From Sawa to the Sinai Desert: The Eritrean Tragedy of Human Trafficking

Eritrea is a twenty-year old nation with a long history of war, political violence, instability, excessive levels of poverty and economic deprivation. ... We take these as major indicators of forced migration. And our paper analyses earlier and latest trends of human trafficking in Eritrea, dating back to mid-1990s up to November 2011. Earlier trends of human trafficking were relatively of a lower magnitude. In the last two years the trend of human trafficking has escalated exponentially exposing thousands of Eritrean victims to horrendous acts of abuses, such as illegal organ harvesting, by Bedouin human traffickers based in the Sinai Desert of Northeast Egypt. By providing the relevant background information on the Eritrean tragedy of human trafficking, the paper discusses key recommendations aimed ...

Former Italian ‘Asmarinos’ hold their revanchist annual rally in the seaside town of Rimini, Italy.

The following episode is about the offspring of the Italian colons who first set foot in Eritrea towards the end of the 19th century. It is, of course, inconsequential and peripheral to the central issues of the struggle for democracy of the Eritrean people, yet indicative, in a minor way, to how many still want to own what is not theirs, has never been theirs and will never be. It is a petty anecdote in the history of our nation that is still being written.

Last week, on May 19-20 2012, fifth or seventh generation Italians born and raised in Eritrea held a festive, if nostalgic, annual rally in Rimini. The galvanizing theme of the meeting was one of “how we were then”, meaning reminiscing the ‘good old Asmara days’ before their families decided to abandon Eritrea in 1974 ...

5,000 Independence Day Messages to Eritreans Inside the Country

(05- 21-2012) Eritrean youth in diaspora send 5,000 solidarity telephone messages, to their counterparts inside Eritrea, on the occasion of the country’s 21st anniversary since independence.

In addition to the messages of solidarity and support for young people in Eritrea emptying the streets during the weekend of celebrations, Eritrean youth across the globe will  be holding a weekend of protests against the subjugation of Eriteans at the hands of one of the world’s worst dictatorial regimes.

Police distort crime data, inciting violence against refugees

Last week four Sudanese and Eritrean refugees otherwise known as ‘infiltrators’ were accused of raping a woman in Israel. Because of the alleged horrible crime committed on the Israeli national the public is in uproar lead by higher government official, the Interior Minister of the state of Israel.  Government sources and the news papers have blamed of the soaring crimes in Israel on the refugees. They claoimed that 40% of the crime in Israel today is committed by the refugees and are calling for their imprisonment and/or deportation to their respective countries.   The public frenzy fueled by irresponsible reporting and data distortion by the police is challenged by Hotline for Migrant Workers, an Israeli Ngo which has been tirelessly advocating for the fare treatment of refugees in Israel. Ms Sigal Rozen an affiliate member of ICER wrote the following article to put record straight:

Q + A with Eritrean Youth Leader Daniel G. Mikael

"Our main target is the Eritrean people inside the country, change is coming soon"
Daniel G. Mikael

Mass demonstrations in protest against repression in Eritrea will be staged in major cities around the world during the last week of this month. In addition to rallies, hundreds activists are to hold a conference in Washington D.C. not only to celebrate Eritrea’s independence but also to reflect, evaluate and chart out plans on how to expedite the desired democratic change in the country. Michael Abraha had a quick online talk with Daniel G. Mikael - Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Youth Conference.  Daniel also heads up the Interim Board EYC-EYSC (Eritrean Youth for Change – Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change). He first points to the central theme of the D.C. conference, May 25-27.

Protest Vigil outside the Eritrean Embassy

Over a 100 Activists from the UK and Northern Ireland held a protest vigil outside the Eritrean embassy to mark the tenth anniversary since the closure of churches, on Thursday 17 May 2012.

Ten years ago this week, the government of Eritrea shut all churches not belonging to the Orthodox Church of Eritrea (Coptic), Catholic Church of Eritrea and Lutheran Church of Eritrea. Following the decree that rendered many churches ‘illegal’ the government arrested their leaders and thousands of believers.

Eritrea: Diplomatic Services Suspended, Washington And Asmara More Distant

The United States government announced the suspension of all consular and diplomatic services in Eritrea, in what appears a further deterioration in relations between the two countries. In a message released by the US Embassy in Asmara, it indicates that it “can provide only emergency services to US citizens in Eritrea”, announcing the suspension of services for the release of visas.

ICER Alert on Afar

There is human catastrophe unfolding in Yemen  at this very minute. Two hundred and forty four Eritreans ninety five percent of whom are Afar citizens of Eritrea are in prison some for almost one year. Their crime is simply for entering Yemen without document. Their claim for political asylum until situation at home is improved was completely ignored by the Yemeni authorities and the UNHCR is on the sideline simply watching helpless.

As it is true with most Eritreans, this particular ethnic group is driven out of their traditional areas, prevented from leading their subsistence existence which is fishing on the Red Sea and forcibly conscripted in the open ended military National Service which has become scourge ....

Eritrea: The President’s Illness?

The extraordinary story built around the presumed illness of autocratic President Isais Afewerki was meant to cover up his critical political ailment. This became more apparent in the wake of the demolition of three Eritrean army bases by Ethiopian infantry forces in mid March. There was no resistance of any kind from Eritrea’s 200-thousand troops guarding the 1000km-long border with Ethiopia.

Commander-in-Chief Isaias made no convincing waves in the name of national pride or national sovereignty for which he has gone to war in the past with each neighboring state at the drop of a hat. This time, the government, which has long espoused the idea of ‘might is right’, shamelessly confirmed its political and military weaknesses by brushing off the Ethiopian action as a US sponsored “ploy” to divert attention from unsettled boundary demarcation issues still leaving dusty, little Badme in the hands of Ethiopia.

In a flat country a hillock thinks itself a mountain

… but anyway there was a perfect opportunity for us all to roll our eyes and grunt ‘sew tira bilut rasu meta…!’ last week ( when I first started writing this)… over the days that followed International press Freedom Day the world has been learning the dire situation of freedom of press in Eritrea through the various editorials and items filed by freedom loving journalists across the globe… needless to say the engine behind all this are our friends at CPJ… (Committee to Protect Journalists)…their evidence is the fact that millions of Eritreans in Eritrea are denied information independently sourced ... Meanwhile Eritrea kept sinking progressively to the bottom of the Press Freedom Index and when it finally hit rock bottom CPJ alerted the world… and to our utter amazement Thomas Mountain came in huffing and puffing… claiming to be the Messiah of Eritrea’s press freedom… (excuse me while I go roll my eyes and exclaim… Sew Tira Bilut Erasu meTa!!)…

Eritrea: Fathers and Sons and the Grammar of Independence

In the usual relay race of life, fathers hand over the legacy baton to their sons, and those sons carry it over with all the care it demands with the intention of passing it over to their sons, and so on down to the next generation. In that “baton” are to be found all the heritage that the sons need to know to continue the life journey of their people: history, culture, customs, rule of law, language, religion, myths, stories, collective wisdom and other multi-layered legacies that would sustain their people for generations to come. Any abrupt and total break in passing it over would usher a disaster of epic proportion, for one loses the whole survival kit in the process. ...

Now, if you will, reverse the above mentioned process and imagine the sons contemptuously handing back the baton to their fathers, believing that there is nothing they could learn from it ...

Desperate Situation of Eritrean Afar Refugees in Yemeni City of Al-Hudeyda

Regrettably, the 300 Afar refugees are languishing in Al-Hudeyda prison where their lives are trapped in a serious threat. Apart from consistent warnings of forcible return to Eritrea, they are facing communicable diseases caused by contaminated food and water. Amongst them are around 50 Afar refugees are in a grave danger of losing their lives to this disease outbreak.

Unfortunately, the ongoing political uncertainty in Yemen exasperated the situation of Red Sea Afar refugees. Going on almost a year in captivity, they haven’t had any access to UNHCR and Human rights organizations, representatives of Yemeni government or any access to medications and basic needs, which is guaranteed to them under UN Geneva convention on rights of refugees.