ኣብዚ ሓዲሽ ዓመት 2015 እንኣትወሉ ዘሎና ፣ እቲ ቀንዲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህግደፍ ክዕውትና ዝክእል መንእሰያትና ኣብ ውሽጥን ኣብ ወጻእን ክውደቡ እንተ በቂዖም ጥራሕ እዩ። ምክንያቱ ከይተወደበ ዝተዓወተ ምንቅስቓስ የለን ። ውደባ ክብሃል እንከሎ ግን ኣብ ልዑላዊ ራኢ ሕመረት ዝገበርን ብቁጠባዊ ዓቅሚ ዝተሃንጸን ሓጺናዊ ዲሲፕሊን ክውንን እንከሎካ ጥራሕ እዩ ። ሃገራዊ ዕማም ናይዚ ውደባ እዚ ንጉጂለ ህግደፍ ኣወጊድካ ፍትሕን ማዕርነትን ዝነገሳ ዲሞክራሲያዊት ኤርትራ ምህናጽ እዩ ።ውደባ ብኣውራጃ ፣ ውደባ ብሃይማኖት፣ ወደባ ብብሔር ፣ ውደባ ንጥቅምን ረብሓን ኩሉ ናይ ትሕቲ ሃገራውነት ንዝተቀበለ ዜጋ ጥራሕ እዩ ።
TV Demtsi Hezbi w/ Ms, Saba Tesfaselassie
Reverse-Engineering Regionalism/Identity Politics in Eritrea: Is the Medicine Worse than the Disease?
Written by EPDP Editorial Board
EPDP Editorial
Eritrea is a plural society characterized by diverse social cleavages that go along linguistic, religious, cultural and regional/geographic divisions. During the long political evolution of Eritrea as a nation-state, these diverse social groups coalesced into one entity in search of freedom, liberty and national sovereignty. Eritreans fought successive colonizers, finally ousted the last vestiges of colonialism, and secured national sovereignty in 1991 after 30 years of bloody war. Not only the prices Eritreans paid during the 30 years active armed struggle was high, but also the loss and suffering that successive Eritrean generations endured before the liberation era and after our independence in search of their nationhood was unparalleled by any account. Sovereign Eritrean is not just a country to an Eritrean, but rather it is the result of the sacrifices of each and every Eritrean family - more than 80,000 martyrs, as well as the complete destruction of villages/properties, infrastructure, and livelihood of every Eritrean. Without distinction of linguistic, cultural, religious, or regional identities, Eritrean lives were sacrificed in search of their sovereign and independent country.
Hence, the most challenging issues that post-independent Eritrea faces concerns the proper management of Eritrea’s diversity, which is a critical determinant factor for the continued existence and sustainability of Eritrea as a nation-state. These include: One, the establishment of effective and good governance that allows access to fair and equitable socio-economic development as a necessary condition for ensuring a peaceful coexistence among Eritrea’s diverse groups. Two, organization of government institutions and structures that can effectively manage and accommodate the diversity of Eritrea’s social groups in a manner, for example, that defines the relationship between the national government and its local government bodies is another crucial element. Instead, what we see in Eritrea today under the PFDJ regime is a “failed/failing state phenomenon” with dire consequences to the survival of Eritrea as a nation state and as a society. The post-independent Eritrean state turned from an intrusive state into an absentee state. Using repressive ideology, policies, and laws, the despotic regime maintains its dominance and controls all aspects of life (political, social, economic, cultural, etc.) in Eritrea, which overtime evolved to become an absolutist and extractive entity. Such a dictatorial power structure continues suffocating the political space in Eritrea and eliminating many political figures, including internal dissents such as G15 who called for political pluralism and constitutional governance in Eritrea. After shelving the 1997 Constitution for the last 15 years, Issaias in his 2015 New Year interview has finally declared that the constitution is dead before even being promulgated( ---እቲሰነድከይተኣወጀሞይቱእዩ።). By killing the constitution before its arrival, Issaias and his regime have been continuing to effectively deny the Eritrean people their rights to have a constitutional government, rule of law, and social and economic prosperity.
The basic economic resources, such as land, labor, capital and natural resources, are mainly under the control of the dictatorial regime in Eritrea. The vast PFDJ’s parastatals, such as construction companies, financial enterprises (insurance, banks, foreign exchange bureaus, smuggling networks, etc.), and trading firms, such as Red Sea Trading Company, are mainly dependent on “forced labor”. Issaias determines who has power in Eritrea and to what ends that power can be used. Hence, for the last two decades, Issaias presided over an extreme set of extractive institutions and runs Eritrea as his own private property; hands over favors and seeks patronage and ruthlessly punishes for any lack of loyalty. There are no formal institutions that place restrictions on politicians’ actions and make them accountable to citizens.
Extractive economic institutions thus naturally accompany extractive political institutions and there is a strong synergy between the two. Furthermore, this synergetic relationship introduces a strong feedback loop: political institutions enable the PFDJ elites controlling political power to choose economic institutions with few constraints or opposing forces. They also enable PFDJ elites to structure future political institutions and their evolution. What Issaias has announced in his recent interview about the secret committee that is mandated with the preparation of “his new constitution” is in line with these kinds of efforts (---- በዚ መሰረት ድማ ንዕኡ [ቅዋም] ክዓምም ዝቖመ ሓደ ኣካል ኣሎ). Extractive economic institutions, in turn, enrich PFDJ elites, and their economic power and wealth that helps consolidate their political power and dominance. Eritrea has suffered heavily under this kind of vicious cycle for the last 24 years.
Today, the Eritrean state has failed and is absent from the lives of the Eritrean people in the sense of providing public goods (protection/security, education, health, justice, welfare, and national identity). When the state fails to provide basic public goods and continues to pursue reckless policies that transfer a large fraction of resources from the population to the ruling cronies (becomes a kleptocratic state), people look for support from neighbors, friends, families, local groups (communities). It is also widely known that the Eritrean Diaspora population is the main provider of livelihood in Eritrea (remittances cover a large part of household budgets for the majority of Eritrean families back home). Even with such generous help from its Diaspora population, the average household per capita consumption expenditure in Eritrea has been deteriorating for the last two decades (see the table below). And such a failed state phenomenon breeds a monolithic narrative that believes that the crisis created by PFDJ regime is part of some wicked scheme directed against certain region (s), which we know is not true. Yet, in this kind of space, regionalists are hoping to nurture, deepen, take a more rigid form, accelerate their regional politics, and strengthening parochial consciousness at the expense of national consciousness.
The major culprit for generating regionalism and identity politics in the Eritrean political landscape is primarily the undemocratic nature of the Eritrean regime, which suffocates the political space. The irony is just as the PFDJ regime continues to mete out injustices to the Eritrean people, few people are jumping on their high horses, promoting regionalism instead of being involved in a constructive partnership with the forces of change and advocate for democracy and rule of law in their country. Indisputably, the solution for Eritrea’s ills squarely lies in dismantling the kleptocratic regime and replacing it with a democratic system of governance in which real power lies in the hands of the people of Eritrean and in which justice and rule of law with all its features become the solid foundation of Eritrean life. One can argue about how best this noble aim can be achieved. A good starting point in the search for solutions to this problem is to initiate a discussion among Eritreans about the dynamics and viability of “regional mobilization” as an answer to the quest for democracy and justice in Eritrea.
Let’s start with asking the right question: What would have to be true for regionalism or regional mobilization to be the right and viable answer to the quest for democracy and justice in Eritrea? What would have to be true for regional or identity politics to be the right “medicine for the disease”? The different assumptions that are made by “regional entrepreneurs” in promoting regional mobilizations and the respective validities of the assumptions have been presented in the 25 December 2014 Editorial of EPDP titled: State Failure and Identity Politics in Eritrea: Is Regional Mobilization the Answer? Here, let’s reverse-engineer “Regionalism” and see if it is the right medicine for the disease (decay and disintegration of the Eritrean State). For regionalism or regional mobilization to be the right medicine, it would have to be true that regional or identity politics should promote nationalism, national unity, rule of law, democracy and social cohesion in Eritrea.
History is awash with evidence (Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Mali, Lebanon, Iraq, etc.) that strong regional identification often results in the exclusion and marginalization of some other groups from the mainstream of national politics and the economy. Different groups compete for the control of key political and economic machineries, and once in power they adopt policies and provisions that empower and favor some groups at the expense of others. In the absence of well functioning democratic institutions, the groups that are excluded may engage in violence in an attempt to enter into both political and economic market. The first group may feel threatened with the loss of the previously acquired privilege, may engage in counter violent behavior – the cycle of violence and counter violence continues. Consequently, regional hatred, regional cleansing, and genocide may ensue. In this context, regionalism embraces particular identity and becomes a deeply emotional basis of mobilization that not only distinguishes one group from another, but also demonizes other groups.
Regionalism also promotes regional outbidding and threatens the unity of the nation-state. Since regional identities tend to be invested with a great deal of emotional and symbolic meanings, regional entrepreneurs have strong incentive to harness such identities as a political force, and to use regional demands as the base instigator of constituency mobilization. This often results in the failure of democratic politics because regional outbidding creates centrifugal forces that overwhelm the moderate political center. Moreover, regionalism could act as an instrument of group consciousness (primordial or instrumental) that promotes one’s sense of being and pride over others, which in turn may lead to regional tensions and conflicts. This may increase the regional sensitivities that in turn threaten the harmonious inter-regional relations, the national unity and harmony, progress and the integrity of Eritrean nationhood.
The bases for regionalism or regional groupings in Eritrea are the Italian colonial legal administrative regions that had been developed solely to serve Italian interests. Thus, the basis for the creation of communality is a set of beliefs instead of a biological trait or differences in ancestry, religion or language. There is also a significant crosscutting among the different segmental cleavages (linguistic, religious, and cultural) of Eritrea due to the assimilative power of complex population movements, displacements, and intermingling effects of modernity. What we have in Eritrea today is a mosaic and mixed plural society. Only very few people can claim that they are 100%, say, Serewetay, Akeleguzetay, Hamasienetay, Barketay, Senhitetay, etc. It is difficult to specify boundaries that demarcate regional territories on the basis of these ascriptions. The extent and intensity of regional self-awareness and the level of external ascription also vary a great deal across the different administrative regions (Awrajatat) of the country. Hence, regional mobilization could not be an effective tool to bring justice, rule of law and democracy in Eritrea. Instead, it may endanger peaceful coexistence and proper management of diversity. On a similar note, many of the ethno-linguistic cleavages of Eritrea are too small polities to serve as optimal unity of collective choice. According to the CIA Factbook Demographic Statistics (2010 estimate), the ethno-linguistic composition of Eritrea is as follows: Tigrinya 55%, Tigre 30%, Saho 4%, Kunama 2%, Rashaida 2%, Bilen 2%, others (Afar, Beni Amir, Nara) 5%.
The exercise of reverse-engineering regionalism leads to the conclusion that regional mobilization is a wrong medicine to the disease that is crippling Eritrea and its future. Eritrea is bleeding to death by the day at the hands of a ruthless dictatorial regime. In order to design an appropriate and winning strategy to avert this danger and to reverse the process of societal decay, it is imperative for Eritreans to fully understand the nature and characteristics of the PFDJ regime. The synergies between extractive political and economic institutions of PFDJ have created a vicious cycle, which seems to persist. Breaking this vicious cycle and replacing it with a “virtuous cycle” – synergies between inclusive political and economic institutions – is the solution. EPDP strongly believes that the fundamental contradiction that should take precedence in our struggle for justice, rule of law and democracy in Eritrea is the one between those who want to continue to promote the “vicious cycle” and those who want to break the “vicious cycle” and replace it with a “virtuous cycle” – between the dictatorship and injustice, and pluralism and justice, respectively. Differences that emanate from other societal cleavages, such as religion, culture, language, region, historical background and memories, etc, do not and should not constitute as basic contradictions in the Eritrean society. Since inclusive and plural political and economic institutions allow and encourage the participation of the great majority of the people, and also distribute power broadly in society, such issues (differences) are addressed by the normal process of the democratic transition under the “virtuous cycle”. EPDP wants to underline that the solution to the Eritrean quagmire is to dismantle the dictatorial regime and to replace its absolutist and extractive political and economic institutions by a pluralistic and inclusive political and economic institutions by establishing a united front of the democratic forces of Eritrea, both inside the country and in the Diaspora. No democracy is possible in Eritrea if people associate themselves only with the same region or identity; democracy is possible when we establish a struggle that cut across all forms of regional or tribal or religious identities. Let’s “play to win” instead of “playing to play”.
Reverse-Engineering Regionalism/Identity Politics in Eritrea: Is the Medicine Worse than the Disease?
Written by EPDP Editorial Board
EPDP Editorial
Eritrea is a plural society characterized by diverse social cleavages that go along linguistic, religious, cultural and regional/geographic divisions. During the long political evolution of Eritrea as a nation-state, these diverse social groups coalesced into one entity in search of freedom, liberty and national sovereignty. Eritreans fought successive colonizers, finally ousted the last vestiges of colonialism, and secured national sovereignty in 1991 after 30 years of bloody war. Not only the prices Eritreans paid during the 30 years active armed struggle was high, but also the loss and suffering that successive Eritrean generations endured before the liberation era and after our independence in search of their nationhood was unparalleled by any account. Sovereign Eritrean is not just a country to an Eritrean, but rather it is the result of the sacrifices of each and every Eritrean family - more than 80,000 martyrs, as well as the complete destruction of villages/properties, infrastructure, and livelihood of every Eritrean. Without distinction of linguistic, cultural, religious, or regional identities, Eritrean lives were sacrificed in search of their sovereign and independent country.
Hence, the most challenging issues that post-independent Eritrea faces concerns the proper management of Eritrea’s diversity, which is a critical determinant factor for the continued existence and sustainability of Eritrea as a nation-state. These include: One, the establishment of effective and good governance that allows access to fair and equitable socio-economic development as a necessary condition for ensuring a peaceful coexistence among Eritrea’s diverse groups. Two, organization of government institutions and structures that can effectively manage and accommodate the diversity of Eritrea’s social groups in a manner, for example, that defines the relationship between the national government and its local government bodies is another crucial element. Instead, what we see in Eritrea today under the PFDJ regime is a “failed/failing state phenomenon” with dire consequences to the survival of Eritrea as a nation state and as a society. The post-independent Eritrean state turned from an intrusive state into an absentee state. Using repressive ideology, policies, and laws, the despotic regime maintains its dominance and controls all aspects of life (political, social, economic, cultural, etc.) in Eritrea, which overtime evolved to become an absolutist and extractive entity. Such a dictatorial power structure continues suffocating the political space in Eritrea and eliminating many political figures, including internal dissents such as G15 who called for political pluralism and constitutional governance in Eritrea. After shelving the 1997 Constitution for the last 15 years, Issaias in his 2015 New Year interview has finally declared that the constitution is dead before even being promulgated( ---እቲሰነድከይተኣወጀሞይቱእዩ።). By killing the constitution before its arrival, Issaias and his regime have been continuing to effectively deny the Eritrean people their rights to have a constitutional government, rule of law, and social and economic prosperity.
The basic economic resources, such as land, labor, capital and natural resources, are mainly under the control of the dictatorial regime in Eritrea. The vast PFDJ’s parastatals, such as construction companies, financial enterprises (insurance, banks, foreign exchange bureaus, smuggling networks, etc.), and trading firms, such as Red Sea Trading Company, are mainly dependent on “forced labor”. Issaias determines who has power in Eritrea and to what ends that power can be used. Hence, for the last two decades, Issaias presided over an extreme set of extractive institutions and runs Eritrea as his own private property; hands over favors and seeks patronage and ruthlessly punishes for any lack of loyalty. There are no formal institutions that place restrictions on politicians’ actions and make them accountable to citizens.
Extractive economic institutions thus naturally accompany extractive political institutions and there is a strong synergy between the two. Furthermore, this synergetic relationship introduces a strong feedback loop: political institutions enable the PFDJ elites controlling political power to choose economic institutions with few constraints or opposing forces. They also enable PFDJ elites to structure future political institutions and their evolution. What Issaias has announced in his recent interview about the secret committee that is mandated with the preparation of “his new constitution” is in line with these kinds of efforts (---- በዚ መሰረት ድማ ንዕኡ [ቅዋም] ክዓምም ዝቖመ ሓደ ኣካል ኣሎ). Extractive economic institutions, in turn, enrich PFDJ elites, and their economic power and wealth that helps consolidate their political power and dominance. Eritrea has suffered heavily under this kind of vicious cycle for the last 24 years.
Today, the Eritrean state has failed and is absent from the lives of the Eritrean people in the sense of providing public goods (protection/security, education, health, justice, welfare, and national identity). When the state fails to provide basic public goods and continues to pursue reckless policies that transfer a large fraction of resources from the population to the ruling cronies (becomes a kleptocratic state), people look for support from neighbors, friends, families, local groups (communities). It is also widely known that the Eritrean Diaspora population is the main provider of livelihood in Eritrea (remittances cover a large part of household budgets for the majority of Eritrean families back home). Even with such generous help from its Diaspora population, the average household per capita consumption expenditure in Eritrea has been deteriorating for the last two decades (see the table below). And such a failed state phenomenon breeds a monolithic narrative that believes that the crisis created by PFDJ regime is part of some wicked scheme directed against certain region (s), which we know is not true. Yet, in this kind of space, regionalists are hoping to nurture, deepen, take a more rigid form, accelerate their regional politics, and strengthening parochial consciousness at the expense of national consciousness.
The major culprit for generating regionalism and identity politics in the Eritrean political landscape is primarily the undemocratic nature of the Eritrean regime, which suffocates the political space. The irony is just as the PFDJ regime continues to mete out injustices to the Eritrean people, few people are jumping on their high horses, promoting regionalism instead of being involved in a constructive partnership with the forces of change and advocate for democracy and rule of law in their country. Indisputably, the solution for Eritrea’s ills squarely lies in dismantling the kleptocratic regime and replacing it with a democratic system of governance in which real power lies in the hands of the people of Eritrean and in which justice and rule of law with all its features become the solid foundation of Eritrean life. One can argue about how best this noble aim can be achieved. A good starting point in the search for solutions to this problem is to initiate a discussion among Eritreans about the dynamics and viability of “regional mobilization” as an answer to the quest for democracy and justice in Eritrea.
Let’s start with asking the right question: What would have to be true for regionalism or regional mobilization to be the right and viable answer to the quest for democracy and justice in Eritrea? What would have to be true for regional or identity politics to be the right “medicine for the disease”? The different assumptions that are made by “regional entrepreneurs” in promoting regional mobilizations and the respective validities of the assumptions have been presented in the 25 December 2014 Editorial of EPDP titled: State Failure and Identity Politics in Eritrea: Is Regional Mobilization the Answer? Here, let’s reverse-engineer “Regionalism” and see if it is the right medicine for the disease (decay and disintegration of the Eritrean State). For regionalism or regional mobilization to be the right medicine, it would have to be true that regional or identity politics should promote nationalism, national unity, rule of law, democracy and social cohesion in Eritrea.
History is awash with evidence (Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Mali, Lebanon, Iraq, etc.) that strong regional identification often results in the exclusion and marginalization of some other groups from the mainstream of national politics and the economy. Different groups compete for the control of key political and economic machineries, and once in power they adopt policies and provisions that empower and favor some groups at the expense of others. In the absence of well functioning democratic institutions, the groups that are excluded may engage in violence in an attempt to enter into both political and economic market. The first group may feel threatened with the loss of the previously acquired privilege, may engage in counter violent behavior – the cycle of violence and counter violence continues. Consequently, regional hatred, regional cleansing, and genocide may ensue. In this context, regionalism embraces particular identity and becomes a deeply emotional basis of mobilization that not only distinguishes one group from another, but also demonizes other groups.
Regionalism also promotes regional outbidding and threatens the unity of the nation-state. Since regional identities tend to be invested with a great deal of emotional and symbolic meanings, regional entrepreneurs have strong incentive to harness such identities as a political force, and to use regional demands as the base instigator of constituency mobilization. This often results in the failure of democratic politics because regional outbidding creates centrifugal forces that overwhelm the moderate political center. Moreover, regionalism could act as an instrument of group consciousness (primordial or instrumental) that promotes one’s sense of being and pride over others, which in turn may lead to regional tensions and conflicts. This may increase the regional sensitivities that in turn threaten the harmonious inter-regional relations, the national unity and harmony, progress and the integrity of Eritrean nationhood.
The bases for regionalism or regional groupings in Eritrea are the Italian colonial legal administrative regions that had been developed solely to serve Italian interests. Thus, the basis for the creation of communality is a set of beliefs instead of a biological trait or differences in ancestry, religion or language. There is also a significant crosscutting among the different segmental cleavages (linguistic, religious, and cultural) of Eritrea due to the assimilative power of complex population movements, displacements, and intermingling effects of modernity. What we have in Eritrea today is a mosaic and mixed plural society. Only very few people can claim that they are 100%, say, Serewetay, Akeleguzetay, Hamasienetay, Barketay, Senhitetay, etc. It is difficult to specify boundaries that demarcate regional territories on the basis of these ascriptions. The extent and intensity of regional self-awareness and the level of external ascription also vary a great deal across the different administrative regions (Awrajatat) of the country. Hence, regional mobilization could not be an effective tool to bring justice, rule of law and democracy in Eritrea. Instead, it may endanger peaceful coexistence and proper management of diversity. On a similar note, many of the ethno-linguistic cleavages of Eritrea are too small polities to serve as optimal unity of collective choice. According to the CIA Factbook Demographic Statistics (2010 estimate), the ethno-linguistic composition of Eritrea is as follows: Tigrinya 55%, Tigre 30%, Saho 4%, Kunama 2%, Rashaida 2%, Bilen 2%, others (Afar, Beni Amir, Nara) 5%.
The exercise of reverse-engineering regionalism leads to the conclusion that regional mobilization is a wrong medicine to the disease that is crippling Eritrea and its future. Eritrea is bleeding to death by the day at the hands of a ruthless dictatorial regime. In order to design an appropriate and winning strategy to avert this danger and to reverse the process of societal decay, it is imperative for Eritreans to fully understand the nature and characteristics of the PFDJ regime. The synergies between extractive political and economic institutions of PFDJ have created a vicious cycle, which seems to persist. Breaking this vicious cycle and replacing it with a “virtuous cycle” – synergies between inclusive political and economic institutions – is the solution. EPDP strongly believes that the fundamental contradiction that should take precedence in our struggle for justice, rule of law and democracy in Eritrea is the one between those who want to continue to promote the “vicious cycle” and those who want to break the “vicious cycle” and replace it with a “virtuous cycle” – between the dictatorship and injustice, and pluralism and justice, respectively. Differences that emanate from other societal cleavages, such as religion, culture, language, region, historical background and memories, etc, do not and should not constitute as basic contradictions in the Eritrean society. Since inclusive and plural political and economic institutions allow and encourage the participation of the great majority of the people, and also distribute power broadly in society, such issues (differences) are addressed by the normal process of the democratic transition under the “virtuous cycle”. EPDP wants to underline that the solution to the Eritrean quagmire is to dismantle the dictatorial regime and to replace its absolutist and extractive political and economic institutions by a pluralistic and inclusive political and economic institutions by establishing a united front of the democratic forces of Eritrea, both inside the country and in the Diaspora. No democracy is possible in Eritrea if people associate themselves only with the same region or identity; democracy is possible when we establish a struggle that cut across all forms of regional or tribal or religious identities. Let’s “play to win” instead of “playing to play”.
ክብሮም ግረነት
ኣብዚ ሓዲሽ ዓመት 2015 እንኣትወሉ ዘሎና ፣ እቲ ቀንዲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህግደፍ ክዕውትና ዝክእል መንእሰያትና ኣብ ውሽጥን ኣብ ወጻእን ክውደቡ እንተ በቂዖም ጥራሕ እዩ። ምክንያቱ ከይተወደበ ዝተዓወተ ምንቅስቓስ የለን ። ውደባ ክብሃል እንከሎ ግን ኣብ ልዑላዊ ራኢ ሕመረት ዝገበርን ብቁጠባዊ ዓቅሚ ዝተሃንጸን ሓጺናዊ ዲሲፕሊን ክውንን እንከሎካ ጥራሕ እዩ ። ሃገራዊ ዕማም ናይዚ ውደባ እዚ ንጉጂለ ህግደፍ ኣወጊድካ ፍትሕን ማዕርነትን ዝነገሳ ዲሞክራሲያዊት ኤርትራ ምህናጽ እዩ ።ውደባ ብኣውራጃ ፣ ውደባ ብሃይማኖት፣ ወደባ ብብሔር ፣ ውደባ ንጥቅምን ረብሓን ኩሉ ናይ ትሕቲ ሃገራውነት ንዝተቀበለ ዜጋ ጥራሕ እዩ ።
እቶም ክሳብ ሕጂ ዝተካየዱ ዝተፈላለዩ ኮንፈረንሳት ኣብ ደምበ ተቓውሞ ፣ ኤርትራዊ ሓድነት ይትረፍ ካብቲ ዝነበሮም ናይ ቅድሚ 3 ዓመታት ምፍሕፋሕ ኣብ ዝገደደ እዩ ኣድይብዎ ። ብፍላይ ብወገን መንእሰያት ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ኮማት ተመቓቂሎም ወግሔ ጸብሔ ከምተን ውድባት ክባዝሑን ክራብሑን ይርኣዩ ኣለዉ ። እቲ ጽገም እዞም መንእሰያት ብፋናንስያዊ ዓቅሞም ክውድብዎ ዘይከኣሉ ኮንፈረንስ ዋናታቱ ክኾኑ ኣይክእሉን እዮም ።ከም ኣብነት መገለጺ ኣቶ በረኸት ካብ ሳውዝ ኣፍሪቓ እቶም መወልቲ እንታይ ተጽዕኖ ከም ዝገብሩ ንእዝኒ ዘለዎ ክሰሚዕ ዝክእል እኩል መረዳእታ እዩ። እቲ ሓደ ግዜ ብባዕላዊ ዓቅሚ EYSC ኣብ ዲሲ ዘካየድዎ ኮንፈረንስ ናይ ብዙሕት ኤርትራውያ ኣድናቆት ኣትሪፉ ነይሩ ። እንተኮነ እቲ ኮንፈረንስ ቀለሙ ከይነቀጸ በቶም ሓድነትናን ልዑላውንትና ዘይተዋሕጠሎም ናይ ደገን ናይ ውሽጥን ሓይልታት ኣብ ቅድሚ ዓይኒና ክፈርስ ተዓዚብና ። እዚ ኣብ ውሽጢ መንእሰያትና ዝርኤ ዘሎ ዘይስጥመት ኣብ ታሪክ ህዝብና ሓዲሽ ኣይኮነን ። እተን ዝበዝሓ ውድባት እውን ካብ ተጽዕና ግዳማዊ ሓይሊ ነጻ ክሳብ ዘይኮነ ኪዳን ይበላ ባይቶ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክዓስለን ምጽባይ ማና ካብ ሰማይ ክወርድልካ ምጽባይ ይቀልል። መንእሰያትና ነዚ ክፈልጥዎን ክርድእዎን ይግባእ።
እዞም መንእስያት ተወዲቦም ሓድነቶም ከደልድሉን ነቲ ኣብ ባነርት ህግደፍ ዝነብር ዘሎ መንእሰይ ኣርእያ ንምዃን ነጻ ውደባ ጥራሕ ተሪፍዎም ኣሎ ። ምክንያቱ ነቲ ኣንጻር ህግደፍ ዝሰላሰል ዘሎ ዲምክራሲያዊ ቓልሲ ልዑል ኣስተዋጽኦ ገይሮም ኣለዉ ። ስለዚ ነዚ በሲሉ ዘሎ ወድዓዊ ኩነታት ተጥቂሞም ሓደ ድልዱልን ስጡምን ናይ መንእስያት ማሕበር ንዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ክሃንጹ እንተኮይኖም ነጻን ልዑላዊ ተበግሶ ክወስዱ ይግባእ ።
እምበኣር ነዚ ነጻን ልዑላዊ ዝኮነ ማሕበር ንምህናጽ ክሕግዘኩም ቁሩብ ዝኮነ ኣካል ሓደ ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እዩ ምክንያቱ ሰዲህኤ እቲ ሓደ ሕብረብሔራዊ ሰልፊ ኮይኑ ፣ ኣብ መንጎ መንግስትን ሃይማኖትን ምትእትታው ዘየፍቅድ፣ ኣብ ዓውዲ ቓልሲ ንዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጢ ብምትእማምን ነብሱ ክእሉ ዝቓለስ ዘሎ እዩ ። ልዑላዊ ክብል እንከሎኩ እቲ ሰልፊ ብዓቅሚ ኣባላቱን ደገፍቱን ዝምወልን ኣብ ጉባኤታቱን ብሓንጸጾም መትከላት ተቀይዱ ዝነጥፍ ፣ ካብ ዝኮኑ ናይ ደገ ሓይልታት ምትእትታው ነጺጉ ናጽነቱ ዘውሓሰ ሰልፉ እዩ ። ሰልፊ ዲምክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ቀጻልነት ናይ ሃሳብን ግብሪን ልዑላዊት ኤርትራ እዩ ።
ኣብ ታሪክ ሰውራ ኤርትራ እቶም ቀዳምት ተጋደልቲ ብረት ዝዕጥቆም ደጋፊ ህገር ስለ ዘይነበሮም ነቲ ገድሊ ከቛርጽዎ ኣይሓሰቡን ። በተን ዝተዋህበኦም 10 ብረት ነቲ ኣብ ጸሊም ኣፍሪቓ ዝሓየለ ሠራዊት ክብድህዎ ተላዕሉ ። እዚ ስለ ዝኮነ ኣብ ግዜ ኹናት ኣንጻር ጸላኢ ናይ ዝተሰወኤ ብጻዮም ብረት ንጸላኢ ከይገድፉ ከሳብ 5 ተጋደልቲ ከምዝትሰውኡ ታሪክና ዝምስክሮ ሓቂ እዩ ። እዞም ገዳይም ተጋደልቲ መዓስከራት ጸላኢ እናኣጥቁዑ ብረት ይዓጥቁ ነይሮም ። ኣብ ሰብዓታት ከኣ ህግሓኤ “ ንጻላኢ ብብረቱን ብጥይቱን “ ክብሉ እንከሎዉ ናይ ደገ ሓገዝ ስለ ዘይነበሮም ፣ እቲ ፍታሕ ንጸላኢ ብብረቱን ብጥይቱን ጥራሕ ነበረ። ነዚ ሕቅነት እዚ ዘረጋግጾ መንግስቱ ሃይለማርያም ባዕሉ “ ንሕና ብረት ንገዝእ ምስ ወምበዴ ከኣ ንማቀሎ ኣሎና “ ዝበሎ ። ስለዚ እዚ ዘመዝገብናዮ ሃገራዊ ነጻነት ውጽኢት ናይ ኤርትራዊ ሓቦን ቖራጽነትን እምበር ናይ ደገ ሓይልታት ተለኣኣክቲ ብምዃን ኣይነበረን ። እምበኣር መንእሰያትና ነዚ ሃገር ዝጥፍእ ዘሎ ሰርዓት ንምምሓው ፣ ሎሚ ብረትን ጥይትን ዘይኮነ ድሲፕሊን ዘለዎ ልዑላዊ ውደባ የድሊኩም ኣሎ ።
ኣብ ጉዳይ ኤርትራ ሎሚ ክልተ ተመሳሰልቲ ጉጂለታት በብዝጥዕሞም እናተበራረዩ ንመንእሰይ ኤርትራ ክጽንትዎን ከዳክምዎን ይቓለስዎ ኣለዉ ። ሓደ ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ክከውን እንከሎ ፣ እቲ ሓደ ከኣ ብሽም ደምበ ተቓውሞ መእሰይ ከይውደብን ሓድነት ክይገበር ካብ ቁሸት ህገረ ኤርትራ ጀሚሮም ክሳብ ኤውሮፓን ሰሜን ኣሚሪካን ጸቢብን መርዛም ዝኮነ ኣውራጃዊ ምትእክካብ ንምፍጣር ክቓለሱ ጸኒሖምን ኣለውን። ነዚ ዝከየድ ዘሎ ስውር ቓልሲ ንምፍሻልን መንእሰያትና ኣብ ውሽጥን ኣብ ወጻእን ብንቅሓት ክምክትዎ ክዕወቱሉን ናይ ግድን ይኽውን ።
ሎሚ ኣብ ዝኮነት ኤርትራዊት ስድራ ቤት ፣ተግባራት ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ተነቂሒሉን ተነጺጉን እዩ። እቶም ነቲ ጉጂለ ብዝተፈላለዩ ምክንያት ከተሓባበርዎ ዝጽንሑ ደገፍቱ ፣ሎሚ ንሳቶም እውን ነቲ ለውጢ ደለይቱ ምዃኖም ብዘይ ጥርጥር ክዘረቡ ንሰሚዕ ኣሎና ። እምበኣር ነዚ ህሉው ኩነታት ካብ ተነቓሓሉ፣ ነዚ በሲሉ ዘሎ ክውንነት ኣብ ግብሪ ንምውዓል ነጻ ዝኮነ ሕጹጽ ውደባ የድሊ ኣሎ ። መንእሰያትና ሕሰምን መከራን ካብ ዝኮነ ኤርትራዊ ንላዕሊ ዝሰሓንዎ ስለ ዝኮኑ ፣ ርጊኦም እቲ ዓወት ኣብ ልዕሊ ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ስለ ምንታይ ክንዲዚ ግዜ ይወስድ ኣሎ ክብሉን ካብቲ ኤርትራዊ ክብሪን ልዑላውነት ሀገረ ኤርትራ ዘውሕስ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክመሃሩ ይግባእ ። ምክንያቱ ሰዲህኤ ኣብ ጉዑዞ ሓድነት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ሓዲሽ ምዕራፍ ዘበሰረ ሰልፊ እዩ ። እቶም ዝሰመሩ ውድባት ብማዕረ ነቶም ኣግደስቲ ኣርእስትታት ብሓባር ዘትዮም ክሰግርዎም በቂዖም እዮም ።
መራሕ ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ንመንእሰያት ስራሕ ክፈጥረሎም ስለ ዘይደለየ ኣብ ከተማ ምህላዎም ከኣ ስለ ዘስጎኦ ኣብ ግዱድ ዕስክርና ብዘይ ግቡእ ዓስቢ ክምዝምዞም ይርከብ ኣሎ ። እዚ ዳርጋ ንርብዒ ዘመን ዝተናወሔ ባርነት ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ከብቅዕ መንእሰያት ክኣምኑዎ ዘለዎም “ ቅድሚ ኩሉን ልዕሊ ኩሉን ኤርትራውያን ምዃኖም ክኣምኑን” ንኩሉ እቲ ዝጸንሖም ሕብረተሰብኣዊ ሕማማት ከራግፍዎን ክነጽሕሉን ይግባእ ። ኣብ መትከል ዝተሰረተ ፖለቲካዊ ዝምድናታት ክሃንጹን ነቲ ቓልሲ ኣብ ዝለዓለ ደረጃ ከደይብዎ ከኣ ንጽበዮም ።
ኣብ መወዳእታ
ኣብ ወሳኒ መድረክ ምርብራብ ስለ ዝኣቶና ፣ እቶም ኣብ ዝተፈላለየ ከባቢታት ዝርከቡ መንእሰያት ክውደቡን ክጥርናፉን ይግባእ ። ሓደ ከም እብነት ክውሰድ ዝግብኦ መንእሰያት ንለውጢ ላስቬጋስ ኣብ ቶጎርባ ዘውጽእዎ መግለጺ እዩ። እዞም መንኣሰያት ኣብቲ መግለጺኦም ዘቀመጥወን ኣርባዕተ ንጥብታት ብዝያዳ ክጸፋን ክምዕብላን ዝክእላ እየን ። መንእሰያትና ከም ባህሊ ክወስድወን ዝግባኣ ጉዳያት ልዑላውነትን ግሉጽነትን ሓቀኛ ሓበሬታ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ምቅራብ ይግብኦም ።
ርሑስ ሓዲሽ ዓመት 2015 ይግበረልና
ክብሮም ግረነት ።
12/31 /2014
ኣርዓዶም በርሀ
ኣብ ባህልና ሓደ ሰብ ክገብሮ ዘይክእል ክገብሮ ከም ዝኽእል መሲሉ ክቐርብ እንከሎ ትግረም እሞ “ኣየ ኣለኹ ማለት” ኢኻ እትብሉ። ኣብ ሓደ ሓደ ግዜ ድማ “ተረቲዕና ከይብሉስ እግባይ ይብሉ” ዝበሃለሉ ኣጋጣሚ ኣሎ። እዚ ክብል እንከለኹ “መሲልካስ እንታይ ኣምጻእካ” ክበሃል ምዃነይ ኣይሰሓትኩን። ስለዚ ነዚ ተተርኢሰ ዝብሎ ስለ ዘለኒ እየ ናብዚ ምስላታት ዘድሃብኩ። ሓንቲ ምስላባ ክደግም “ይበሃል ኢላ ድሙ ተዃሒላ” እትብል። ሕጅስ ምስላታት ይኣኽሊ እሞ ናብቲ ዘምጸኣኒ ናይዚ ቀረባ ግዜ ቃለ-መሓትት መራሒ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ክኣቱ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ኣብ ወረዳ ዓረዛ ምክትል ወረዳ ኣፈልባ እትርከብ “ኣይቀበጹ” እትበሃል ቁሸት ኣላ። ሰለምንታይ እዚ ስም ከም ዝተዋህባ፡ ምስ ዝርዝሩ ደቅቲ ከባቢ እዮም ዝፈልጥዎ። ሓፈሻዊ ትሕዝቶኡ ግና ምስ ኣብ ግዜኡ ዝሓለፈ ጉዳይ ጭልም ምባል ዝዛመድ እዩ።
ኣቶ ኢሳይይሳ ተስፋ ዘለዎ ዘረባ ከምጽእ ከም ዘይክእል ካብ ዝረጋገጽ ነዊሕ ግዜ ኮይኑ እዩ። ንሱ ግና ወዮ ከምቲ “ኣየ ኣለኹ ማለት” ዝበልናዮ ግዲ ኮይንዎ መዓልቲ ቆጺሩ ኣብ ሓድሽ ዓመት ወይ ኣብ መዓልቲ ነጻነት ሃለው ምባሉ ኣይገደፈን። ካብዚ ውሽጡ ተሓይኹ ተወዲኡ ደጊኡ’ውን ዘሰንብድ ሰብኣይ፡ ሓድሽ እሞ ድማ ኣውንታዊ ሓሳብ ክመጽእ ዘይትግምቶ ክነሱ፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ግና ኮንደኾን ብዝብል ሰዓት ቆጸራ ኣኽቢሩ፡ ክሰምዖ ምጽባዩ ነክዩ እንተዘይኮይኑ ፈጺሙ ኣየቋረጸን። ኣነ እውን ሓደ ካብኣቶም ዝተጸበይዎ ስለዝኾንኩ ንዕኡ ክሰምዕ ካብቲ ናይ ድቃሰይ ግዜይ ክልተ ሰዓት ተለጢጠ። ንዛንታ “ኣይቀበጹ” ካብ ዝደገሙ ድማ ሓደ ኮይነ። እንተኾነ ሰባት ሰሚዖም ከምቲ ኢሳይያስ ዝበሎ ዘይኮነስ ከምቲ ዝደልይዎ ሕብርታት ቀቢኦም ካብ ዝሕብሩኻ ባዕልኻ ምስማዑ ስለ ዝምረጽ ምስማዐይ ዳርጋ ኣየጠዓሰንን። ንግሆ ምስ ከማይ ነቲ ቃለ መሓትት ዝሰምዕዎ ኣካላት ምስ ተራኸብና ከዓ “ናይዚ ሰብኣይ ቃለ መጠይቕ ዓጀውጀው እምበር ሓድሽ ነገር ኣይነበሮን” ኣብ ዝብል መድምደምታ ክንበጽሕ ግዜ ኣይወሰደልናን።
ካብቲ ዝበሎ ምስ ህልዊ ኩነታት ኤርትራን ህዝባን ዝዛመድን ዘዛርብን ስለ ዝሰኣና ዕላልና ናብ ኣከዳድናን ኣካላዊ ኩነታትን ናይ ኢሳይያስ ከዘንብል ግድን ኮይኑ። ኣቀማቅማ ጨጉሪ ርእሱ ተመዛቢሉ፡ ንገጹ ማዳ ዓንድሪሉ፡ ብኣካዳድናኡ ጀልፊፉ ስለ ዝተራእየ፡ ናይዚ ኩነታቱ ምኽንያት ንምግማት፡ መንሽሮ እዩ ሓሚሙ፡ ኩሊቱ ተቐይሩ እዩ፡ ጠንቁ ክቱር መስተእዩ … ወዘተ ዝብሉ ናይ ተዓዘብቲ ግምታት ይቐርቡ ኣለዉ። የለን እቲ ኣብ ገጹ ዝረአ ዘሎ ማዳ ዘይኮነስ ሰኺሩ ምስ ወደቐ ዝገደፈሉ በሰላ እዩ ዝብሉ እውን ሰሚዐ። እዚ ግምታት እዩ። ብሓፈሻ ሕማቕ ከም ዘሉ ግና ኩሉ ዝረኣዮ እዩ። እንተ’ቲ ሓቐኛ ምኽንያት ናይ ምጉስቛሉ ግና እግዚኣብሄር ዋንኡ። ሓደ ሰብ ደጋዊ መልክዑ ከምዚ ናይ ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ኮይኑ፡ ውሽጣዊ ትሕዝቶኡ ግና ጠቓሚ ሓሳብ ዘመንጩ እንተኾይኑ “ ገጽ ኣይትርአ” ኢልካ ትከላኸለሉ ኢኻ። ንሱ ግና ውሽጡ እውን ካብ ደጊኡ ከም ዝኸፍእ ካብቲ ተጻዒሩ ዘውጸኦ፡ ክሓብኦ ተፈተነ ዝስዕሮ ዝነበረ ቃላት ተረዲእናዮ ኢና።
ብዛዕባቲ ኣብ 1997 ዝጸደቐ ቅዋምን መጻኢ ዕድሉን እንተተሓተስ ጉልባቡ ቀሊዑ፡ጐልሓጥሓጥ እንዳበለ፡ ዓይኑ ብጨው ተሓጺቡ፡ “እቲሰነድከይተኣወጀዝሞተእዩ።” ኢሉ ነቶም ውሽጡ ከይፈለጡ ንኢሳይያስ ንክከላኸሉ፡ ንዘይምትግባር እቲ ቅዋም ምኽንያታት ክኹምሩ ዝጸንሑ ግሩሃት እቲ ሰቲርዎ ዝጸንሐ ሓቂ ደርጒሕሎም። ነዓና ግና እቲ ሓድሽ ካብ ኣፉ ምውጻኡ ተዘይኮይኑ እዚ ሓሳብ ኣብ ውሽጡ ጠኒስዎ ዝጸንሐ ምዃኑስ ዘይተጸበናዮ ኣይኮነን። ኩሉ ነገር እንተላይ ህልውና ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ኣብ ቀጻሊ መስርሕ እዩ ዝነብር። እቲ ዘይተርፍ ጉዕዞ እምበኣር ከከም ባህሪ ናይቲ ተጐዓዚ ገሊኡ ናብ ልምዓት እዩ፡ ገሊኡ ድማ ናብ ጥፍእት። ብናትና ሚዛን ጉዕዞ ህግደፍ ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ 15 ዓመታት ንቑልቁል እዩ ዝንህል ነይሩ። እዚ ድማ በቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ኣብ ኩሉ እቲ ብሰንኪ መሪሕነት ህግደፍ ዝረአ ዘሎ ህውቱት መነባብሮ ዝተረጋገጸ እዩ። መራሒ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ግና “ ሰማዒኸ እንታይ ይብለኒ” እኳ ከይበለ “ኣብ’ዚ ዝሓለፈ 15 ዓመትብዙሕነገርተማሂርናኢና።ኣካይዳናንፖለቲካዊብስለትናንኣማዕቢልናንብዙሕነገርተማሂርናንኢና።” ክብል ሰሚዐናዮ። ከምዚ ምባሉ ንእዝነይ ምእማን ስኢነስ ንካለኦት ምስ ሓተቱ’ውን “እወ ሓቅኻ ከምኡ እዩ ዝበለ” ምስ በለ፡ ወዮቲ ናይ ቀደም ሃተፍተፉ ተሓዲሱኒ “ደጊም ቶባ” ክብል ተገዲደ። በዚ ተዝውድእከ፡ ነቲ ብውልቃዊ ውሳነኡ ብናቱ ምሩጻት ሰባት፡ ውድድር ኣብ ዘየፍቅድ ጸቢብ ፖለቲካዊ ሜዳ ባዕሉ ነዲፉ ባዕሉ ዘጽደቖ ናይ 1997 ተወሊዱ ዘይተጠመቐ ቅዋም “መንነዲፍዎ? ከመይገይሩተነዲፉ? ናበይገጹእዩ? ኣብዝብልዛዕባኣብ’ዚ 15 ዓመትብዙሕነገርተማሂርናኢና።” ከምቲ ንሱ ዝብሎ ሓድሽ ቁንቁኛ ኣምጺኡልና። እዚ እሞ ድማ ምስላታት ደኣ ኣብዚሐልኩም እምበር “ባዕላ ሰቒላቶስ ረሓቐ፡ ባዕላ ሰንኪታቶስ በሓቘ” ዘብል እዩ።
ብዛዕባ ዓለማዊ ኩነታት፡ ብዛዕባ ጠንቂ ማዕቀብ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኤርትራ፡ ብዛዕባ ዋሕዚ ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ናብ ስደት፡ ብዛዕባ መጻኢ ናይ ልምዓት መደባቱ፡ ብዛዕባ ዝምድና ኤርትራ ምስ ጐረባብታ ሃገራት …… ወዘተ ተሓቲቱ ዝህቦ ዝነበረ መልሲ፡ ካብ ሓደ ጥዑይ ኣእምሮ ዘለዎ፡ እሞ ድማ ንሃለዋት ኤርትራ ብደረጃ መራሒ ካብ ዝፈልጣ ሰብ ዘይኮነስ፡ ንኤርትራ ብሓላፍ መንገዲ ድረጃ እውን ካብ ዝፈልጣ ሰብ እትጽበዮ ኣይነበረን። ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ግና ወዮ “መራሒ ኤርትራ” ተባሂሉ እንድዩ መድረኽ ተፈጢሩሉስ ተኾዲጩ ከይሓፈረ ደርጒሕዎ። ብዛዕባ ዘየሎ ግና ድማ ዓቕሊ ጽበት ዝወለዶ ጉዳያት ይዛረብ ከም ዝነበረ ግና ካብቲ ናይ ኣዒንቱ ጐልሓጥሓጥን “ዳሕራይ ክንምለሶ ኢና” ዝብል ሃዳሚ ስልቱን ምርድኡ ዘጸግም ኣይነበረን። ብዛዕባዚ ጉዳይ ቃለ መጠቕ ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ከነዕልል እንከለና እዚ ሰብኣይ ጽቡቕ ናይ ምግባርን ሓቂ ናይ ምዝራብን ዓቅሚ እንዳሃለዎ እዩ “ኮነ ኢሉ ዝጽይቕ ዘሎ” ዝብሉ ኣሕዋት ረኺበ። ኣነ በቲ ጽቡቕ ይዛረብን ይገብርን ከም ዘየለ ምእማኖም ንኢደዮም። ነቲ “ከጸብቕ እንዳኸኣለ እዩ ዝጽይቕ ዘሎ” ዝበልዎ ግና ኣይተቐበልኩዎምን። ምኽንያቱ ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ድሕሪ ሕጂ ዝሓበኦ ጽቡቕ ሓሳብን ናይ ምትግባር ዓቕምን ከም ዘየብሉ ዕጉብ ስለ ዝኾንኩ። እቲ ዝርካቡ ሓሳቡን ዓቕሙን እቲ ክንሰምዖ ዝቐነና ሓሶትን ዕንወትን ጥራይ እዩ ዝብል እምነት ስለ ዘለኒ።
እስኪ ንተዓዘብ፡ እዚ ሰብኣይ ከይሓፈረ፡ ማሽነሪ ውሒዱና እምበር ኤርትራ ንምልማዕ ዘኽእል ዝሰልጠነ ምሉእ ዘይጉዱል ሓይሊ ሰብ ኣለና ክብል እንከሎ፡ ብዓብይኡ ንዕኡ ንዓናውን ከም ኤርትራውያን ዘሕፍር ኮይኑ ኣይስመዓኩምን። ነቶም ኣብ ኤርትራ ኣብያተ ትምህርቲ ክሳብ ዩኒቨርስቲ ተዓጽዩ ዝርካቦም ተመሃሮ ኣብ ሳዋ ጅሆ ተታሒዞም ከም ዘለዉ እንርዳእ፡ ኣብ መዓልቲ ኣስታት 500 መንእሰያት ካብ ኤርትራ ናብ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ይስደዱ ከም ዘለዉ እንፈልጥ እኮ’ዩ ዲክታትር ኢሳይያስ ከምዚ ዝብለና ዘሎ። ወረ ነቲ እንዳንቀጥቀጠ ነተን ተጻሒፈን ዝተዋህበኦ ሕቶታት ዝሓቶ ዝነበረ ጋዜጠኛ ነታባይስ ተኣምራታዊ ልምዓት ኣብ ኤርትራ ንምርኣይ ናይ ሰለስተ ኣዋርሕ ቆጸራ እዩ ሂብዎ ዘሎ። ንከምዚ ዓይነት እንዳኸፈአ ዝመጸ ናይ ብደዐ ኣበሃህላኡ ኣቲ ቀደም “ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንዘለዎ ንዕቀት ዘንጸባርቕ’ዩ” ኢና ንብሎ ኔርና። ናይ ሎሚ ግና ካልእ ሓረግ እንተዘይረኺብናሉ በቲ ናይ ቅድም ኣበሃህላ ዝግለጽ ኣይኮነን። ምኽንያቱ ንሱ ካብዚ ኣበሃህላ ናብ ዝዓሞቐ ጽላለ የንቆልቁል ስለ ዘሎ።
ኢሳይያስን ንሱ ዝመርሖ ጉጅለ ህግደፍን ድሕሪ ሕጂ ናብ ልቦም ናይ ምምላስ ድሌት የብልምን። ክምለሱ እንተደለዩ እውን መምለሲ ምንገዲ የብሎምን። ኣቲ ጻዕሪ ነቶም ብሓሳዊ ስብከቱ ተሰሊቦም ምስኡን ጉጅለኡን ናብ ጥፍእት ዝጐዓዙ ዘለዉ ናይ ለውጢ ተረባሕቲ ወገናት ከተድሕን ምኽኣልን ዘይምኽኣልን እዩ። ኢሳይያስ ከም ኩሎም ዲክታተራት በይኑ ኣይኮነን ዝጽለል ዘሎ። ምስኡ ሓቢሮም ናብ መቓብር ዝወርዱ፡ ዝሓዝካዮ መንገዲ ቅኑዕ እዩ እንዳበሉ፡ ዘስክርዎን ዘሻድንዎን ኣካላት ክህልዉዎ ናይ ግዳን እዩ። ካብዚኣቶም ሓደ እዩ ኢልካ ክትወስዶ እትኽእል ሓደ ኤርትራዊ እየ ዝብል፡ ኣብዚ ቀረባ መዓልታት “ህ.ግ.ደ.ፍታሪኽህዝቢኤርትራአዩ።ህላወኤርትራምስህላወህ.ግ.ደ.ፍዝተኣሳሰረአዩ።ዝኮነሓይሊንህ.ግ.ደ.ፍዝጻባአንታሪኽህዝቢኤርትራናይምድምሳስድልየትንሕልምንዘሎዎአዩ።”ንዝበሎ እንተ ኣስተባሂልና እዚ ዕኑድ ሰብኣይን መዳመቕቱን ናበየናይ ጸድፊ የምርሑ ከም ዘለዉ ምርዳእ ዘጸግም ኣይኮነን። እምበኣር ወዮ ደኣ ርኢኻን ሰሚዕካን ስቕ ኢልካ ዘይሕለፍ ኮይኑና ንዛረበሉ ኣለና እምበር እዚ ብዱዕ ኣበሃህላታት ናይ ኢሳይያስ ሓድሽ ኣይኮነን። ትንፋሱ ክሳብ ዘላ’ውን ቀጻሊ እዩ። ደጊም ቀዳምነትና ናቱ ጸሓይ ዝወቐዖን ዓለም ዝፈለጦን ኣበሳ ምዝርዛር ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ቅድሚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብኡ ብተግባር ዝሓሽካ ምዃንካ ምርግጋጽ ምዃኑ ኣይንዘንግዕ ንብል።
6 ጥሪ 2015
الإرتريون في بريطانيا يقيمون حفلاً تأبينياً للمناضل الكبير عمر جابر المتحدثون يشيدون بمناقب الراحل ودوره الوطني الكبير
Written by • المجموعة المنظمة لحفل تأبين المناضل الكبير عمر جابر عمرتقرير*
لندن، 4 يناير 2015: أقيم في لندن يوم أمس 3 يناير 2015 حفلاً تأبينياً للمناضل الكبير عمر جابر عمر الذي توفي يوم 19 ديسمبر الماضي في ميلبورن بأستراليا وورى الثرى فيها في اليوم التالي.
افتتح الحفل بأيات من الذكر الحكيم تلاها الشيخ محمود حسين ثم رحب الأستاذ ياسين محمد عبد الله بالحضور. تلي ذلك عرض لقطات فيديو أعدها الأستاذ عبد الرحمن قدم عن مراحل مختلفة من حياة الراحل وقد صاحب الصور تسجيل صوتي لنشيد "صامدون" من كلمات الراحل وأداء الفنان حسين محمد علي ونشيد " جبهة التحرير قلناها من بدري " من نظم الراحل وأداء نعمة دبساي. وتضمن عرض الفيديو نبذة عن السيرة الذاتية للراحل بصوت الأستاذة آمال على محمد صالح.
كان أول المتحدثين المناضل الكبير محمود إسماعيل الذي قال إن علاقته بالراحل تعود إلى الستينيات في بغداد وأنه عمل معه في مجالات عديدة وأشاد بأدواره في الثورة الإريترية وبتفانيه في خدمة شعبه. وتحدث بعد ذلك الأستاذ محمد علي لباب الذي تعود علاقته بالراحل عمر جابر أيضاً إلى عقد الستنيات حيث درسا سويا ببغداد، قال لباب إنه لا يعرف عن أي جانب من جوانب شخصية عمر جابر يتحدث، فلشخصيته جوانب عديدة، فهو إنسان متفرد، مناضل، صحفي، شقيق الشهداء وقائد. لقد ترك عمر جابر بصماته على مسيرة جبهة التحرير الإريترية والمسيرة الوطنية. تحدث بعد ذلك الأستاذ علي محمد صالح الذي أورد، في سياق إشادته بالراحل الكبير، الكثير من المعلومات المهمة عن دور الراحل خصوصاً في الاتحاد العام لطلبة إريتريا واتحاد الشباب الديمقراطي الإريتري ثم تقدم بتوصيتين هما: أن يتم تكريم المناضلين الكبار في حياتهم وأن يتم الاحتفال بالمناسبات الوطنية بصورة جماعية مثل ذكرى انطلاقة الثورة في الأول من سبتمبر، معركة تقوربا وعيد الاستقلال. وأشاد الأستاذ محمد علي أدالة في كلمته بالصفات الفريدة للراحل وبدوره في مرحلتي الثورة والنضال من أجل التغيير. بعد ذلك ألقى الأستاذ خالد كجراي قصيدة بعنوان " عواتي" نظمها الراحل الكبير ونشرها مكتب التعليم التابع لجبهة التحرير الإريترية، ضمن قصائد أخرى، في كتاب.
وخاطب الحفل ممثلاً عن حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الإريتري، عضو قيادته الأستاذ حامد ضرار الذي اعتبر رحيل عمر جابر خسارة لكل الإرتريين ولحزبه على وجه الخصوص حيث كان الراحل يمدهم دائماً بنصائحه المفيدة. ثم خاطب الحفل الأستاذ سليمان حسين رئيس منظمة سدري الذي أشاد بالراحل وبشجاعته وبدوره الوطني وقال إنه يعتز بمعرفته. وخاطبت الحفل الأستاذة سلام كيداني رئيسة منظمة " رليس إريتريا" التي قالت إنها تعتبر الراحل عماً لها وأشادت بصراحته وآرائه وانفتاحه على العمل مع الآخرين. وخاطب الحفل الأستاذ أحمد دين محمود ممثلاً لجبهة الإنقاذ الوطني الإريتري، الذي قال إن الراحل كان مناضلاً جسوراً أفنى عمره في خدمة والدفاع عن قضية شعبه. وخاطب الحفل الأستاذ نوري محمد عبد الله صديق الراحل وزميله في المنتدى الإريتري للتغيير الذي كان يترأسه عمر جابر. أشاد نوري بالراحل الكبير الذي عمل معه منذ فترة النضال الوطني وبعدها في مسيرة النضال من أجل التغيير وقال إن الراحل كان مهموماً دائماً بوحدة المعارضة الإريترية لأنه كان يدرك أن هذا هو الشرط الرئيس لانتصارها. بعدها خاطب الحضور الأستاذ عبد الرحمن سيد مدير موقع وإذاعة عركوكباي الذي قال إن الراحل الكبير كان يعد إرشيفاً ومرجعية للقضية الإريترية وقال إنه في البداية كان يتعامل معه باعتباره رجلاً سياسياً لكنه اكتشف لاحقاً إنه أديب وشاعر. ثم أعطيت الفرصة للأستاذ ياسين محمد عبد الله الذي كان صديقاً للراحل لسنوات طويلة. ذكر ياسين إن الراحل ينتمي للجيل الثاني من الطلبة الإرتريين الذين التحقوا بالثورة الإريترية وأنه لعب دوراً كبيراً في ترسيخ شرعية الثورة أثناء ترأسه للاتحاد العام لطلبة إريتريا.
بعد استراحة قصيرة. تحدث المناضل الكبير محمد عثمان صائغ الذي أصر، رغم المرض، على المشاركة في تأبين الفقيد الكبير. قال صائغ إن الراحل تميز بالوطنية والاستقامة والثورية. ثم تحدث الأستاذ هبتي ماريام أبرها الذي قال أنه يجب أن نتبع مسيرة الراحل وكل المناضلين الكبار الذين رحلوا. وخاطبت الحفل الأستاذة سهير شريف من حزب الأمة القومي السوداني فقدمت تعازيها للشعب الإريتري في الراحل الكبير عمر جابر. وبعدها تحدث الأستاذ عبد الكريم ناصر الذي أشاد بالراحل، وقرأ على الحضور قصيد من نظمه.
ثم تحدث الأستاذ أحمد علي أحمد والذي عرف الراحل منذ عام 1969 عندما كان أحمد طفلاً وذكر أن الراحل كان يهتم به وبأبناء الشهداء الآخرين في بغداد ويراعهم. وخاطب الحفل الأستاذ عبد القادر نائب الذي أشاد بقدرات الراحل وقال إن الإرتريين وأنه شخصياً استفادوا كثيراً من كتاباته. وبعده تحدث الأستاذ إبراهيم محجب الذي ترحم على الفقيد الكبير.
في الختام خاطب الحفل الأستاذ ياسين محمد عبد الله وشكر الحضور وقال أن المجموعة المنظمة إنما فعلت ذلك باسم الجيمع فالكل هنا يفقتد الراحل الكبير وأشاد بمجموعة العمل؛ أحمد عبد الله " ديمقراطي؛ آمال علي محمد صالح، عبد الرحمن سيد، عبد الرحمن قدم وخالد كجراي وشكر أصدقاء الراحل الذين وفروا التمويل المالي للحفل. قدم ياسين بعد ذلك الفنان حسين محمد علي ليؤدي أنشودة " صامدون" التي كتبها الراحل وطلب من الحضور ترديدها من ورائه وقوفاً كنوع من التحية لذكرى المناضل الكبير عمر جابر عمر وهو ما فعله الحضور حيث رددوا النشيد خلف الفنان حسين وكان هذا مشهد مؤثر اختتم به حفل التأبين. هذا وقد تناوب على تقديم المتحدثين في الحفل كل من الأستاذة آمال علي محمد صالح والأستاذ عبد الرحمن سيد.
- المجموعة المنظمة لحفل تأبين المناضل الكبير عمر جابر عمر
The Sarcasm, Denial and Lies of the Eritrean authorities: a personal account on the National service, the closure of the University of Asmara and the Scholarship program in South Africa
Written by Zekarias Ginbot……...in Part I, I described how the aspirations of the Eritrean people have been dashed by PFDJ over the last 20 years and how the national service has ended up becoming a modern day slavery. I believe the Ethio-Eritrean border war, commented on by readers of Part I, has been used by PFDJ as an excuse, but as to who started it is beyond the theme of my article for now. In Part II, I continue to reflect on my own experience while inside Eritrea including the closure of the University of Asmara.
Part II
By the end of year 2000, an opportunity came along for an overseas study for undergraduate and graduate programs. It was rumored that the Eritrean authorities had to spend the money given to the nation by UNDP. Not sure of the accuracy of that rumor but they decided to send students to South Africa for undergraduate and postgraduate programs. I was among those who got that opportunity. But then, we were asked to produce a 150,000 Nakfa guarantee for return after completing the intended study program. This created shock-waves. “…after years in school and then the national service, and now 150,000 Nakfa!” Students who came back from the war front lines found out that their government, the PFDJ, did not trust them despite the determination they showed in protecting the country with their lives. The memory of colleagues including fresh graduates, who died in the war, was very vivid at the time. But PFDJ officials and the likes, including Dr Wolde-ab Issak, did not bother about the effect of their policies on student moral and nationalism.
The return-guarantee requirement was later dropped for undisclosed reasons but it did left scars in our minds and on our families’ relationships. I know family relationships that are broken to this day as some members were not willing to risk money or property to guarantee their next of kin’s return from South Africa. I know how difficult decision it was for anyone involved given the unpredictability of PFDJ policies within the country and abroad. Under PFDJ, this scenario is similar to that of someone abandoning the national service from his/her military post and then his/her family member being arrested for it.
Many students were indeed sent to South Africa for a scholarship which was a remote controlled program by PFDJ. They managed it like what they do with their high school program in Sawa. When we departed from Eritrea, we were told what to study and there was no proper orientation. Some of us ended up in colleges and universities that did not provide the type of study we were assigned to. Many students were made to wait idle for 6 month, doing nothing, until another university was identified. Some of us were forced to join study programs we were not interested in and this created unnecessary stress. The worst of these was when students were told to finish their program of study on the originally prescribed time without considering problems the students were facing. As a result of these, some students were forced to return to Eritrea before completing their study program: wastage of money and precious time.
Things went from bad to worse when Mr Gerahtu Tesfamicael was assigned Eritrean ambassador to South Africa. Instead of trying to solve problems, he created more confusion among students. Innocent-looking Mr Gerahtu made personal friends among students to spy on student loyalties (looking innocent and making friends is his special talent). He managed to suspend stipend of many students. Some students who applied for entry visas to travel to Europe or America were abducted from their residences and deported back to Eritrea. This is something that one would not expect but PFDJ are good in doing evil. They managed to corrupt South African security personnel for their evil activities. It was also worth noting the request made by Eritrean authorities to the South African academic institutions not to issue student certificates and diplomas on completion of the study programs. Although some of those institutions refused such a request, others did not and the certificates and diplomas were actually sent back to Eritrea. That means some students were forced to return under the arrangement described.
There were many PFDJ sponsored propaganda meetings held during my two years M.Sc. program in South Africa, one of which was with Isayas Afeworki, the Eritrean president in Durban in July 2002. I was one of the students who asked the president about the deteriorating situation in our home country, concerning the national service in particular. The president was in the country for other purpose and an arrangement was made for the students to meet him. In my humble question, referring to the social effects of the national service on parents and participant’s own families, I indicated that the program could be handled better. After explaining how the program was run, the president told us that each national service participant was paid 1300 Nakfa per month. It was a white lie.
We, the students in the Durban meeting, knew that the president’s response to my question was a deception and sarcasm as most of us were members of the national service program before we came to South Africa. That meeting was also the occasion when we were told not to come back home if we chose to do so as the government could hire expats from Asian countries. It was a very discouraging message and it was a clear indication that the authorities were not interested to build the capacity of the nation. Last week, 13 years after our Durban meeting, I heard the president make sarcastic pronouncements about the constitution that was drafted and approved by the people and then shelved away by him. He tried to act as if he understands the importance of a constitution better than anybody else. All these things show how irresponsible and blatant liars president Isayas and his PFDJ clique were then and are today when they communicate with the people.
I take this opportunity to pay my tribute to my fellow student, Hussein Mohammed, who put forward a question to the president at the Durban meeting, and died later tragically. He asked the president about his father’s arrest and disappearance. He was polite in stating the question. I am sure anyone of us would ask the same question at the time if our parent was taken away by security personnel and disappear. He just wanted to know if the president knew about it and when his father would be brought to court if he did anything wrong. The president’s response was hostile and threatening. Although Hussein’s death was in a car accident, he suffered tremendously as a result of what followed. His stipend was suspended and he couldn’t continue to finish his study program. As for me, by then I had already completed my master’s program and was planning to return to Eritrea. Despite all the challenges I had gone through and the fact that the Eritrean president showed up his ugly personality in the meeting described above, I was still blindly optimistic about my country and returned back. I thought I would contribute and make a difference in the lives of my countrymen especially the young.
I returned to the University of Asmara at the end of 2002 and started to work as a lecturer. By then, my friends whom I left in Asmara working as journalists including Mattewos Habteab, Medhanie Haile and Yusuf Mohamed Ali were already imprisoned (and their fate remains unknown to this date). These men were brilliant, young and motivated new graduates from the University of Asmara and, like many other innocent Eritreans, they were taken away from the society because they believed in freedom. It was also the aftermath of the mass arrest of the University students. After their release from Wia, the students were traumatized and were not in a proper mental status to learn. I found the students calm and non-responsive. Under ideal and western-world standards, they should have been de-briefed and rehabilitated first (I do not know which type of world PFDJ belongs to!). I do not wish these type of cruelty to the sons and daughters of PFDJ supports so that their parents would see what PFDJ stands for but these are facts of everyday live in PFDJ’s Eritrea today.
Like any other staff at the university, despite the obvious challenges, I continued to carry-on teaching. The university was already under threat of closure. Some Eritrean expats from the diaspora who used to work for the university had left. Dr. Welde-ab Issak, the then president of the university, did not return from an overseas trip in 2004. Following this, the academic administration and the non-academic management offices became rivals; one reporting to the office of the minister of education and the other to the president’s office; one giving promotion to academic staff and the other withdrawing it. None of them bothered of the threat of closure of the university, the future of the staff or the students. Money of us felt helpless and PFDJ managed to fully infiltrate the university at all levels.
I did not know where Dr. Wolde-Ab Isaac has been since he left the University of Asmara. But last year, I found out that he was working for a certain US college in California, and as I expected, as an acting president. This power hungry person always goes for administrative posts despite his qualification in science. I do not mean this is a taboo but from my experience, Dr Wolde-ab does not have administrative qualities. He would be better suited for a military general than an academician or administrator. He was an arrogant person who did not have any relationship with his staff or the students and was better known for intimidation of staff at the University and demobilization of government employees without compensation in other government institutions.
While at the University of Asmara, Dr Wolde-ab did not care about academic issues. I don’t remember him chairing a discussion on academic issues during the time I worked as a lecturer but only PFDJ sponsored functions. Every time someone approaches him with a question, he does his best in belittling the individual by going into side issue instead of addressing the concerns raised. No one denies that he is an excellent orator but he uses his talent only to intimidate others. When I spoke about him to people who knew him while he was at the Uppsala University in Sweden, their response was, “…well, what do you expect from Wolde-ab”, no surprise at all.
Back to my personal issues: in 2004, I was offered an opportunity to pursue a PhD program at the University of Cape Town where I obtained my master’s degree before. But then the management at the University of Asmara refused to let me go. As we all know, the immigration office in Eritrea considers exit visa applications if accompanied by employer’s institutional letter of support. They use such kind of bureaucracy and tactics to legitimize their suppressive administration, and hence I could not get that letter. When I came back from South Africa at the end of 2002, I was called at the university’s management office to tell about my experience. I believe my honest communication at the time was taken out of context and above all, I was questioning the wisdom of the country’s president while in South Africa.
In 2006, after 4 years of working for the university, I was again refused permission to leave for a PhD scholarship. To make matters worse, the University was officially closed in September of that same year and the academic staff were told to report to the other colleges run by the military. We, the staff were required to sign a document to guarantee compliance with the working environment at the MaiNefhi College or at the other sister colleges. That signing included bringing a parent or a spouse to sign to guarantee compliance. It was a serious matter as we all knew the intension of the authorities. On top of all these non-academic and degrading procedures, the working environment became so bad and unbearable for the staff and the students who were brought there. It was under these circumstances that I was forced to leave my family and my country by taking a dangerous route into the Sudan.
January 05,2015
……..Part III will follow
Peace and Prosperity to the Eritrean people!!
ገዲም ተጋዳላይ ዓሊ ዓምር መሓመድ ሓሰበላ ብዝሓደሮ ሕማም ትማሊ ዕለት 3 ጥሪ 2015 ካብ'ዛ ዓለም ብሞት ተፈልዩና። ስውእ ዓሊ ዓምር፡ ብ1958 ኣብ ቃርዑበል (ዓንሰባ) ተወሊዱ። ብ1974 ድማ ኣብ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ተሰሊፉ። ኣብ ተሓኤ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ጽፍሕታት ተመዲቡ ተቓሊሱ። ኣብ ብሪገድ 77 መራሕ ሓይሊ ነይሩ። ብድሕሪኡ ናይ ሕክምና ትምህርቲ ወሲዱ ከም ሓኪም ኰይኑ ኣገልጊሉ። ኣብ መደበር ሸገራብ ድሕሪ ምስግጋሩ ድማ፡ ኣቦ መንበር ጨንፈር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ሸገራብን ከባቢኡን ኰይኑ ክሳብ መስዋእቱ ክቃለስ ጸኒሑ።
ኣብ ሰማንያታት ኣብ ምምስራት ቤት ትምህርቲ ወድሸሪፈይ ልሉይ ግደ ተጻዊቱ። ኣብ መደበር ስደተኛታት ሸገራብ ኣብ ዝነብረሉ ዝነበረ እዋን ድማ፡ ምስ ናይ ግዳም ናይ ረዲኤት ማሕበራት ከም ሓኪም፤ ከምኡ'ውን፡ ምስ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ከም ተርጓማይ ኰይኑ ብምስራሕ ንስደተኛታት ንብዙሕ ዓመታት ከገልግል ጸኒሑ። ስውእ ዓሊ ዓምር ኣቦ 8 ቆልዑ ኢዩ።
በዚ ኣጋጣሚ'ዚ መሪሕነትን መሰረታትን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ንስውእ መንግስተ-ሰማይ የዋርሶ፡ ንስደራ ቤቱን ድማ ጽንዓት ይሃቦም እናበለና ናይ ሓዘኖም ተኻፈልቲ ምዃና ንገልጽ።
ገዲም ተጋዳላይ ዓሊ ዓምር መሓመድ ሓሰበላ ብዝሓደሮ ሕማም ትማሊ ዕለት 3 ጥሪ 2015 ካብ'ዛ ዓለም ብሞት ተፈልዩና። ስውእ ዓሊ ዓምር፡ ብ1958 ኣብ ቃርዑበል (ዓንሰባ) ተወሊዱ። ብ1974 ድማ ኣብ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤርትራ ተሰሊፉ። ኣብ ተሓኤ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ጽፍሕታት ተመዲቡ ተቓሊሱ። ኣብ ብሪገድ 77 መራሕ ሓይሊ ነይሩ። ብድሕሪኡ ናይ ሕክምና ትምህርቲ ወሲዱ ከም ሓኪም ኰይኑ ኣገልጊሉ። ኣብ መደበር ሸገራብ ድሕሪ ምስግጋሩ ድማ፡ ኣቦ መንበር ጨንፈር ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ሸገራብን ከባቢኡን ኰይኑ ክሳብ መስዋእቱ ክቃለስ ጸኒሑ።
ኣብ ሰማንያታት ኣብ ምምስራት ቤት ትምህርቲ ወድሸሪፈይ ልሉይ ግደ ተጻዊቱ። ኣብ መደበር ስደተኛታት ሸገራብ ኣብ ዝነብረሉ ዝነበረ እዋን ድማ፡ ምስ ናይ ግዳም ናይ ረዲኤት ማሕበራት ከም ሓኪም፤ ከምኡ'ውን፡ ምስ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽን ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት ሃገራት ከም ተርጓማይ ኰይኑ ብምስራሕ ንስደተኛታት ንብዙሕ ዓመታት ከገልግል ጸኒሑ። ስውእ ዓሊ ዓምር ኣቦ 8 ቆልዑ ኢዩ።
በዚ ኣጋጣሚ'ዚ መሪሕነትን መሰረታትን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ንስውእ መንግስተ-ሰማይ የዋርሶ፡ ንስደራ ቤቱን ድማ ጽንዓት ይሃቦም እናበለና ናይ ሓዘኖም ተኻፈልቲ ምዃና ንገልጽ።
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ጸብጻብ ኣባዓዕላ ሓድሽ ዓመት - 2015- ኣብ ቤር ኤርያ ካሊፎርንያ
Written by ምንቅስቃስ ኤርትራውያን ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ - በይ ኤርያ፡ ካሊፎርንያኣብ ቤይ ኤርያ ካሊፎርንያ ዝነብሩ ኤርትራውያን ደለይቲ ለውጢ ንሓድሽ ዓመት ብኽብ ዝበለ ጽንብል ተቐቢሎማ። እቲ ናይ ምዝንጋዕ መደብ በቲ ኤርትራውያን ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ኣብ ቤይ ኤርያ ተባሂሉ ዝጽዋዕ ንኹሉም ኣብዚ ከባቢ ዝርከቡ ናይ ልወጢ ሓይልታት ሓቁፉ ዝንቀሳቀስ ዘሎ ማሕበር ዝተዳለወ መድብ ‘ዩ ነይሩ።
እቶም ካብ ሰዓት 9፡00 ድ. ቀ. ኣትሒዞም ኣብቲ ናይ ጽንብል ኣደራሽ ዝተረኽቡ ተሳተፍቲ በቲ ብወሓላሉ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ኤርትርውያን ደቂ ኣንስትዮ ተዳልዩ ዝቀረበሎም ጡዑም መኣዛ ዘለዎ መግብን ዝቀረበ መስተን ተሰንዮም ክዛነዩ ድሕሪ ምጽናሕ፡ እቲ መድረኽ ሓንቲ ካብ ኣባላት ቦርድ ማሕበር ዝኾነት ትዕግስቲ ካሕሳይ ብዘቕረበቶ ናይ እንቋዕ ድሓን መጻእኩም መግለጺ እዩ ብወግዒ ተጀሚሩ። ካብዚ ኣትሒዙ ከኣ እቲ ናይ ምዝንጋዕ መድብ በቶም ንምዕዋት እቲ መደብ ካብ ኤውሮጳን ዝተፈላለዩ ክልፈ ግዝእታት ኣመሪካን ዝመጹ ድምጻውያንን ሙዚቀኛታትን ብምውህሃድ ዘቕረብዎም ሙዚቃዊ ጣዕሚ ተጀሚሩ።
ነቲ ሰንይ ናይ ደስታ ምሸት ዕዉት ንምግባር ኣብ መድረኽ ዝተረኽቡ ድምጻውያንን ምዙቀኛታትን እዞም ዝስዕቡ እዮም ነይሮም ። እቲ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ኣብ ዘመናዊ ትልሂት ኤርትራ ዓቢ እጃም ዘበርከተ፡ ሕጂ ከኣ ሓደ ካብ ቀወምቲ ጋዜጠኛታት ድምጺ ራድዮ ኤረና ኮይኑ፡ ኣዳላዊ እታ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ሰንበት እትፈኖ ፍትውቲ “መድብ ሸኾሪናታት” ዝኾነ ዮናታን ሃብተ። እቶም ካብ ንእስነቶም ኣትሒዞም ንቃልሲ ሰውራ ኤርትራ ብስነጥበባዊ ዕዮኦምን ኩቡር ዕድመ ካብ ሂወቶምን ዝወፈዩ ድምጻዊት ቮሮኒካ ሰለሙን፡ ኦርጋኒስታታት ወዲ ኣፍሮን ኣልማዝን፡ ሳክስፎኒስት ጊዶወን ሃብቶም ። እቲ ብዘለዎ ናይ ጊታር ምልከት ካብ ለዛታት ኤርትራ ሓሊፉ ናይ ኢንግሊዝን ካልኦት ህርመታት ኣፍሪቃን ዝጻወት ባሃር ሙዚቀኛ ረዘነ ሃብተን፡ ከምኡ ውን እቲ ሓደ ካብ ወናማት ኤርትራውያን ስነጥበባውያን ኣብ ሰሜን ኣሜሪካ ብምዃን ኣብ ምኹስኻስ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ባህሊ ልዑል ኣበርክቶ ዝተጸወተ ድምጻዊ ምኪኤል ጎይቲኦምን እዮም ነይሮም።
ተሰተፍቲ እዚ ናይ ሓጎስ ምሸት በቲ ብኩቱር ውህደት ደረፍትን ምዙቀኛታትን ተሰንዮም ዝቀረብሎም ዝተፈላልዩ ጣዕሚ ዜምታት ትግርኛ፡ ዓረብ፡ ትግረ፡ ሳሆን እንዳ ተላህዩ ክብረትን ምትሕቑቛፍን ዝመልኦ ጽንብል ኣካይዶም። እቲ ካብ ዓመተ 2014 ናብ ዓመት 2015 ብሰላም ዘሰጋግረና ልዑል ፈጣሪ ፡ ንህርመት ልቢ ኤርትራውያን ሰሚዑ ፡ ንቃልሲ ኤርትራውያን ንቅድሚት ኣሰጉሙ፡ ንህዝብናን ሃገርና ካብዚ ዘለውዎ ከቢድ ኣደራዕ ንኸነናግፎም ፡ ክእለትን ብልሓትን ክህበና ብምምናይ ነዛ ድሮ ክልተ ማዓልቲ ኣልዒልናላ ዘለና ሓዳስ ዓመት ተቀቢሎማ።
እዚ ናይ ሎሚ ዓመት ጽንብል ካብቶም ናይ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ጽንብላት ፍልይ ዘብሎ ነገር እንተ ሃልዩ፡ እቲ መደብ ኣብ ውሽጢ ሓጺር ናይ ግዜ ሰሊዳ (2 ሰሙን) ተወጢኑ ዝተኻየደ ብምንባሩ እዩ። እዚ ዕዉት ኽኸውን ዝኸኣለ ከኣ ብዙሓት ካብ ኣባልት ነዚ መድብ ንምዕምዋት ፋይናንሳዊ ሓገዛት፡ መራላውን ናይ ግዜ ደገፍን ብምካያድ ክዕውትዎ ስለ ዝኻሉ እዩ። ብዘይካዚ እቶም ኣብ ሓጺር ግዜ ተሓቢሮም ኣውንታዊ መልሲ ብምሃብ ኣብ ቦትኦም ዝተረኽቡ ደረፍትን፡ ሙዚቀኛታትን ውን ኣዝዮም ክምጎሱ ዝግብኦም እዩ።
እቲ ብ ዶር መብራህቱ ተወልደ ዝቀረበ ሓጺር ናይ ማሕበር መደረ ውን ነዚ ዝሞጎሰን፡ እቲ ማሕበር ንኹሉ ዝጋጠሞ ብድሆታት ሰጊሩ ኣብዚ ኣቲናዮ ዘሎና ሓድሽ ዓመት ንኹሎም ኣብ በይ ኤርያ ዝርከቡ ኤርትራውያ ሓቑፉ፡ ናብቲ ኤርትራ ካብ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ሓራ ንምውጻእ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ህዝባዊ ቃልሲ ብዝሓየለ መዳይ ከም ዝሳተፉ ክገብር ኩሉ ምድላዋቱን ኣካይድኡን ኣጻፊፉ ከም ዘሎ ብምሕባር፡ ነቶም ኣብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራ ብምልኪ ዝሳቐዩ ዘለዉ ኤርትራውያን ፡ ከምኡ ውን ነቶም ካብ ኤርትራ ውጺኦም ኣብቲ ዘካይድዎ ናይ ስደት ጉዕዞ ዝብደሉን ዝጋፍዑን ዘለዎ ኤርትራውያን እንኮ ፍታሕ ምውዳቕ እቲ ኣብ ቅርዓት ሃገርና ነጊሱ ዘሎ ምልኪ ጥራሕ እዩ ድሕሪ ምባል፡ ኣብዚ እንጅምሮ ዘለና ሓድሽ ዓመት ሓድነትና ኣትሪርና ምልኪ ክንስዕር ብምዝኽኻር፡ ዓመተ 2015 ዓመተ ፍትሕን ሰላም ክትከውን ብምምናይ መደረኡ ዛዚሙ። ካብዚ ቀጺሉ እቶም ብዝቀረብሎም ሰነ-ጥበባዊያን ፍርያት እናተዘናግዑ ክሳብ ሰዓታት ወጋሕታ ዝተዛናዩ ተሳተፍቲ ንሓድሕዶም ርሑስ ሓድሽ ዓመት ብምምናይ ነናብ ቦቲኦም ተበጊሱሶም፡ እቲ ብሕጉስ መንፈስ ዝጀመረ ናይ ደስታ ምሸት ከኣ ሰዓት 2:30 ወጋሕታ ብሰላም ተዛዚሙ።
ዓመት 2015 ምልኪ ፈሪሱ ፡ ፍትሒ ዝነግሰሉ ዓመት ንኽኾነልና ተጊህና ንቃልሰ !
01 ጥሪ 2015
ምንቅስቃስ ኤርትራውያን ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ - በይ ኤርያ፡ ካሊፎርንያ
ምልካዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ነቲ ካብ ህዝቢ ዝቐርበሉ ዘሎ መጸዋዕታ ብምፍራሕ ነቲ ዘመሓላለፎ ናይ ታዕሊም መጸዋዕታ ሰሪዝዎ
Written by ፕሮጀክት ዓርቢ -ሓርነትምልካዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ነቲ ኩሎም ኣባላት ህዝባዊ ሰራዊት ዕለታዊ ናብርኦም ወንዚፎም ንዕለት 3 ጥሪ 2015 ናብ ዝተፈላለዩ መደበራት ታዕሊም ክወርዱ ዘመሓላልፎ መጸዋዕታ: ነቲ ካብ ህዝቢ ዝቐርበሉ ዘሎ ኣብያ ብምፍራሕ፡ ነቲ መጸዋዕታ ከምዝሰረዞ ኣብ ኣስመራ ዝርከቡ ኣባላትዓርቢ ሓርነት ሓቢሮም።
ከም ዝዝከር ምልካዊ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ነቶም ብኣስገዳድ ብረት ኣሕንጊጥዎም ዘለዎ ኤርትራውያን ኣቦታት ናብ መደበር ታዕሊም ክወርዱ ካብ ወርሒ ጥቅምቲ 2014 ኣትሒዙ ብተደጋጋሚ ጸዊዑ እዩ። እንተኾነ ግን እቲ ብሕሰም ዕለታዊ መነባብሮን ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን ተዋሪዱ ዘሎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ካብ ናይ ቃል ተቓውሞ ሰጊሩ ናብ ግብራዊ ተቓውሞ ብምስግጋር ነቲ ዝቐርብ ዘሎ ጻዊዒት ጸማም እዝኒ ብምሃብ ብተደጋጋሚ የበርዕኖ ከምዘሎ ዝሓበሩ ኣባላት ዓርቢ ሓርነት፡ እዚ ዘሎ ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞ ከምዚ ዘለዎ እንተድኣ ቀጺሉ ኣብዚ ሒዝናዮ ዘለና ሓድሽ ዓመት ኣብ ኤርትራ ምልኪ ዘይጽረገሉ ምኽንያት የሎን ብምባል፡ ህዝቢ ንሓርነታዊ መሰላቱ ንምውሓስ ቃልሱ ከደንፍዕ ኣዘካኺሮም።
ፕሮጀክት ዓርቢ ሓርነት፡ ብኣብ ኤርትራን ካብ ኤርትራ ወጻእን ዝርከቡ ኤርትራውያን ዝካየድ ፕሮጀክት ኮይኑ: ነቲ ኣብ ወጻእን ኣብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራን ዝካየድ ዘሎ ናይ ለውጢ ምንቅስቓስ ብምትእስሳር ኣብ ኤርትራ ዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ንምንጋስ ዝሰርሕ ፕሮጀክት‘ዩ።
2 ጥሪ 2015
ፕሮጀክት ዓርቢ-ሓርነት
Eritrea: Regime calls off new calls for military training
Written by Project Arbi Harnet(Asmara 02-01-2015) Freedom Friday (Arbi Harnet) activists in Asmara have this afternoon confirmed that the Eritrean regime has called off the announcements requiring many Asmara residents to report for training, tomorrow 3rd of January 2015.
The calls were issued with stern warning of severe repercussion for those who failed to report for training some three weeks ago. However sensing the determination to ignore these calls just like the previous calls in October authorities in the Central Region of the country have started spreading last minute messages about the postponement of the training.
The activists stated: ‘Asmara residents were determined to ignore these calls just like the three previous calls, but they [the regime] backtracked at the last minute and tonight nearly everyone, at least here in “zoba maekel” are aware that it has been called off, we don’t think they will ever pursue the plan again. If the challenge from the public is maintained at this level there is no reason why we won’t see the end of the regime in this new year’.
Three weeks ago all members of the Popular Army and members of the national service who have not registered were informed to report for training on the 3rd of January and sternly warned about repercussions of failing to report. It was feared that the regime will force people to go to “Gahtelay Military training Center”, renown for its inhospitable climate, where the elderly recruits of the Popular Army would have found impossible to cope with.
The repeated show of quiet resistance has become a norm in the Capital where there is a growing confidence and solidarity among residents, who have stood firm in their determination to resist forced militeraisation of the civilian population.
---end---
Notes
The Popular Army in Eritrea is made up of civilians over the age of fifty, who are required to get armed and trained and be on call for duties in their local area, including night patrols.
In 2014, Eritrea continued to be a scene of human disaster and a country under siege: from systematic state brutality, gross human rights violations and eliminations of any political dissent within the country to indefinite military conscription, which is forcing thousands of its youth to flee the country and becoming victims of human trafficking and organ harvesting enterprises.
According to UNHCR, in 2014 around 70 Eritreans arrived daily in the refugee camps in Northern Ethiopia. Currently, there are over 93,000 Eritrean refugees living in four camps in Northern Ethiopia: Shimelba, May Ayni, Adiharush, and Hitsats (established in 2013),including in two camps in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The country has lost a large number of its productive force (the youth) in 2014 more than the preceding year, entirely crippling Eritrea of its promising and future vision of its people. A country without a youth has no future. Eritrea saw its human and social capital bleeding to death under the predatory regime of a malignant narcissistic leader in 2014. In Eastern Sudan, the number of Eritrean refugees who arrived in 2014 totaled 10,700, an average of more than 1,000 a month.
In addition, the country saw its human suffering going from bad to worse, with a near collapsed economy, widespread poverty, and a health system that cannot deliver a semblance of basic services. There was hardly any family in Eritrea that has not been affected by the consequences of the violent repression of the PFDJ in 2014.
In 2014, the PFDJ regime continued to kill, abduct, torture, and imprison citizens, and committing extrajudicial executions and disappearances of hundreds of citizens, including holding hundreds of others incommunicado and in clandestine detentions across the country. Many of those arrested and held incommunicado in the crackdown of 2001 are reportedly died in prison,including members of the G15. Access to political, economic and social rights, and fundamental freedom to exercise own religion, culture and traditional norms/values continued to be violently repressed in 2014.
The Moral Courage of Eritrean Faith Leaders
Informed and morally courageous four Catholic priests authored a document “Where is Your Brother” that gained a groundswell of support from the Eritrean opposition and the public at large in 2014. “Where is Your Brother” is a document that captured the unprecedented scale of violent repression and terror of the PFDJ regime on Eritrean citizens, and how as a consequence of it, the country is sliding into a deeper social and political crisis.
The document opened a new public and political discourse regarding the gross human rights abuses by the PFDJ, and helped to lay a groundwork for Eritrean people inside and outside not to capitulate but to stand up, defend their rights, and hasten the transition of power to the people and salvage their country. The manifesto also revealed that it is a matter of time before both the opposition and the public indignation reaches a critical mass inside the country.
In a similar vein, in September 2014, the clergy of the Union of the Eritrean Orthodox monasteries put out another document declaring excommunication of the notorious individuals who have been running the Orthodox Church establishment for the last decade or so. The underlying message of both documents is that the long and disastrous road that the PFDJ took the country for the last two decades is being challenged by the people that have an ecclesiastic power on faith, moral, cultural, and social authority in our society. These are the two most important documents that delegitimized the political power of PFDJ in 2014 and broke the culture of conformity and fear of our people that the PFDJ uses to perpetuate its misrule of the country.
Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR), Bologna, and Frankfurt Festivals
In May 2014, the EMDHR and its partners organized one of the most important workshops of the year that brought together Eritrean scholars, experts, political organizations, and civil society groups. Under the themeof “Strategic Thinking on Political and Socioeconomic Crises in Eritrea: Implications, Scenarios and Responses”, participants presented a wide array of empirical study papers and explored the current state of affairs of Eritrea under the PFDJ misrule: from the lack of constitution/rule of law to economic and human crisis, from the destruction of Eritrea’s social fabric to the migration of the most skilled and productive force and its far-reaching impact on the health, unity, and development of our country, and to how we should formulate a transition to democracy as well as forge a strategy of bringing all the forces of change together in the fight against the PFDJ regime, be it inside Eritrea or abroad. In the same spirit, 
the Bologna festival, which was held under “the theme of Eritrean Solutions for Eritrean Problems” and the Frankfurt festival, which both brought large number of Eritreans together came out with a strong voice in support of the EMDHR workshop declaration, including adapting the resolutions of Bologna 2013 and establishing a task force charged to work on a number of areas on how to form a united national movement, dialogue and reconciliation and others.
Regionalism that Knows no Bounds
The politics of regionalism was one of the ugliest developments in 2014 that caught the attention of many Eritreans. Certain groups and personalities have been busy promoting regional politics in 2014 by claiming that the PFDJ regime is suppressing and/or targeting their region more than other region (s). The fact is there are stacks of evidence that the PFDJ regime is no less cruel or repressive to other regions in Eritrea, be it Barka, Seraye or Senhit…etc.
For PFDJ, all Eritrean regions are the same; there is no one region different from the rest of regions when it comes to the state of repression. Again, although it is a well known that the PFDJ regime applies the same method of repression against all those who oppose its regime regardless of any color of region, Muslim or Christian, unfortunately the wretched political situation of Eritrea is one factor that is serving as a perfect field for all sorts of divisions and factionalisms, especially for those few willing to subscribe to it. But those sowing the seeds of regionalism know that there is no particular region in Eritrea that is exclusively mistreated, systematically discriminated, killed or persecuted more than the rest of Eritrean regions by the dictatorial regime of Issais.
Yet, those who subscribe to such politics under the pretext of saving our region or my region are simply perpetuating PFDJ’s tyrannical politics, which would help it to further strengthen and tighten its iron grip on all Eritrean people. It also suggests that those who signed on to the regionalism politics are unable to rally a united force against the PFDJ regime; the easy path they found is to follow a downright sub national politics, which they believe is easy to dupe few apolitical and disillusioned Eritreans. The brute fact is that by involving in regionalism, they are not helping their region, but the regime of PFDJ that is making Eritrea increasingly divisive, oppressive, and bloodstained country, which their region will continue to bear the brunt of it like any other region in Eritrea.
The irony of all is this: if our regionalists (regional entrepreneurs) are accusing PFDJ of being a regionalist, one would ask why are they mimicking it and carbon copying it (PFDJ)? In fact, the pattern of imitation or emulation is interesting because the regionalists see the PFDJ as a regime that is ruling Eritrea by siding with or representing one region, and yet the regionalists themselves are aspiring for power of their region by marginalizing other regions.
More importantly, the point is, you see, Issais’ regime has squandered the accumulated social and political capital of Eritrea’s revolution. Now, instead of reclaiming our revolution, we are handing PFDJ more ammunition to use - regionalism which will enable it to extend its life span. They are writing a wrong history. Eritrea does not need sub national or identity politics; what it needs is democracy, strong institutions, and constitutional system of governance that provides rule of law and equal treatment for all of its citizens. And this means that we have to avoid polarization of Eritrean society on basis of region, ethnic, or religion. If we continue the discourse of regionalism politics, at the end of the day it won’t be only democracy and freedom that will be at risk in Eritrea. In the long term, it means creating an embittered and polarized generation too blinded by hatred and intolerance of one another, and that won’t fix what ails the state of Eritrea. EPDP believes this is the lesson we need to take away for 2015.
Women of Extraordinary Resilience
In 2014, many Eritrean Diaspora women have done remarkable job in championing the rightof Eritrean refugees around the world, advocating for political asylum and protection of Eritrean rights as refugees on their host countries, campaigning against the human trafficking and organ harvesting in the Sinai desert, and echoing the plight of Eritrean refugees in the halls of UN and in the European governments.
Many to mention, but the most inspirational women who made great strides as human rights activists against the gross human rights violation by the dictatorial regime of Issais Afeworki are Elsa Chyrum (Human Rights Concern Eritrea), Dr. Alganesh Fessaha (NGO Ghandi foundation), Meron Estefanos (Journalist and Activist), Sister Azezet Habtezgi Kidane ( Combonian Missionary Sisters), Salwa Nour (Activist in the Gulf States), and Selam Kidane (Activist and ‘Freedom Friday’ campaigner). All of them individually or collectively have made a significant contribution to the struggle for democracy, human rights and freedom in Eritrea in 2014. Elsa Chyrum staged hunger strike in the Djiboutian embassy mission in Geneva in March 2014 against the detention of 267 Eritrean refugees in Djibouti. The hunger strike finally led to the release of the 267 Eritrean detainees in Djibouti. Meron Estefanos coauthored “the Human Trafficking Cycle: Sinai and Beyond” in March 2014, which captures the gruesome account of Eritrean refugees at the hands of human traffickers. All these Eritrean women brought the struggle of democracy close to home in a very resilient and remarkable way in 2014.
A Tireless Defender of Eritrean Refugees
Father Mussie Zerai, an Eritrean Catholic priest in Switzerland, is another devoted Eritrean who fought gallantly in 2014 and the years before in saving many Eritrean refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. Father Mussie established a satellite mobile phone to reach out many Eritrean refugees detained in the Libya and other North African countries. This fearless and crusader for justice uses his satellite mobile phone to alert coast guards on behalf refugees stranded in a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea. His active involvement in the saving many lives of refugees has earned him recognition as one of the most devoted and tireless defender of Eritrean refugees.
The State of Stagnation
Eritrean political organizations remained in a state of stagnation in 2014 regarding pulling their resources together and mapping a united strategic roadmap against the dictatorial regime of Issais Afeworki. However, there were some efforts seemingly towards unity, for example, as in the case of the ‘Consultation Forum’ that brought leaders of the opposition forces together and deliberated on a number of issues, ranging from the misunderstanding and mutual mistrust that exists between the opposition forces to the uncompromising political culture and embracing political polarization to a combination of other weaknesses and failures in the opposition. But no concrete, joint, and/or workable agreement was reached that can be characterized as a turning point over the status quo. Individual groups in the opposition have also attempted to engage in a bilateral discussion on how to work together, but this too did not translate into any meaningful development. It seems the opposition has been caught again in a vicious cycle in 2014, maintaining the status quo and unable to transcend beyond the root cause that is holding it back from moving forward – trust deficit.
Lampedusa and Beyond
Lampedusa spurred a serious debate among Eritrean Diaspora in 2013. And the impact was a renaissance of spirit and reawakening, which eventually led to the establishment of multiple grass root movements across the globe. At the beginning, all those movements captured the hope and enthusiasm of Eritreans towards grass root movements unseen in the last two decades. And they have done a number of remarkable public engagements, major protests, and forums aimed at PFDJ regime, including a wave of protests in the PFDJ’s Diaspora gatherings and events that sometimes led to clashes with PFDJ supporters.
But the enthusiasm and tenacity that started in 2013 did not continue with the same weight in 2014. Although still struggling and functioning at some level, the scattered nature of its existence appeared to be part of the problem in 2014, meaning the lack of regional and international leadership that would enable the grass root movements to operate on the same page. But the second and major obstacle to the grass root movements in 2014 was the interference of some political organizations whose efforts were focused on modeling the grass root movements’ ideas and practices on their own image. This means more polarizations and disagreements between the various grass root movements across the globe. And this is the obstacle that the grass root movements need to tackle worldwide, and march beyond Lampedusa.
The Man Behind the Most Important Book in 2014
Ambassador Andebrhan Woldegiorgis published a book that provokes, illuminates, and narrates how the sad state of affairs of Eritrea came into being that overtime not only bankrupted and paralyzed the hopes and dreams of nation building process in the country, but also how the hegemony and dictatorship of PFDJ regime has exposed the country to unprecedented level of social and political crisis. Grounded on the history and experiences of the liberation era as well as on the crisis that took place in post independence Eritrea, Ambassador Andebrhan discusses the entire existence of the state, how it has been delegitimized by not allowing Eritrean citizens to participate in the political system of the country, and provides a framework on how to understand the situation Eritrea is in, as well as how address it.
EPDP Strides & Pushes in 2014
EPDP continued its strides and pushes in 2014 on the subject of national dialogue and building consensus between the forces of change in the Eritrean opposition on the principle of establishing a broad based alliance/coalition. In this respect, one that stands out is the formation of “Consultation Forum” in 2014. Although, it opened some space for honest discussion on the critical failures and weaknesses of the opposition, the forum did not translate into any practical step or into challenging the fragmented state of affairs of the opposition. Thus, the forum did not set conditions for concrete implementation of a broad based alliance, a regressive pattern that the opposition could not overcome. And if the current polarization and disunity continues unchanged among the Eritrean opposition forces, it is incumbent upon us all to redefine our strategy as we cannot justify the current stalemate of the opposition.
Yet, EPDP has registered a degree of strength and success in many fronts sometimes alone and sometimes with leaders of the Eritrean civil society organizations. In this context, EPDP reached out a number of international agencies and institutions in 2014 with aim of seeking a valuable support to our struggle against the repressive regime of Issais Afeworki. What EPDP did in all those contacts and diplomatic reach outs is scaling up the Eritrean people’s struggle for democracy in the international opinion on one side, and seeking diplomatic recognition of the Eritrean opposition forces as a whole that has been largely absent on the other side. EPDP also worked closely with a number of Eritrean civil society organizations in 2014, namely the EMDHR, Medrek, Bologna Forum organized by youth, and Cdrie on a number of important international and national issues such as the participation in the workshop of South African Development Community Council of Nongovernmental Organizations (SADC-CNGO) and others. Although EPDP maintained good relationship with the Eritrean civil society organizations in the previous years, the relation was more reenergized and reshaped in 2014 as part of fostering a unified struggle.
EPDP also continued holding a number of public meetings, and interactions with the Eritrean Diaspora across the globe in 2014: advocating the importance of united struggle, ways of embracing the social, cultural, and political unity of Eritrean society, promoting nonviolent struggle, understanding the significance of reconciliation and peace, the short and long term objectives of the struggle against the PFDJ regime, and our position on Ethiopia and other neighbors...etc. In the course of all those engagements, EPDP received numerous inputs and suggestions that are crucial to our struggle against the PFDJ and beyond.
Those who Passed Away in 2014
Many from the generation of our national liberation movement era passed away in 2014. EPDP salute them, and honor them for their life time dedication and contribution to the cause of freedom and democracy for their country. They gave their entire life to make Eritrea the land of free and the land of heroes. Their passing means a great loss for the justice and peace loving Eritrean people. Among those who passed away in 2014 are Ahmed Nassir, former ELF Chairman; Dr. Beyene, former member of ELF Revolutionary Council, Dr. Tewolde Tesfamariam (Wodi Vacaro), and Omer Jabir. These nationals were instrumental in sparking the Eritrean Nation Liberation Movement at a time when Ethiopia and its foreign enablers were conspiring to abort it. 
2014 was also a year where EPDP suffered a big loss of some of its gallant members who contributed to building and consolidating the party. Among them was the most vibrant, committed and unrelenting fighter Asghedom Wedi Bashai in USA, Ms. Mebrat Beyene in the Sudan and Zekarias (James) in Grmany.
What is the Way Forward for 2015?
Many, but one is challenging the status quo, and that is how to break the vicious cycle of division and polarization amongst the Eritrean opposition forces. Two decades of efforts to establish unity among Eritrean opposition forces did not materialize. This is a deep crisis and we need a radical solution. It is EPDP’s stand and many others that our unity cannot take place in abstract. The unity we seek to achieve must take place in a concrete ground. What does this mean? We have a system of tyranny and exploitation that we all need to challenge and confront: this includes all social groups in Eritrea as well as religious groups, the youth, the women, the civil society, and the political groups…etc. In essence, the central dynamic theme that binds us all together should not be to exist as opposition but to end the power of PFDJ regime. This requires both rethinking and redefining of our fight that takes unity as a foundation for democracy, freedom, and nation building. We must link the struggle with the internal resistance, including building a strategic road map/direction, and having a leadership that can understand the scope and depth of Eritrea’s crisis and is capable of raising the voices of the Eritrean people that would enable us to take our fight against the PFDJ to the next level.
