Part I: At War with Itself

Three days before independence day May 24^th, 2001, one of the G15’s (‘reformers’) characterizing the state of affairs within EPLF/PFDJ as ‘Haba’e Kuslu, Haba’e Fewsu’ was splashed across one of the independent Eritrean newspapers, bringing into open months of speculations of troubles within PFDJ.

It was fourteen (14) years ago this month; a golden moment quickly became a missed opportunity to evaluate the successes, failures, and challenges facing EPLF/PFDJ and to find its cures to bring about positive change.

Above the political, economic, and legal destruction meted out against Eritrea in the last 14 years, it is the destruction of the very essence of being Eritrean, our very social fabric of being tolerant, being compassionate, and being just that will carry a lasting scar. Instead of building on our proud and prudent traditions and values, the regime is now feeding us incessant and blatant lies - and accusing anyone that questions its narratives as ‘anti-Eritrea’, ‘Woyane’, ‘traitors’, and ‘capitulators’. Its political campaigns are designed to divide the Eritrean society to thwart any potential resistance, any demand for reform, accountability and transparency, by sowing the seeds of mistrust, denigrating and disparaging individuals and groups of people that challenge its narratives in order to isolate and intimate them, if not imprison them. The regime is chasing a Pyrrhic Victory!

A leader, regardless how they came to power, of a nation can choose to bring out the best in the people they govern, or bring out the worst. They make the choice! DIA chose to bring out the worst in Eritrean people, in contrast and as an example, the late PM Meles Zenawi, the shrewdest and ruthless politician he is, chose to bring out the best in the people of Ethiopia. When PMMZ faced the same political challenges as DIA did, PMMZ imprisoned his opponents in humane way [although illegally] and then released them. He was teaching his people - tough love. In contrast, DIA imprisoned incommunicado indefinitely anyone who questioned him, and went on a path of sheer terror. He is busy sowing the seeds of hate, misery, intolerance and vindictiveness - which will scar the nation for generations, and which will test the unity and cohesiveness of the nation.

Instead of positive engagement - the very bedrock of nation building and achieving harmony - the regime has chosen to summon all the dark forces of human nature to ensure that it lives another day - and that, above all the economic and legal destruction - bodes ill for today’s and future Eritrea. We see the breakdown of family cohesions, mass flights - not only youths, but whole families and villages - and the strangulations of all economic and legal institutions.

It is suffice to mention the type of ‘un-Eritrean’ language inserted by the regime supporters such as the bored main stars of the Real Housewives of PFDJ in DC and elsewhere who have taken the art of character assassination to the highest levels of rudeness and despicable behaviour. As a reward for such behaviour, they have been given free reign to roam around representing the regime. It is nice to be tucking your kids into warm beds, feeding them cereals and jumbo burgers at Disney World, while enjoying the fruits of the freedoms afforded by the US Constitution, while one’s kids are also benefiting the jobs and wealth of a free nation; yet accusing others of wanting the same for one’s own children in Eritrea. Two sets of standards are called hypocrisy - and hypocrites sink nations. Then there is the good doctor, Doctor Faustus, who has been lending his ‘good’ name for such purposes - for what, a 15-minute fame. Then there is meskerem.net, or rather turncoat.net, or is it wedo-geba.com. It is racing not to raise the bar higher, but a race to the bottom inventing wild accusations against anyone resisting the regime. The unprincipled are hypocrites; and hypocrites destroy nations. These are some of the regime’s most conspicuous canon fodders in Diaspora who have come to symbolize what is wrong with the regime; and what ills today’s Eritrea.

In contrast to the Diaspora canon fodders, we shouldn’t blame too hard those card carrying PFDJ members living in Eritrea who go along with an oppressive regime out of fear or out of pacificism. We shouldn’t blame expat Eritreans who are serving the regime, albeit sidelined and probably useless, because they have the courage of convictions to return to Eritrea to help the country. These expats must live among the people who are suffering. It is those who live abroad and enjoy all the freedoms and fruits of wealthy nations and yet support a repressive regime with their remote control enthusiasm, while accusing fleeing Eritreans as ‘spoiled’, etc... that are hypocrites - and hypocrites never build a country.  

Personal challenges, political challenges, social challenges, and other forms of challenges are inherent part of life; in fact, it is deeply interwoven into our very existence. As is for individuals, nations and organizations that resort to ignoring and hiding their illnesses, weaknesses, and challenges are only running away from their cures. Many societies have open cultures that allow them to debate contentious issues in passionate manners without feeling slighted, disrespected or losing face - and that more than natural resources, wealth, and technology, has been their deep rooted strength.

Those societies that transform their open culture into an open political institution, those open and transparent systems that announce their ‘political wounds’ in public- as painful as they are when divulged to the public - will quickly find cures before their wounds or illnesses becomes incurable, or spread to other parts of the body.

PFDJ’s Eritrea finds itself in a self-inflicted tragedy because the regime chose to ‘hide its political wounds’, turning its normal and curable political ailments into contagious and debilitating socio-economic and legal ailments that are manifesting itself in the mass exodus of Eritrean youths. Twenty four years independence later, PFDJ’s sickness has reached incurable stage. Despite an apparent socio-economic collapse, PFDJ keeps telling us that Eritrea has made progress and that all talk of doom-and-gloom is just what Eritrea’s enemies wish for it. We are told that the tens of thousands of our fellow countrymen - our very own kins, friends, and colleagues - our own flesh and blood - who are languishing in PFDJ Dungeons are not incarcerated incommunicado but is just a cheap propaganda of PFDJ’s enemies. Indirectly, we are being told to forget our own flesh-and-blood in PFDJ Dungeons, to forget the very ideals that thousands of our flesh-and blood who sacrificed so that we are free from oppression and fear; and to forget our wishes to regain our self-respect. We are told to pretend that the tens of thousands of our precious youths fleeing our beautiful country are nothing more than naive people fooled into thinking that better life awaits them elsewhere, that they deserve the tragedy for leaving their safe country and that is a form of punishment, or that they are traitors, or that Eritreans are more gullible than other nationalities and thus coerced by traffickers or that Western nations with evil intentions for Eritrea are coercing our youths to leave our ‘safe and prospering’ homeland. We are told to excuse, rationalize, deny, and downplay our tragedies. That is dehumanizing!

Eritrea is at war with itself. Although we have unresolved border issue with Ethiopia, we are not currently at war with Ethiopia. The last battle of the war with Ethiopia was fought in June 2000, which is 15 years ago - which is half the life of our 30 years of struggle for independence. There is no existential threat from Ethiopia. In fact, considering that DIA is doing an excellent job of destroying Eritrea, which if Ethiopia was to unleash on Eritrea would have been tantamount to war crimes, Ethiopia has no immediate need to remove him - and will apply sufficient pressure to contain him only against any direct and existential threats to its internal affairs. Ethiopia, either out of cahoots with DIA or out of DIA’s paranoia and egomaniac tendencies, will feed on the current political situation in Eritrea to further weaken, if not destroy, a militaristic Eritrea. For Ethiopia, aside from meddling in Ethiopia, DIA is doing an excellent job for Woyane. Between meddling and self-destruction, Ethiopia gains more from DIA and Eritrea’s self-destruction than it would suffer from DIA’s meddling in Ethiopian affairs. With the recent defection of DEMHIT, Ethiopia has even less short-term interest in Eritrea.

Broadly speaking there are three types of dictators - the selfish materialistic dictator, the idealist dictator, and benevolent dictator. The selfish materialistic dictators are found in many heavily corrupt countries; and these materialistic dictators know the limits of their power and are in fact risk averse to maintain their worldly possessions and pleasures. Their attitude is, ‘as long as you don’t touch my power and wealth, you can do whatever you want.’ The idealist dictator is a blind worshipper of ideals, and hence a fanatic. Their devotions to abstraction make them enemies of life. The sufferings of tens of thousands of innocent citizens through illegal and inhumane incarcerations and at the hands of people smugglers from within its bosoms are nothing more than sacrificial lambs to their fanatic ideas. Fanatic idealism - fanaticism - is what is turning an abundant and beautiful world into a miserable one for many. The attitude of a fanatical dictator is, ‘I want to control everything - which goes beyond power and wealth, but every movement of everybody and everything that moves.’ They suck all the oxygen out of the room. The third type of dictator, the benevolent, maintains absolute power overtly or covertly but increases and spreads wealth, while allowing a certain degree of freedom - sometimes allowing increasing freedom in controlled manner. Although their power games are hidden, and could be ruthless, they proceed along a publicly known path. The recent histories of many “Tiger” nations of the Far East, and now even Ethiopia, are some examples.

Before proceeding into detailed discussions of the current quagmire in Eritrea, one should note that the use of ‘PFDJ’ to describe the totalitarian regime of PIA, or DIA, is utterly wrong. PFDJ is defunct. The last EPLF/PFDJ Congress was held in 1994, i.e. 21 years ago which is eternity even by our ‘meda’ standards. The last PFDJ Central Committee meeting was held in the summer of 2000. The PFDJ Constitution, for whatever it is worth, requires the PFDJ Central Committee to be held every six month. Eritrea is a one-man dictatorship - anything else is window-dressing. Today’s Eritrea is one ‘halewa sewra’ on massive steroid.

Eritrean Refugee Crisis

Nothing screams louder - unfolding on the world stage for everybody to see at that - of the utter destruction of the country than the un-abating refugee crisis.

Yet we still have idol worshippers who are shameless in spewing out more excuses. When Prof. Asmerom Legesse criticizes the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea [COIE], which was aptly critiqued by the super writer and thinker Saleh Younis, Prof. Asmerom should have asked himself first, is this his eulogy to the thousands who were swallowed by the Mediterranean Sea, Sahara Desert, and Sinai Desert – that’ the COIE was wrong about what happened to you, that it was a wrong analysis and methodology?’ Is this what wedo-geba.com would write on their tombstones, ‘you are Ethiopians pretending to be Eritreans’. Is this what the other idol worshippers write on their tombstone, ‘you were a victim of human trafficking, and shouldn’t have stayed home?’ What heartless things to say!

The refugee crisis is ‘Res Ipsa Loquitur’, i.e. the situation speaks for itself. No amount of academic gymnastics by professors or analytical bleach-washing by regime canon fodders changes what it is - a tragedy on massive global scale. When one is excusing a tragedy - one is destroying the very soul of a nation by that much! It is dehumanizing!

If one doesn’t have a family member, relative, or friends calling you in the middle the night for help, or have been visiting mourners who have lost loved ones, it is better to have one’s DNA checked.

For all those touched by all this utterly useless and home-made tragedy, our eulogy reads and is written on their tombs, ‘we feel your pain, we will do whatever it takes to alleviate the pains of all those who are living and suffering like you did.’

As a remembrance of the 14^th year of the incarceration of 11 members of the G-15, reporters, and the other tens of thousands arbitrarily arrested prisoners-of-conscious, our own flesh-and-blood, the following series of articles will highlight the socio-economic, political, and legal destruction and challenges we need to overcome in order to build a viable nation from the socio-economic and legal ashes left behind from this brutal regime. Although most of the discussion focuses on the socio-economic and legal destruction meted out by the regime, the last part of this series addresses the challenges faced by the opposition and general public. The purpose of this series of articles is to challenge our conventional wisdom and presumptions, and hope to steer towards prudence and pragmatism. Some parts of the articles will be data heavy, and is purposely designed to equip readers with the ability to analyse in more a systematic manners. I welcome any corrections and constructive criticisms. The writer isn’t claiming to hold any special wisdom, but rather a different perspective with some blunt talk.

With the upcoming articles, I honour the bravery of the top EPLF/PFDJ officials and thousands of political activists who stood up to the brutal regime knowing that they faced certain death and extremely harsh treatments in the hands of their cruel colleagues and regime; they knew the risks. I compare socio-economic progresses of the G15 era (1991 to 2000) to DIA era (2001 to 2015).

We also honour our heroes Bitweded Abraha and Hassan Keckia who walked out of prison, but refused to be silenced knowing fully they would be incarcerated again – and they marched into PFDJ Dungeons willingly for what they believed and out of respect for the thousands they left behind. Tens of thousands of other brave Eritreans are now prisoners-of-conscious. They are our heroes - what Eritreanism is all about.

But the bigger tragedy that tears the soul of a nation is the cruelty metered out against our mothers and sisters - Mrs. Senait Debessay, Mrs. Aster Yohannes, Mrs. Miriam, and many other innocent mothers and sisters. When a regime is waging a war against mothers, nothing else is left that creates a country. Hopefully, their cries of agony will sweep away this cruel regime - sooner than one thinks, and that mercy falls upon the nation so that all the hate dissipates like morning dew. The fate of Eritrea lies in their cries!

Lastly, am I a Woyane for criticizing DIA and regime supporters for the way they are destroying our precious country? If one is a Woyane for speaking one’s mind, exercising one’s right to free expression, and defending the rights of the wrongly accused and the incarcerated, and the abused; and if regime supporters define being Eritrean as intolerant, merciless, cruel, inhumane, and hateful; then I am a proud Woyane. Of course, I totally disagree the way these ‘temberktis’ characterize being Eritrean, who are known for their compassion, hard work, and being industrious and law-abiding people. I am a proud Eritrean, like every 6 million of us, save the few spoiled ones who are giving us the bad wrap. By the way, the Woyanes, the Amharas, the Oromos - and all Ethiopians, the Sudanese, the Somalis, the Ugandans and others in our neighbourhood are all our flesh-and-blood - and we are one big family that we have to learn to work with in mutual respect and for mutual benefits.

In the following seven (7) part articles, I will review the state of affairs in Eritrea. Symbolically, Eritrea’s Coat-of-Arms with the Camel has come to symbolize NOT the undistracted and steady progress forward of the nation and the regime, but more like the old adage, ‘like piss/urine of a camel - backwards’.

Next: “The Sanction Myth”

Berhan Hagos

September 18, 2015

A Call for Release of all Conscience- and Political prisoners in Eritrea

We, the Eritrean Activists For Democracy in Eritrea demand the immediate release of the Eritrean heroes.                                 

We have never forget that our prominent national leaders of the Eritrean struggle for independence were incarcerated for expressing their views against the direction the country was taking.  Their act of defiance was based on the principle of transparency, accountability and trust of the liberation struggle they were committed to since their early youth, in the mid 1960s and early 1970s. As you know Eritrea is in crisis of leadership. A one man leadership results always in failed state. Our veteran freedom fighters and journalists have been suffering under brutal and horrific prison life and no one knows whether they are alive or dead.

Today, we stand in front of the Eritrean Embassy to show our protest and demand the release of all political prisoners to convey this letter to President Essayas Afewerki of the People's Front Democracy and Justice/ PFDJ but not constitutional and people's elected president.

We ask the Embassy Personal to send this message to the president if they can but we don't expect from them that they will dare to do that because there is no freedom of speech in the world of dictators.

Our heroes and heroine have submitted the letter to the PFDJ's Embassy escorted by the Swedish police. There were two persons inside the embassy but couldn't dare to open and receive the letter because they live mentally in Eritrea controlled by fear and terror while physically living in a land of freedom and liberty. Our democracy activists met them while they were leaving for home and told them that they can give them lift to the town but once scared by the snake always fears by any shape of the snake. እቲ ዘገርም እዞም ሰባት ኣብዚ ኤምባሲ ህግደፍ ዝሰርሑ ኣብ ዓዲ ናጽነትን ሓርነትን ከለዉ ባዕሎም ኣብ ብፍርሓት ተሰኲዖም ኣብቲ ፍልይቲ ገዛ ተዓጽዮም ምውዓሎም እምበርዶ ሰብ ኢዮም ዘብል ኢዩ፣ ብምባል እቶም ጀጋኑ ምዃንካ እንታይ ሰብ ኰንኩም ኣብ ራ ዕድን ፍርሓትን ትነብሩ ዘይ ን ኣኹም ነጻ ከነውጽ እ ንቃለስ ዘሎና ኢሎም ብሰላም ስርሒቶም ብ ዓወት ዛዚሞም ተመልሱ፣

ቃሎም ኣብዚ ምስዚ ጽሑፍ ኣተሓሒዝና ንሰደልኩም

ዓወት ንጀጋኑ ተቃለስቲ ንፍትሕን ሕግን ኤርትራ!

Regards,

Democracy Activists

BURKINA FASO

|  17 SEPTEMBER 2015

 The Socialist International vigorously condemns the military coup in Burkina Faso and the capture of interim President Michel Kafando, along with Prime Minister Isaac Zida and other members of the government, by the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP), an elite force set up by the former President Blaise Campoaré.

The Progressive Alliance and the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) to the European Leaders on the Occasion of the Extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council on 14 September 2015 in Brussels:

Refugees are Welcome – Towards a Progressive Refugee Policy

According to the UNCHR- United Nations Refugee Agency around 60 million people are displaced involuntarily because of war, conflict and oppression. Half of them are children. The present crisis of frightening proportions is said to be the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Most of them are local refugees and a sizeable number end up in the neighbouring countries. Some of them try to continue to Europe, and few manage to reach their dream for peace and freedom.

In view of the current situation, with people who are forced to flee from their home countries via the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey and the Western Balkans into the European Union, Europe is facing an urgent political challenge. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of people from the Middle East and Africa have left their homelands, often with huge risks involved. Those who arrive in Europe have big hopes for a better future there. They are looking for freedom and security, hoping to be able to live in a better society where justice and solidarity are principled norms. The refugees count on our fundamental values. However, European politics have until now failed to show that Europe complies with these core values and fulfils the high expectations of upholding human dignity and shouldering the reception of persecuted human beings. It is time for actions that guarantee all people safety and respect for the fundamental human rights.

When voices calling for sealing off the borders and deterrence are becoming louder and louder, Socialists and Social Democrats must remember the very fundamental values in which so many people in need trust when they look at Europe. These values are also the fundamental values of international social democracy: Freedom, justice and solidarity. People who come to Europe are looking for freedom, because they are being persecuted and fear for their life; in order to find a decent life they put their lives at great risk. We need more global justice, because the aim of globalization is not the wealth of a few, but justice for all. The developed countries will also only be able to maintain their prosperity if all of us learn again to share globally and help the people in their countries of origin to promote peace, prosperity and security. And in many countries the people show solidarity and are engaged in initiatives to help refugees by, among other things, making generous donations.

The commitments for meaningful actions by our political family, our expressed sympathy for the refugees, the solidarity we demonstrate show that we are all one people ready to consolidate the strong foundations of Social Democracy. This is the opposite model to sealing off the borders and deterrence and to the ideas of the political right-wing forces in Europe and worldwide.

For progressive, social democratic and socialist forces it is clear: It is our duty to help people who flee from war and civil war, calamity and persecution, seeking protection for themselves and their children, and we want that a new homeland is offered to them that provides them with freedom and security. This is a demand for decency, humanitarianism and compassion, but also translates concretely political values.

At the present stage Europe is receiving a high number of refugees, but we can do more. The more so as countries that are by far poorer, such as Turkey, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Lebanon or Jordan, are taking the far bigger responsibility to offer the refugees shelter and security. Lebanon, for example, which has a population of five million, has already taken in 1,3 million refugees.

Moreover, in view of the catastrophic situation in many countries in the Middle East and Africa this development is not likely to improve in the near future. We reaffirm that the whole of Europe together must receive refugees not based on volumes, but based on a human rights approach that puts the need of the refugees in the centre. A human right approach to the refugee issue includes a fundamental change of the reception and integration policy.

▪ Possibilities to offer freedom and security for people who flee require safer and legal ways to enter Europe. Freedom of movement is a human right. It is not acceptable that some European countries refuse to assume their responsibility to live up to international conventions to help people in need of freedom and security. In times of crises it is important that all together stand up firmly for human rights. It is a shame that only few of the European countries are taking the biggest responsibility. If all countries together took equal responsibility, Europe would have been able to help even more and achieve more than it is doing today and people in need wouldn’t have needed to lose their life while struggling to find a passage to freedom and security.

▪ Possibilities of integration for people who flee and seek to find a new homeland in Europe for themselves and their children do not only have to find their way around, but they must also be given a decent chance to become a part of the new society. The more openly, and in a friendly and welcoming manner they are received and adequate shelter and help is provided to them as well as the right to work is given, the quicker and easier it will be for them to settle down and build a new life in their new homelands.

▪ A society for all: Successful migration policies also require a welfare state that provides opportunities for all its people, regardless of if they are new or old inhabitants. The earlier the authorities start to support municipalities in order to create sufficient places at day nurseries, schools and build enough affordable housing, the earlier equality will be a reality.

▪ A Europe for all: The migration movement towards Europe and the reasons for the flight from the countries in Middle East and Africa puts the values of the European Union at test. If Europe does not manage to achieve a common and humanitarian refugee policy there is a risk of it suffering a huge loss; it is the loss of the humane orientation and of the common values in Europe. And it is not only that: among others, Italy, Greece and currently Macedonia are struggling with dramatic problems. While the rich continent of Europe apparently seems to be on holidays, the United Nations have to carry out support actions in these countries, which would have better served much poorer regions. Europe’s foundation is based on the values of enlightenment and humanitarianism. The European idea is based on practical and tangible solidarity- which can’t be practiced within the framework of the Dublin regulation. This is the time to think of better and more solidarity policy. This is what the European Union has to prove now. Europe also must stop seeing refugees as a burden and instead see the advantage of new people contributing to the European societies. When people are being given possibility to become a part of societies they become an important economic, but also cultural and social contributors.

▪ And finally: Europe needs a new impetus in fighting the causes for the flight. Europe should take a lead in this regard, with new foreign and security policy initiatives. This starts with the countries of Europe itself. It is simply not acceptable that people from Member states of the European Union have the feeling of being discriminated against and excluded and that the only possible solution for them is to leave their country. The EU cannot remain impassive and indeed inactive where discrimination occurs, e.g., against the Roma community, in countries that are candidates for EU membership; neither must the EU tolerate corruption, bad governance and miserable education and deplorable advancement opportunities. European politics must overcome its unilateral orientation towards the single market and become again a society that strives for better livelihood opportunities for all, underscored by social security and justice as the guiding objectives of its practical policies. Moreover, criminal networks of smugglers and traffickers of human beings who exploit the misery of those seeking protection to enrich themselves unscrupulously, need to be dismantled and the perpetrators brought to justice.

War and civil war, poverty and repressive systems are the main causes for the current huge flight movement as the citizens of those afflicted countries see no improved perspectives to enjoy a fair life. Only together can we contribute to combating the causes of this flight, by empowering, promoting regional cooperation, collaboration, investments in the infrastructure and the economic development of those countries with good governance as the underlying principle.

The refugee crisis is not only a challenge for Europe. We call for all states globally to share the responsibility. If anyone can solve it, it is the Progressives and Social Democrats, who can address these tasks for open societies and possibility for integration: decent and human rights approach to the reception of refugees, social cohesion and a policy of solidarity for the protection of people who flee and combating the causes for the flight. Freedom, justice, peace and solidarity have always been universal and international goals for us. It is therefore time to for us to start acting upon our values and beliefs. Let us walk the talk!

Seminar Report

Today, Thursday September 10th 2015, Dan Connell has arrived in Sweden and has held a seminar at Uppsala University with students in the evening from 7,15 PM up to 9,20 PM

He presented his lecture by a brief historical analysis about the Eritrean political and liberation struggle before the independence and the current situation after the post independence Eritrea.

His main focus was on the Eritrean refugee crisis. His lecture was both in slides and analysis showing the desperate routs of the Eritrean refugees escaping from the suffocation of the brutal dictatorship in Eritrea. His presentation draws on the field research in Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Israel, South and Central America. The aim of the presentation was to draw international attention to the human rights situation in Eritrea and find out ways to deal with it.

Dan Connell is invited by the Swedish - Eritrean Partnership for Democracy and Development/ SESADU. On Saturday, 12th September 2015 he will be conducting seminar with Eritreans in Tensta Hall at 18.30Pm.

Refugees arrive on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing from Turkey in a dinghy. Photograph: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images

Syrians account for 50% of the 380,000 refugees who had arrived in Europe after crossing the Mediterranean by early September, but several other nationalities are turning up in large numbers. According to UN figures, 75% of the total refugees hail from countries in the midst of armed conflict or humanitarian crises. So apart from Syria, where are they coming from, why did they leave, and how are they reaching Europe?

Afghans – 13%

Why are they leaving?

According to the Afghan government, 80% of the country is not safe. That is because extremist groups such as the Taliban and Islamic State’s local affiliate are waging insurgencies in many provinces. Civilians are at risk from frequent bomb attacks, while many individuals are fleeing because they have received specific threats from extremists.

Yama Nayab, who travelled with his two small children through the Balkans earlier this summer, left because he was attacked by extremists angry with him for working as a surgeon with the Afghan army. “Why are you working for the government?” one assailant allegedly told him, before stabbing him four times near his heart. “Here in Afghanistan, the Americans and the pagans made a government – and you are working for that government,” he was told.

The route taken
Some are going via Pakistan, but most are walking over the border into Iran, a trek that takes up to two days. Then they drive to Iran’s border with Turkey, where they cross again on foot, in another laborious hike. If spotted by border guards, the walkers face trouble. “The Iranians fired on us near the border and killed two people,” said Rahman Niazi, 18, a computer science student who reached Europe this year.

Once in Turkey, Afghans take a day’s bus journey to the same Aegean ports many Syrians are using to reach Greece. Some pay €10,000 (£7,250) to smugglers to organise each stage of their journey. Others move on a more ad-hoc basis.
It's not at war, but up to 3% of its people have fled. What is going on in Eritrea?
Read more

Eritreans – 8%

Why are they leaving?

Eritrea is Africa’s version of North Korea, a country with no constitution, court system, elections or free press. Outside of the metropolitan elite, most Eritreans must submit to a form of forced labour – lifelong military conscripts who have no choice about where they live or work. Any dissenters are sent to prison without any judicial recourse.

“Eritrea has become an earthly hell, an earthly inferno for its people, and that’s why they are taking such huge risks to their personal lives to escape the situation,” said Andebrhan Welde Giorgis, the former head of Eritrea’s central bank and ex-ambassador to the EU. “It’s become unliveable.”

The route taken
Most walk over the border into Ethiopia or Sudan, a dangerous first step that sees some shot by border guards or kidnapped for ransom by smugglers. If they make it to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, they then being a brutal journey through the Sahara to Libya. To cross the desert, smugglers cram about 30 people into the back of pick-up trucks. Many refugees die of dehydration en route and trucks often go missing during sandstorms.

The trauma does not end in Libya. Most people carry no cash, in case it is stolen, and do not pay upfront in case the smuggler leaves without them. So on arrival in the town of Ajdabiya, in north-east Libya, they are held in smugglers’ compounds and usually tortured until their families send the $2,000 (£1,300) required for payment. This process is often repeated at least once – for a similar ransom – at a location further along the Libyan coast, before the refugees are permitted to board a ramshackle boat to Italy from one of the country’s western ports.
Eritrean refugees at the Shire refugee camp in Ethiopia

Eritrean refugees at the Shire refugee camp in Ethiopia. Photograph: Vincent Defait/AFP/Getty Images

Nigerians – 4%
Why are they leaving?

Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group, continues to fight an insurgency in northern Nigeria, killing and kidnapping locals and forcing many to flee. “Boko Haram is everywhere, killing innocent people every day,” said Vincent Collins, 24, who described himself asa victim of the conflict. “Bombing, fighting, every day. It’s so terrible.”

Other Nigerians are escaping from poverty. Many have a story like that of Paul Ohioyah, a plumber and part-time pastor who tried to reach Europe earlier this summer. He said life was untenable in Nigeria because he would only get two plumbing jobs each month. “So before you’ve got another customer, you’ve had to spend what you earned the last time,” said Ohioyah, who is still on the coast of north Africa after unsuccessfully attempting to reach Europe by boat. “It’s better that I die here than go back to Nigeria.”

The route taken
Most head over the northern border to Niger and take public buses to the city of Agadez, a smuggling hub on the cusp of the Sahara. From here, they join the smuggling trail to Libya, experiencing similar horrors to Eritreans crossing the desert from Sudan – kidnap, torture and death by dehydration. Smugglers take them to Sabha, in south-west Libya, for about £150. From there, for a similar fee, different smugglers transport them to ports on Libya’s western coast.

Somalians – 3%

Why are they leaving?

As in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islamist insurgents, including al-Shabaab, are fighting an insurgency, with civilians caught in the middle. Eissa Abdirahman, 18, a footballer with one of the country’s second-tier teams, said he left because he was attacked by al-Shabaab militants and told to stop playing football. “They put a gun to my head and kicked me,” said Abdirahman, shortly after being rescued from the Mediterranean earlier this month. “They said: ‘If you don’t stop playing football, we will kill you.’”

The route taken
One popular route is through Kenya, Uganda and south Sudan. Then people head north to Khartoum, where most follow the same route and adversities as the Eritreans. But a smattering of refugees now follow the Balkan route – into Kenya, fly to Iran, then cross the Iranian-Turkish border, before heading by boat to Greek islands.


Refugees from Pakistan sitting on the grass at a reception centre for asylum seekers in Eisenhüttenstadt, eastern Germany. Photograph: Patrick Pleul/dpa/Corbis

Pakistanis – 3%
Why are they leaving?

More than 1.2 million Pakistanis have been displaced by insurgencies in north-west Pakistan, according to the UN, and by some estimates, more than 20,000 civilians have been killed. The well-documented attack on schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai and the December 2014 massacre of 100 schoolchildren in Peshawar are prominent examples of the threats ordinary people face from extremists.

The route taken
Like Afghans, Pakistanis walk into Iran, then take a bus to the border with Turkey, where they cross again on foot. They then pick up the Balkan route that begins on the Turkish coast.
Iraqis – 3%

Why are they leaving?
Vast swaths of Iraq, including its second city, Mosul, have recently been conquered by Isis, worsening a nightmare that began with the west’s invasion of the country in 2003. “They force people to pray by force, they use us as their human shields,” said Ahmad, a civil servant who fled Mosul a month ago, and recently reached central Europe. “They’ve also murdered many people, and detained many others before killing them.”

The route taken
Iraq borders Turkey, so most reach Turkey by land and then take boats to Greek islands.
Sudanese – 2%

Why are they leaving?
Civil wars in the country’s Darfur and Kordofan regions continue to displace civilians. Mohamed Abdallah, 21, from Darfur, said he was forced to flee aged 12, when government militias destroyed his village, killed many of the local people, and raped his sisters. “There is a war in my country, there’s no security, no equality, no freedom,” he said. He tried to reach Europe earlier this summer, after the war spread into south Sudan, where he had first fled to.
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Darfur is still unsafe – a Human Rights Watch report recently alleged that the Sudanese government had carried out many killings and mass-rapes of civilians in dozens of towns.

The route taken
Sudanese refugees can easily reach their capital, Khartoum, from where they are smuggled to Libya, and then across the Mediterranean to Italy. Like Eritreans and Somalians, many die of thirst in the desert and fall victim to extortion and torture by smugglers in Libya.

Statistical source: the UN refugee agency.

Source=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/10/refugee-crisis-apart-from-syrians-who-else-is-travelling-to-europe?CMP=share_btn_fb

Those elderly veteran fighters who gave everything they can to their people and nation should be admired and appreciated. According to our culture people say "Nzigeberlka Giberelu wey Ngerelu" which means shorty those who did good deserves at least appreciation for what they did. Bologna Forum always values and appreciates the sacrifice of our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters who paid and who are paying the ultimate price in bringing Justice and Democracy to Eritrea. In the upcoming Oakland Bologna Forum, Prof. Bereket Habteselassie will receive his Award of Excellence from the organizers. Bringing our culture of mutual respect to where it was is one means of struggle to defeat the disrespectful one man led regime in Eritrea. Please come and join us in this historic day, were the father of the Eritrean Constitution 1997 receives his Award.

Thank you Prof. Bereket Habteselassie for your service as a Freedom fighter, Chairman of Constitutional Commission of Eritrea and now as a father and adviser for the democratic struggle at hand.