#badme

Conflict between Tigray and Eritrea – the long standing faultline in Ethiopian politics

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The missile attack by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front on Eritrea in mid-November transformed an internal Ethiopian crisis into a transnational one. In the midst of escalating internal conflict between Ethiopia’s northernmost province, Tigray, and the federal government, it was a stark reminder of a historical rivalry that continues to shape and reshape Ethiopia.

The rivalry between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the movement which has governed Eritrea in all but name for the past 30 years – the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front – goes back several decades.

The histories of Eritrea and Ethiopia have long been closely intertwined. This is especially true of Tigray and central Eritrea. These territories occupy the central massif of the Horn of Africa. Tigrinya-speakers are the predominant ethnic group in both Tigray and in the adjacent Eritrean highlands.

The enmity between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front dates to the mid-1970s, when the Tigrayan front was founded in the midst of political turmoil in Ethiopia. The authoritarian Marxist regime – known as the Derg (Amharic for ‘committee’) – inflicted violence upon millions of its own citizens. It was soon confronted with a range of armed insurgencies and socio-political movements. These included Tigray and Eritrea, where the resistance was most ferocious.

The Tigrayan front was at first close to the Eritrean front, which had been founded in 1970 to fight for independence from Ethiopia. Indeed, the Eritreans helped train some of the first Tigrayan recruits in 1975-6, in their shared struggle against Ethiopian government forces for social revolution and the right to self-determination.

But in the midst of the war against the Derg regime, the relationship quickly soured over ethnic and national identity. There were also differences over the demarcation of borders, military tactics and ideology. The Tigrayan front eventually recognised the Eritreans’ right to self-determination, if grudgingly, and resolved to fight for the liberation of all Ethiopian peoples from the tyranny of the Derg regime.

Each achieved seminal victories in the late 1980s. Together the Tigrayan-led Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front and the Eritrean front overthrew the Derg in May 1991. The Tigrayan-led front formed government in Addis Ababa while the Eritrean front liberated Eritrea which became an independent state.

But this was just the start of a new phase of a deep-rooted rivalry. This continued between the governments until the recent entry of prime minister Abiy Ahmed.

If there’s any lesson to be learnt from years of military and political manoeuvrings, it is that conflict in Tigray is unavoidably a matter of intense interest to the Eritrean leadership. And Abiy would do well to remember that conflict between Eritrea and Tigray has long represented a destabilising fault line for Ethiopia as well as for the wider region.
Reconciliation and new beginnings

In the early 1990s, there was much talk of reconciliation and new beginnings between Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and Isaias Afeworki of Eritrea. The two governments signed a range of agreements on economic cooperation, defence and citizenship. It seemed as though the enmity of the liberation war was behind them.

Meles declared as much at the 1993 Eritrean independence celebrations, at which he was a notable guest.

But deep-rooted tensions soon resurfaced. In the course of 1997, unresolved border disputes were exacerbated by Eritrea’s introduction of a new currency. This had been anticipated in a 1993 economic agreement. But in the event Tigrayan traders often refused to recognise it, and it caused a collapse in commerce.

Full-scale war erupted over the contested border hamlet of Badme in May 1998. The fighting swiftly spread to other stretches of the shared, 1,000 km long frontier. Air strikes were launched on both sides.

It was quickly clear, too, that this was only superficially about borders. It was more substantively about regional power and long standing antagonisms that ran along ethnic lines.

The Eritrean government’s indignant anti-Tigray front rhetoric had its echo in the popular contempt for so-called Agame, the term Eritreans used for Tigrayan migrant labourers.

For the Tigray front, the Eritrean front was the clearest expression of perceived Eritrean arrogance.

As for Isaias himself, regarded as a crazed warlord who had led Eritrea down a path which defied economic and political logic, it was hubris personified.

Ethiopia deported tens of thousands of Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean descent.

Ethiopia’s decisive final offensive in May 2000 forced the Eritrean army to fall back deep into their own territory. Although the Ethiopians were halted, and a ceasefire put in place after bitter fighting on a number of fronts, Eritrea had been devastated by the conflict.

The Algiers Agreement of December 2000 was followed by years of standoff, occasional skirmishes, and the periodic exchange of insults.

During this period Ethiopia consolidated its position as a dominant power in the region. And Meles as one of the continent’s representatives on the global stage.

For its part Eritrea retreated into a militaristic, authoritarian solipsism. Its domestic policy centred on open-ended national service for the young. Its foreign policy was largely concerned with undermining the Ethiopian government across the region. This was most obvious in Somalia, where its alleged support for al-Shabaab led to the imposition of sanctions on Asmara.

The ‘no war-no peace’ scenario continued even after Meles’s sudden death in 2012. The situation only began to shift with the resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn against a backdrop of mounting protest across Ethiopia, especially among the Oromo and the Amhara, and the rise to power of Abiy.

What followed was the effective overthrow of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front which had been the dominant force in the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition since 1991.

This provided Isaias with a clear incentive to respond to Abiy’s overtures.
Tigray’s loss, Eritrea’s gain

A peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea, was signed in July 2018 by Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki. It formally ended their 1998-2000 war. It also sealed the marginalisation of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Many in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front were unenthusiastic about allowing Isaias in from the cold.

Since the 1998-2000 war, in large part thanks to the astute manoeuvres of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Eritrea had been exactly where the Tigray People’s Liberation Front wanted it: an isolated pariah state with little diplomatic clout. Indeed, it is unlikely that Isaias would have been as receptive to the deal had it not involved the further sidelining of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, something which Abiy presumably understood.

Isaias had eschewed the possibility of talks with Abiy’s predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn. But Abiy was a different matter. A political reformer, and a member of the largest but long-subjugated ethnic group in Ethiopia, the Oromo, he was determined to end the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’s domination of Ethiopian politics.

This was effectively achieved in December 2019 when he abolished the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front and replaced it with the Prosperity Party.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front declined to join with the visible results of the current conflict.

À lire aussi : Residual anger driven by the politics of power has boiled over into conflict in Ethiopia

Every effort to engage with the Tigrayan leadership – including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front – in pursuit of a peaceful resolution must also mean keeping Eritrea out of the conflict.

Unless Isaias is willing to play a constructive role – he does not have a good track record anywhere in the region in this regard – he must be kept at arm’s length, not least to protect the 2018 peace agreement itself.

▻https://theconversation.com/conflict-between-tigray-and-eritrea-the-long-standing-faultline-in-

#Derg #histoire #frontières #démarcation_des_frontières #monnaie #Badme #Agame #travailleurs_étrangers #Oromo #Ethiopian_People’s_Revolutionary_Democratic_Front #Prosperity_Party

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#Agame , the term Eritreans used for Tigrayan migrant labourers.

–-> #terminologie #vocabulaire #mots
ping @sinehebdo

Satellite Images Show Ethiopia Carnage as Conflict Continues
– United Nations facility, school, clinic and homes burned down
– UN refugee agency has had no access to the two camps

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Satellite images show the destruction of United Nations’ facilities, a health-care unit, a high school and houses at two camps sheltering Eritrean refugees in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, belying government claims that the conflict in the dissident region is largely over.

The eight Planet Labs Inc images are of Hitsats and the Shimelba camps. The camps hosted about 25,000 and 8,000 refugees respectively before a conflict broke out in the region two months ago, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

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“Recent satellite imagery indicates that structures in both camps are being intentionally targeted,” said Isaac Baker, an analyst at DX Open Network, a U.K. based human security research and analysis non-profit. “The systematic and widespread fires are consistent with an intentional campaign to deny the use of the camp.”

DX Open Network has been following the conflict and analyzing satellite image data since Nov. 7, three days after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared war against a dissident group in the Tigray region, which dominated Ethiopian politics before Abiy came to power.

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Ethiopia’s government announced victory against the dissidents on Nov. 28 after federal forces captured the regional capital of Mekelle. Abiy spoke of the need to rebuild and return normalcy to Tigray at the time.

Calls and messages to Redwan Hussein, spokesman for the government’s emergency task force on Tigray and the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Spokeswoman Billene Seyoum were not answered.

In #Shimelba, images show scorched earth from apparent attacks in January. A World Food Programme storage facility and a secondary school run by the Development and Inter-Aid Church Commission have also been burned down, according to DX Open Network’s analysis. In addition, a health facility run by the Ethiopian Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs situated next to the WFP compound was also attacked between Jan. 5 and Jan. 8.

In #Hitsats camp, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) away, there were at least 14 actively burning structures and 55 others were damaged or destroyed by Jan. 5. There were new fires by Jan. 8, according to DX Open Network’s analysis.

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The UN refugee agency has not had access to the camps since fighting started in early November, according to Chris Melzer, a communications officer for the agency. UNHCR has been able to reach its two other camps, Mai-Aini and Adi Harush, which are to the south, he said.

“We also have no reliable, first-hand information about the situation in the camps or the wellbeing of the refugees,” Melzer said in reference to Hitsats and Shimelba.

Eritrean troops have also been involved in the fighting and are accused of looting businesses and abducting refugees, according to aid workers and diplomats briefed on the situation. The governments of both Ethiopia and Eritrea have denied that Eritrean troops are involved in the conflict.

The UN says fighting is still going on in several Tigray areas and 2.2 million people have been displaced in the past two months. Access to the region for journalists and independent analysts remains constrained, making it difficult to verify events.

▻https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-09/satellite-images-show-destruction-of-refugee-camps-in-ethiopia?srnd=premi

#images_satellitaires #camps_de_réfugiés #réfugiés

Ethiopia’s government appears to be wielding hunger as a weapon

A rebel region is being starved into submission

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ETHIOPIA HAS suffered famines in the past. Many foreigners know this; in 1985 about one-third of the world’s population watched a pop concert to raise money for starving Ethiopians. What is less well understood is that poor harvests lead to famine only when malign rulers allow it. It was not the weather that killed perhaps 1m people in 1983-85. It was the policies of a Marxist dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam, who forced peasants at gunpoint onto collective farms. Mengistu also tried to crush an insurgency in the northern region of Tigray by burning crops, destroying grain stores and slaughtering livestock. When the head of his own government’s humanitarian agency begged him for cash to feed the starving, he dismissed him with a memorably callous phrase: “Don’t let these petty human problems...consume you.”

▻https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/01/23/ethiopias-government-appears-to-be-wielding-hunger-as-a-weapon

#famine #faim
#paywall

Amnesty International accuses Eritrean troops of killing hundreds of civilians in the holy city of #Axum

Amnesty International has released a comprehensive, compelling report detailing the killing of hundreds of civilians in the Tigrayan city of Axum.

This story has been carried several times by Eritrea Hub, most recently on 20th February. On 12 January this year the Axum massacre was raised in the British Parliament, by Lord David Alton.

Gradually the picture emerging has been clarified and is now unambiguous.

The Amnesty report makes grim reading: the details are horrifying.

Human Rights Watch are finalising their own report, which will be published next week. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission is also publishing a report on the Axum massacre.

The Ethiopian government appointed interim administration of Tigray is attempting to distance itself from the actions of Eritrean troops. Alula Habteab, who heads the interim administration’s construction, road and transport department, appeared to openly criticise soldiers from Eritrea, as well as the neighbouring Amhara region, for their actions during the conflict.

“There were armies from a neighbouring country and a neighbouring region who wanted to take advantage of the war’s objective of law enforcement,” he told state media. “These forces have inflicted more damage than the war itself.”

The full report can be found here: The Massacre in Axum – AFR 25.3730.2021. Below is the summary (▻https://eritreahub.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/The-Massacre-in-Axum-AFR-25.3730.2021.pdf)

▻https://eritreahub.org/amnesty-international-accuses-eritrean-troops-of-killing-hundreds-of-civ

#rapport #massacre

Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis: How a massacre in the sacred city of #Aksum unfolded

Eritrean troops fighting in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray killed hundreds of people in Aksum mainly over two days in November, witnesses say.

The mass killings on 28 and 29 November may amount to a crime against humanity, Amnesty International says in a report.

An eyewitness told the BBC how bodies remained unburied on the streets for days, with many being eaten by hyenas.

Ethiopia and Eritrea, which both officially deny Eritrean soldiers are in Tigray, have not commented.

The Ethiopian Human Rights commission says it is investigating the allegations.

The conflict erupted on 4 November 2020 when Ethiopia’s government launched an offensive to oust the region’s ruling TPLF party after its fighters captured federal military bases in Tigray.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, told parliament on 30 November that “not a single civilian was killed” during the operation.

But witnesses have recounted how on that day they began burying some of the bodies of unarmed civilians killed by Eritrean soldiers - many of them boys and men shot on the streets or during house-to-house raids.

Amnesty’s report has high-resolution satellite imagery from 13 December showing disturbed earth consistent with recent graves at two churches in Aksum, an ancient city considered sacred by Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christians.

A communications blackout and restricted access to Tigray has meant reports of what has gone on in the conflict have been slow to emerge.

In Aksum, electricity and phone networks reportedly stopped working on the first day of the conflict.
How was Aksum captured?

Shelling by Ethiopian and Eritrea forces to the west of Aksum began on Thursday 19 November, according to people in the city.

“This attack continued for five hours, and was non-stop. People who were at churches, cafes, hotels and their residence died. There was no retaliation from any armed force in the city - it literally targeted civilians,” a civil servant in Aksum told the BBC.
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Amnesty has gathered similar and multiple testimonies describing the continuous shelling that evening of civilians.

Once in control of the city, soldiers, generally identified as Eritrean, searched for TPLF soldiers and militias or “anyone with a gun”, Amnesty said.

“There were a lot of... house-to-house killings,” one woman told the rights group.

There is compelling evidence that Ethiopian and Eritrean troops carried out “multiple war crimes in their offensive to take control of Aksum”, Amnesty’s Deprose Muchena says.
What sparked the killings?

For the next week, the testimonies say Ethiopia troops were mainly in Aksum - the Eritreans had pushed on east to the town of Adwa.

A witness told the BBC how the Ethiopian military looted banks in the city in that time.

he Eritrean forces reportedly returned a week later. The fighting on Sunday 28 November was triggered by an assault of poorly armed pro-TPLF fighters, according to Amnesty’s report.

Between 50 and 80 men from Aksum targeted an Eritrean position on a hill overlooking the city in the morning.

A 26-year-old man who participated in the attack told Amnesty: “We wanted to protect our city so we attempted to defend it especially from Eritrean soldiers... They knew how to shoot and they had radios, communications... I didn’t have a gun, just a stick.”
How did Eritrean troops react?

It is unclear how long the fighting lasted, but that afternoon Eritrean trucks and tanks drove into Aksum, Amnesty reports.

Witnesses say Eritrean soldiers went on a rampage, shooting at unarmed civilian men and boys who were out on the streets - continuing until the evening.

A man in his 20s told Amnesty about the killings on the city’s main street: “I was on the second floor of a building and I watched, through the window, the Eritreans killing the youth on the street.”

The soldiers, identified as Eritrean not just because of their uniform and vehicle number plates but because of the languages they spoke (Arabic and an Eritrean dialect of Tigrinya), started house-to-house searches.

“I would say it was in retaliation,” a young man told the BBC. “They killed every man they found. If you opened your door and they found a man they killed him, if you didn’t open, they shoot your gate by force.”

He was hiding in a nightclub and witnessed a man who was found and killed by Eritrean soldiers begging for his life: “He was telling them: ’I am a civilian, I am a banker.’”

Another man told Amnesty that he saw six men killed, execution-style, outside his house near the Abnet Hotel the following day on 29 November.

“They lined them up and shot them in the back from behind. Two of them I knew. They’re from my neighbourhood… They asked: ’Where is your gun’ and they answered: ’We have no guns, we are civilians.’”
How many people were killed?

Witnesses say at first the Eritrean soldiers would not let anyone approach the bodies on the streets - and would shoot anyone who did so.

One woman, whose nephews aged 29 and 14 had been killed, said the roads “were full of dead bodies”.

Amnesty says after the intervention of elders and Ethiopian soldiers, burials began over several days, with most funerals taking place on 30 November after people brought the bodies to the churches - often 10 at a time loaded on horse- or donkey-drawn carts.

At Abnet Hotel, the civil servant who spoke to the BBC said some bodies were not removed for four days.

"The bodies that were lying around Abnet Hotel and Seattle Cinema were eaten by hyenas. We found only bones. We buried bones.

“I can say around 800 civilians were killed in Aksum.”

This account is echoed by a church deacon who told the Associated Press that many bodies had been fed on by hyenas.

He gathered victims’ identity cards and assisted with burials in mass graves and also believes about 800 people were killed that weekend.

The 41 survivors and witnesses Amnesty interviewed provided the names of more than 200 people they knew who were killed.
What happened after the burials?

Witnesses say the Eritrean soldiers participated in looting, which after the massacre and as many people fled the city, became widespread and systematic.

The university, private houses, hotels, hospitals, grain stores, garages, banks, DIY stores, supermarkets, bakeries and other shops were reportedly targeted.

One man told Amnesty how Ethiopian soldiers failed to stop Eritreans looting his brother’s house.

“They took the TV, a jeep, the fridge, six mattresses, all the groceries and cooking oil, butter, teff flour [Ethiopia’s staple food], the kitchen cabinets, clothes, the beers in the fridge, the water pump, and the laptop.”

The young man who spoke to the BBC said he knew of 15 vehicles that had been stolen belonging to businessmen in the city.

This has had a devastating impact on those left in Aksum, leaving them with little food and medicine to survive, Amnesty says.

Witnesses say the theft of water pumps left residents having to drink from the river.
Why is Aksum sacred?

It is said to be the birthplace of the biblical Queen of Sheba, who travelled to Jerusalem to visit King Solomon.

They had a son - Menelik I - who is said to have brought to Aksum the Ark of the Covenant, believed to contain the 10 commandments handed down to Moses by God.

It is constantly under guard at the city’s Our Lady Mary of Zion Church and no-one is allowed to see it.

A major religious celebration is usually held at the church on 30 November, drawing pilgrims from across Ethiopia and around the world, but it was cancelled last year amid the conflict.

The civil servant interviewed by the BBC said that Eritrean troops came to the church on 3 December “terrorising the priests and forcing them to give them the gold and silver cross”.

But he said the deacons and other young people went to protect the ark.

“It was a huge riot. Every man and woman fought them. They fired guns and killed some, but we are happy as we did not fail to protect our treasures.”

▻https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56198469

Monumento ai Caduti di Dogali

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Il Monumento ai Caduti di Dogali è un monumento celebrativo a Roma dedicato ai caduti della battaglia di Dogali, oggi situato in viale Luigi Einaudi, nei pressi delle terme di Diocleziano.

▻https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumento_ai_Caduti_di_Dogali

Citation tirée du livre «#La_frontiera» de #Alessandro_Leogrande:

«Si è acceso qualcoa dentro di me quando ho scoperto che alcuni dei campi di concentramento eretti negli ultimi anni da Isaias Afewerki per reprimere gli oppositori sorgono negli stessi luoghi dove erano disposti i vecchi campi di concentramento del colonialismo italiano.
In particolare nelle isole di #Dahlak, cinquanta chilometri al largo di Massaua, dove le galere italiane sono state prima riutilizzate dagli occupanti etiopici e in seguito dallo stesso regime militare del Fronte.
Il penitenziario di #Nocra, una delle isole dell’arcipelago, fu attivo dal 1887 (proprio l’anno dell’eccidio di Dogali) al 1941, come ricorda Angelo Del Boca in Italiani, brava gente? Vi furono rinchiusi prigionieri comuni, ascari da punire, detenuti politici, oppositori e, dopo l’inizio della campagna d’Etiopia nel 1935, ufficiali e funzionari dell’impero di Hailé Selassié, perfino preti e monaci. (...) L’idea di fare di Nocra e delle isole limitrofe una gabbia infernale si è tramandata nel tempo, da regime a regime»

(p.85-86)

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Sul Campo di concentramento di Nocra

Il campo di Nocra o carcere di Nocra fu il più grande campo di prigionia italiano nella Colonia eritrea e dal 1936 il più grande dell’Africa Orientale Italiana. Venne aperto nel 1887 e chiuso nel 1941 dagli inglesi. Era situato nell’isola di Nocra, parte dell’Arcipelago di Dahlak, a 55 chilometri al largo di Massaua. Dal 1890 al 1941 fece parte del Commissariato della Dancalia. Arrivò a detenere tra un minimo di 500 prigionieri e un massimo di 1.800[1].

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Dahlak_reliefmap.png/310px-Dahlak_reliefmap.png

#camp_de_concentration #Tancredi_Saletta #Oreste_Baratieri

#Igiaba_Scego: “Scopriamo i simboli della storia coloniale a Roma per riempire un vuoto di memoria”

Igiaba Scego, scrittrice italo somala autrice di libri come ‘Roma negata’ e ‘La linea del colore’, racconta e spiega i simboli del colonialismo presenti nella capitale. Spesso sconosciuti, ignorati, o lasciati nel degrado, narrano una storia che l’Italia ha rimosso: quella delle guerre coloniali che ebbero luogo anche prima del fascismo, e che oggi rappresentano il ‘vuoto di memoria’ del nostro paese. Un dibattito che si è accesso a Roma dopo la decisione di intitolare la stazione della metro C al partigiano italo-somalo #Giorgio_Marincola e non chiamarla più #Amba_Aradam.

A Roma da qualche settimana si parla dei simboli e dei nomi del rimosso coloniale italiano, grazie alla proposta di intitolare la stazione della metro C su via dell’Amba Aradam a Giorgio Marincola, partigiano italo-somalo morto durante la Resistenza. Una proposta diventata realtà con il voto del consiglio comunale che ha deciso che Roma non appellerà una stazione della metropolitana ‘Amba Aradam’, l’altipiano montuoso dove l’esercito italiano massacrò 20.000 uomini e donne con bombardamenti a tappeto e l’utilizzo di armi chimiche. Di questo e altro abbiamo parlato con la scrittrice Igiaba Scego.

Quali sono i simboli coloniali a Roma che andrebbero spiegati e sui quali bisognerebbe accendere l’attenzione?

Non sono molti ma sono collocati in punti simbolici. A Roma, tra piazza della Repubblica e la stazione Termini c’è la Stele di Dogali, a riprova che il colonialismo non è stato solo fascista ma anche ottocentesco. L’obelisco è egiziano ma ha un basamento ottocentesco dedicato alla battaglia avvenuta nel 1887 a Dogali, in Eritrea, dove una colonna italiana venne intercettata e massacrata. Da lì anche il nome di piazza dei 500 davanti la stazione Termini. Di questa battaglia ne ho parlato in due libri, ‘Roma negata’ e ‘La linea del colore’. E nella piazza dove c’è la Stele, s’incontra il colonialismo con le migrazioni di oggi. Questo monumento, che nessuno conosce, è tra l’altro lasciato nel degrado. C’è poi il ponte Duca d’Aosta nei pressi del Vaticano, o il Cinema Impero a Tor Pignattara, che oggi si chiama Spazio Impero. Oltre al fatto di inserire il termine ‘impero’ nel nome, la struttura è quasi uguale a un cinema che è stato realizzato ad Asmara in Eritrea. Ma la cosa che colpisce di più sono i vuoti. Negli anni ’30, venne portata da Mussolini come bottino di guerra dall’Etiopia la Stele di Axum. Questa fu posizionata a piazza di Porta Capena, dove inizia anche il libro ‘Roma negata’. Dopo la guerra, non è stata restituita subito. Nel 1960, Abebe Bikila (campione olimpionico etiope) ha vinto i Giochi di Roma correndo a piedi nudi. Ho sempre pensato che il motivo della sua vittoria non fu solo la sua capacità fisica e la sua caparbietà, ma anche il dover essere costretto a passare per ben due volte davanti la Stele sottratta al suo popolo. Sono convinta che gli abbia dato lo sprint per vincere. La Stele fu poi restituita all’Etiopia negli anni Duemila, tra mille polemiche. Il problema è che ora in quella piazza non c’è nulla, solo due colonnine che rappresentano le Torri Gemelli e di cui nessuno sa nulla. Sarebbe stato giusto ergere sì un monumento per ricordare l’11 settembre, ma soprattutto uno per ricordare le vittime del colonialismo italiano e chi ha resistito ai colonizzatori. Un monumento riparatore per avvicinare i popoli vista la storia scomoda. Quella piazza rappresenta il vuoto di memoria, è come se qualcuno avesse fotografato il rimosso coloniale".

Quali potrebbero essere i passi da compiere per far emergere il rimosso coloniale?

Inserirlo nei programmi scolastici e nei libri di testo. Negli ultimi anni è emersa una certa sensibilità e tanti libri sono entrati a scuola grazie agli insegnanti. Sarebbe bello però avere anche nei programmi non solo la storia del colonialismo, ma anche il punto di vista del sud globale. Mi piacerebbe che la storia italiana fosse studiata globalmente, e far emergere le connessioni dell’Italia con l’Europa, l’Africa, l’America Latina e l’Asia. Non penso solo al colonialismo, ma anche alla storia delle migrazioni italiane. Alle superiori andrebbe studiata soprattutto la storia del ‘900. L’altro giorno è scoppiata quella bomba terribile a Beirut: quanti studenti e studentesse sanno della guerra civile in Libano? Sempre nella direzione di far emergere il rimosso coloniale, sarà istituito un museo che si chiamerà ‘Museo italo – africano Ilaria Alpi’. Ma la cosa che servirebbe tantissimo è un film o una serie tv. Presto sarà tratto un film da ‘The Shadow King’, libro di Maaza Mengiste, una scrittrice etiope – americana, che parla delle donne etiopi che resistono all’invasione fascista degli anni ’30. Un libro bellissimo e importante, come è importante che la storia del colonialismo italiano sia raccontata da un prodotto culturale potenzialmente globale. Ma perché un film sul colonialismo italiano lo deve fare Hollywood e non Cinecittà? Perché c’è ancora questa cappa? Non penso a un film nostalgico, ma a una storia che racconti la verità, la violenza. Serve sia lo studio alto sia il livello popolare. Altrimenti il rischio è che diventi solo un argomento per studiosi. È bello che escano libri all’estero, ma dobbiamo fare un lavoro anche qui.

Quali sono le figure, magari anche femminili, che dovrebbero essere valorizzate e raccontate?

Metterei in scena la collettività. Un’idea è fare un murales. Nel Medioevo le cattedrali erano piene di affreschi, e attraverso le immagini è stata insegnata la storia della chiesa. Userei la stessa tecnica, mostrando le immagini della resistenza anche delle donne etiope e somali. Servirebbe poi creare qualcosa che racconti anche le violenze subite nel quotidiano, perché non ci sono solo le bombe e i gas, ma anche i rapporti di potere. Mio padre ha vissuto il colonialismo e mi raccontava che prima dell’apartheid in Sudafrica c’era l’apartheid nelle città colonizzate, dove c’erano posti che non potevano essere frequentati dagli autoctoni. Racconterei queste storie sui muri delle nostre città e nelle periferie. È importante ricordare ciò che è stato fatto anche lì.

▻https://www.fanpage.it/roma/igiaba-scego-scopriamo-i-simboli-della-storia-coloniale-a-roma-per-riempire-
#histoire_coloniale #mémoire #symboles

–---

–-> sur la nouvelle toponymie de la station de métro:
►https://seenthis.net/messages/871345

Citations tirées du livre « #La_frontiera » de #Alessandro_Leogrande :

https://www.feltrinellieditore.it/media/copertina/quarta/56/9788807031656_quarta.jpg

«Dopo aver letto Roma negata, il libro di Igiaba Scego sui monumenti, le targhe, le lapidi e i palazzi della capitale che ricordano il colonialismo, sono andato a vedere l’#oblisco_di_Dogali. (...) Il libro è un viaggio nelle pieghe di Roma alla ricerca delle tracce del passato coloniale.
(...)
Il paradosso è che la rimozione del passato coloniale riguarda esattamente quelle aree che a un certo punto hanno cominciato a rovesciare i propri figli verso l’Occidente. Sono le nostre ex colonie uno dei principali ventri aperti dell’Africa contemporanea. I luoghi di partenza di molti viaggi della speranza sono stati un tempo cantati ed esaltati come suolo italiano, sulle cui zolle far sorgere l’alba di un nuovo impero»

(pp.80-81)

«In realtà il mausoleo [l’obelisco di Dogali], realizzato già nel giugno 1887 dall’architetto #Francesco_Azzurri, fu inizialmente collocato nella vicina piazza dei Cinquecento, l’enorme capolinea degli autobus che sorge davanti alla stazione Termini e si chiama così in onore dei caduti di #Dogali. Ma poi, nei primi anni del regime fascista, fu spostato qualche centinaio di metri in direzione nord-ovest, verso piazza della Repubblica. Ed è lì che è rimasto»

(pp.82-82)

▻https://www.feltrinellieditore.it/opera/opera/la-frontiera

Pour compléter, autour du processus de paix qui n’en est pas un :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/721926
►https://seenthis.net/messages/704832
►https://seenthis.net/messages/696300 (quelques articles sur le sujet du processus de paix vers la fin du fil de discussion)

Amid border wrangles, Eritreans wrestle with staying or going

An unexpected rapprochement last year between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the subsequent opening of the border, seemed to offer hope of a more lenient approach toward freedom of movement by the repressive Eritrean government.

https://assets.irinnews.org/styles/responsive_large/s3/10_1920.jpg?gHN0puxyevTC6XwWwtZSPNbiS7Yqba6D&itok=hw-NQwKS#.jpg

▻https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2019/04/30/amid-border-wrangles-eritreans-wrestle-staying-or-going
#frontières #ouverture_des_frontières #frontières_ouvertes

Why are Eritreans fleeing their country?

Eritrea has accused the UN’s refugee agency of forcibly relocating some of its citizens stranded in Libya to Niger.

In the past decade, thousands of Eritreans looking to improve their lives in Europe have become stranded in Libya.

Detained during their illegal transit or rescued from drowning in the Mediterranean, refugees are sent to detention centres.

But the battle for control of the capital Tripoli has left them exposed to the dangers of war with some going days without food.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has intervened and relocated migrants to safer areas, while sending some to other countries.

Among them, a group of 159 Eritrean nationals were sent to Niger before being relocated to a third country.

And that hasn’t gone down well with Eritrea’s government.

But what would happen if those Eritreans went back home?

And is the country’s unlimited national service, a reason why many fled?

Presenter: Richelle Carey

Guests:

#Suleiman_Hussein - Chairperson of Citizens for Democratic Rights in Eritrea

#Fisseha_Teklae - Researcher for the Horn of Africa for Amnesty International

Marie-Roger Biloa - Chief executive officer of MRB Networks

▻https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2019/05/eritereans-fleeing-country-190506193053215.html

Eritrea in caduta libera sui diritti umani
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/791107

"Für die Menschen in Eritrea hat sich nichts geändert"

Eritrea geht harsch gegen die katholische Minderheit vor - vermutlich weil Bischöfe demokratische Reformen gefordert hatten. Im Gespräch zeigt sich der eritreische Priester Mussie Zerai besorgt über die Lage in seiner Heimat.

https://cdn1.spiegel.de/images/image-1449312-860_poster_16x9-tsax-1449312.jpg

Seit Jahren gehört Eritrea weltweit zu den Ländern, aus denen die meisten Menschen flüchten: Allein im Jahr 2018 stellten laut Uno-Flüchtlingswerk UNHCR 42.000 Eritreer Asylanträge. Das kleine Land am Horn von Afrika gilt als repressive Diktatur und wird seit seiner Unabhängigkeit 1993 in Alleinherrschaft von Präsident Isayas Afewerki regiert. Der Uno-Menschenrechtsrat wirft dem Regime regelmäßig schwere Menschenrechtsverletzungen vor.

Vor einem Jahr schloss Eritrea ein historisches Friedensabkommen mit dem Nachbarland Äthiopien, viele hofften danach auf Reformen. Im Interview mit SPIEGEL ONLINE spricht der eritreische Priester Mussie Zerai darüber, warum sich für die Menschen in seiner Heimat trotzdem nichts verändert hat.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Herr Mussie Zerai, die eritreische Regierung hat vergangenen Monat alle 21 katholischen Krankenhäuser im Land schließen lassen. Warum?

Mussie Zerai: Das Regime in Eritrea bezeichnet sich selbst als kommunistisch und lehnt Religionen grundsätzlich ab. Nur der Staat soll die Autorität über alle Bereiche der Gesellschaft haben. Zwar wird die katholische Kirche geduldet, aber besonders wenn sie anfängt, sich sozial zu engagieren und Freiheitsrechte einzufordern, ist das dem Regime ein Dorn im Auge.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Was haben die Kirchen denn konkret getan?

Zerai: Die katholischen Bischöfe in Eritrea haben an Ostern einen offenen Brief veröffentlicht, in dem sie Gewalt und Ungerechtigkeit im Land beschreiben und Reformen einfordern. Eigentlich müssen alle Publikationen in Eritrea von der staatlichen Zensurkommission freigegeben werden. Die Bischöfe haben sich dem aber widersetzt und den Brief einfach per E-Mail und über soziale Netzwerke verbreitet. Das hat den Präsidenten sehr verärgert. Die Schließung der Krankenhäuser war die Rache dafür.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Nur etwa fünf Prozent der Menschen in Eritrea sind katholisch. Wieso hat die Regierung Angst vor der Kirche?

Zerai: Die katholische Kirche ist weltweit vernetzt und hat Beziehungen, die bis nach Rom reichen. Vor diesem internationalen Einfluss hat der Diktator in Eritrea Angst. Außerdem fürchtet er, zu wenig Kontrolle über die Kirche zu haben, weil sie viele soziale Einrichtungen im Land betreibt: Krankenhäuser und Schulen zum Beispiel. Deshalb sind Christen immer wieder Repressionen ausgesetzt. Leute werden verhaftet, nur weil sie öffentlich beten oder zum Gottesdienst gehen. Das Oberhaupt der orthodoxen Kirche in Eritrea, Abune Antonios, steht seit 14 Jahren unter Hausarrest.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Vor einem Jahr haben Eritrea und Äthiopien nach Jahrzehnten des Kriegszustandes einen Friedensvertrag abgeschlossen. Viele haben gehofft, dass sich die Menschenrechtslage in Eritrea dadurch verbessert. Ist nichts passiert?

Zerai: Leider nein. Für die Menschen in Eritrea hat sich nichts geändert. Es gibt weiterhin den Militärdienst, der Menschen auf Lebenszeit zwingt, für den Staat zu arbeiten - ohne richtig dafür bezahlt zu werden. Politische Gefangene und inhaftierte Journalisten wurden nicht freigelassen. Unsere Verfassung ist immer noch nicht in Kraft getreten. Außerdem steigt die Armut im Land, weil das Regime jede Form der Privatwirtschaft unterbindet. Deshalb fliehen immer noch so viele Eritreer, gerade in der jungen Bevölkerung. Die Menschen sind sehr wütend.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Trotzdem gibt es keine Demonstrationen im Land?

Zerai: Öffentliche Versammlungen sind in Eritrea verboten. Sobald mehrere Leute auf der Straße zusammenstehen, kommt die Polizei. Außerdem herrscht ein großes Misstrauen zwischen den Leuten, weil der staatliche Geheimdienst überall präsent ist. In den vergangenen 20 Jahren sind mehr als 10.000 Menschen verschwunden. Die Leute haben Angst, niemand vertraut dem anderen. Das macht es sehr schwierig, Proteste zu organisieren.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Fürchten Sie, dass das Regime in Zukunft weiter gegen die Kirche vorgeht?

Zerai: Ja, wir haben Angst, dass der Staat als Nächstes die katholischen Bildungseinrichtungen schließt. Es gibt etwa 50 Schulen und mehr als 100 Kindergärten in Eritrea, die von der Kirche geführt werden. Gerade in ländlichen Gegenden sind das oft die einzigen Bildungseinrichtungen, die es gibt. Wenn die wegfallen, dann können viele Kinder im Land nicht mehr zur Schule gehen.

▻https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/eritrea-nach-dem-frieden-mit-aethiopien-fuer-die-menschen-hat-sich-nichts-ge

Eritreans wait in vain for change after peace with Ethiopia

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Eritrean taxi driver Mihreteab recalls brimming with hope in July 2018 when his country reached a peace agreement with neighbour and longtime foe Ethiopia.

But a year and a half later, that hope has given way to disenchantment.

“I don’t see any changes so far. People are still in jail and life is the same,” he said while waiting for passengers on a main avenue in Asmara.

Like other ordinary Eritreans who spoke to an AFP journalist during a rare visit to the famously closed-off country, Mihreteab asked that his full name not be published.

On the streets of the Eritrean capital, he was far from alone in feeling disillusioned.

“I like my country and I think you are also enjoying your stay. However, life is still the same for me,” said Tekie, a small trader who sells home appliances at a market in the city centre.

Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a deadly border war beginning in 1998 that claimed nearly 80,000 lives before a stalemate took hold in 2000 and lasted nearly two decades.

Last year’s surprise peace deal remains the signature achievement of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and is the main reason he received this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

During the whip-fast rapprochement that followed, embassies reopened, flights resumed and meetings were held across the region.

But progress has since stalled and the land border between the two nations is once again closed.

Inside Eritrea, speculation that peace would spur reforms and ease years of repression has so far proved misguided.

The regime of Isaias Afwerki, the only president Eritrea has ever known, has given no sign of any kind of political opening, and the situation may in fact be getting worse.

In June, officials ordered the closure of Catholic-run health centres after church leaders published a letter expressing concern over the lack of reforms.

There are also reports of a new wave of attempts to nationalise private schools.

Nevertheless, ordinary Eritreans appear to appreciate Abiy’s peacemaking efforts, and the Ethiopian leader seems genuinely popular on the streets of Asmara.

“He’s a good man and really deserved the Nobel,” said Nigisti, a handicrafts vendor.

–‘One day life will change’-

Even if the hoped-for benefits of peace haven’t materialised, some Eritreans remain optimistic.

Nazret, who sells cereal in Asmara, is among them.

“The peace deal gives me hope that one day life will change. Peace is important for us,” she said.

Buying vegetables nearby, Netsunet said she also chose to focus on the positive.

Born in Ethiopia in 1982 to parents of Eritrean origin, she was forced out during the war and has spent half her life in a country she does not consider her own.

She prefers not to dwell on the moment she was “separated by force” from Ethiopia, and said she is grateful that now she has an opportunity to return.

“At least today, we can fly to see each other,” she said. “I plan to visit my old neighbours in Ethiopia in December.”

Eritrean officials argue that it’s wrong to suggest nothing has changed in Eritrea.

Instead, they say the pace of reform has been deliberately slow to preserve their country’s sovereignty.

Last week, Asmara hosted a summit for the Addis Ababa-based United Nations Economic Commission for Africa that drew delegates from across the region.

According to Mohammed Gumhed, a researcher at the Eritrean foreign ministry, this kind of event “could not have happened before the peace deal”.

–A ‘new chapter’?-

During his opening remarks at the conference, Eritrean Foreign Affairs Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed declared that a wave of hope and unity was washing over the Horn of Africa after decades of conflict.

He emphasised Eritrea’s progress in expanding access to health services, water, education and transportation.

Addressing criticism of Isaias’ iron-fisted rule during a briefing with conference delegates, Ghetachew Merhatsion, who works in the president’s office, said Isaias was merely respecting the will of the people.

“We see multi-party systems in many African countries and that is good for democracy. However for now Eritreans have decided to have only one party and we are making progress,” he said.

Alem Kibreab, director-general at Eritrea’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, held out hope that the peace deal could change how the world sees Eritrea and how international investors engage with the country.

“Who would invest when there is no peace? Now a new chapter is beginning,” he said.

Asked about progress on reopening the two countries’ land border, Ambassador Tesfamicael Gerahtu, an official at the Eritrean foreign ministry, predicted that the main crossings would soon be reopened, though he said this would have to wait until “implementation of the agreement is finalised”.

“The dialogues are at an advanced stage and we hope it will soon be declared,” he said.

▻https://eritrea-focus.org/eritreans-wait-in-vain-for-change-after-peace-with-ethiopia

Fuggire la pace. L’Eritrea ad un anno dallo storico accordo di pace con l’Etiopia

In Europa, l’accordo di pace tra Etiopia ed Eritrea è stato festeggiato come una svolta inaspettata: la prova che le autorità eritree avevano finalmente voltato pagina, un’occasione unica per riconciliarsi con il regime di Afewerkie. Fondi firmati EU sono stati già stanziati per realizzazione di grandi opere, ma l’aria che si respira ad Asmara è decisamente meno entusiasmante. Mentre il numero di persone in fuga dal servizio nazionale si è quadruplicato, i confini con l’Etiopia sono stati nuovamente chiusi e la sensazione di asfissia è tornata ad impadronirsi delle strade in stile modernista di Asmara. Dalla capitale Asmara alla regione di confine del Tigrai Nancy Porsia e la fotografa Cinzia Canneri ci raccontano un’altra Eritrea, quella che non crede alla «pace esterna».

Con lo sguardo incollato sulla stradina sterrata che conduce verso uno dei palazzoni non finiti di periferia, Genet schiva le attenzioni dei passanti. La sua tunica abbondante non riesce a far passare inosservati la parrucca dal capello lungo e mesciato e il trucco molto marcato. Genet, nome di fantasia per tutelarne l’incolumità, è una prostituta e vive poco lontano dal centro di Asmara e i suoi edifici in stile modernista firmati da architetti italiani di fine Ottocento e del Ventennio, che dal 2017 sono Patrimonio Unesco.

“Ci campo la famiglia” dice Genet, accennando un sorriso che malcela le sofferenze. In uno stanzone, suddiviso solo da tende, Genet vive con sua figlia, sua sorella e i figli, e suo fratello. Un televisore al centro della stanza e tutto intorno le pareti sono invase da poster colorati raffiguranti Gesù e i santi, come da tradizione ortodossa. In balcone un fornelletto da campeggio funge da cucina, mentre per il bagno tocca andare nell’androne dello stabile. Per questa sistemazione pagano circa 1000 Nakfa, più o meno 50 euro al mese. Una somma importante in un paese dove il salario medio è di 450 nakfa. Genet sta preparando con sua figlia la partenza. Direzione Etiopia dove il figlio più grande ha chiesto l’asilo politico già due anni prima, in fuga dal servizio nazionale.

https://openmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/03_S8A1397-2.jpg

In migliaia fuggono ogni mese da quello che viene definito “il regime più sanguinario” d’Africa. Una volta all’estero gli eritrei raccontano storie inenarrabili di arresti e torture perpetrati con la logica di un regime che punisce chi si rifiuta di rimanere a vita al servizio dello Stato.

Quando nel luglio del 2018 il Presidente Isaias Afewerki accettò l’offerta del neo primo ministro etiope di firmare l’accordo di pace bilaterale, gli eritrei rimasero increduli. Dal 1998 Eritrea ed Etiopia sono rimaste in guerra, o meglio in uno stato di “nessuna guerra, nessuna pace” da quando, nel 2000, l’Etiopia rifiutò le condizioni imposte da una commissione di frontiera istituita dal Tribunale dell’Aja in virtù dell’accordo di pace. Da allora in Eritrea è rimasto in vigore lo Stato di emergenza proclamato da Asmara due anni prima, e anche il limite di 18 mesi per il servizio nazionale previsto dalla costituzione del 1993, non è mai stato ripristinato.

Eppure in giro per le principali strade del Paese, il regime non s’incontra. Nella capitale Asmara non c’è ombra di presidi militari, se non figure esili in divisa che si muovono a passo lento e con lo sguardo disinteressato di chi ha appena smontato dal turno di lavoro. Mentre donne molto anziane, con indosso abbondanti grembiuli grigio topo, spazzano i bordi dei marciapiedi della “piccola Roma”, come la chiamano i locali con una malcelata punta d’orgoglio. Con i suoi fiori rigogliosi, le ville in stile liberty, il suo ordine e la sua pulizia maniacali, Asmara restituisce tuttavia un senso di imbarazzo e asfissia. Quelle donne, che a fatica riescono a tirarsi dietro il bidoncino della spazzatura a loro assegnato, fanno parte dell’esercito ‘non armato’ del servizio nazionale eritreo, così come chi insegna a scuola, mette timbri in aeroporto, o fa il minatore, l’ingegnere e l’architetto.

Su viale della Libertà, che taglia il centro storico da parte a parte, sono in tante le donne sedute agli angoli dei marciapiedi che con i loro figli mendicano. “L’accattonaggio è severamente vietato qui, ma da qualche tempo la gente ha preso coraggio e chiede l’elemosina. La gente qui ha fame” ci dice un insegnante incontrato in un caffè sempre piantonato da mendicanti.

“La pace è un buon inizio” esordisce Solomon, ancora stupito di parlare con degli europei. Solomon lavora in un ufficio governativo da sei anni ad Asmara, e negli orari extra ufficio guida il suo taxi in giro per la capitale: “Per arrotondare” spiega. Poi racconta “Mio cugino è andato via due anni fa, ora è in Germania. E’ passato per il Sudan, Libia, e poi ha preso la via del mare”. La sua voce è bassa. Solomon sa che in patria chi scappa è un disertore, e che parlare dei disertori è pericoloso. Sorride come per prendere la rincorsa, e tutto d’un fiato ci dice “Io vorrei presto sposarmi, ma con lo stipendio del servizio nazionale non riuscirò mai a costruirmi un futuro”. L’ha detto, si è sbilanciato, ha superato la cortina di silenzio imposta dalla paura di un arresto.

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Eppure le sue parole non sanno di protesta. In Eritrea è vietato protestare. Ci si arrangia e quando non ce la si fa, s’impara a sopportare la fame. Chi scappa dal regime di Isaias Afewerki, l’ex guerrigliero che combatté per l’indipendenza dell’Eritrea e dal 1993 Presidente-dittatore, in patria è un traditore. E lo è anche per chi resta, almeno nelle conversazioni in pubblico.

In Eritrea è difficile sentirsi al sicuro dagli occhi e le orecchie indiscreti del sistema. La connessione dati sul cellulare non esiste, e per connettersi alla rete tocca comprare qualche giga in uno degli internet point dove la massa di corpi non lascia spazio alla privacy. “La rete di informatori è fittissima” ci dice un ex giornalista che nel 2009, in quella che nel paese è passata alla storia come la seconda tornata più importante di repressione politica per via di arresti eccellenti contro la stampa, lasciò Asmara. Da allora è in una sorta di ritiro nella sua capanna di zinco alla periferia di Massawa. La città sul Mar Rosso che a fine Ottocento fu anche la capitale della colonia italiana, ancora oggi si presenta come un teatro post-bellico. Sul viale principale alcuni ragazzi scattano selfie davanti ai quattro carri armati etiopi, che gli eritrei catturarono durante la guerra di Liberazione che si protrasse dal 1961 per trenta anni. Nel centro città gli edifici di epoca romana sono distrutti e abbandonati. Una legge ne impedisce l’occupazione. Tutto intorno i corvi fanno da padrone sulle bidonville dove la gente comune vive. Solo i camion che trasportano i metalli preziosi, e fanno la spola tra il porto e la capitale, restituiscono un senso di vitalità.

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Nonostante la fine della guerra fredda con l’Etiopia, la politica di repressione del Presidente Afewerki a livello domestico è rimasta identica a sé stessa. Il servizio nazionale a tempo indefinito è ancora in vigore, e nessun prigioniero politico è stato rilasciato. Nessuna notizia si ha ancora dei politici e dei giornalisti arrestati nel corso di una retata nel 2001, né del Ministero delle Finanze, Berhane Abreh, arrestato nel settembre del 2018 dopo aver pubblicato un libro con cui esortava i giovani eritrei a manifestare per uno stato di diritto in patria.

“La pace esterna” la chiamano gli eritrei all’estero, commentando l’accordo di pace che Asmara ha firmato con Addis Abeba. E gli eritrei continuano a scappare dalla fame prima, e dalle torture nelle carceri poi. Non si contano le migliaia di eritrei in prigione. Una sorta di gioco a ‘guardia e ladri’ in cui uomini e donne poco più che adolescenti vengono chiamati a servire il paese, accettano, resistono anni patendo stenti e umiliazioni, poi scappano, vengono riacciuffati, restano per qualche anno in galera, vengono rimessi in libertà ma a condizione di tornare a servire il paese. Tornano a lavorare per lo Stato, anche nelle miniere lungo la costa dove società straniere rivendicano estraneità allo sfruttamento dei lavoratori rimandando ogni responsabilità al Governo di Asmara, loro partner ufficiale. Dopo qualche anno di servizio, gli stessi già precedentemente arrestati, fuggono per essere nuovamente riacciuffati. Ancora anni di prigione, torture e poi rimessi in libertà. A questo punto però hanno messo su famiglia, non ce la fanno a dare da mangiare ai propri figli con quanto garantisce lo Stato durante il servizio, e quindi decidono che è arrivato il momento di scappare. Una volta non pervenuti al servizio, sono le loro mogli o i loro figli ad essere cercati e imprigionati. Uno schema sempre identico a sé stesso. Secondo il rapporto 2019 di Human Rights Watch (HRW) sull’Eritrea, il servizio nazionale infinito è da considerarsi alla stregua di una forma di schiavitù, e rimane il motivo principale di fuga dal Paese.

Quando il regime di Afewerki ha aperto il confine con l’Etiopia nel settembre del 2018, il numero delle persone in fuga, alla ricerca di asilo nel paese confinante, si è quadruplicato, secondo il rapporto della Commissione Europea per la Protezione Civile Europea e le Operazioni di Sostegno Umanitario (ECHO).

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Nei campi profughi a Nord dell’Etiopia, organizzazioni non governative e agenzie internazionali hanno dovuto tirare su decine di migliaia di baracche in alluminio nuove di zecca per far fronte al grande esodo. Questo perché al momento della firma dell’accordo di pace, il regime di Asmara non ha fatto alcun cenno alla revoca dello stato di emergenza o al ripristino dei 18 mesi per il servizio nazionale, né al rilascio dei prigionieri politici all’indomani della firma dell’accordo di pace con l’Etiopia.

“Da settimane Asmara ha chiuso di nuovo la frontiera di Humera e gli eritrei scappano a nuoto come prima” commenta già in aprile uno dei trafficanti ad Humera, città etiope al confine con l’Etiopia e il Sudan. Accovacciato sulla riva del fiume Tekeze che disegna il confine tra i tre paesi, osserva un uomo che da ore fa la spola tra la sponda eritrea, a Nord, e quella etiope. Un eritreo – ci spiega – è andato disperso mentre tentava di attraversare il fiume. E uno dei passatori ora cerca il suo corpo perché sua madre ha promesso una ricompensa per chi riuscirà a restituirglielo.

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Lungo il fiume Takaze sono un paio le squadre di passatori, ognuna ha un capo che decide di volta in volta a chi tocca affrontare la traghettata. Con una mano impegnata nella presa sulla zattera fatta di taniche legate con dello spago, i passatori nuotano contro corrente da una sponda all’altra del fiume solo con un braccio.

Nei giorni in cui il valico di frontiera a Humera era aperto, centinaia di eritrei si sono accalcati lungo le sponde del fiume Tekeze. “Pagavano fino a 300 dollari per ognuno” dice uno dei passatori del Tekeze. “Dicevano di non voler stare nei campi qui in Etiopia, e puntavano al Sudan, poi Libia. Insomma avevano fretta di raggiungere l’Europa” ricorda l’uomo. “Comunque ora la frontiera qui è chiusa, e pure in Libia non si passa” spiega il passatore del Tekeze.

All’imbrunire un ragazzo sopraggiunge con una coppia tra le rocce in riva al fiume, scambia poche battute con il trafficante di turno e si dilegua. “E’ uno degli smuggler eritrei che lavorano in zona, e quei due che sono saliti sulla zattera sono eritrei in fuga. Vanno in Sudan” spiega a bassa voce uno dei Caronte del Tekeze mentre mastica del tumbako, droga locale molto popolare.

Nel campo Mai Aini, uno dei tanti che segnano il confine tra Eritrea e Etiopia, un uomo racconta le torture subite in prigione per aver defezionato dopo sette anni di servizio nazionale come militare al confine. “Sono rimasto sul fronte per sette anni, poi sono scappato. Mi hanno preso e buttato in prigione per cinque anni” dice Mikael mostrando i segni di tortura subiti durante la detenzione. Unghie strappate, frustate sulla schiena fanno parte della lunga lista di torture subite, ricorda mentre resta seduto sul gradino della sua casa nel campo, mentre sua moglie allatta la loro bimba di un mese, nata nella casetta di fango e paglia in cui vivono da alcuni mesi.

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A fare da cordone intorno ai rifugiati resta la comunità locale etiope. Nel Tigrai la popolazione fa parte della stessa etnia degli eritrei, tutti tigrini appunto. All’indomani del grande plauso da parte della comunità internazionale nei confronti del primo ministro Abiy Ahmed Ali per lo storico accordo di pace, qui la solidarietà verso i fratelli eritrei passa per una più complessa lotta per il potere tra le varie etnie nella capitale di Addis Abeba. Abiy fa parte dell’etnia degli oromo mentre il suo predecessore, l’ex premier Hailé Mariàm Desalegn, è un tigrino. Quest’ultimo fu costretto a dimettersi in seguito allo scoppio di violente rivolte da parte degli oromo, etnia di maggioranza nel paese. Nel nord del Paese la scorsa estate si sono registrati omicidi eccellenti di uomini vicini al nuovo primo ministro. E quando lo scorso ottobre, il braccio destro di Abiy, Jawar Mohammed, ha denunciato di essere scampato ad un attentato, gli oromo sono scesi in strada a suo sostegno, e da lì a poco anche i tigrini hanno occupato le piazze in diverse città. La tensione è degenerata in scontri in cui sono morti 67 manifestanti.

“Come fa il primo ministro a stringere la mano ad un dittatore come Afewerki?” ci chiede un ragazzo molto giovane che da anni lavora come guida turistica a Shirè, una delle città più importanti del Tigrai. Tra i rifugiati eritrei serpeggia la paura che l’accordo di pace possa di fatto tradursi in una revisione del loro status di rifugiati in Etiopia.

Tuttavia negli ultimi mesi i numeri dei nuovi arrivi in Tigrai si sono significativamente ridotti. Da aprile tutti i confini restano chiusi. Neanche i camion merci passano più. E la sensazione di asfissia torna ad impadronirsi delle strade in stile modernista di Asmara, mentre l’Unione Europea decide che la firma dell’accordo di pace con l’Etiopia basti come prova da parte del Governo di Afewerki di aver cambiato pagina, e di aver finalmente operato la svolta progressista che ci si attendeva. Fondi firmati EU sono stati già stanziati per realizzazione di grandi opere in Eritrea. Evidente l’Unione Europea aspettava l’occasione per riconciliarsi con il dittatore, anche al costo dell’oblio delle centinaia di storie di uomini e donne che da vent’anni fuggono torture e inenarrabili sofferenze.

▻https://openmigration.org/analisi/fuggire-la-pace-leritrea-ad-un-anno-dallo-storico-accordo-di-pace-con

L’espoir renaît dans la Corne de l’Afrique

En juin 2018, fraîchement élu, le Premier ministre éthiopien #Abiy_Ahmed annonce accepter l’#accord_frontalier signé avec l’Érythrée en 2000. Cette décision historique met un terme à deux décennies d’hostilités. Une décision saluée par la communauté internationale et couronnée cette année par le prix Nobel de la paix.

Après l’indépendance officielle de l’Érythrée en 1993, les tensions avec l’Éthiopie se cristallisent en 1998 à la frontière entre les deux pays, dont le tracé reste flou : l’Éthiopie accuse son voisin d’avoir violé son territoire en envahissant la petite ville de #Badmé. La guerre est déclarée, causant près de 80’000 morts. L’accord de paix signé en 2000 à Alger se révèle précaire, et deux ans plus tard, la commission indépendante chargée de délimiter une nouvelle frontière attribue la bourgade symbolique de Badmé à l’Érythrée. En premier lieu, l’Éthiopie rejette ces conclusions, continuant ainsi à alimenter les tensions. Un revirement de situation s’opère en juin 2018 lorsque, fraîchement élu (début avril), le Premier ministre éthiopien, Abiy Ahmed, annonce renoncer à Badmé et accepter l’accord frontalier. Cette décision historique, qui a mis un terme à deux décennies d’hostilités, est saluée par la communauté internationale, et couronnée par l’attribution du prix Nobel de la paix cette année.
Le documentariste Thomas Aders explore les rouages et les enjeux d’un processus de pacification aussi complexe que fragile, qui fait souffler un vent d’espoir sur la Corne de l’Afrique.

▻https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/085424-000-A/l-espoir-renait-dans-la-corne-de-l-afrique
#film #documentaire

Sur le #prix_Nobel octroyé au président de l’Ethiopie, #Abiy_Ahmed :

▻https://seenthis.net/messages/805862

L’esodo infinito degli eritrei. Nel limbo dei campi al confine: “Per noi non c’è pace”

REPORTAGE dal #Tigray, zona di confine. Al primo ministro Abiy Ahmed Ali il premio Nobel per la pace, ma per chi vive sotto il regime di Afewerki la situazione non è cambiata. Si continua a scappare: in Etiopia il numero di rifugiati sfiora il milione. Da qui partito anche il primo corridoio dall’Africa di Caritas e Cei.

La strada di terra arsa che si perde all’orizzonte è intervallata solo da qualche curva, alcune costruzioni di mattoni e una collina: a destra c’è Mereb il fiume che segna il confine, a sinistra Badamè, la zona contesa per oltre vent’anni. “Lì dopo quella curva c’è l’Eritrea: le persone passano da lì, attraversano la frontiera a piedi, ogni giorno. Camminano fino a Dabaguna, dove c’è il primo centro e lì vengono registrati. Ci sono quindi ingressi circa, si stimano fino a circa 300 passaggi al giorno”, dice Alganesh Feassaha, presidente della Fondazione Gandhi, che ci accompagna nel viaggio insieme agli operatori di Caritas Italiana. Un esodo continuo, che neanche i recenti accordi di pace hanno arrestato, anzi da quando si sono aperti i confini, a scappare è un numero maggiore di persone. Siamo nella zona del Tigray, a venti chilometri da Shire. Qui ci sono almeno 164 mila profughi, in maggioranza eritrei, nei quattro campi ufficiali e nel campo di smistamento dell’Unhcr. “Doctor Aganesh” come la chiamano qui, continua a rivolgere lo sguardo oltre la collina, al suo paese, in cui da oltre 27 anni non può rientrare. “Penso di essere un ospite non gradita, diciamo così. Ma mi manca tanto, non vedo l’ora di rientrare”, dice. Attivista, medico ayurvedico, nel Giardino dei Giusti a Tunisi un albero porta il suo nome per ricordare la sua incessante attività di aiuto verso i migranti, non solo al confine con l’Eritrea ma anche in Libia e nel Sinai. Nel campo di May Haini la sua ong si occupa di assicurare almeno un pasto al giorno ai bambini presenti. Il campo conta più di 20 mila persone, che vivono nelle tende, ma anche in casolari di mattoni e lamiere. Il tempo di permanenza è infinito, si può restare qui anche 10 anni.

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Secondo l’ultimo rapporto di Unhcr, in Etiopia ci sono quasi un milione (905,831) di rifugiati: un numero altissimo, tanto da risultare il secondo paese africano dopo l’Uganda. Solo nella zona del Tigray ci sono circa 170 mila persone, in gran parte scappate dal regime di Isaias Afewerki. “I campi più grandi sono quello di Mai Aini e Aidi Arush - spiega Oliviero Forti, responsabile immigrazione di Caritas italiana -. Le persone vivono qui, ormai da anni, con grandi difficoltà anche rispetto alla popolazione locale, perché avere numeri così alti nei campi significa gravare sulla comunità locale. Bisogna trovare le vie per alleggerire questa accoglienza - aggiunge -. L’Etiopia non è un paese che potrà proseguire con questi sforzi perché i costi, sia economici che sociali, sono elevati”.

In una delle case di cemento incontro due ragazze appena arrivate, preparano il caffè. “Veniamo da Asmara, abbiamo passato il confine una settimana fa - dicono - per ora siamo qui nel campo, poi proviamo ad andare ad Addis Abeba”. Nella casa affianco si entra passando un piccolo cancello: nel cortile improvvisato, un filo tirato tiene su i panni stesi di bambini molto piccoli, uno zaino. Per terra, vicino alle mura ci sono alcuni sacchi, a cui una capra attinge per mangiare. “Sono eritrea, nel mio paese ero un’insegnante - racconta Farah -. Sono andata via dal paese per raggiungere mio marito, che è stato costretto a scappare, e ora è in Canada. Qui ci siamo io e i nostri tre bambini - aggiunge - non è facile, perché non è il nostro paese e le condizioni non sono ottime. Ma speriamo di ricongiungerci con lui al più presto”.

Davanti all’ingresso del campo, sotto il manifesto di Unhcr che recita “working together to prevent suicide”, decine di persone si ammassano in fila. Oltre a chi scappa da Asmara, c’è chi arriva dal Sudan e dalla Somalia. “La frontiera è lunga e pericolosa, anche mortale, ci sono dei fiumi da attraversare e per molti il viaggio è particolarmente difficile - aggiunge Forti -. Quando riescono ad arrivare, vengono smistati in questi campi attrezzati. Ma il tempo di permanenza è molto variabile: c’è chi rimane anche oltre 10 anni. Molti giovani sono nati qui e continuano a vivere in attesa di una risposta. Ma più i tempi si allungano più si affievoliscono le speranze di trovare un’alternativa. E questo spinge molti a pensare ad altre vie: in particolare la via del deserto, della Libia e del mare”.

In molti si affidano ai trafficanti, nelle zone di confine ci sono diversi passeur che aspettano i rifugiati per offrire un passaggio a peso d’oro. Le alternative legali e sicure sono poche: i progetti di reinsediamento verso altri paesi sono numericamente risibili, negli ultimi anni si sono ridotti in particolare i programmi di resettlement verso gli Stati Uniti, per una stretta voluta dall’amministrazione Trump. Sono stati incrementati invece i programmi privati come i corridoi umanitari, ma anche questi hanno numeri ancora bassi. In particolare, il corridoio da Addis Abeba verso l’Italia, organizzato da Caritas italiana, Fondazione Gandhi e Unhcr, da protocollo prevede l’arrivo nel nostro paese di 600 persone. Il protocollo precedente ne contava 500. “Sono numeri poco significativi se pensiamo che ogni campo ha al suo interno almeno 20 mila persone - aggiunge Forti -. Ma ovviamente importanti perché permettiamo a queste persone di arrivare con una via legale e sicura”. Oltre il limbo dei campi al confine, la situazione è complicata anche nei sobborghi delle grandi città.

A Jemo, quartiere di Addis Abeba, c’è una comunità numerosa di rifugiati cosiddetti out of camp, fuori accoglienza. Sono passati cioè dai campi ufficiali al confine per poi spostarsi in città, uscendo di fatto dall’accoglienza. Vivono in palazzi occupati e si mantengono facendo piccoli lavoretti: la legge non gli permette ancora di lavorare. Per loro - la situazione paradossalmente è peggiorata dopo la pace firmata tra Etiopia ed Eritrea: con l’apertura dei confini molti emissari del regime sono entrati nel paese, e ora chi è scappato teme di non essere al sicuro neanche qui.

“Molti attivisti, scappati da Asmara, hanno un problema di protezione anche in un paese di primo asilo come l’Etiopia - spiega Daniele Albanese, che per Caritas italiana segue il corridoio umanitario dal Corno d’Africa, occupandosi di tutta la parte logistica. Ogni partenza ha alle spalle una lavoro di mesi, mi racconta, mentre arriviamo nel residence di Addis Abeba, dove vivono le persone beneficiarie del progetto. “Abbiamo incontrato le persone nei campi al confine, partiamo dalla segnalazione delle Nazioni Unite che ci fornisce una lista di persone vulnerabili - aggiunge -. Tutti hanno dovuto scappare e lasciare il paese in maniera traumatica. Questo, per ora, è l’unico corridoio umanitario dall’Africa. La maggior parte dei beneficiari sono eritrei perché nel paese continua la diaspora e il movimento di persone, specialmente dopo la pace con l’Etiopia l’afflusso è diventato enorme perché si sono aperti i confini. Fuori e dentro i campi alla frontiera ci sono anche tanti trafficanti che chiedono cinque o seimila euro a persona per arrivare in Europa. La rotta più battuta è quella verso la Libia. Quello che tentiamo di fare noi è offrire una testimonianza virtuosa che vorremmo diventasse sistema”.

Il 10 dicembre scorso il primo ministro etiope Abiy Ahmed Ali ha ritirato il premio Nobel per la Pace 2019, che gli è stato conferito per l’accordo di pace raggiunto con l’Eritrea, dopo vent’anni di guerra tra i due paesi. Ma se in Etiopia i cambiamenti sembrano procedere sia dal punto di vista economico che sociale, in Eritrea non si respira un’aria nuova. “Sono scappato dopo la firma della pace tra Eritrea ed Etiopia - racconta Mehari Haile, che fa parte del gruppo partito il 29 novembre 2019-. In Eritrea il servizio militare continua a essere definitivo, io sono stato arruolato 5 anni poi non ce la facevo più, stavo impazzendo e ho lasciato. Quando si sono aperti i confini con l’Etiopia sono riuscito a scappare, lì ho lasciato mia madre. Ma ora non posso più tornare indietro. Avevo già pensato di lasciare il mio paese in modo legale, avevo ottenuto una borsa di studio a Trento e Milano ma non mi hanno mai rilasciato il passaporto. Non puoi andartene dall’Eritrea, puoi solo scappare”. E’ per questo - aggiunge - che molti provano la rotta più pericolosa, quella del mare. “Dopo la pace tra Etiopia ed Eritrea si sono aperti i confini, ma non è cambiato niente per noi - aggiunge - Sì, non c’è più la guerra, ed è una cosa positiva, ma le nostre vite sono rimaste uguali. C’è ancora un regime dittatoriale, non c’è libertà di parola e di pensiero. E’ come se fosse una pace finta. Ho dei parenti che hanno fatto la traversata via mare e mi hanno raccontato cose orribili, mi dicono che un viaggio terribile - aggiunge -. Io ho la fortuna di arrivare con un corridoio umanitario ma in tanti non hanno altra scelta”. In tutto saranno 600 i beneficiari del progetto dal Corno d’Africa in due anni.

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Redattore Sociale ha seguito l’ultimo corridoio del 29 novembre scorso (▻https://www.redattoresociale.it/article/notiziario/rifugiati_da_addis_abeba_a_roma_il_nostro_primo_viaggio_sicuro_), raccontando le storie delle persone pronte a partire verso nel nostro paese (▻https://www.redattoresociale.it/article/notiziario/una_via_sicura_dall_africa_viaggio_tra_i_profughi_che_arriveranno_i), che ora sono accolte nelle diocesi di tutta Italia. “Nessuno ha la presunzione di risolvere i grandi problemi dell’immigrazione con i corridoi umanitari: il nostro obiettivo è mandare un messaggio chiaro, vogliamo cambiare la narrativa per cambiare anche le politiche - aggiunge Oliviero Forti -. Vogliamo spingere, cioè, le istituzioni e i governi a impegnarsi realmente a realizzare vie sicure e legali, perché le persone non debbano più tentare altre rotte, che mettono a rischio la vita di migliaia di persone come quella del Mediterraneo centrale”.

▻https://www.redattoresociale.it/article/notiziario/la_diaspora_infinita_degli_eritrei_nel_limbo_dei_campi_al_confine_p
#Annalisa_Camilli

Peace Deal Alone Will Not Stem Flow of Eritrean Refugees

The detente with Ethiopia has seen Eritrea slash indefinite military conscription. Researcher Cristiano D’Orsi argues that without a breakthrough on human rights, Eritreans will still flee.

Ethiopia and Eritrea have signed a historic agreement to end the 20-year conflict between the two countries. The breakthrough has been widely welcomed given the devastating effects the conflict has had on both countries as well as the region.

The tension between the two countries led to Eritrea taking steps that were to have a ripple effect across the region – and the world. One in particular, the conscription of young men, has had a particularly wide impact.

Two years before formal cross-border conflict broke out in 1998, the Eritrean government took steps to maintain a large standing army to push back against Ethiopia’s occupation of Eritrean territories. Initially, troops were supposed to assemble and train for a period of 18 months as part of their national service. But, with the breakout of war, the service, which included both military personnel and civilians, was extended. All Eritrean men between the ages of 18–50 have to serve in the army for more than 20 years.

This policy has been given as the reason for large numbers of Eritreans fleeing the country. The impact of the policy on individuals, and families, has been severe. For example, there have been cases of multiple family members being conscripted at the same time. This denied them the right to enjoy a stable family life. Children were the most heavily affected.

It’s virtually impossible for Eritreans to return once they have left as refugees because the Eritrean government doesn’t look kindly on repatriated returnees. Those who are forced to return to the country face persecution and human rights abuses.

In 2017, Eritreans represented the ninth-largest refugee population in the world with 486,200 people forcibly displaced. By May 2018, Eritreans represented 5 percent of the migrants who disembarked on the northern shores of the Mediterranean.

Things look set to change, however. The latest batch of national service recruits have been told their enlistment will last no longer than 18 months. The announcement came in the midst of the dramatic thawing of relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea. It has raised hopes that the service could be terminated altogether.

With that said, it remains to be seen whether the end of hostilities between the two countries will ultimately stem the flow of Eritrean refugees.

It’s virtually impossible for Eritreans to return once they have left as refugees because the Eritrean government doesn’t look kindly on repatriated returnees. Those who are forced to return to the country face persecution and human rights abuses.

The Eritrean government’s hardline position has led to changes in refugee policies in countries like the UK. For example, in October 2016, a U.K. appellate tribunal held that Eritreans of draft age who left the country illegally would face the risk of persecution and abuse if they were involuntarily returned to Eritrea.

This, the tribunal said, was in direct violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result, the U.K.’s Home Office amended its immigration policy to conform to the tribunal’s ruling.

Eritrean asylum seekers haven’t been welcome everywhere. For a long time they were persona non grata in Israel on the grounds that absconding national service duty was not justification for asylum. But in September 2016, an Israeli appeals court held that Eritreans must be given the chance to explain their reasons for fleeing at individual hearings, overruling an interior ministry policy that denied asylum to deserters.

The situation is particularly tense for Eritreans in Israel because they represent the majority of African asylum seekers in the country. In fact, in May 2018, Israel and the United Nations refugee agency began negotiating a deal to repatriate African asylum seekers in western countries, with Canada as a primary destination.

An earlier deal had fallen through after public pressure reportedly caused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back out of it.

Eritreans living as refugees in Ethiopia have been welcomed in Australia where they are one among eight nationalities that have access to a resettlement scheme known as the community support program. This empowers Australian individuals, community organizations and businesses to offer Eritrean refugees jobs if they have the skills, allowing them to settle permanently in the country.

The government has always denied that conscription has anything to do with Eritreans fleeing the country. Two years ago it made it clear that it would not shorten the length of the mandatory national service.

At the time officials said Eritreans were leaving the country because they were being enticed by certain “pull factors.” They argued, for example, that the need for low cost manpower in the West could easily be met by giving asylum to Eritreans who needed just to complain about the National Service to obtain asylum.

But change is on the cards. After signing the peace deal with Ethiopia, Eritrea has promised to end the current conscription regime and announcing that national service duty will last no more than 18 months.

Even so, the national service is likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future to fulfil other parts of its mandate which are reconstructing the country, strengthening the economy, and developing a joint Eritrean identity across ethnic and religious lines.

Eritrea is still a country facing enormous human rights violations. According to the last Freedom House report, the Eritrean government has made no recent effort to address these. The report accuses the regime of continuing to perpetrate crimes against humanity.

If Eritrea pays more attention to upholding human rights, fewer nationals will feel the need to flee. And if change comes within Eritrean borders as fast as it did with Ethiopia, a radical shift in human rights policy could be in the works.

▻https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2018/08/09/peace-deal-alone-will-not-stem-flow-of-eritrean-refugees

#asile #réfugiés

Eritrea has slashed conscription. Will it stem the flow of refugees?

Ethiopia and Eritrea have signed an historic agreement to end the 20-year conflict between the two countries. The breakthrough has been widely welcomed given the devastating effects the conflict has had on both countries as well as the region.

The tension between the two countries led to Eritrea taking steps that were to have a ripple effect across the region – and the world. One in particular, the conscription of young men, has had a particularly wide impact.

Two years before formal cross border conflict broke out in 1998, the Eritrean government took steps to maintain a large standing army to push back against Ethiopia’s occupation of Eritrean territories. Initially, troops were supposed to assemble and train for a period of 18 months as part of their national service. But, with the breakout of war, the service, which included both military personnel and civilians, was extended. All Eritrean men between the ages of 18 – 50 have to serve in the army for more than 20 years.

This policy has been given as the reason for large numbers of Eritreans fleeing the country. The impact of the policy on individuals, and families, has been severe. For example, there have been cases of multiple family members being conscripted at the same time. This denied them the right to enjoy a stable family life. Children were the most heavily affected.

In 2017, Eritreans represented the ninth-largest refugee population in the world with 486,200 people forcibly displaced. By May 2018 Eritreans represented 5% of the migrants who disembarked on the northern shores of the Mediterranean.

Things look set to change, however. The latest batch of national service recruits have been told their enlistment will last no longer than 18 months. The announcement came in the midst of the dramatic thawing of relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea. It has raised hopes that the service could be terminated altogether.

With that said, it remains to be seen whether the end of hostilities between the two countries will ultimately stem the flow of Eritrean refugees.
The plight of Eritrean refugees

It’s virtually impossible for Eritreans to return once they have left as refugees because the Eritrean government doesn’t look kindly on repatriated returnees. Those who are forced to return to the country face persecution and human rights abuses.

The Eritrean government’s hard line position has led to changes in refugee policies in countries like the UK. For example, in October 2016 a UK appellate tribunal held that Eritreans of draft age who left the country illegally would face the risk of persecution and abuse if they were involuntarily returned to Eritrea.

This, the tribunal said, was in direct violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result, the UK’s Home Office amended its immigration policy to conform to the tribunal’s ruling.

Eritrean asylum seekers haven’t been welcome everywhere. For a long time they were persona non grata in Israel on the grounds that absconding national service duty was not justification for asylum. But in September 2016 an Israeli appeals court held that Eritreans must be given the chance to explain their reasons for fleeing at individual hearings, overruling an interior ministry policy that denied asylum to deserters.

The situation is particularly tense for Eritreans in Israel because they represent the majority of African asylum-seekers in the country. In fact, in May 2018, Israel and the United Nations refugee agency began negotiating a deal to repatriate African asylum-seekers in western countries, with Canada as a primary destination.

An earlier deal had fallen through after public pressure reportedly caused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back out of it.

Eritreans living as refugees in Ethiopia have been welcomed in Australia where they are one among eight nationalities that have access to a resettlement scheme known as the community support programme. This empowers Australian individuals, community organisations and businesses to offer Eritrean refugees jobs if they have the skills, allowing them to settle permanently in the country.
The future

The government has always denied that conscription has anything to do with Eritreans fleeing the country. Two years ago it made it clear that it would not shorten the length of the mandatory national service.

At the time officials said Eritreans were leaving the country because they were being enticed by certain “pull factors”. They argued, for example, that the need for low cost manpower in the West could easily be met by giving asylum to Eritreans who needed just to complain about the National Service to obtain asylum.

But change is on the cards. After signing the peace deal with Ethiopia, Eritrea has promised to end the current conscription regime and announcing that national service duty will last no more than 18 months.

Even so, the national service is likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future to fulfil other parts of its mandate which are reconstructing the country, strengthening he economy, and developing a joint Eritrean identity across ethnic and religious lines.

Eritrea is still a country facing enormous human rights violations. According to the last Freedom House report, the Eritrean government has made no recent effort to address these. The report accuses the regime of continuing to perpetrate crimes against humanity.

If Eritrea pays more attention to upholding human rights, fewer nationals will feel the need to flee. And if change comes within Eritrean borders as fast as it did with Ethiopia, a radical shift in human rights policy could be in the works.

▻https://theconversation.com/eritrea-has-slashed-conscription-will-it-stem-the-flow-of-refugees-

#conscription #service_militaire #armée

Out of Eritrea: What happens after #Badme?

On 6 June 2018, the government of Ethiopia announced that it would abide by the Algiers Agreement and 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopian Boundary Commission decision that defined the disputed border and granted the border town of Badme to Eritrea. Over the last 20 years, Badme has been central to the dispute between the two countries, following Ethiopia’s rejection of the ruling and continued occupation of the area. Ethiopia’s recently appointed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed acknowledged that the dispute over Badme had resulted in 20 years of tension between the two countries. To defend the border areas with Ethiopia, in 1994 the Eritrean government introduced mandatory military service for all adults over 18. Eritrean migrants and asylum seekers often give their reason for flight as the need to escape this mandatory national service.

Since 2015, Eritreans have been the third largest group of people entering Europe through the Mediterranean, and have the second highestnumber of arrivals through the Central Mediterranean route to Italy. According to UNHCR, by the end of 2016, 459,390 Eritreans were registered refugees in various countries worldwide. Various sources estimate Eritrea’s population at 5 million people, meaning that approximately 10% of Eritrea’s population has sought refuge abroad by 2016.
Mandatory military service – a driver of migration and displacement

As data collection from the Mixed Migration Centre’s Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4Mi) shows, 95% of Eritrean refugees and migrants surveyed gave fear of conscription into national service as their main reason for flight out of Eritrea. Men and women from 18 to 40 years old are required by law to undertake national service for 18 months — including six months of military training followed by 12 months’ deployment either in military service or in other government entities including farms, construction sites, mines and ministries.
In reality, national service for most conscripts extends beyond the 18 months and often indefinite. There are also reported cases of children under 18 years old being forcefully recruited. Even upon completion of national service, Eritreans under the age of 50 years may been enrolled in the Reserve Army with the duty to provide reserve military service and defend the country from external attacks or invasions.

According to Human Rights Watch, conscripts are subject to military discipline and are harshly treated and earn a salary that often ranges between USD 43 – 48 per month. The length of service is unpredictable, the type of abuse inflicted on conscripts is at the whim of military commanders and the UN Commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea reported on the frequent sexual abuse of female conscripts. Eritrea has no provision for conscientious objection to national service and draft evaders and deserters if arrested are subjected to heavy punishment according to Amnesty International, including lengthy periods of detention, torture and other forms of inhuman treatment including rape for women. For those who escape, relatives are forced to pay fines of 50,000 Nakfa (USD 3,350) for each family member. Failure to pay the fine may result in the arrest and detention of a family member until the money is paid which further fuels flight from Eritrea for families who are unable to pay the fine.

The government of Eritrea asserts that compulsory and indefinite national service is necessitated by continued occupation of its sovereign territories citing Ethiopia as the main threat. In its response to the UN Human Rights Council Report that criticised Eritrea for human rights violations including indefinite conscription, Eritrea stated that one of its main constraints to the fulfilment of its international and national obligations in promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms is the continued occupation of its territory by Ethiopia.

In 2016, Eritrea’s minister for Information confirmed that indefinite national service would remain without fundamental changes even in the wake of increased flight from the country by citizens unwilling to undertake the service. The Minister went on to state that Eritrea would contemplate demobilization upon the removal of the ‘main threat’, in this case Eritrea’s hostile relationship with Ethiopia. Eritrea and Ethiopia have both traded accusations of supporting opposition/militia groups to undermine each other both locally and abroad. If the relations between the countries turn peaceful, this could potentially have an impact on Eritrean migration, out of the country and out of the region.

In the absence of hostilities and perceived security threats from its neighbour, it is possible that Eritrea will amend – or at least be open to start a dialogue about amending – its national service (and military) policies from the current mandatory and indefinite status, which has been one of the major root causes of the movement of Eritreans out of their country and onwards towards Europe. Related questions are whether an improvement in the relations with Ethiopia could also bring an immediate or longer term improvement in the socio-economic problems that Eritrea faces, for example through expanded trade relations between the two countries? Will this change usher in an era of political stability and an easing of military burdens on the Eritrean population?
A possible game changer?

The border deal, if it materialises, could at some time also have serious implications for Eritrean asylum seekers in Europe. Eritreans applying for asylum have relatively high approval rates. The high recognition rate for Eritrean asylum seekers is based on the widely accepted presumptionthat Eritreans who evade or avoid national service are at risk of persecution. In 2016 for example, 93% of Eritreans who sought asylum in EU countries received a positive decision. This recognition rate was second to Syrians and ahead of Iraqis and Somalis; all countries that are in active conflict unlike Eritrea. If the government of Eritrea enacts positive policy changes regarding conscription, the likely effect could be a much lower recognition rate for Eritrean asylum seekers. It is unclear how this would affect those asylum seekers already in the system.

While Eritreans on the route to Europe and in particular those arriving in Italy, remain highly visible and receive most attention, many Eritreans who leave the country end up in refugee camps or Eritrean enclaves in neighbouring countries like Sudan and Ethiopia or further away in Egypt. After they flee, most Eritreans initially apply for refugee status in Ethiopia’s and Sudan’s refugee camps. As Human Rights Watch noted in 2016, the Eritrean camp population generally remains more or less stable. While many seek onward movements out of the camps, many refugees remain in the region. With these potentially new developments in Eritrea, will the Eritreans in Sudan, Ethiopia and other neighbouring countries feel encouraged or compelled to return at some, or will they perhaps be forced to return to Eritrea?
What’s next?

Conservative estimates in 2001 put the cost of the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia at USD 2.9 billion in just the first three years. This has had an adverse effect on the economies of the two countries as well as human rights conditions. In 2013, Eritrea expressed its willingness to engage in dialogue with Ethiopia should it withdraw its army from the disputed territory which it further noted is occupied by 300,000 soldiers from both countries. Ethiopia has previously stated its willingness to surrender Badme, without in the end acting upon this promise. Should this latest promise be implemented and ties between two countries normalized, this might herald positive developments for both the economy and the human rights situation in both countries, with a potential significant impact on one of the major drivers of movement out of Eritrea.

However, with the news that Ethiopia would move to define its borders in accordance with international arbitration, the possibilities for political stability and economic growth in Eritrea remain uncertain. On 21 June 2018, the President of Eritrea Isaias Aferwerki issued a statement saying that Eritrea would send a delegation to Addis Ababa to ‘gauge current developments… chart out a plan for continuous future action’. The possibility of resulting peace and economic partnership between the two countries could, although a long-term process, also result in economic growth on both sides of the border and increased livelihood opportunities for their citizens who routinely engage in unsafe and irregular migration for political, humanitarian and economic reasons.

▻http://www.mixedmigration.org/articles/out-of-eritrea

sur l’ouverture des frontières entre les deux pays, voir :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/721926

Despite the peace deal with Ethiopia, Eritrean refugees are still afraid to return home

When Samuel Berhe thinks of Eritrea, he sees the sand-colored buildings and turquoise water of Asmara’s shoreline. He sees his sister’s bar under the family home in the capital’s center that sells sweet toast and beer. He sees his father who, at 80 years old, is losing his eyesight but is still a force to be reckoned with. He thinks of his home, a place that he cannot reach.

Berhe, like many other Eritreans, fled the country some years ago to escape mandatory national service, which the government made indefinite following the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia. The war cost the countries an estimated 100,000 lives, while conscription created a generation of Eritrean refugees. The UNHCR said that in 2016 there were 459,000 Eritrean exiles out of an estimated population of 5.3 million.

So, when the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a sudden peace deal in July 2018, citizens of the Horn of Africa nations rejoiced. Many took to the streets bearing the two flags. Others chose social media to express their happiness, and some even dialed up strangers, as phone lines between the nations were once again reinstated. It felt like a new era of harmony and prosperity had begun.

But for Berhe, the moment was bittersweet.

“I was happy because it is good for our people but I was also sad, because it doesn’t make any change for me,” he said from his home in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. “I will stay as a refugee.”

Like many other Eritrean emigrants, Berhe fled the country illegally to escape national service. He fears that if he returns, he will wind up in jail, or worse. He does not have a passport and has not left Ethiopia since he arrived on the back of a cargo truck 13 years ago. His two daughters, Sarah, 9, and Ella, 11, for whom he is an only parent, have never seen their grandparents or their father’s homeland.

Now that there is a direct flight, Berhe is planning on sending the girls to see their relatives. But before he considers returning, he will need some sort of guarantee from Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki, who leads the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, that he will pardon those who left.

“The people that illegally escaped, the government thinks that we are traitors,” he said. “There are many, many like me, all over the world, too afraid to go back.”

Still, hundreds fought to board the first flights between the two capitals throughout July and August. Asmara’s and Addis Ababa’s airports became symbols of the reunification as hordes of people awaited their relatives with bouquets daily, some whom they hadn’t seen for more than two decades.

“When I see the people at the airport, smiling, laughing, reuniting with their family, I wish to be like them. To be free. They are lucky,” Berhe said.

Related: Chronic insomnia plagues young migrants long after they reach their destination

Zala Mekonnen, 38, an Eritrean Canadian, who was one of the many waiting at arrivals in Addis Ababa, said she had completely given up on the idea that the two nations — formerly one country — would ever rekindle relations.

Mekonnen, who is half Ethiopian, found the 20-year feud especially difficult as her family was separated in half. In July, her mother saw her uncle for the first time in 25 years.

“We’re happy but hopefully he’s [Afwerki] going to let those young kids free [from conscription],” she said. “I’m hoping God will hear, because so many of them died while trying to escape. One full generation lost.”

Related: A life of statelessness derailed this Eritrean runner’s hopes to compete in the Olympics

Mekonnen called the peace deal with Ethiopia a crucial step towards Eritrean democracy. But Afwerki, the 72-year-old ex-rebel leader, will also have to allow multiple political parties to exist, along with freedom of religion, freedom of speech and reopening Asmara’s public university while also giving young people opportunities outside of national service.

“The greeting that Afwerki received here in Ethiopia [following the agreement to restore relations], he didn’t deserve it,” said Mekonnen. “He should have been hung.”

Since the rapprochement, Ethiopia’s leader, Abiy Ahmed, has reached out to exiled opposition groups, including those in Eritrea, to open up a political dialogue. The Eritrean president has not made similar efforts. But in August, his office announced that he would visit Ethiopia for a second time to discuss the issue of rebels.

Laura Hammond, a professor of developmental studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, said that it is likely Afwerki will push for Ethiopia to send Eritrean refugees seeking asylum back to Eritrea.

“The difficulty is that, while the two countries are normalizing relations, the political situation inside Eritrea is not changing as rapidly,” Hammond said. “There are significant fears about what will happen to those who have left the country illegally, including in some cases escaping from prison or from their national service bases. They will need to be offered amnesty if they are to feel confident about returning.”

To voice their frustrations, thousands of exiled Eritreans gathered in protest outside the UN headquarters in Geneva on Aug. 31. Amid chants of “enough is enough” and “down, down Isaias,” attendees held up placards calling for peace and democracy. The opposition website, Harnnet, wrote that while the rapprochement with Ethiopia was welcomed, regional and global politicians were showing “undeserved sympathy” to a power that continued to violate human rights.

Sitting in front of the TV, Berhe’s two daughters sip black tea and watch a religious parade broadcast on Eritrea’s national channel. Berhe, who has temporary refugee status in Ethiopia, admits that one thing that the peace deal has changed is that the state’s broadcaster no longer airs perpetual scenes of war. For now, he is safe in Addis Ababa with his daughters, but he is eager to obtain a sponsor in the US, Europe or Australia, so that he can resettle and provide them with a secure future. He is afraid that landlocked Ethiopia might cave to pressures from the Eritrean government to return its refugees in exchange for access to the Red Sea port.

“Meanwhile my girls say to me, ’Why don’t we go for summer holiday in Asmara?’” he laughs. “They don’t understand my problem.”

https://media.pri.org/s3fs-public/styles/story_main/public/images/2018/09/2_eritrea.jpg?itok=6guNX_RC#.jpg https://media.pri.org/s3fs-public/styles/original_image/public/images/2018/09/airport.jpg?itok=ue48nOwP#.jpg https://media.pri.org/s3fs-public/styles/original_image/public/images/2018/09/airportreunion.jpg?itok=BR3uyFk_#.jpg

Etiopia: firmato ad Asmara accordo di pace fra governo e Fronte nazionale di liberazione dell’#Ogaden

Asmara, 22 ott 09:51 - (Agenzia Nova) - Il governo dell’Etiopia e i ribelli del Fronte nazionale di liberazione dell’Ogaden (#Onlf) hanno firmato un accordo di pace nella capitale eritrea Asmara per porre fine ad una delle più antiche lotte armate in Etiopia. L’accordo, si legge in una nota del ministero degli Esteri di Addis Abeba ripresa dall’emittente “Fana”, è stato firmato da una delegazione del governo etiope guidata dal ministro degli Esteri Workneh Gebeyehu e dal presidente dell’Onlf, Mohamed Umer Usman, i quali hanno tenuto un colloquio definito “costruttivo” e hanno raggiunto un “accordo storico” che sancisce “l’inizio di un nuovo capitolo di pace e stabilità in Etiopia”. L’Onlf, gruppo separatista fondato nel 1984, è stato etichettato come organizzazione terrorista dal governo etiope fino al luglio scorso, quando il parlamento di Addis Abeba ha ratificato la decisione del governo di rimuovere i partiti in esilio – tra cui appunto l’Onlf – dalla lista delle organizzazioni terroristiche. La decisione rientra nella serie di provvedimenti annunciati dal premier Abiy Ahmed per avviare il percorso di riforme nel paese, iniziato con il rilascio di migliaia di prigionieri politici, la distensione delle relazioni con l’Eritrea e la parziale liberalizzazione dell’economia etiope.

▻https://www.agenzianova.com/a/5bcd9c24083997.87051681/2142476/2018-10-22/etiopia-firmato-ad-asmara-accordo-di-pace-fra-governo-e-fronte-nazional

Hier Etat paria, l’Erythrée en passe de devenir un acteur central de la Corne de l’Afrique

Avec la levée des sanctions des Nations unies, le pays d’Isaias Afwerki pourra exploiter son potentiel économique et géostratégique.

▻https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2018/11/14/hier-etat-paria-l-erythree-en-passe-de-devenir-un-acteur-central-de-la-corne

UN: No Rights Progress in Eritrea After Peace Deal With Ethiopia

U.N. experts say Eritrea’s human rights record has not changed for the better since the government signed a peace agreement with Ethiopia last year, formally ending a two decades-long border conflict. The U.N. Human Rights Council held an interactive dialogue on the current situation in Eritrea this week.

After a 20-year military stalemate with Ethiopia, hopes were high that the peace accord would change Eritrea’s human rights landscape for the better.

U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore said that has not happened. She said Eritrea has missed a historic opportunity because the government has not implemented urgently needed judicial, constitutional and economic reforms.

She said the continued use of indefinite national service remains a major human rights concern.

“Conscripts continue to confront open-ended duration of service, far beyond the 18 months stipulated in law and often under abusive conditions, which may include the use of torture, sexual violence and forced labor,” she said.

Gilmore urged Eritrea to bring its national service in line with the country’s international human rights obligations.

“The peace agreement signed with Ethiopia should provide the security that the government of Eritrea has argued it needs to discontinue this national service and help shift its focus from security to development…. In the absence of promising signs of tangible human rights progress, that flow of asylum-seekers is not expected to drop,” Gilmore said.

https://gdb.voanews.com/E6BE025B-CE31-4088-A5E5-CAE5D403D668_w650_r0_s.jpg

Human rights groups say unlimited national service forces thousands of young men to flee Eritrea every month to seek asylum in Europe. They say many lose their lives making the perilous journey across the Sahara Desert or while crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

The head of the Eritrean delegation to the Council, Tesfamicael Gerahtu, said his country has had to adopt certain measures to counter the negative effect of the last 20 years on peace, security and development. He insists there is no human rights crisis in his country.

He accused the Human Rights Council of exerting undue pressure on Eritrea by monitoring his country’s human rights situation and adopting detrimental resolutions. He called the actions counterproductive.

“The honorable and productive way forward is to terminate the confrontational approach on Eritrea that has been perpetrated in the last seven years and that has not created any dividend in the promotion of human rights. And, there is no crisis that warrants a Human Rights Council agenda or special mandate on Eritrea,” Gerahtu said.

Daniel Eyasu , head of Cooperation and International Relations of the National Youth Union and Eritrean Students, agrees there is no human rights crisis in Eritrea. He offered a positive spin on the country’s controversial national service, calling it critical for nation building.

Unfortunately, he said, the reports of the council’s special procedures characterizing national service as modern slavery is unwarranted, unjustified and unacceptable.

The Founder of One Day Seyoum, Vanessa Tsehaye, said the government has not changed its stripes. She said it is as repressive today as it was before the peace accord with Ethiopia was signed.

Tsehaye’s organization works for the release of her uncle, a journalist who has been imprisoned without a trial in Eritrea since 2001 and for all people unjustly imprisoned. She said they continue to languish in prison.

“The standoff at the border cannot justify the fact that all capable Eritreans are enlisted into the national service indefinitely. It cannot justify the fact that the country’s constitution still has not been implemented and that the parliament still has not convened since 2002. It does not justify the fact that the only university in the country has been shut down, that the free press has still not been opened and that tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned without a trial simply for expressing their opinions, practicing their religion or attempting to leave their country,” Tsehaye said.

But delegates at the council welcomed the peace process and expressed hope it will result in better protection for the Eritrean people. But they noted the prevailing abusive conditions are not promising.

They urged the government to reform its military service, release all political prisoners, stop the practice of arbitrary arrests, and end torture and inhumane detention conditions.

▻https://www.voanews.com/a/eritrea-human-rights/4834072.html
#processus_de_paix #droits_humains