Eritrea: Call for National Days of Mourning

It has been a week since hundreds of Eritreans perished in yet another migrant boat disaster.

Another group of young Eritreans were kidnapped and slaughtered mercilessly by terrorists without conscience.

The entire world has been grieving our losses making this an international disaster warranting universal grief and yet inside Eritrea, in the land many of the young victims toiled and bled for, in the nation that their parents and older siblings died liberating, there isn’t a single public outpouring of grief.

Flags don’t fly at half-mast, officials don’t send messages of condolences to the families of the victims nor do they receive them from the rest of the world. The State of Eritrea is deaf to the bitter wailing of the mothers who are crying inconsolably and is blind to their torment.

This is not just unacceptable or simply offensive; this is an indication of the utter disintegration of all that is normal and appropriate in Eritrea, and this is precisely why we should stand up to challenge this and restore Eritreaness in Eritrea! Our brothers and sisters deserve to be remembered, their families deserve to be consoled and we deserve an opportunity to stand in solidarity with them.

We can’t sit and wait for someone else to accord our brothers and sisters the respect they are owed. It is up to us to restore dignity to our Eritrea.

We are calling on all Eritreans across the world including inside Eritrea to accord the dead and their families respect by declaring Days of National Mourning. We have cried privately, we have wailed in groups of friends and families now let us do it as a nation of grief stricken people in recognition of our solidarity as nationals.

The following dates have been set aside and we sincerely hope that you will join us and each other to remember the dead, support the grieving and pray for healing:

Wednesday 29th of April – Sunday 3rd of May.

People inside Eritrea are getting ready for their own actions to take place on those dates and here in the diaspora we will organize our own solidarity events to mourn our dead with the respect and dignity they deserve and so once again in the name of the victims and their families and in the name of all those who sacrificed their lives to free Eritrea we appeal to you all to join us and make this our united response.