At a time when the excessive human rights abuses of the dictatorial regime in Eritrea are being further exposed through UN and other reports, Eritreans in North America did not only hold a massive demonstration in Washington DC but also sent a petition to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to use his good offices “to help set in motion a thorough investigation on the cause that is driving refugees” from their homeland.

It is to be recalled that the UN Commission of Inquiry submitted its written report on Eritrea and that the Human Rights Council is already considering approval of the document as it is. The report notes that the Eritrean regime has been engaged in abuses that can be considered as “crimes against humanity”. The petition by Eritreans in North America, therefore, asks the UN Secretary General the the UN Security Council to take approporiate measures on the extremely abusive regime in Africa.

Below is the full text of the petition. Good reading.

…….

                                                                                                     June 19, 2015

His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon

United Nations Secretary-General

United Nations Headquarters

New York, N.Y.

Dear Mr. Secretary-General:

We preface our letter with our-heart-felt good wishes to you in all the very important duties you are performing as a world leader. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you and all those who collaborate with you in all the noble efforts.

We are writing you as a matter of great urgency, on behalf of hundreds of thousands of our unfortunate Eritrean compatriots. We note with great appreciation the expression of sympathy and grave concern that you voiced following the tragic drowning of hundreds of Eritreans near the Island of Lampedusa some twenty months ago. Indeed, we believe that your voice and that of His Holiness Pope Francis helped put such tragedy and its causes on national and international agendas, especially in Europe, leading to a great deal of debate and soul-searching.

While we welcome these promising developments, unfortunately, we believe that they stopped short of what needs to be done in order to find a lasting solution to such tragedies and the causes that trigger them. The flow of refugees continues unabated and more people have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, despite the efforts at naval intervention to save lives. We strongly believe that the international community and Europe in particular, needs to translate the expressions of good will voiced in the wake of the Lampedusa tragedy to more concrete actions. Such actions should begin by addressing the causes of the massive migration of refugees from Africa and the Middle East.

In that spirit, and focusing on the Eritrean refugees, we urge you to bring the considerable moral weight carried by your office to bear on the specific tragedy that has befallen on our unfortunate nation—Eritrea. The cause of the massive exodus of Eritreans is the wrong policy and dangerous politics pursued by the government of Mr. Isaias Afwerki. Of all the wrong policies of the government that have devastated a once promising nation, the most egregious is the so called National Service, which has pinned down hundreds of thousands of Eritrean youth in what can only be described as forced servitude. Eritrean youth, the cream of the nation, have wasted, and are wasting, their lives in a pointless and unending service. Thousands have chosen to escape from this servitude at huge risk to their lives, including those who perished in the Mediterranean Sea. Though this servitude is the worst policy pursued by the government, we need to understand the overall context of the nature of the state under which it is practiced.  

People who expressed any criticism against the government have been severely punished; many have died in detention. It is generally known that a once promising country has been turned into a police state and the fervent hopes and aspirations of a whole generation of Eritreans have been dashed on the rock of wrong polices and dangerous politics of a government led by an unelected President. The recent U N Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea found “that systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed under the authority of the Government. Some of these violations may constitute crimes against humanity.”

In the prevailing conditions of lawlessness families of thousands of prisoners do not know where their loved ones are incarcerated, do not know if they are dead or alive, do not have the right to visit them or for doctors and lawyers to see them. The young are particularly vulnerable and many prefer risking death remaining in conditions of endless servitude wasting their precious lives. This is the condition that is forcing thousands to flee their country in search of refuge abroad. Unless and until this condition is properly and quickly addressed, the “refugee problem” will continue with more Lampedusa-like incidents. We are, therefore, appealing to you, Mr. Secretary-General, to use your good offices to help set in motion a thorough investigation on the cause that is driving refugees from their beloved homeland. Your leadership, along with that of H.H. Pope Francis, and with the support of leaders of the European Union, African Union, and individual governments, is needed to bring this tragedy to an end. We implore you to take speedy steps toward the accomplishment of this objective.

On June 19, 2015, Eritreans and friends of Eritrea are demonstrating in Washington,

D. C., in support of the people in Eritrea and against the dictatorship in Eritrea.

People’s Movement of Eritreans for Justice

Email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Co-sponsors:

Eritrean National Council for Democratic Change (ENCDC)

Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP)

Eritreans for Facilitating National Dialogue (EFND)

Copy to U S Department of State

          ብቀዳምነት 20 ሰነ መዓልቲ ስዉኣትና ስለ ዝኮነት ነቶም ኩሎም ምእንቲ ፍትሕን ሰላምን ካብ ገዛውቶም ውጺኦም  መስዋእትነት ከፊሎም ዝተረፉ ክብሪን ምስጋናን ይብጻሓዮም። እንተዀነ ኣብቲ ናይ ኩሉና ዓዲ ኮይኖም ፣ ኣብ ህዝብና ዝወርድ ዘሎ ስደትን ስቓይን ሞትን ብማዕዶ እናተዓዘቡ ከምዘይቀስኑ ገይሩዎም ኣሎ ። ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ክሳብ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘሎ ሰላምን ቅሳነትን ድምጸን ኣርሒቐን ገይሸን ኣሎዋ። ስለዚ ኩሉና ነዚ ተመንዚዑና ዘሎ ክብሪ ክንመልስ ንወደብ! እዚ ድሕሪ ምባል ኣብ ኣርእስተይ ክምለስ።

          ኣብዘን ዝሓለፋ ወርሓት መርበባት ህግደፍ ከምቲ ልሙድ ናይ 03 ናይ ምድንጋር ባህርያተን ንጉዳይ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ናብ 18 ወርሒ ክምለስ ምዃኑ ኣማኻሪ ናይቲ መራሕ ጉጂለ ንገለ ናይ ወጻእተኛታት ወከልቲ ከምእተማጸዓሎም ይገልጻ ኣለዋ ። እንተኮነ እዚ ካብቲ ኣትዩዎ ዘሎ ተነጺሎ ዘናግፎ ኣይኮነን ። ኮነ ተባሂሉ ህዝቢ ንምድንጋር ዝጻወቶ ገበጣ ኮይኑ ኩሉ ግዜ ከኣ ተሳዒሩ እንከሎ ተዓዋቲ ዝኮነሉ እዩ ። ኣብዚ ግዜ እዚ ግን ዘዋጽኦ ኣይኮነንን።  

          ኣብ ኤርትራ ኣብዘን ዝሓለፋ 24 ዓመታት ብሰንኪ ዓንዳሪ ምሕደራ ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ዝተኣታተዎ ስእነት ልዕልና ሕጊን ብልሽውናን ፣ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ከም ዝፈጠሮ ገይሮም ዝገልጽዎ ፎኮስቲ ሕልና ኣይተሳእኑን ።ሃገራዊ ኣግልግሎት ሓደ ካብቶም መራሒ ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ኣብ ስልጣን ክነብር ፣ኣብ ኤርትራ ጥራሕ ዘይኮነ እንተሰለጦ ንደቡብ ገጹ እውን ክግልገለሉ ዝሰኣሎ ውጥን ምዃኑ ሕጂ እናተነጸረ ዝመጽእ ዘሎ ኣዋጅ እዩ ።

          ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ኣብ ኤርትራ ክእወጅ እንከሎ ፣ ባይቶ ኤርትራ ተካቲዒሉ ኣጽዲቁዎ ዘይኮነ ፣ መራሕ ህግደፍ ክትግበር ከም ሓሳብ ድሕሪ ምቅራቡ ፤ ኣባላት ባይቶ ድሕሪ ባይታ ናይቲ ኣዋጅ ከይተረዱኡ ይርሓሰና ዝበሉዎ ምዃኑ እዩ ዝንገር ። ከም ናይ ሓባር ኣረዳድኣ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ኣብ ዝበዝሓ ሃገራት ዝትግበር ኮይኑ ፤ እቶም ዜጋታት እቲ ግቡእ ኣዋርሒ ምስ ወድኡ ኣብ ዘዝመረጽዎ መደባት ስራሕ ዝዋፈሩሉ ፍጻሜ እዩ። ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ኣብ ኤርትራ ግን ነቲ መንእሰይ ካብ ከተማታት ኤርትራ ኣርሕቅካ ንናቱ ረብሓን ጥቅምን ከምዝይቓለስን ብዘይ ዶምዝ ዘገልግል(ሓውሲ ባርያ) ኮይኑ ክነበር ዝዓለመ እዩ ።

          ኣብ ሊበራል ዲምክራሲ ዜጋታት ብውሑስ ዝኮነ ሕግታት ርእሰ -ማሎም ፣ ከዋፍሩን ሽቅለት ክፈጥሩን እንከለዉ እቶም መንግስታት ከኣ ኩነታት ሰርሓተኛታትን ሕግን ጸጥታን ግብሪን ናይ ምቁጽጻር ሓላፍነት ይህሉዎም ። ድኻን ሃብታምን ከም ማይን ዓሳን እቲ ሓደ ብዘይ ህሉውና ናይቲ ካልእ ክነበር ዘይክኣል እዩ ። ብዘይ መክሰብ ከኣ ወፍሪ ርእሰ ማል ዝብሃል የለን ።ኣብ መዋእል መግዛእቲ ህግደፍ ፣ እቲ ድኻ ብቅድሙ ኣይጽንሖን ፣ እቲ ቁሩብ ርእሰ-ማል ዝነበሮ ከኣ ብዝተፈለለየ ምክንያታት እናፈጠሩ ከም ዝደኺ ገይሮሞ  እዮም ። ሕጂ ተታሕዝካ ፈፎው ኮይኑ ። መንግስቲ ኩነታት ኢንቨስትመንት ከጠዓዕም  እምበር መንግስቲ ስራሕ ኣይፈጥርን ። ዝኮነ ሰርሓተኛ ጥዑይ ዶሞዝ ዘይክፍለሉ ብትግሃት ክሰርሒ ኣብ ታሪኽ ድቂ ሰባት ኣይተርኣየን ። ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ቁጠባዊ ፖሊሲ የብሉን ። ስልዚ ከኣ እዩ እቲ መራሕ ጉጂለ ኩሉ ኣብዘን 24 ዓመታት ዝፈተኖ ህግደፋዊ ቲዮሪ ከምዝፈሸለ ዝገለጾ ።

          ኣብ ኤርትራ እቲ ጉጅለ ነቶም ምስ ኩሉ እቲ ዝጋጥሞም ኢሰብኣውነት ኣብ ሃገር ምኽልኽል ተጸሚዶም ዘለዉ ተጋደልቲ ከፈኑዎም እንተ ኮይኑ ፣ ስራሕ ክፍጥረሎም ኣሎዎ ። እንተኮነ በቲ ኣብ ኩሉ መደያቱ ፈሺሉ ዘሎ ናይ ቁጠባ ፖሊሲታቱን ፣ ኣብ ልዕሊኡ ብሕ/ ሃገራት ተኣዊጁ ዘሎ እገዳን ተነጽሎን ብተኣምር ካብ ኣትዩዎ ዘሎ ታኼላ ክውጽእ ኣይኮነን ። እቲ ዘዋጽኦን ዝቀለለን ኣብ ውሱን ግዜ ስልጣን ነቲ ዘጋፎዖን ዝብደሎን ዘሎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከረኽብ ኣለዎ ።  

          ጉጂለ ህግደፍ ኣብ ደረጃ FAILED STATE ስለ ዝበጽሔ ብሓደ ኣንፈት ናይ ሀገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ኣብ 18 ኣዋርሕ ምምላሱ ክድሕን ፍጹም ኣይክእልን እዩ። እቶም ተረርቲ ልቢ ደገፍቲ ናይቲ ጉጂለ ክሳብ ሕጂ ዓይኖም እናረኣየ እዝኖም እናሰምዔ ክድግፍዎ ዝርኸቡ ምስቲ ጉጂለ መበቆላዊ ዝምድናታት ካብ ግዜ ቓልሲ ተጸኒዑ ዝተወደበ ህወት ስለ ዘለዎም እዩ

          ናይ ሓደ ዝፈሸለ ስርዓት ከም መምዘኒ ወይ መዔቐኒ ዝውሰዱ ትንተናታት ዝተፈላለዩ ይኹኑ ደኣ እምበር እቶም መሰረታውያን እዞም ዝስዒቡ ተርእዮታት እዮም ፡

• መንግስቲ ንህዝቢ ክህቦ ዝግባእ ኣገልግሎት ከማልእ ምስ ዘይክእል
• ህዝቢ ኣብ ሃገሩ ዘሎ ጭቆና ክጻወሮ ስለ ዘይክእል ብብዝሒ ክስደድ እንከሎ ።
• መንግስቲ ካብ ጎረቤቱን ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ተነጽሎ ምስ ዘጋጥሞ ፣
• ልዑላዊ መሬቱ ክከላክል ምስ ዘይክእል
• ስልጣን መንግስቲ ኣብ ሓደ ውልቀ መላኪ ምስ ዝውነን
• ኹናት ከም መፍቲሒ ሽግራቱ ምስ ዝጥቀም
• ኤትኒካውን ሃይማኖታውን ግርጪታት ምስ ዘሳውር ፣
• ጉቦን ምጥፍፋእን ፤ ስርቅን ክትለትን ምስ ዝነግስ

ኣብ ልዕሊ እዚ ኩሉ ኤርትራ ቅዋም ዘይብላ እንኮ ሃገር ምዃና ነዚ ኩሉ ሽግራት ክፍውስ ዝክእል መበገሲ ዝኸውን ገዚፍ ወፍሪ ናይ ፋይናንስን ዓቅሚ ሰብን  ከድሊያ እዩ ። ህግደፍ ክዕኑን ከብርስን እምበር ክሃንጽ ዘይተዓደለ ጉጂለ ጥፍኣት እዩ።

ዘለዓለማዊ ዝክሪ ንስውኣትና !

ክብሮም ግረነት

As Europe's leaders argue over the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, Paraic O'Brien travels with a family of Eritreans as it makes its way from Italy to Germany, encountering chaos on the way.

At 11 o'clock every night, two coaches on the Bolzano-bound train out of Rome are full of immigrants. They do not have travel documents, just train tickets.

The increasing numbers of immigrants arriving in Italy by boat was discussed by David Cameron and the Italian prime minister this week. As they were talking, immigrants were making their way to the Italian city of Bolzano.

The tale they told was a familiar one: held by Libyan people traffickers until their families paid up.

When they arrived at Bolzano on the Austrian border, the Italian police initially tried to stop them from travelling on to the southern German city of Munich, but they made it there eventually.

It was the moment one family had been waiting for. After leaving Eritrea as asylum seekers, they crossed the Sahara, encountering people traffickers in Libya before taking a boat across the Mediterranean.

When the immigrants arrived in Munich, the larger group was placed in a holding pen by the German police before being taken to a detention centre. But for the family, with an asylum claim, it was a different story. Another long journey beckoned - to Holland.