት ካብ ኣንጎላ፡ ከንያን ስዋዚላንድን
ልኡኽ ሰልፊ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ንጥፈታት ክዋሳእ እነክሎ
EPDP Delegation Hold Public Meeting in Rotterdam and Talks with Civic Society Reps
Written by EPDP Information Office
Maximizing its efforts to spread the priority common tasks of the Eritrean opposition, the EPDP delegation to Holland took time to organize a public meeting and hold talks with national figures and civil society leaders in Rotterdam.
The open public meeting called on 25 May was briefed by the EPDP chairman, Mr. Menghesteab Asmerom, about major current developments affecting Eritrea and its people. This included the latest moves being taken by the European Union and other quarters to serve their immediate interests by appeasing the dictatorship in Eritrea. The delegation members, who included Mr. Woldeyesus Ammar, Ms Adiam Tefferi and Mr. Mehari Tesfamariam, talk about party’s diplomatic activities and the challenges ahead, the accomplishments of the Rotterdam Conference of the Progressive Alliance which focused on gender equality and decent work as well as the role of the Eritrean community in Holland in the urgent tasks of the moment.
The public meeting that brought together veterans of the Eritrean liberation movement, women activists and representatives of youth movements was an opportunity for each meeting participants to express her/his concerns and suggest what is to be done to make the ongoing struggle more effective.
The problem created by the generational gap was one of the discussion points of great concern at the meeting. It was pointed out that there are currently hopeful engagements that started to help narrow down the differences between the youth movements and the traditional opposition organizations which were appreciated for having done their best in creating public awareness about the wrong doings of the regime.
Veteran fighters like Mr. Kubrom Dafla, who knew well the wrong doings of the dictatorial clique in Asmara, saw urgency of joint work by all forces opposed to the regime inside the country and those in disaspora.
Similarly, Mr. Ismail Ali and others reiterated the call for a national charter that can give renewed dedication to build a better country and society in post dictatorship Eritrea.
The EPDP delegation also met separately with national figures like veteran freedom fighter Omar Mohammed, and later on 25 May held extensive discussions with a group of women and youth activists in Rotterdam.
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ኣብ 24 ግንቦት ብዓል ነጻነት ካብቲ ኩሉ ሃለውለው መደረ መራሒ እቲ ስርዓት ኣቓልቦ ናይቶም ኣሳሰይቱ መርበባት ዝሰሓበት እታ ጉቦን ምጥፍፋእን ኣብ ውሽጢ ስርዓቱ ሳዕሪሩ ከምዘሎ መጠንቀቕታ ምሃቡ ፣ ከም ሓዲሽ ነገር ዝተረክበ ኣምሲሎም ንጉቦን ምጥፍፋእ ክቓለሱ ገያሾ ናብ ኤርትራ ዝበጽሑ ጉቦ ከይህቡ መብጸዓ ክኣትወሎም ምጽውዖም ፖለቲካዊ ድኽነቶም ዘረጋግጽ ጉዳይ እዩ ።
ጉቦን ምጥፍፋእን መሰረቱ ወይ ምንጩ መንግስቲ ንሰርሓተኛታቱ ምስ ቁጠባዊ መነባብሮ ናይቲ ሃገር ኣብ ግምት ዘይኣእተወ ትሑት ዶምዝ ስለ ዝከፍሎም ኮይኑ ፣ ነቲ ዝተርፎም ሃጓፍ ክመልኡ ናብ ዘይተደልየ ጉቦን ምጥፍፋእን ከኣ ይኣትዉ ።ጉቦን ምጥፍፋእን (Corruption )ማለት ንህዝባዊ ትካል ናብ ውልቓዊ ረብሓኻ ምውዓል እዩ ። ብካሊእ ኣዛራርባ መንግስታዊ ሓላፍነትካ ብምጥቓም ዘይሕጋዊ ክፍሊት ክትረክብ ተጽዕኖን ጽልዋን እናተጠቀምኻ ካልኦት ከክረክብዎ ዘይከኣሉ ረብሓታት ምክዕባት እዩ። ጉቦን ምጥፍፋእን ኣብ ኩለን ሃገራት ዝዝውተር ኮይኑ ፣ ብዝያዳ ግን ኣብተን ኣብ ምምዕባል ዘለዋ ሃገራት ሳዕሪሩ ይርኸብ ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ብልሽውና መሰረቱ ህግደፍ ዝፈጠሮ ስራሕ ኣልቦነት እዩ።
ሓሙሽተ ዓመታት ኣቢሉ ይኸውን ሓደ ናይቲ ስርዓት ማእከላይ ሓላፍነት ዝነበሮ ሰብ ፣ ብዛዕባ ኩነታት ቁጠባን ዶሞዝ ሰርሓተኛታት ክዘረብ እንከሎ እዚ ዝስዒብ ክብል ይዝክረኒ “ ኣነ ካብ ወለደይ እኩል ሓገዝ ይረክብ እየ ፣ እንተኮነ እቲ ዝወሃበኒ ዶሞዝ ነትን ንመነባብሮይ ኣገደስቲ ዝብለን ነገራት ከይገዛእኩ ይውዳኣኒ ። ነተን ዝተረፈኒ ነገራት ከማሊእ ከኣ ኣብ ልቓሕ ይኣቱ ይብል ። ቀጺሉ እቲ ብዝያዳ ዝገርመኒ እቶም መሳርሕተይ በዘን ዝወሃብኦም ዶሞዝ ክራይ ገዛን ቀለብን ክዳንን ወዘተ ከመይ ገይሮም ከም ዝሓልፍዎ ክርድኣኒ ኣይክእልን “ይብል። እዚ ሰብ እዚ ዘለቂሕ ስለ ዝረኸበ ይልቓሕ ኣሎ ። እቶም ዘለቆሖም ዘይብሎም ከኣ ካብቶም ጉዳያቶም ከሳልጡ ዝመጹ ዜጋታት ክሳብ እተን መመላእታ ዝረክቡ ነቶም ስብ ጉዳይ ሎሚ ጽባሕ እናበሉ ከመላልስዎም ይርኣዩ።ኩሉ ሰርሓተኛ መንግስቲ Civil Servants ብጉቦ ይናበሩ ምባል ፍትሓዊ ኣይኮነን ፣ እንተኮነ ምስቲ ክብሪ ቀረብን ክራይ ገዛውትን ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ዶሞዝ ሰርሓተኛታት ክሽፍኖ ዘይሕሰብ እዩ።
ዝከበርኩም ተኸታተልቲ እዚ መርበብ እዚ ዝገለጽኩዎ ናይ ቅድሚ ሓሙሽተ ዓመታት ከክውን እንከሎ ፣ ሕጂ ከኣ ሓደ ወርሒ ይገበር ኤርትራ በጺሑ ዝተመልሰ ተደናጋጺ ምስቲ ሰርዓት ዝኮነ ዜጋ ስልኪ ደዊሉ ዘላምታ ድሕሪ ምልውዋጥና ፣ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝረኣዮ ኩነታት ህዝብና ካብ መጠን ንላዕሊ ከምዝሓዘነ ይገልጽ ። ቀጺሉ እታ ዝረኣኩዋ እታ ዝፈልጣ ኣስመራ ኣይኮነትን ይብል ። እቲ ኣብ ትሕቲ ቅርጻን ልዕሊ ቅርጻን ወሪዱ ዘሎ ዕንወት ንጎኒ ገዲፍካ ይብል ፣ ዘይንቡር ዝኮነ ተርእዮ ኣዳታትን ኣባታትን ቆልዑን ኣብ ምልማን ተዋፊሮም ክርእ እንከሎኩ ጉህየን ሓዚነን ይብል ።
እምበኣር ፍታሕ ናይዚ ኣብ ሃገርና ወሪዱ ዘሎ ፣ ስራሕ ኣልቦነት ዝፈጠሮ ዝሕዝን ድኽነት፣ ዶሞዝ ሰርሓተኛታት ምውሳኽ ዘይኮነ እቲ መራሕ ጉጂለን መሻርክቱን ካብ ሱሮም ክምሓዉ ኣሎዎም ። ምክንያቱ ሕጊ ዘይብሉ መግስቲ ስለ ዝኮነ ፣ ክትቓለሰሉ እትክእል ቅዋማዊ ሰረተ-ባይታ የለን ። ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ሕሰምን ድክነትን ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝብ ኤርትራ ክርኢ ድስ ዝብሎ ዲያፕሎሳዊ ስርዓት እዩ ።ንኤርትራውያን ሓረስቶት እቲ ልሙዕ መሬቶም ከይሓርሱ ከልኪሉ መፍረይ እንስሳታት በረኻ ክገብሮ ኣዊጁ ። ኤርትራውያን ሃብታማት ርእሰ-ማሎም ኣብ ኤርትራ ከዋፍሩ ዝጀመሩ ዝወረስ ወሪሱ ዝቅተል ከኣ ቀቲሉ ። ከምኡ እውን ኤርትራውያን ምሁራት ኣብ ዕብየት ሃገሮም ክሳተፉ ዝመጹ ዲሂሉን ኣባሪሩን ። ፍትሕን ሕግን ኣብ ዘይብላ ዓዲ ከኣ ናይ ወጻእተኛታት ወፍሪ ዘይሕሰብ እዩ። ካብ ኩሉ ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ኣብተን መሰረታውያን ዝኮና ጸላታት ጥዕናን ጸዓትን ትምህርትን ማይን ቀረብ ስለ ዝፈሸለ ካብ ስልጣን ክውገደሉ ዝክእል ወተሃደራዊ/ ህዝባዊ /ዲሞክራሲያዊ ዓመጽ ሰዓቱ ኣኪሉ እዩ ።
ዝኸበርኩም ደቂ ሃገር ብልሽውና Corruption ኣብ ቁጠባዊ መዳይ ጥራሕ ተሓጺሩ ዝተረፍ ኣይኮነን ። ዘይሞራላዊ ስነ ምግባር እውን Corruption ኣዩ ።ስለዚ ኣብ ሃይማኖታውን ፖለቲካውን ባህላውን ህወት ህዝብና በቲ ሰርዓት እኩል ሃስያ ኣመዝጊቡ እዩ ። እዚ ኩሉ በሰላታት ኣብ ሓጺር እዋን ክሓዊ እንተኮይኑ ምትእምማን ናይ ኩሎም ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ሓይልታት ብዘይ ወዓል ሕደር ክምዝገብ ኣለዎ ።
ክብሮም ግረነት
Open Letter of Appeal to UNHCR on behalf of the Eritrean Refugees in Israel
Written by Dr Tsegezab Gebregergi
His Excellency Mr. Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Gutierrez
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Geneva, Switzerland
March 19th, 2015
Subject: Open Letter of Appeal to UNHCR on behalf of the Eritrean Refugees in Israel
Dear Sir,
We, the more than 300 representatives of the various Eritrean communities in Europe, who organised today’s protest demonstration in Geneva, would hereby like to submit our appeals to your Excellency with the hope that you will use your good office to stop the planned inhuman and forceful deportation of Eritrean refugees against their will from Israel to Uganda and Ruanda.
Excellency,
Since the outbreak of the 1998-2000 ferocious Eritrea/Ethiopia war and the cold war which followed between the two countries, young Eritreans in their thousands have been fleeing from Eritrea to different countries using various means and ways in order to avoid being forcefully drafted into a compulsory open-ended oppressive military service, including being forced into quasi-slavery forced labour on farms and factories. Some of those Eritrean refugees undertook a very perilous journey through the unforgiving Libyan and Sinai deserts, somehow reaching Israel after many terrifying ordeals. So many of their colleagues, brothers or sisters perished on the way from thirst and hunger, while others died at the hands of human traffickers and human organ hunters and traders.
The Eritrean refugees undertook the most hazardous route to reach the borders of Israel in the hope that a people which has suffered so much throughout history at the hands of anti-Semitic governments and in the most extreme way at the hands of the Nazi rulers of Germany would welcome Eritreans as refugees. Thus, those Eritreans who managed to reach Israel were conscious that, as the Israeli government is a signatory to the Geneva Convention on refugees, they could apply officially for refugee status to remain in Israel until the political situation returns to normality in Eritrea.
Unfortunately, and much to our dismay, we have recently learned that the Israeli government has a definite plan to deport thousands of Eritrean refugee applicants to some African countries that are willing to receive them in exchange for Israeli money and arms. It is important to mention here that Eritreans and the democrats of other countries clearly understand that the action and measures being undertaken by the Israeli government against Eritrean refugees is diametrically opposed to the Geneva Convention’s status and rights-based instrument, which is underpinned by a number of fundamental principles, most notably non-discrimination, non-penalisation and non-refoulement.
The illegal measures, which the Israeli government has announced to undertake against the thousands of Eritrean refugees living in Israel, have angered the thousands of Eritreans living in the western world and elsewhere. Consequently, as members of the worldwide Eritrean community, we, the representatives of the Eritrean community in Europe, have organised a peaceful protest demonstration in Geneva today to express our anger and dismay regarding the illegal deportation of Eritrean refugees by the Israeli government. We wish to convey to the Israeli government that Eritrean refugees are not commodities for sale to some corrupt and dictatorial governments in Africa where human rights and human dignity are grossly and crudely violated. In other words, the express purpose of our protest and the appeal letter we are handing to both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Geneva, and the Israeli Embassy in Switzerland, is to show active solidarity to our distressed fellow Eritreans in Israel. We wish to alert and inform the UNHCR in Geneva and other Human Rights organisations and governments to the plight and the imminent danger the thousands of Eritrean refugees are facing in Israel today.
Excellency,
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established in December 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly with a full mandate to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve their problems worldwide. In other words, as far as we are concerned, the primary purpose of the UNHR is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, and to strive to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another state, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country.
Indeed, as the key legal document, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees has clearly defined refugees and their rights and the legal obligations of the states hosting refugees. A refugee, according to the Convention, is defined as someone owing to well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.
Similarly, under the title ‘prohibition of expulsion or return (“refoulement”)’, article 33 of the 1951 Geneva Convention on refugees, has also stated clearly that ‘No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedomwould be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion’.
Excellency,
Thus, in line with the purpose, we have gathered here in Geneva in front of the Israeli Embassy to peacefully demonstrate and protest against the illegal measures, which the Israeli government is about to take against the thousands of Eritrean asylum applicants in Israel. We demand that the Israeli government immediately stops its threats to deport Eritrean refugees illegally from Israel. We also call on the United Nations and its representatives in Geneva to immediately intervene on behalf of the thousands of Eritrean refugee applicants living under fear and the looming danger of being deported against their will to some African countries run by oppressive and non-democratic regimes. In consultation with the Israeli government, we wish to find alternative host countries in Europe or elsewhere that are willing to receive our fellow country men and women on humanitarian grounds.
We thank you very much in advance for your understanding and for the urgent action that you will take to save the thousands of Eritrean refugees from being deported illegally to countries where they will not feel safe.
Long Live International Solidarity!!
With regards,
Dr Tsegezab Gebregergis:
Spokesperson and Coordinator of the Geneva Demonstration
ህግደፋውያን ነዛ ናይ ሎሚ ዓመት በዓል ናጽነት ንልምዓት ብጽንዓት ዝብል ቴማ እዮም አጠሚቖማ። ካብኡ ተበጊሰ እየ ነዛ ንጥፍአት ብጽንዓት እትብል አርእስቲ ዝሓዘት ምላሽ ክጽሕፍ ዝተገደድኩ። እዛ ንጥፍአት ብጽንዓት እትብል አርእስቲ ነዛ ኩልና ኤርትራውያን ፖለቲካዊ ጸግዕናን ራኢናን ብዘየገድስ ኢደይ ኢድካ ኢልና አብ ህልኽን ቅርሕንትን ጸኒዕና እነጥፍአ ዘለና ሃገር ይውሕዳ እዩ ዝብል ስክፍታ የብለይን። መቸም ህግደፍ ከም ስሙን ከም ጭርሑኡን እንተዝኸውን እዛ ዘኽታም ሃገርና አብቶም ዝሓለፉ ናይ ሕልሚ 24 ዓመታት ንሲንጋፖር አርኪባ ሓሊፋታስ ሕጂ ናብ ጃፓን ወይ አሜሪካ ገጽና ንመጣጠር ምስ ሃለና። የግዳስ እዚ ዓመት መጸ መዓልቲ ናጽነት አተወት ተባሂሉ መሰንይታ ዳንኬራን ፈንጠዝያን ዝጋዋሕ ጓንጓ ጭርሖ መሽረፊ ተሳኢንዎ ይርከብ። አየናይ ልምዓት ኮን ይኸውን? ኤርትራ እንታይ ኢያ ናብ ሰደድ እተቕርብ? ደሞዝ ሓደ መምህር፡ ሰራሕተኛ መንግስቲ፡ ወተሃደር፡ ሃገራዊ አገልግሎት፡ ሓኪም፡ ክንደይ እዩ? እንታይ ዝተሃንጸ ፋብሪካ አሎ? ዋጋ ኮሚደረ ሽጉርትን እኽልን ክንደይ በጺሑ? ክራይ ገዛ ብመንጽር ደሞዝ ሰራሕተኛ አብ ከመይ ኩነትት ይርከብ? ኩነታት ህዝባዊ መሳለጥያ ማለት ሕክምና ትምህርቲ አብ ከመይ ደረጃ ይርከብ? ትሕተ ቅርጺ፡ ቀረብ ዝስተይ ማይ፡ ሓይሊ ጸዓት፡ አገልግሎት ቴለፎን፡ ኢንተርኔት ንምዃኑ አሎዶ? ዝብሉ ሕቶታት ምስ እተቕርብ ህግደፋውያን ክንዮ እታ ትርጉማ ብጉቡእ ዘይርድእዋ ጭርሖ ዝኸይድ መልሲ የብሎምን።
ህዝብና አብ ታሪኹ ርእይዎ ዘይፈልጥ ጥምየት አብ ዘመን ህግደፍ ይርእዮ አሎ። አዴታት ኤርትራ ብርቢዒት ሓሩጭ ስድራ አቑሪሰን፡ አምሲሔን ዘድርራ ሕጂ ካብ ክቱር ስእነት ሰብ ከይርእየን ገጸን ብነጸላ ተጎልቢበን አብ ፍቖዶ ጎደናታት ይልምና አለዋ። አብ ስደት ደቃ ዘዋፈረት እንተዘይኮይና፡ ካብ ደገ ሓገዝ ዘይትረክብ ስድራ ብጥምየት ትረግፍ አላ። እዚ እኳ ሳላ እቲ ለዋህ ናይ ምትሕግጋዝ ባህልና፤ ዘለዎ ሰብ ነቲ ዘይብሉ አመቱ ስለ ዝገብር እምበር አብ ሃገርና ወሪዱ ዘሎ ሕሰምን ዓጸቦን ብቓላት ዝግለጽ አይኮነን። አብ ባህልና ዘይነበረ ዝምውና ንቡር ኮይኑ ደቂ አንስትዮ ኤርትራ አብ ዝምውና ተዋፊረን ደቀን ወይ ስድርኤን የዕንግላ አለዋ። ኤርትራ ወደባታ ጸምዩ ገማግም ባሕራ መጉሓፊ መርዛም ኬሚካላት ኒኩሌር ምዕራባውያን ሃገራት፡ ዩኒቨርስቲ ኮነ ቅዋም ዘይብላ እንኮ ሃገር አብ ዓለምና፡ እቲ ዝበዝሓ ስደተኛ እተፋኑ ሃገር ምኻና ብመዛግብትን ሰነዳትን ጉዳይ ስደተኛታት ው.ሕ.ሃ እትፍለጥ፡ ዓመታዊ ባጀት ኮነ ሕጋዊ ባይቶን ካቢነ ሚኒስተራት ዘይብላ፡ ዓሰርተ አባይቲ ሃኒጹ አማኢት አባይቲ ብዘፍርስ መላኺ እትመሓደር ሃገር፡ ካብ ሞባእ ቤተክርስትያን ንፍርቂ ዝምቀል መንግስቲ ሒዝካ፡ ብብልሽውና ስልጣንን ጉቦን ዝተመራስሐት ሃገር እምበአር ትለምዕ አላ እያ። እዚ ካብ ኮነ እቲ ሓቂ ጉቡእ ቴማና ንልምዓት ብጽንዓት ወይስ ንጥፍአት ብጽንዓት መልሱ ንለባማት ይሓድጎ።
ሓደ ተደናጋጺ ህግደፍ አብ ሓደ እዋን ኤርትራ ንማላርያ ሚእቲ ካብ ሚእቲ ተቖጻጺራቶ በለኒ ካብኡስ ሰበር ዜና ዘምጽአለይ ኮይኑ እንዳተሰምዖ። ግብሩን ወሬኡን ቅጭ ስለ ዘምጽአለይ ግልብጥ ኢለ ኣንታ በሃም ኤርትራ ዘይኮነት ንማላርያ ወይ ዓሶ አጥፊአቶስ እቶም ጣንጡ እዮም ንኤርትራ ምድራዊት ሲኦል ኢሎም ገዲፎማ ወጺኦም በልክዎ ብዘይ ልበይ።
ኤህ ይብላ በዓል ዓባየይ፡ መራሕቲ ህግደፍን እዞም ምስ ሓራዲኦም ማይ ዝሰትዩ ካብ ከብትን ላምን ፈሊኻ ዘይረአዩ ደገፍቶምንሲ አብ አላትኩም። አንታ ክንደይ ትዕሽው እቶም ስውአት እኮ አቦታትኩም፡ አዴታትኩም፡ አሓዋትኩም፡ አሓትኩምን ደቅኹምን ምዃኖም ካን ዘንጊዕኩሞ። ብውሽጥኹም እኮ ሕርር ኩምትር ከም እትብሉ ናይ አደባባይ ሚስጥር እዩ። መርድእ ሲናይን ሊብያን መዲተራንያንን እኮ ብመስኮትኩም ተመንይዎስ ብማዕጾኹም ካብ ዝአትው እኮ ዓመታት ኮይኑ። እቲ ብጽፍሪ እግርኹም ዝጀመረ ኢሰያስ ቆርጢሙ ሓይኹኩምሲ አብ ጸጉሪ ርእስኹም ምብጽሑ መዓስ ዘንጊዕኩሞ። ምስ ናትና ዝበልኩሞ እትዛረብዎ እኮ መዓስ ዘይንፈልጦ ኮይና። ስጋብ መዓስ ኢኹም በዓል እገለ ከይሕጎሱ እዞም ተቓወምቲ ባህ ከይብሎም ኢልኩም አብ ናይ ህልኽ (አላፋቻ) ዳንኬራ ክትዘሉ። አዚኹም ኢኩም ተሕዝኑ በዓል ጸበብቲ ርእሲ አክንዲ ናበይ እዩ አንፈትና ንምንታይ ሃገርናን ህዝብናን ዘይነድሕን እትብሉስ ንዓማጺ ንበረልና ምባል ይሓይሽ? አንታ ቁሩብ እባ ልቢ ግበሩ ሃገር ስውእ እያ እኮ ትጠፍእ ዘላ።
እቲ ዘገርም እቶም ብባርባራዊ ግፍዒ ምሕደራ ህግደፍ ሃገር ገዲፎም ምስ ወጹ በደዊን እውን ተቐቢሎም አብ ሲናይ ተጋሲሶም ናብ እስራኤል ዘፋነውኹም ሕጂ አብ ዳስ ህግደፍ ክትዘሉን ክትጭድሩን ምስ ምንታይ ይቑጸር። በዓል ናጽነት ብጓይላን ፈንጠዝያን ምጽምባሉ ዘይኮነስ አብ ዳስ ህግደፍ ከይድካ ትፋእካ ምልማጽ እንታይ መግለጺ ክወሃቦ ይከአል። አነ ከምዝመስለኒ እቶም ብኩርማጅ ዝጀለጥኹም፡ ጀሪካን አንዲዶም ብርሱን ጎማ ዝለብለብኹም፡ ንኽትአምኖ ብዘጸግም ሰብአዊ ክብርኹም ዝደፈርኹም በደዊን እውን ተመሳሳሊ ናይ ለይታዊ ትልሂት መደብ እንድሕር አዳልዮም አብኡ ከይድኩም እስክትሽም ከም እትብሉ ምንም ጥርጥር የብሉን። አንታ ጉድ ተረኺቡ እዛ ሃገር ጎይታ ከይሓበረና ደአ አብ ምጽአተ አትያ ከይትኸውን። ከብዲ አደ ጉራሙራ ከምዝበልዎ፤ ንእግረ መንገደይ ነቶም አደ መርሃዊት እንዳሓዘነትን እንዳቖዘመትን ሃገርና መጻወቲ መላኽን ጭፍርኡን ኮይና እንዳረአና ዳንኬራን ፈንጠዝያን አየምሕረልናን ዝበሉ ሰብ ሕድሪ ደቂ ኤረ አብ እስራኤል ከምኡ’ውን መንእሰያት ዓዲ ጥልያንን ነዛ ክብርቲ ዕለት ብፍሉይን ትርጉም ብዝህብን አገባብ ምጽምባሎም አገናዕ ዓጽምኹም ትኽበር ክበሃሉ ይግባእ።
እንተ እቶም ቀይሐ መይሕን ቀጠልያን ተኸዲንኩም አብ ፍቖዱኡ ጓይላ ህግደፍ ክትዘሉን ክትዕንድሩን ዝረአናኩም ካብ ንሕድሪ ስውእን ንህዝብኹምን እተፍቅሩ ምስ ደማሒ ህዝብኹም ኢሰያስን ምስ ውልቃዊ ዓሽከራቱ ሰራዊት ደምሒትን ዝወገንኩም ከምቲ ህብብቲ ገጣሚት ሩማና ብርሃኑ ዝበለቶ ድሕሪ ነዊሕ ጸልማት ብርሃን ከም ዘሎ አይትረስዑ። ሕጉሳት ንኸተምስሉ አብ ዳስ ህግደፍ እንተሳዕሳዕኩም፤ ናብ ኤርትራ ክትዛወሩ ከይድኩም ስጋብ እትወጹ እግርኹም መሊእኩም ከምዘይትረግጹን፤ ብፍርሂ እትሹቕረሩዎን እትከላበትዎን ካብ ማንም ዝተከወለ አይኮነን በዓል ውሹጦም ሑሩራት። ሓንቲ መዓልቲ ክትወግሕ ምዃና አይትረስዑ። ይንዋሕ ይሕጸር እዚ ንሃገርና ጋሪዱዋ ዘሎ ጸልማት ክቕንጠጥ እዩ። (ይቕጽል)
ሰሎሙን ገብረእየሱስ
ኦክላንድ - ካሊፎርንያ
A paper prepared and read by Drs. Tsegezab Gebregergis at the protest demonstration on May 19, 2015, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Written by Drs. Tsegezab GebregergisHighly esteemed spectators and other passers-by: your attention, your attention please! We have a message to convey directly to the international community; to the people and government of this country; the local and international press and to other observers!!!
First and foremost, in the name of the millions of Eritrean people, I would like to convey and extend our fraternal greetings to you, the honourable Swiss people and the friendly government of Switzerland; the members of the press corps present here and other spectators; especially so to the inhabitants of this beautiful and historic city of Geneva.
I would also like to salute and thank the people of Switzerland and their democratic government for providing a temporary home to the hundreds of Eritrean refugees living at present in different parts of the country.
It is also my great pleasure to use this rare opportunity to remind you all that, in 1712, here in this historic city of Geneva, a great man and philosopher by the name of Jean Jacques Rousseau was born and whose ideas revolutionised old Europe and the countries beyond. He was the author of the Social Contract and the Origin of Inequality in Society. On behalf of humanity in ‘The Social Contract’ Jean Jacques Rousseau authoritatively stated that:”Man is born free but he is everywhere in chains." This lonely man, who died just a year before the French Revolution exploded, was a great humanist philosopher whose philosophy massively influenced the population and galvanised French men and women into taking revolutionary action in 1789 to overthrow the ancient regime and radically alter French society. I state this to act as an introduction.
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Let me now explain who we are and why we are demonstrating in Geneva today. The organisers of today’s protest are Eritrean refugees and we have come to Geneva to let the world hear our cries on behalf of the oppressed Eritrean people who are living today under the thraldom and chains of the PFDJ-led government of Eritrea. Much to our dismay, even 300 years after Rousseau cried for freedom on behalf of humanity, the Eritrean people are still living in chains under the rule of an oppressive regime. Yes, we have come to Geneva from various European cities to express our anger with the Israeli government’s planned deportation of Eritrean refugees. Our purpose in organising and taking active part in this demonstration is to show our fraternal solidarity to our beleaguered compatriots in Israel, publicise their just cause and mobilise public opinion, so that the right of Eritrean refugees to live and work in Israel and elsewhere will be respected.
Let me also speak a little bit about our country and its people. Eritrea is a new country and a newcomer to the world political scene. Thus some of the spectators might not know the location of our country and the nature of Eritrean society. Eritrea is located in north east Africa, sandwiched between the Sudan in the north and Ethiopia in the south. Eritrea has a mosaic population estimated to be more than 5 million and is inhabited by both Moslems and Christians who have lived side-by-side, peacefully, for centuries. The Eritrean people have historical, cultural, linguistic and geographical ties with the countries and people beyond the Red Sea region. The coasts of Eritrea are separated by only 22 miles from Yemen (the Arabian Peninsula). Eritrea shares maritime borders with three Red Sea states: Yemen, Djibouti, and Somalia.
Eritrea is thus strategically located on the southern entrance to the Red Sea and fully controls the western part of the strategic Bab al Mandab strait, also historically known as the Gateway of Tears and Anguish. Eritrea also controls the areas of the Red Sea waters that lead to the Suez Canal. Therefore, from a geographic, military and political point of view, Eritrea is one of the most important countries in the Horn of Africa. Hence it is no wonder that, as a result of the evolving dangerous conflagrations in Yemen, overnight, Eritrea has become a very important partner to be consulted in finding a solution to Yemen’s raging internal conflict exasperated by the military intervention of Saudi Arabia.
After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the Bab al-Mandab Strait became not only the connecting point between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, but also the shortest and fastest waterway linking the East and the West, and thus also of great strategic importance.
It is thus important to mention here in passing that the United States of America is highly dependent on the Red Sea's geopolitical space, simply because most of the Gulf petroleum – i.e. America’s energy requirements – passes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Likewise, the other industrialized West European countries have also geopolitical requirements in the Red Sea. Again, this is because they mainly depend on the Gulf petroleum to meet their energy needs. Most of the oil consumed by their industries passes through the Strait of Babe -al-Mandeb. In short, in Western eyes, the Red Sea has always been the main artery that carries Persian Gulfoil to Western industrialized nations. They depend almost entirely on Gulfpetroleum to runtheir factories, warm their houses and maintain their economies. Russia can also be included in the geopolitical range of the Red Sea,because the RedSea is the shortest route that links its Black Sea ports with its fleet in the IndianOcean – a fleet thatplays an important role in Russia’s naval strategy.
Consequently, seen from military, political and economic points of view, the southern gateway of the Red Sea – the Bab al-Mandab Strait – is strategically very important. It needs to be remembered that, during the 1973 war between Israel and Egypt, both Egyptian and Yemeni forces blockaded the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. History seems to repeat itself. At present, there is Saudi-led bombing of Yemen. It is claimed that the political objectives of the present criminal military onslaught and bombing of Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition, comprising corruptand backward family dictatorships that are violently opposed to democracy and democratic principles(consisting of Egypt, the Kingdom of Morocco, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Kingdom of Bahrain, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Qatar, Pakistan, Sudan) aims to restore the “legitimate President Abd-Rabbuh Manzour Al-Hadi” to power and bring democracy to Yemen. However, as far as the hard truth is concerned, the hidden political agenda of the US-government supported house of Saudi-led bombing of Yemen is to control the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. This is being done with the express political objective of keeping the Iranians and their Houthi allies at bay and out of the region’s politics.In other words, the illegal and criminal military action of the house of Saudi against Yemen has nothing whatsoever to do with legitimacy, democracy or human rights.
It is for all the above reasons that I mention that the Horn of Africa has always been the scene of endless wars and conflicts and thus also the producer of the highest number of refugees.
Thus, after all is said and done, ‘real politick’ seems to dictate and suggest that peace and stability in the Horn of Africa, and even in the Arabian Peninsula, cannot be secured by excluding, cornering and by imposing unjust sanctions against Eritrea on the one hand, and by showering money, praise and military gadgetry on the Tigrian rulers of Ethiopia on the other.
For the reasons I have already stated, throughout their history, the people of Eritrea have been the victims of successive powers. Italy was one of the European colonial powers that victimised Eritrea and ruled its people for more than 50 years. Indeed, Eritrea was so named by the Italians when they colonised it in January 1889. However, after the defeat of the Italians at the end of the Second World War, Eritrea was placed for a brief interlude under British rule. In 1952, British rule was replaced by a sham federal relationship with feudal Ethiopia under Emperor Haile Selassie. The sham federal arrangement was, in turn, nullified by the Ethiopian Emperor in 1960 and Eritrea was placed under the direct Ethiopian colonial rule. In response to the Ethiopian open colonial aggression of Eritrea, in September 1961 Eritrean nationalists launched an armed struggle to end Ethiopian rule in Eritrea by military force.
At long last, after more than 30 years of bloody war, fighting for national independence, in May 1991, the Eritrean freedom fighters succeeded in kicking out the occupying Ethiopian army and de facto independence was attained. There was thus great joy, jubilation and a mood of euphoria aroused by Eritrean independence and the entry of the freedom fighters to the Eritrean capital, Asmara.
However, the joy and euphoria of the Eritrean people was soon dashed when the EPLF/PFDJ-led government betrayed the aspirations of the Eritrean people to live under a democratic order of society and established instead a full-fledged dictatorship. This sad episode became a harsh reality after the EPLF/PFDJ generals were heavily emasculated in the 1998-2000 war, which erupted between Eritrea and Ethiopia under the pretext of border conflict. Furthermore, with the emergence of the opposition group known as the G-15, and the independent-minded journalists opposed to PFDJ dictatorship and their eventual imprisonment on 18 September 2001, the PFDJ dictatorship was fully consolidated and became deeply entrenched in Eritrea. As a result, all hopes of living in a democratic society, which respects the human rights of the Eritrean people, vanished overnight and Eritrea became a big prison house for the Eritrean people. In short, Eritrea became a police state.
What is more, as a consequence of the introduction of forced and open-ended military service; arbitrary and inhuman detention practices; lack of human rights and religious freedom and rampant unemployment, coupled by the existence of ‘alluring’ refugee camps constructed by the Ethiopian government to lure young Eritreans to abandon their country, Eritreans began to flee and to undertake hazardous journeys via the Libyan and Sinai deserts to get to Israel and Europe in search of peace and freedom.
We believe that as long as the existing push-and-pull political factors force young Eritreans to abandon their country, it is cruel and against international law and norms to repatriate Eritrean refugees, against their will, to return to the country which is led by a government they detest or to send them to other African countries in exchange for Israeli arms and money. We want to make it absolutely clear to all concerned that we stringently oppose such deals, because Eritrean refugees are not commodities for sale. We also believe that, according to international law and norms, the governments which have signed the July 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 protocol are legally and morally obliged to accommodate and give protection to Eritrean refugees until the dictatorial government in their country is removed and replaced by a government established for and by the people of Eritrea.
Finally, I would also like to remind the friendly government of Switzerland that there are hundreds of Eritrean refugees living in various camps that have applied for refugee status in this country and are still living in a legal limbo. We therefore demand the Federal government of Switzerland speedily processes their applications and grant them political refugee status so that they could start a new, organised and stable life and gradually integrate into Swiss society. In this connection, we would also like to point out that the hundreds of Eritrean refugees at present living in Switzerland are going to be the future leaders and ambassadors of their country and will provide a bridge between the Eritrean and the Swiss people. Thus, seen from the importance of a person-to-person relationship, the presence of hundreds of young Eritrean refugees in Switzerland is very significant for the cementing the future mutual relationship of our two countries and their people.
Long live international solidarity between and among the people of all nations.
