EU navies entering Libyan waters to attack people-smugglers a step closer
Written by Martin Plaut |
by Martin Plaut |
This is something that has been on the cards for some time.
It is the latest attempt to shore up Europe's 'wall' against Africa, which Leonard Vincent and I wrote about earlier (see below).
Martin
Libya may allow EU ships to pursue people-smugglers in its waters
Source: The Guardian
UN-backed PM says foreign ships could be permitted to operate in Libyan waters alongside national military coastguard 
German navy sailors reach a migrants’ boat off the coast of Libya in March 2016. Photograph: Matthias Schrader/AP
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Wednesday 1 February 2017
Libya’s UN-backed prime minister, Fayez al-Serraj, has said Nato or EU ships could be permitted to operate in Libyan waters alongside the national military coastguard to slow the flow of people-smuggling across the Mediterranean.
The move came as a report claimed elements of the Libyan coastguard were complicit in the smuggling and said returning anyone caught on boats to coastal detention centres was risky since conditions there were horrendous.
Serraj’s comments after talks at Nato on Wednesday will be a boost to EU plans to move its anti-smuggling mission Operation Sophia into Libyan waters to help prevent migrants from reaching Europe. The EU is due to discuss a comprehensive plan for Libya at a special heads of state summit on Friday.
“If there is something to be carried out jointly between the Libyan navy and any other party interested in extending a hand to the Libyan navy, that would be possible,” Serraj said.
“Of course, we have to modernise our navy flotilla and enhance its capacities. Nato or any other friendly nation on a bilateral basis could extend a hand in this.”
Smugglers’ boats currently can only be turned back to Libya if they are stopped inside Libyan waters, but both Nato and the EU need Libyan government consent to operate inside its sovereign waters. This year tens of thousands of migrants will face the risk of drowning while the smugglers’ networks benefit from the political chaos in Libya.
Serraj, struggling to gain authority inside Libya, is under pressure not to be seen to be succumbing excessively to outsiders.
On Wednesday Italy pledged €200m (£170m) in funds to several African countries as part of its drive to reduce migration at source. The foreign minister, Angelino Alfano, said the fund – aimed at Niger, Libya and Tunisia – would help bolster the “fight against human trafficking and illegal migration”.
He said Europe was not trying to build a wall but helping countries to reduce the incentive to migrate.
A report by the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch thinktank, drawing on first-hand research, said migrants intercepted or rescued at sea by the Libyan coastguard were sent to detention centres “where they often spend months languishing with no legal recourse, subject to the whims of their jailers”.
It said some smugglers tortured migrants to secure the release of more money from their families, or forced them to work in order to continue their journey. “Moreover, migrants are reportedly sold to criminal groups if they cannot pay for their voyage across the Mediterranean: for €15,000 they were sold to groups, mostly Egyptians, who are involved in removing and selling organs. Finally, based on self-reporting by migrants, up to 40% of migrants are forced on to boats.”
The report added: “Particularly in the northwestern part of Libya, migration is accompanied with absurdly high levels of crime and violence, and migrants are subject to the whims of the group that controls the area they are in. The line between smuggling and trafficking runs thin here, as cases of kidnapping, torture, sexual violence and killings are widespread, and the situation in and around detention centres for immigration is horrific.”
Martin Plaut and Leonard Vincent
It may not be a physical barrier comparable to Donald Trump's wall to prevent Mexicans from reaching the USA, but it is nearly in place.
Europe is close to sealing the routes refugees and migrants take across the Mediterranean.
Consider the facts. These are the routes into southern Europe. (Map: Frontex Risk Analysis, Q2 2016)
https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-migration-2016.jpg?w=150&h=90 150w, https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-migration-2016.jpg?w=300&h=180 300w, https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-migration-2016.jpg?w=768&h=460 768w" sizes="(max-) 100vw, 859px" data-large-file="https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-migration-2016.jpg?w=560?w=859" data-image-descriptiondata-medium-file="https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-migration-2016.jpg?w=560?w=300" data-image-title="frontex-migration-2016" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}' data-comments-opened="1" data-orig-size="859,515" data-orig-file="https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-migration-2016.jpg?w=560" data-permalink="https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/europes-african-wall-now-almost-complete/frontex-migration-2016/" data-attachment-id="9762">
The graphic produced by the EU’s Frontier Agency is clear: the major route that Africans are taking is via Libya.
The map below, from the same source, underlines the point.
https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-illegal-entry.jpg?w=150&h=81 150w, https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-illegal-entry.jpg?w=300&h=163 300w, https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-illegal-entry.jpg?w=768&h=416 768w" sizes="(max-) 100vw, 880px" data-large-file="https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-illegal-entry.jpg?w=560?w=880" data-image-descriptiondata-medium-file="https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-illegal-entry.jpg?w=560?w=300" data-image-title="frontex-illegal-entry" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}' data-comments-opened="1" data-orig-size="880,477" data-orig-file="https://martinplaut.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/frontex-illegal-entry.jpg?w=560" data-permalink="https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/europes-african-wall-now-almost-complete/frontex-illegal-entry/" data-attachment-id="9761">
Two routes that Africans have used in the past have almost been sealed. There is next to no transit by sea from West Africa through the Canary Islands and only a limited number arriving in Spain.
The route through the Sinai and Israel has been closed.
The brutal treatment of Eritreans and Sudanese in the Sinai by mafia-style Bedouin families, who extracted ransoms with torture and rape, was certainly a deterrent. So too has been the increasing propensity of Egypt to deport Eritreans to their home country, despite the risks that they will be jailed and abused when they are returned. But this route was sealed in December 2013 when the Israeli authorities built an almost impregnable fence, blocking entry via the Sinai.
This has left Libya – and to a lesser extent Egypt – as the only viable routes for Africans to use. Both are becoming more difficult. Although the International Organisation for Migration calculates that roughly 17 men, women and children perishing every day making the crossing, or nearly one every hour, they have not been deterred.
Libya is critical to the success of the EU's strategy, as a recent European assessment explained: “Libya is of pivotal importance as the primary point of departure for the Central Mediterranean route.”
Libya: the final brick in the ‘wall’
The European Union has adopted new tactics to try to seal the central Mediterranean route.
The countries keenest to push this for this to take place are Germany and Italy, which took the bulk of the refugees that arrived in recent years. Germany received nearly 1.2 million asylum seekers over the past two years, while Italy received 335,000 arrivals over the course of 2015 and 2016.
Earlier this month Italy’s Interior Minister Marco Minniti was dispatched to Tripoli to broker an agreement on fighting irregular migration through the country with Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the UN-backed Government of National Accord.
Minniti and al-Sarraj agreed to reinforce cooperation on security, the fight against terrorism and human trafficking.
“There is a new impulse here — we are moving as pioneers,” Mario Giro, Italy’s deputy foreign minister, told the Financial Times. “But there is a lot of work to do, because Libya still doesn’t yet have the capacity to manage the flows, and the country is still divided.”
The deal has, apparently, hit a snag. The Libyan government is resisting Italy’s proposals, although their detailed objections have not been revealed.
Germany’s aid threat
While Italy’s attempting to strike a deal with Libya, Germany is issuing threats.
With Chancellor Angela Merkel facing elections in 2017 and keen to show she is no longer a ‘soft touch’ for refugees, a much harder line is now being taken with anyone seeking asylum in Germany.
Germany deported 25,000 migrants in 2016 and another 55,000 were persuaded to return home voluntarily.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière is pushing a plan that would make it easier to detain rejected asylum seekers considered a potential security threat, and to deport them from “repatriation centres” at airports.
Germany is underling its determination to cut numbers by threatening to end development aid to countries that refuse to take back rejected asylum seekers. “Those who do not cooperate sufficiently cannot hope to benefit from our development aid,” Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Der Spiegel.
Europe and Africa
The Italian proposals are very much in line with agreements the EU reached with African leaders during their summit in Malta, in late 2015.
The two sides signed a deal to halt the flight of refugees and migrants.
Europe offered training to “law enforcement and judicial authorities” in new methods of investigation and “assisting in setting up specialised anti-trafficking and smuggling police units”. The European police forces of Europol and the EU’s border force (Frontex) will assist African security police in countering the “production of forged and fraudulent documents”.
This meant co-operating with dictatorial regimes, like Sudan, which is ruled by Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
But President al-Bashir is now seen as a western friend, despite his notorious record. One of President Obama’s last acts in office has been to lift sanctions against Sudan.
What is clear from the Italian and German initiatives is that Europe is determined to do all it can to reduce, and finally halt, the flow of Africans through Libya – the only viable route left for most African migrants and refugees to reach Europe.
A legal route into Europe
While the informal and illegal routes are being sealed a tiny legitimate route is being opened. The Catholic Church, working through its aid arm, Caritas and the Community of Sant Egidio, has managed to negotiate an agreement with Italy for 500 refugees from the Horn of Africa to be allowed to come to Italy.
Oliviero Fortis, Head of the Immigration Department of Caritas, said: "We must, as far as possible, promote legal and secure entry solutions. Being able to enter Italy with a visa is an operation that works perfectly. Except at the political level, and that's the big problem! It is the Italian Church that will bear the costs, in the hope that this initiative will be a model for the acceptance of refugees that can be monitored and replicated by European institutions."
EU and Eritrea
Eritrea – among the most brutal dictatorships in Africa – remains one of the key sources of migration and refugees. Although Eritrea has fewer citizens than most other African states more Eritreans arrived illegally in Europe in early 2016 than from any other African country.
This comes at a time of unprecedented pressure on Eritrean refugees, as they make their way through Sudan and into Libya. The Sudanese government’s ‘Rapid Support Force’ – an autonomous special force headed by a notorious Janjaweed commander – has been used to round up refugees, to deport them back to Eritrea.
The EU is floundering around attempting to halt this exodus. Recently it offered €200 million in aid to Eritrean ‘projects’, but has few means of monitoring just how it will be spent. Eritrea is a one-party state, in which the ruling PFDJ has never held a congress.
The country is ruled by a narrow clique surrounding President Isaias Afwerki, which uses National Service conscripts on the farms and factories that they control.
While the EU has outlined a range of programmes it is willing to support, given the monopoly power exercised by the sole party and army commanders over the entire Eritrean society, it has next to no means of ensuring that the funds do not ultimately end up reinforcing this autocracy.
Conclusion
If the EU initiatives fail (and it is highly likely that they will) they will only serve to strengthen the Eritrean and Sudanese regimes. At the same time attempting to block Libya and Egypt as the only remaining means of reaching European soil is likely to force Eritrean and Sudanese citizens to take even longer and more dangerous journeys to reach safety.
The EU is working hard to strengthen its ties with Libya so that it can go into Libyan waters and destroy the boats and other infrastructure used to smuggle Africans into Europe.
In a report to EU’s 28 member states, Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, who heads the European Union Naval Force Mediterranean (EU NAVFOR MED) explained that it is vital that European navies operated inside Libyan territorial waters to halt trafficking. But this cannot happen at present. “It is clear that the legal and political pre-conditions have not been met,” said Admiral Credendino, indicating that greater cooperation with the Libyan authorities was needed.
The tiny legal route offered by Italy is unlikely to meet the needs of Africans desperate to seek refuge in Europe. Instead, the increasing restrictions are likely to lead to increased deaths and despair as destitute African youths take ever-more risky routes out of Africa – and further destabilisation of an already fragile part of the world.
This is the likely outcome of Europe’s African ‘wall’.
It will neither end the flow of refugees fleeing suffocating repression, nor will it seal the borders of Europe. Thousands of people fleeing for their lives will be forced away from Europe (and away from European public opinion). Instead it will place the burden of this crisis on brutal and often racist regimes along the fugitives' routes.
And all this for what?
Refusing to accommodate, for a reasonable period of time, a few thousand young women and men who are only too eager to learn, live and contribute to European societies, until eventually circumstances change and they can return home with gratitude towards their European hosts.
It's not only a shame; it is a political mistake of historic proportions.
ስውእ ኢንጂኔር ተስፋሁነይ ተኽለ ተስፋማርያም ብ16 ጥሪ 2017 ልክዕ ሰዓት 6፡30 ናይ ምሸት ኣብ ሕክምና ክእለ ድሕሪ ምጽናሕ ካብ’ዛ ዓለም ብሞት ተፈልዩ። በዚ ኣጋጣሚ’ዚ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ንስውእ መንግስተ ሰማይ የዋርሶ፡ ንስድራኡ፡ ቤተ-ሰቡን መቓልስቱን ድማ ጽንዓት ይሃቦም፡ ጠሉ ድማ የውርደሎም እናበለ ናይ ወሪድኩም ዘሎ መሪር ሓዘን ተኻፋላይ ምዃኑ ይገልጽ።
ሓጺር ታሪኽ ስውእ ኢንጂነር ተስፋሁነት ተኽለ ተስፋማርያም
ስውእ ተስፋሁነይ፡ ካብ ኣቦኡ ተኽለ ተስፋማርያም ሃብተጋብር፡ ካብ ኣዲኡ ሰማእቱ ጓንጕል ሓጐስ ብ20 መጋቢት 1943፡ ኣብ ዓዲ ዓጓ፡ ኣውራጃ ሰራየ ተወሊዱ። ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ሳንጆርጆ (መንደፈራ)፡ ኣብ ቀዳማዊ ሃይለስላሰ ካልኣይ ደረጃ ቤት ትምህርቲ (ኣስመራ)፡ ኣብ ትካል ተለኮሚኒከሽን (ኣዲስ ኣበባ) ድማ ተማሂሩ።
ስውእ ተስፋሁነይ ተኽለ ፡ ካብ ካልኣይ መፋርቕ ናይ ስሳታት ኣትሒዙ፡ ኣብ ውሽጢ ከተማታት ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ብፍላይ ድማ ኣብ ኣስመራ ኣብ ዝነበረ ምስጢራዊ ስርርዓትን ስርሒታትን ተሓኤ ብተወፋይነት እተቓለሰን ብ1967 ኣብ ማእሰርቲ ኢትዮጵያ ኣትዩ ብዙሕ ስቅያት ዘሕለፈን ገዲም ተጋዳላይ ኢዩ ነይሩ። ካብ 1975 ክሳብ 1981 ኣብ ተሓኤ ተሰሊፉ፡ ኣብ ክፍሊ ፍርድን ወኪል ቀይሕ መስቀልን ወርሕን ኤርትራ ኰይኑ ድማ ኣብ ፖርትሱዳን ተመዲቡ ተቓሊሱ።
ተሓኤ ካብ ሜዳ ምስ ወጸት፡ ንኣመሪካ ተሰዲዱ። ኣብ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ኣመሪካ ትምህርቱ ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ኮለጃት ከተማ ቺካጎ ቀጺሉ። ካብ ትካል ተክኖሎጂ ናይ ኢሊኖይ (Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) ኣብ ናይ ኤለክትሪክን ኮምፕዩተር ኢንጅነሪንግ ብናይ ባችሎር ዲግሪ ተመሪቑ። ኣብ 1990 ካብ ቺካጎ ናብ ክሊቭላንድ ብምቕያር፡ ብማስተርስ ዲግሪ ተመሪቑ። ኣብ ናይ ኣመሪካ ናይ ጠፈር ምርምር ትካል (National Aeronautics and Space Administration/ NASA) ን24 ዓመታት ሰሪሑ።
ኣብ ዝሓለፈ 27ን 28ን ጥሪ 2017 መራሒ ህግደፍ ምስታ ኣብ ኤርትራ ብሒታ ዘላ ቲቪ-ኤረ ብድምር ናይ 210 ደቓይቕ ቃለ መጠይቕ ኣካይዱ። እዚ ቃለመጠይቕ ንነዊሕ ግዜ መጸዋዕታን ምቅርራብን ክግበረሉ ዝጸነሐ ነይሩ። ያኢ ኣብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ሕቶታት ተመሊሉስ ካብ ወጻኢ ሕቶታት ክኣቱ መጸዋዕታ ክግበር እውን ተዓዚብና። ብዙሓት ከኣ ገለን ብጉርሒ ገለን ከኣ ብገርሂ ሕቶታት ዝጸፍጸፉ ነይሮም። ካብቲ ዘቕረብዎ ሕቶታት ክንደይ ተመሊስሎም ድማ ባዕላቶም ዝጸባጸብዎ እዩ።
ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ መመሪጹ ናይ “እዝን እትን ጥራይ ሕተቱኒ” ድራማ ይሰርሕ ከም ዝነበረ ካብቲ ክሓትዎ እንከለዉ “ኣብቲ ዳሕራዋይ ሕቶ ክንመጾ ኢና” ዝብሎ ዝነበረ ምርዳእ ይከኣል። እቲ እቶም ጋዜጠኛታት እንዳተሸቑረሩን ቀልባዕባዕ እንዳበሉን ዘልዕልዎ ዝነበሩ ዝርካቡ ሕቶታት ልሙድን ሰማዕትን ኣንበብትን ዘደንዘዘ ነይሩ። ኣብ ልምዓት፡ ሓይሊ አለክትሪ፡ ማይ፡ ትሕተ-ቅርጻን ኣባይትን፡ ወሰኽ ደሞዝ ሰራሕተኛታት፡ ጉዳይ ስደት፡ ምስልጣን ሓይሊ ሰብ ዘተኮሩ ነይሮም። ኢሳይያስ ኣብቲ መልሱ ኣብዞም ዝተላዕሉ ጉዳያት ኣዝዩ ከቢድ ጸገምን ሕጽረትን ከም ዘሎ መረጋገጺ ይህብ ነይሩ። ንገሊኦም ዛዕባታትስ ወረ በቲ ድኹም ደረጃ’ውን ኣለዉ ክበሃሉ ከምዘይክእሉ እዩ ዝገልጾም ነይሩ። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እቶም ኢሳይያስ ኣለዉ ዝብሎም ዝነበረ ጸገማት ከም ዘለዉ መረጋገጺ ኣይደልየሎምን እዩ። ምስቶም ጸገማት ይነብር ስለዘሎ። እቲ “መራሒ ሃገር” ካብ ተባህለ ካብኡ ዝድለ ዝነበረ ካብዞም ጸገማት እቲ መዋጸኦ እንታይ ምዃኑ ምሕባርን ምእማትን ነይሩ። ኢሳይያስ ግና ምናልባት ግዲ “ ዝሰኣነት ኣደ ካብ እምኒ ትጸንዕ” ኮንዎስ እዚ እዩ ኢልካ ዝድህሰስ መልሲ ኣይነበሮን።
ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ዓመት ኣብ ሳዋ ብውሑዱ 10 ሺሕ ክኢላ ዓቕሚ ሰብ ከም ዘብቅዕ ይገልጽ ነይሩ። ጌና እውን ተወሳኺ ዓቕሚ ሰብ ከም ዘድልዮ መዲሩ። “ተወሳኺ ሓይሊ ሰብ ዘድሊ ዘሎ እቲ ዝቐደመ ስራሕ ሒዙስ ተወሳኺ ዓቕሚ ስለ ዘድልየ ድዩ?” ኢሉ ዝሓትት ንስምዒት ህዝቢ ዝውክል ጋዜጠኛ እንተዝርከብ መልሱ እንታይኮን መኾነ? እቲ ምኽንያት ንጹር እዩ ኢሳይያስ ዝጸባጸብ ዘሎ ኣብ ወረቐት ካብ ዝሰፈረ ዝርዝር ናይቶም ናብ ሳዋ ዝወረዱ መንእሰያት እዩ። ብተግባር ግና ሎሚ ንሳቶም ኣበይ ኣለዉ ግና ፈላጢኡ እዩ ዝፈልጦ። ገለን ኣብ መደበራት ስደተኛታት፡ ገለን ኣብ ስደት ዓዲ ጓና ዝሳቐዩ ዘለዉ እዮም። ከምኡ እውን ኣብ ምድረ-በዳታትን ባሕርታትን ዝሃለቑ። ነዚ ዘብቀዖም ከኣ ከምቲ ንሱ ኢሳይያስ ንግዳማውያን ሓይልታት ከላግበሎም ዝፍትኖ ዘይኮነስ፡ እቲ ቀንዲ ጠንቂ ግናይ ምምሕዳሩ እዩ። ከምቲ “ንስኻ ተዘይትደፍኣኒ መን መጽደፈኒ” ዝበሃል።
ሎሚ ኤርትራዊ መንእሰይ ኣብ ዓድን ወጻእን ዘሕልፎ ዘሎ ከርፋሕ ህይወት ኣይኮነንዶ ንሕና ዓለም ዝፈልጦ እዩ። ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ካብቶም ኣይካብ ትምህርቲ፡ ኣይካብ ሃብትን ሓዳርን ኣጉል ዝተረፉ መንእሰያት ዓለም ቅድሚ ዝስርዑ ምዃኖም ፍሉጥ እዩ። ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ግና ነዚ ባዕሉ ዝዛረብ ሓቂ ጓስዩ “ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘለዉ ስራሕ ዘይፈትዉ። ብናይ ካልኦት ረሃጽ ብዝተረኽበ ገንዘብ ዝሕሽሹ መንእሰያት ኣለዉ” ዝብል ሃየንታ ክዛረብ ሰሚዕና። “ኣብ ኤርትራ ስራሕ እንዳሃለወ ክሰርሕ ዝደሊ መንእሰይ የለን” ክብል እንከሎስ ሰማይ ዝሃገሩ ሰሚዑ ንኣበሃህላይ ዝኣምን ሰብ ክረክብየ ማለቱ ደኾን ይኸውን።
እቶም ሰለስተ ኩነታት ዝሓርበቶም “ክቡር ፕረሲደንት” መውጽእ ኣፎም ዝገበሩ ጋዜጠኛታት፡ ሞያዊ ሪም ኮይንዎም እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ እቲ ዘቕርብዎ ሕቶታት ከም ዘይምለስ ከም ዝዓገቡ፡ ካብቲ ኩነታቶም ምርዳእ ይከኣል ነይሩ። ካብ ከይተላዕለ ዝተርፍ ተላዒሉስ ተዘይተመለሰ ይሓይሽ ብዝብል እዩ ዝመስል ፖለቲካዊ ሕቶታት እውን ወስ ኣቢሎም ነይሮም። ሓደ ካብኡ ምንዳፍ ሓድሽ ቅዋም ዝምልከት ነይሩ። እቲ ኣብ ኢዱ ዋላ ሓንቲ ዘይነበሮ መላሲ፡ ኣቕጣጫ ንምቕያር ብዝመስል መልክዑ ነቲ ቅዋም “ስርዓተ-መንግስቲ” ዝብል ሓድሽ ስም ኣጠሚቕዎ። ከምዚ ዝገብር ዘሎ፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣስማት ቅዋም ምቅይያር ዘይኮነስ ዝሰርሕ ቅዋም ይጽበ ከም ዘሎ ጠፊእዎ ኣይኮነን። ብዝኾነ እቲ ነደፍቱ፡ ኣገባባት ኣጸዳድቑኡን ክኽምታእ ዝተታሕዘሉ ቆጸራ ዘይፍለጥን ቅዋም ኣበይ በጺሑ ምስ ተባህል ከም ዓሚ ቀሪብና ኢና ዝብል ካልእ መጠበሪ ቆጸራ እዩ ሂብሉ ሓሊፉ።
እዚ ብኣምለኽቱ ስሙ ንዘይምልዓል “እቲ ሰብኣይ” ዝበሃል መላኺ፡ ከምስል’ኳ “እቲ ወሳኒ ኣተሓሕዛ ውሽጣዊ ጉዳይና እዩ” ዝብል እንተነበረ፡ እቲ ዝበዘሐ ዝተዛረበሉ ግና ቀዳምነቱ ዘይኮኑ ጉዳያት እዩ። እቶም ጋዜጠኛታት ነቲ ሕቶታት ቅድም ዘቤታዊ ደሓር ድማ ዞባውን ዓለማውን ኢሎም ምስረዖም ንቡር ይሃቦም ዝበሃል ኮይኑ፡ ንሱ ዝህቦ ዝነበረ መልሲ ግና ምስኡ ደቂ ሓደ ዜጋ ብምዃንካ ጥራይ ዘሕፍርን ዘሸቑርርን እዩ። ናቱ ኣበር ኣቐሚጡ ካብ ክሊንተን ክሳብ ኤንገላ መርክል፡ ካብ ኣሜሪካ ክሳብ ኣፍሪቃ ክጸርፍን ክዘልፍን ቀንዩ። ኣብ ገዝኡ ዘሎ ጎዱፍ ዘየጽረየስ ናይ ዞባን ዓለምን ፖለቲካዊ ኣሰላልፋ ክምህር ምፍታኑ ከኣ ብሓጺሩ ዘተዓዛዝብ’ዩ። ዞባውን ዓለማውን ጉዳያት ስለ ዝጸልወካ ብዛዕባኡ ምዝራብ ነውሪ ኣይኮነን። ናትካ ዕዮ ገዛ ከይትግበርካ፡ ብናይ ካልኦት ምውርዛይ ግና ኣብ ትዕዝብቲ ዘውድቕ እምበር ዝህቦ ፋይዳ የብሉን።
ድሕሪ ከምዚ ዓይነት ኩነታት ነቲ ቃለመጠይቕ ኣብ ዝምልከት ምዝራብ ዝተለምደ እዩ። ሰሚዕካዶ ኣይሰማዕካን? ካብቲ ዘረብኡ እንታይ ሓድሽ ነገር ረኺብካ? ካብዚ ተበጊስካ ኣብ መጻኢ እንታይ ሓድሽ ለውጢ ትጽበ? ካብቶም ልሙዳት ሕቶታት እዩ። ዝምልከቶም ሰባት ድማ ከከም ስምዒቶም ይምልሱ። እንታይ ሓድሽ ከምጽ ኢሉ ኢለ ኣይሰማዕኩዎን። ቁሩብ ክሰምዖ ጀሚረ ከምቲ ልሙድ ምህውታት ምስ ኮነኒ ገዲፈዮ። ምስማዕስ ብምሉእ ሰሚዐዮ፡ እንተኾነ “ነዚ ክትግዕታዶ ትርህጻ” ካብ ምባል ሓሊፍካ ዝጭበጥ ትሕዝቶ ኣይረኸብኩሉን፡ ዝብሉ እውን ብዙሓት እዮም። ኣነ ድማ ምስ እዞም ዳሕረዎት ዝበልዎ እየ ዝሰማማዕ።
ራዲዮ ድምጺ ሓርነት 28/01/2017 إذاعة صوت الحرية
Written by Radio Voice of Liberty Sweden
Harnnet Tigrinia Magazine Issue 53 Dec 16-Jan 17
Written by EPDP Information OfficeHarnnet Tigrinia Magazine Issue 53 Dec 16-Jan 17
Written by EPDP Information Office
ግርጭት ኣብ መዓልታዊ ስራሓትና ይኹን ምስ ደቂ ሰባት ኣብ እንገብሮ ርክባት ዘጋጥም እዩ። እቲ ግርጭት ብንእሽቶ ይኹን ብዓቢ ጉዳይ ዝለዓል እኳ ይኹን እምበር፡ ኣብ ዘይዕግበትን፡ ንናይ ካልኦት ጸገማት ዘይምርዳእን፥ ኣነ ጥራሕ እየ ነቲ ጉዳይ ዝርደኦ ዝብል ዝተሓላለኸ ድሌታት ምስ ዝውሰኾ ናብ ግርጭት የእትወካ። ምኽንያቱ ኣብ ክብርታት፡ ድሌታትን፡ ረብሓታትን ዝተመርኮሰ፥ ምስ ካልኦት ክመሳሰል ዘይክእል ዝፍጠር ፍልልያት እዩ። ብፍላይ ድማ ኣብ ሃይማኖት፡ ፖለቲካ፡ ወይ እውን ካልእ ዘሎካ እምነታት ዝፈጥሮ ፍልልያት፥ ተጻዋርነት እንተዘየልዩ ኣብ ምስሕሓብ ክእቶ ናይ ግድን ኢዩ። ግርጭት ካብ ስግኣትን፡ ቁጠዐን ዝነቕለሉ ኣጋጣሚታት’ውን ኣሎ።
ግርጭት ብግቡእ ተዘይተታሒዙ ንጥዑይ ዝምድናታት ናብ ጽልእን ተጻባእነትን ክልውጥ ተኽእሎ ኣለዎ። ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት እቲ ዝጸንሐ ሰላም፡ ምትእምማንን ስምምዕን ይፈኮስ ወይ ይልሕልሕን እሞ ነቲ ዝነበረ ጥዑይ ዝምድና ይዘርጎ። ነፍሲ ወከፍ ኣብ ግርጭት ዝኣተው ኣካል ከመይ ይዋስኡ ከኣ ነናቶም ዝተፈላለዩ ጠመተን ተረድኦን ይውንኑ’ሞ ኣብ ክረዳድእሉ ዘይክእሉ ደረጃ የብጽሖም። ስለዚ ግርጭት ንኹሉ ሸነኽ ዘዕግብ ስምምዕ ክብጻሕ ኣብ ዘይከኣለሉ ወይ እውን ክልቲኡ ተሰሓሓቢ ወገናት ነቲ ግርጭት ኣብ ክንዲ ናይ ተዓዋቲ-ተዓዋቲ ናይ ተዓዋቲ-ተሰዓሪ ፍታሕ ምስ ዝጽበዩ ናብ ተሪር ጐነጽ የድህብ።
እቲ ዘጓንፍ ግርጭት ብሃናጺ ኣገባብ ፍታሕ ክርከብ እንተኾይኑ፥ ክልቲኡ ዝገራጮ ኣካላት ንሓባራዊ ረብሓ ቀዳምነት ምስ ዝህብ ምትእምማን ይፈጥር፡ ምሕዝነት ይድልድል፡ ቀጻሊ ርክባትን ሓባራዊ ድሌታትን ይወሃሃድ። ምስ እዚ እውን ኩሉ ሸነኽ ተዓዋቲ -ተዓዋቲ ናብ ዝብል ሓሳብ ይዝንብልን፡ ሕድገታት ይቕበልን። ብኣንጻሩ ካብ ጸቢብ ኣተሓሳስባን፡ ናይ ውልቂ ረብሓን፡ ብምንቃል ዝግበር ናይ ግርጭት ኣፈታትሓ ኣሉታዊ ውጽኢት ጥራሕ ዘይኮነስ እቲ ዝጻረሮ ሸነኽ ክሰዓር ወይ ክዓኑ ብዝብል፡ ኣብ ውልቀ መጥቃዕትን ጽልእን ገጹ የዘንብል። እቲ ፍታሕ ከኣ በቲ ንሱ ዝደልዮ ጥራሕ እምበር ናይ ሓባር መልክዕ ከትሕዞ ኣይህቅንን። ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ኣብ ግርጭት ወይ ኣብ ፍልልያት ዝኣተዉ ወገናት ነቲ ግድል ሓባራዊ ግድል ምዃኑን ኣብ ምፍትሑ ከኣ ሓባራዊ ረብሓ ምህላዉ እንተዘይኣሚኖም እቲ ግርጭት ብድሌት ሓደ ሸነኽ ጥራሕ ክፍታሕ ኣይክእልን እዩ።
በዚ ኣብ ላዕሊ ተጠቒሱ ዘሎ ምኽንያታት እምበኣር፥ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ኣብ ግርጭት ዝኣተወ ወገን፡ ናይ ጠቕምን ሓሳብን ፍልልያት ስለ ዝህልዎ ግርጭት መወዳእታ የብሉን። ንፍልልያትን ግርጭታትን በቲ እወንታዊ ሸነኹን ኣገባቡን ከመይ ይምእከልን፡ ንኹሉ ብዘርብሕ እወንታዊ ለውጢ ከምጽእ ዝኽእል ተጸዋዊርካን ተኸኣኢልካን ፍታሕ ንምንዳይ ክገትኣና የብሉን። ናብዚ ንምብጻሕ ግን ብናትካ ወይ ብጉዳይካ ጥራሕ ኣብ ክንዲ ምሕሳብን፥ ኣብ ህልውን ግዚያውን ጥርይ ምጥማት፡ ኣብ መጻኢ እንታይ ክፍጠር ምዃኑ ምግንዛብ የድሊ።
ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ መዳይ ዘጋጥም ግርጭት ንምእላይ ህዝቢ ጉዳዩ ስለዝኾነ ክነቕሓሉን ክዋሳኣሉን ይግባእ። እዚ ከኣ ሰልፍታት፥ ስቪላዊ ማሕበራትን፥ መራኸቢ ብዙሃንን ናተይ ኢሉ ብጥብቂ ከጽንዖምን ክከታተሎምን ሓላፍነቱ ምዃኑ ክኣምን ኣለዎ። ምኽንያቱ እቲ ቀንዲ ፍልልያትን ክሳብ ኣብ ግርጭት ዘእቱ ምፍሕፋሓትን ካብዞም ዝተጠቕሱ ሰለስተ ትካላት ዝንቅል ዘይምርድዳእ እዩ። ፖለቲካዊ ሰልፍታት ምስ ስቪላዊ ማሕበራት ክወዳደራ እንተኾይነን እዚ እቲ ቀንዲ ግርጭት ዝለዓለሉ’ዩ። መራኸቢ ብዙሃን ነቲ ጭቡጥ ዝኾነ ኩነታት ናብ ህዝቢ ከቃልሖ እንተዘይበቒዑ ፍሕፍሕ ኣብ መንጎ ሰለስቲኡ ክርከብ ናይ ግድን እዩ። እዚ ከምዚ ዝኣመሰለ ሽግራት ወይ ፍልልያት ክፍታሕ እንተኾይኑ ህዝቢ እዩ ቅኑዕ ፍርዲ ክህብ ዝግበኦ። ነዚ ንክበቅዕ ከኣ ካብ ኣድልዎን ሻርነትን ድሑር ዝምባሌታትን ስምዒታትን ናጻ ክኸውን ይግባእ።
ልክዕ ኢዩ ሎሚ ኣብ ኤርትራ ብሰንኪ ጨቋኒ ስርዓት ሃገርና ጠንጢንና ናብ ስደት ክነምርሕ ንግደድ ምህላውና ዘይከሓድ ሓቂ እዩ። እቲ ናብ ስደት ገጹ ዘምርሕ መንእሰይ ንድሕሪት ተመሊሱ በጃ ሃገሩን ህዝቡን ክስለፍ ይትረፍ፡ ነቲ መሰሉ ዝገፈፎ ስርዓት ኣብ ምግጣም እጃሙ ካብ ምብርካት ዛሕቲሉ ኣሎ። ነዚ ስንኩፍ ጎኑ ንምሽፋን ከኣ ኣብቶም ቅድሚኡ ተቓልሶም ሃገር ዘውሓሱ መዓት የውርድ። እዚ ንገዛእ ርእሱ ፍታሕ ዘድልዮ ግርጭት’ዚ ኣብ መንጎ ገዲምን ሓዲሽን ዝፍጠር ዘይምርድዳእ፥ ስልጣን እቲ ጨቋኒ ስርዓት ክናዋሕ ናይ ግድን እዩ። መንአሰይ መሰሉ ስለዝተገፈ ኣብ ሃገሩ ቅሳነት ረኺቡ ብሰላምን ናጻን ክነብር ኣይከኣለን። ንከምዚ ዝዓይነቱ ስርዓት ንመሰሉ ክብል ኣብ ውሽጢ ኮይኑ ዝቃለሰሉ ዕድል ምስ ሰኣነ ናብ ደገ ገጹ ጠሚቱ፡ ኣብ ደገ ምስ ወጸ ከኣ፡ እዞም ዓበይቲ ኣይሰርሑን፥ ውድባት ኣይረብሓን እናበለ ተስፋ ዘቑርጽ ጭረሖታት ብምጭራሕ እቲ ስልጣን ጨቢጡ ዘሎ ስርዓት ብኮራርምቱ ክስሕቕ ዕድል ረኺቡ ኣሎ።
እቲ ዘጋጥም ዘሎ ግርጭትን ምስሕሓብን ናይ ሓደ ክፍሊ ሕብረተሰብ፡ ውልቀሰብ ወይ እውን ናይ መንፈሳዊ ትካል ኣይኮነን። እንታይ ደኣ ናይታ ሃገር ብመላኣ ሽግር እዩ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ምንቅስቓስ ይኹን ውደባ ተዓፊኑ ህዝቢ ከምድላዩ ከይዛረብን ከይቃወምን መስሉ ተገፊፉ ስለ ዘሎ፡ እቲ ግርጭት ናይ መላእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እምበር ናይ ውሱናት ከምዘይኮነ ርዱእ እዩ። ነዚ ግርጭታትን ፍልልያትን ናይ ሓባርና ሽግር ምዃኑ ምእማን ከም ቅድመ-ኩነት ክሰፍር ዝግበኦ እዩ። ነዚ ዘብቅዕ ነቲ ጸገም ካብ ሱር መሰረቱ ምሒዩ ቅኑዕ ፍታሕ ዘረክብ ሃገራዊ ዘተን ዕርቅን ክህልወና ምእንቲ፥ ካብ ባሓትን ኣግላልን ኣተሓሳስባ ወጺኣና፥ ይምልከተኒ እዩ ንዝብል ኩሉ ወዲ ሃገር ዝሳተፈሉ፡ ካብ ናተይ ጥራሕ እዩ ቅኑዕ፥ ናብዚ እተዉ ወይ ተጽንበሩ ወይ ንዓይ ስምዑ ዝዓይነቱ መላኺ ቋንቋ ናጻ ኮይኑ ዋናታትን ሰብ ብርኪ ናይቲ ውጽኢትን ክንክወን ዝኽእል ዘተን እንካን ሃባን ምፍጣር መሰረታዊ መፍትሒ ናይ ሽግራትና እዩ።
Refugee pushes Canada to help asylum seekers in Israel
Written by Jillian D'Amours
TORONTO, Canada –“No more prison! We are refugees!” the crowd chanted outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem this week, as more than 1,000 African asylum seekers rallied to demand that their asylum requests be fairly heard.
The refugees, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, have been fighting for years for Israel to ease its harsh restrictions on their daily lives and put an end to indefinite detention and threats of deportation.
“You, the justices of the High Court, are the only ones who have the authority to save Israel from committing the injustice of deporting vulnerable asylum seekers in violation of all international agreements,” March for Freedom, the group that organised the protest this week, said in a statement,according to the Jerusalem Post.
“Our fate is completely in your hands,” the group said.
The protest comes only a few weeks after an Eritrean refugee, who is now living thousands of kilometres away in Canada, began working once more to expose the harsh treatment African asylum seekers are subjected to in Israel.
Dawit Demoz left Israel last March after more than six years in Tel Aviv, where he became a leading activist in the struggle to protect the rights of the country’s marginalised and maligned African asylum seekers.
Now a Canadian permanent resident, the 30-year-old is studying psychology at York University in Toronto and working part-time at a local grocery store.
But he can’t forget the tens of thousands of African asylum seekers still in Israel.
“I can’t just come here, and forget everything I left behind. It’s hard. I think about it all the time,” Demoz told Middle East Eye from a café in Toronto’s west end earlier this month.
“I cannot forget about the people that I left behind. The situation is getting worse there, there’s no hope that the situation in Israel will change. I said to myself, ‘I have to do something.’”
Human rights abuses
The dire living conditions of African asylum seekers in Israel have been widely reported since tens of thousands of mainly Eritrean and Sudanese refugees began making the journey to Israel in the last decade.
More than 40,000 asylum seekerscurrently live in Israel, the vast majority of whom are originally from Eritrea and Sudan. Many refugees reached Israel after a dangerous journey across the Egyptian Sinai desert.
In its history, Israel has recognised less than one percent of all asylum claims. Last year, it granted refugee statusfor the first timeto a Sudanese national, Mutasim Ali, a young activist and protest leader.
For years, the government gave asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan “temporary protection” in the form of short-term visas, which allowed the government to avoid actually processing their asylum claims.
Today, most African asylum seekers must renew temporary visas to remain in the country, and they live under a risk of being summoned to Holot, a detention facility built in the southern Negev desert.
Israel also signed a secretive deal to deport asylum seekers to third countries. The Israeli government says the agreementposes no risk to the deportees; a representative for the Israeli Justice Ministry said last year that at least 3,000 people had been sent to Rwanda and Uganda.
But it’s a policy that refugee advocates say puts the asylum seekers in danger and leaves them in a state of legal limbo. Some asylum seekers have reported being repatriated to their home countries after their deportation from Israel, where they may face imprisonment, torture and other abuses.
‘Expedited’ immigration process
Demoz, who recently organised a film screening and fundraiser in Toronto to benefit the Eritrean Women’s Centre in Tel Aviv, said he is encouraged by Canadians’ desire to help Eritreans.
The first goal of the event was to raise awareness, and provide information for how Eritreans can be sponsored to come to Canada, he said.
“I want you to know about the situation of Eritreans, but at the same time, there are things that you can do now. If you are ready or if you’re interested to help, you can sponsor Eritreans,” said Demoz, who was privately sponsored by a Canadian group.
Canada’s unique private sponsorship programme allows community groups (known as private sponsorship agreement holders) to sponsor individuals in need of resettlement. These groups are then financially responsible for the refugees’ first year in Canada.
"If you are ready or if you’re interested to help, you can sponsor Eritreans” - Dawit Demoz
Officially, the Refugee Protection Division within the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada is tasked with holding hearings andinvestigating claims for refugee protectionmade in the country.
It recently gave Eritreans access to an “expedited process” to make their claims. Syrian and Iraqi nationals are the only others to have access to this process in Canada.
This means that the IRB has recognised a “pattern of human rights abuses” and can grant refugee status to individuals from these countries more quickly, said Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees.
“An expedited process is good for them to try to move [through] obvious claims quickly,” Dench told Middle East Eye. “From the claimants’ point of view, it can [mean] you are saved what can be a very traumatising hearing process. It makes it an easier and friendlier and potentially a slightly faster process.”
Between January and August last year, 3,081 Eritreans received permanent residency in Canada: 2,773 were privately-sponsored refugees, while the remaining 308 people were sponsored by the government. That’s an increase from 2015, during which 1,648 Eritreans received Canadian permanent residency.
But Dench said Canada should also put a suspension of removals in place for Eritrean nationals, given the dire human rights situation in their home country.
In 2015, United Nations said the Eritrean government was responsible for “systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations” that may amount to crimes against humanity.
Eritreans are forced into indefinite conscription, where they are subjected to hard labour, torture, physical and sexual abuse. Dissent is stifled, imprisonment and enforced disappearances are widespread, and hundreds of thousands have fled the country.
“It is not law that rules Eritreans – but fear,”the UN reported.
Having a clear policy that blocks deportations to Eritrea would allow the refugees to get work permits and be in a better position than simply waiting for Ottawa to deport them.
“It’s well established that there are massive human rights abuses going on, and yet there is very little international coverage of it,” Dench said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why we don’t have a temporary suspension. If people have been paying more attention, it would have been in place long ago.”
Can Canada help Eritreans in Israel?
Individuals cannot apply directly for resettlement in Canada, but they must instead be referred, either by the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) or other organisation, or a private sponsor, explained Rémi Larivière, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
In the case of Eritreans living in Israel, Larivière said Canada has no specific agreement with Israel to resettle them, and the IRCC department has not requested referrals from UNHCR for refugees in Israel.
“However, Canada always remains open to considering urgent or vulnerable cases the UNHCR may identify as being in need of resettlement anywhere in the world,” Larivière said.
Since 2012, Canada has instituted caps on the number of new applications it will accept each year from sponsorship agreement holders.
"Canada always remains open to considering urgent or vulnerable cases" - Rémi Larivière
Last year, a cap of 350 new applications was put in place in Tel Aviv “due to a growing backlog of applications and concerns over long wait times,” he said.
This year, the cap on private sponsorship applications is set at 7,500 people globally, and Canada expects to resettle 40,000 refugees and protected persons.
Larivière added that Canada has committed to welcoming 4,000 government-sponsored Eritrean refugees currently in Sudan and Ethiopia before the end of 2018.
According to Dench, there are political considerations involved in how Canada approaches the possible resettlement of Eritreans currently living in Israel.
“If you resettle somebody out of their country, then you are indirectly acknowledging that the country is not providing appropriate protection and a durable solution to the refugees that are there, and a country like Israel might not take well to that,” she said.
Meanwhile, Demoz said that his new life in Canada has showed him just how unjust the situation in Israel really is.
“Canada is a country of immigrants and both the Canadian government and the Canadian public see this as an asset… They say diversity is our strength,” he said.
“In Israel, it’s completely different. [They say], ‘You’re not part of us; you’re a different colour, you’re a different ethnicity, you’re a different culture so you’re not part of us. We don’t want you.’
Source=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/refugee-pushes-canada-help-asylum-seekers-israel-821337504
Response EPDP Chairman to Mr. Mesfin Hagos
Written by EPDP Information Office
More...
African refugees protest detention, deportation in Israel
Written by Press TVHundreds of African refugees have held a protest rally in front of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) to voice their anger at the Tel Aviv regime’s policy of mass detention and deportation against them.
Israeli media reported that some 1,000 protesters, mostly Eritreans and Sudanese, gathered outside the legislature as well as the Supreme Court in Jerusalem al-Quds on Thursday.
Some were holding up banners reading, “Black lives matter,” and “Don’t force us to leave and look for refuge elsewhere.” Others were carrying pictures of the refugees, who had been deported.
More than 10,000 African asylum seekers, mainly Sudanese and Eritreans, have been held at the Holot detention facility in the Negev, with officials there allowed to keep them for a maximum of 12 months.
Tel Aviv has sought to strike deals with other African nations to take in some of the African refugees.
However, the organizers of the Thursday march say asylum seekers who have been deported to third-party African states face the risk of being repatriated back to their homeland.
In a letter addressed to the Supreme Court justices, the organizers of the march denounced the deportation policy as “coercive”, saying, “This policy is cruel, illegal and unacceptable. We should not be imprisoned or thrown to other countries in Africa that are not ours and don’t accept us.”
Less than one percent of the asylum seekers have had their pleas recognized by the Israeli authorities since the regime signed the UN Refugee Convention around six decades ago.
African asylum seekers, mostly from Eritrea, hold up placards showing migrants whom they say were killed after being deported from Israel during a protest in Jerusalem al-Quds, January 26, 2017. (Photo by AFP)
During the march, Tekle Negash, a 21-year-old Eritrean refugee who came alone to Israel in 2012, said he has been kept in Holot for the past three months under “horrid” conditions.
“It’s very crowded, and there is only one shower and one toilet for us,” he said. “The food there is very bad, and in the summer it’s very hot, and in the winter it’s very cold. We can leave for 12 hours, but we are not allowed to work.”
Media reports in the past years have suggested that a number of African states have reached secret agreements with Tel Aviv, in which they accept unwanted refugees in return for arms, military training and other aid from Israel.
Read more
Last July, Benjamin Netanyahu went on a four-nation tour of sub-Saharan Africa, the first such visit by an Israeli prime minister to the continent in almost 30 years.
During the visit, Netanyahu reportedly discussed the eviction of thousands of migrants and refugees from Sudan and Eritrea who entered Israel through Egypt.
In 2015, The Washington Post reported that Israel had spent more than USD 350 million to build a fence along its entire border with Egypt to block the entry of Africans.
There are some 45,000 African asylum seekers in Israel. Ninety-two percent of those are from Eritrea and Sudan.
Source=http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/01/27/507939/Israel-Knesset-Jerusalem-Eritrea-Sudan
Europe’s crackdown on African immigration is hitting vulnerable refugees
Written by Martin Plaut
Refugees from Eritrea and other countries wait to be rescued from the Mediterranean Sea, north of Libya. Photograph: Santi Palacios/AP
Documents cited in the Guardian on Monday showing that the UK governmentdownplayed the risk of human rights abuses in Eritreain an attempt to reduce asylum-seeker numbers are the latest indication of Britain’s determination to reduce African immigration. But this is a Europe-wide initiative, co-ordinated in Brussels.
WithFrench, German, Dutch and Italian elections later this year, there is intense pressure across the European Union to cut the flows of refugees and migrants across the Mediterranean. European plans to deal with the question have been veiled in secrecy, since they involve close cooperation with some of Africa’s most notorious dictatorships.
The German magazine Der Spiegel revealed a warning from the European commission that “under no circumstances” should the public learn what was said during talks held in March last year. A member of staff working forFederica Mogherini, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, warned of the risk to Europe’s reputation.
Plans are being formulated under arrangements agreed between theEU and African leaders in Maltain November 2015. These called for close cooperation between European security services and those of African states. Among those around the table at Valletta were representatives of repressive regimes in Sudan (whose president,Omar al-Bashir, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes) and Eritrea, which has been accused of crimes against humanity.
The Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Photograph: Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images
European civil servants are fully aware of just how dangerous these proposals are, and the document includes in a list of risks the possibility that resources and equipment could be diverted “for repressive aims”.
The Sudanese authorities have already begun what is technically termedrefoulementof Eritreans – the forcible return of asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution. In May last year hundreds were arrested in Khartoum and returned to Eritrea.
Eritrean human rights organisations suggest this process has continued.Refugeesin the Sudanese capital are fearful of leaving their homes, afraid they will be picked up by the authorities.
In Europe, these efforts are paying off: the number of people arriving from Africa is falling. The latest statistics fromFrontex– the EU-wide border agency – show that two routes have almost been sealed. There is next to no transit by sea from west Africa through the Canary Islands, and only a limited number of people arriving in Spain via the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. A total of 2,162 Africans made it to Spain in the second quarter of 2016.
The second route, via the Sinai and Israel, has effectively ended. A hi-tech system of fences and detection devices, constructed by Israel in December 2013, sealed the border.
This leaves available to Africans just the central Mediterranean route through Libya and, to a lesser extent, Egypt. It was used by 51,450 people in the second quarter of 2016. But the EU is now attempting to cut this final route intoEurope. Earlier this month Italy’s interior minister, Marco Minniti, was dispatched to Tripoli to broker an agreement with Fayez al-Sarraj, head of Libya’s UN-backed government of national accord, on fighting irregular migration through the country.
Minniti and Sarraj agreed to reinforce cooperation on security, the fight against terrorism and human trafficking. “There is a new impulse here — we are moving as pioneers,” Mario Giro, Italy’s deputy foreign minister, told the Financial Times. “But there is a lot of work to do, becauseLibyastill doesn’t yet have the capacity to manage the flows, and the country is still divided.”
Such initiatives are developing rapidly, with civil servants using aid and security co-operation to crack down on this African exodus. And while we can all recognise the domestic, political pressures that EU governments face, and which are leading them to seek to halt the flow of migrants across their borders, we must also recognise that those affected are some of the most vulnerable people from some of the most repressive countries in Africa. There must be a legal route for refugees to escape persecution.
ጋዜጣዊ መግለጺ መሃዘ/ሰደህኤ
ኤርትራዊ ልኡኽ ተሓላቒ ደሞክራሲ ብ23ን 24ን ጥሪ 2017 ኣብ ጀነቫ ምስ ላዕለዎት ሓለፍቲ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽነር ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰልን፡ ላዕልዋይ ኮሚሽነር ጉዳይ ስደተኛታትን ተራኺቡ። እቲ ልኡኽ ኣንበሳድር ዓንደብርሃን ወልደጊዮርጊስ ኣባል ቦርድ መድረኽ ንሃገራዊ ዘተን ኤሪ- መድረኽን ኣቶ ወልደየሱስ ዓማር ሓላፊ ቤት ጽሕፈት ወጻኢ ዝምድናታት ሰደህኤን ዝርከብዎ እዩ።
ኣብዚ ዝተኻየደ ኣገዳሲ ርክብ ዝተላዕሉ ዛዕባታት፡ ኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኤርትራውያን፡ ኤርትራውያን ሃገሮም ክለቁ ዝድርኹ ዘለዉ ረቛሒታት፡ መንእሰያት ኤርትራ ሃገሮም ራሕሪሖም ናብ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ዝውሕዝሉ ዘለዉ ጠንቅታት፡ ኩነታት ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ኣብ መደበር ስደተኛታትን ጉዳይ ዘይሕጋዊ ምስግጋር ሰባትን፡ ግደ እዚ ጉዳይ ዝምልከቶም ኣካላት ሕቡራት ሃገራትን ዝጽበዮ ግደታን ብመንጽር ዓለም ለኻዊ ሕግታት። ከምኡ እውን ሓላፍነት ናይተን ስደተኛታት ዝዓርፉለን ሃገራትን ከዳልዋሎም ዝግበኣን መዕረፊ፡ ክህባኦም ዝግበአን ውሕስነትን ናይ ምንባርን መነባብረኦም ዝመርሕሉ ኣታዊ ዝረኽብሉ ናይ ስራሕ ዕድላት ዝብሉ እዮም።
እቶም ሓለፍቲ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ብወገኖም ነዚ ኤርትራዊ ልኡኽ ብዛዕባቲ፡ ላዕለዎት ኪሚሽነራት ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ጉዳይ ስደተኛታትን ምስ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ዘገብርዎ፡ ንምምሕያሽ ኣተሓሕዛ ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝምልከት ርክባት መብርሂ ሂበምዎም። ምስዚ ኣተሓሒዞም እቶም ሓለፍቲ ርኢቶኦም ኣብ እዋናዊ ኣድማሳዊ ገምጋም፡ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ በቲ ዝኣተዎ ቃል ከም ዘይጸነዐን ብሓፈሻ ከኣ ኣብ ኣተሓሕዛ ሰብኣዊ መሰል እዚ ዝበሃል ኣውንታዊ ውጽኢት ከም ዘየመዝገብ ገሊጸምሉ።
ኣቲ ኤርትራዊ ልኡኽ ተሓላቒ ደሞክራሲ፡ ነቲ መብርሂ ምስ ሰምዐ ኣብ ኤርትራ በቲ ስርዓት ካብ ዝፍጸሙ ዘለዉ በደላት እቶም ቀንዲቀንዲ ኣምዝጊቡ። ካብቶም ዝጠቐስዎም፡ ሜላውን ሰፊሕን ግህሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰል፡ ደረት ዘየብሉን ብዘይክፍሊት ዝካየድን ግዱድ ኣገልግሎት፡ ንሕስያ ዘየብሉ ፖለቲካዊ ጭቆና፡ ምንፋግ ንቡር ስድራቤታዊ መነባብሮን ስሩዕ ትምህርትን ከምኡ እውን ሕሱም ቁጠባዊ ድኽነት።
ኣብዚ ርክብ ሓለፍቲ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽነር ሰብኣዊ መሰል፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ንምምሕያሽ ኩሉ ዝኽእልዎ ክገብሩ ድልዋት ምዃኖም ቃል ኣትዮም። ኣተሓሒዞም ከኣ ኤርትራውያን ጉዳዮም ኣብ ምዕራይ መሪሕ ግደ ክሕዙ ከም ዝግበኦም ኣዘኻኺሮም። ኤርትራውያን ዕዉት ውጽኢት ከመዝግቡ ዘለዎም ተስፋ ከኣ ገሊጾም። ሓለፍቲ ላዕለዋይ ኮሚሽነር ጉዳይ ስደተኛታት በገኖም ኣብ ወጻኢ ዝነብሩ ኤርትራውያን ነቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ወገናቶም ስደተኛታት ዝወርድ ዘሎ ጸገም ኣብ ምፍታሕ ክሳተፉ ዘለዎም ተስፋ ጠቒሶም።
ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ ኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ኣብ ኤርትራ፡ ኩነታት ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ኣብ ዞባን መላእ ዓለምን፡ ከምኡ እውን ኩነታት ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ጉዳይ ስደተኛታትን ብሓፈሻ ኣብ ኩሉ ኩርነዓት ብፍላይ ድማ ኣብ ጐረባብቲ ሃገራት ንምምሕያሽ ዘኽእሉ ናይ ሓባር ረቛሕታት ንምርካብ፡ ተራኺብካ ዘተን ምልውዋጥ ሓበሬታን ቀጻሊ ክኸውን ተሰማሚዖም።
Understanding Eritrea: Inside Africa’s Most Repressive State, by Martin Plaut
Written by Joanna LewisA study of the North African country lays bare a ruler at war with his own people, says Joanna Lewis
January 26, 2017
· By Joanna Lewis
President Isaias Afewerki
Chairman of the State Council
Chairman of the Transitional National Assembly
C-in-c of the Armed Forces
Chancellor of Institutes of Higher Learning
Chairman of the PFDJ [the sole political party]
Vice-President – vacant since 2001
There have been no elections in Eritrea since 1993. Instead, as the above extract from Martin Plaut’s masterful account perfectly illustrates, this tiny state in North Africa is ruled by dictatorship. In 2015, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Eritreans endure “systemic widespread and gross human rights violations” and “a total lack of the rule of law”.
“Eritrea was born a one party state”, as Plaut, an Institute of Commonwealth Studies scholar and former BBC World Service Africa editor, makes clear. After its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, the rot set in. Like many African nationalist movements forced to engage in military struggle to gain power, making the adjustment to civilian rule and accepting even a murmur of opposition or a flicker of criticism was just all too much. Eritrea’s long, bitter David and Goliath-like battle against Ethiopia marked its leadership with an especially strong sense of sacrifice and entitlement.
During the years of struggle, many outsiders saw the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) as a beacon of hope. I remember reading its upbeat pamphlets in the 1980s. It was committed to rejecting ethnic difference, promoting secular socialism and progressive attitudes to women. In 1993, women made up one-third of the EPLF fighters; rape was a capital offence.
How times change. Plaut’s extensive evidence shows how the regime’s repressive stance in power is a consequence of its ruler. Known simply as Isaias, Afewerki grew up in a poor district of Asmara. In the 1960s, he went to China. Schooled in Maoist ideology, he is, however, no fan of the personality cult. His official photograph may festoon shops and cafes, but he looks nice and normal. He prefers open-necked shirts, comfortable slacks and sandals. This is no mad, swivel-eyed Idi Amin-type figure, nor the psychotic school bully meets James Bond baddie look of Kim Jong-il; nor is there a sparse ginger ferret atop his head…
But make no mistake, the absence of journalists and a free press, and the emphatic presence of a network of prisons, detention centres and labour camps are the result of rule by an “austere and narcissistic dictator; thin-skinned and hot-headed”, according to a profile compiled by a recent US ambassador. He’s also vindictive. After independence, when demobilised soldiers complained that they’d not been paid for years, many were thrown into indefinite detention. So severe is the current repression that 5,000 Eritreans try to flee across the Sahel every month. Many risk their lives to escape military conscription, which for women can include sexual abuse. Isaias is still at war, but against his own people. Even the Eritrean diaspora cannot fully escape, bullied into paying an illicit 2 per cent tax to the regime, under the watchful eye of a network of spies and informants.
Plaut has put himself at some risk by writing this book. Mirjam van Reisen, a Dutch academic who criticised the regime, was physically threatened and abused on social media. The president’s so-called Youth Wing brought a lawsuit against her in the Netherlands, accusing her of libel and slander. The accusations were thrown out. Let’s hope that this regime and its cronies will be next.
Joanna Lewis is assistant professor of imperial and African history in the department of international history, London School of Economics, and author of Empire of Sentiment: David Livingstone and the Myth of Victorian Imperialism (in press).
