Northern Africa faces brain drain

Saturday, 08 August 2015 07:08 Written by

ap

Click to enlarge

Determined: a migrant runs, after crossing a fence as he attempts to access the Channel
Tunnel, in Calais, on Monday

MANY of the migrants in Calais have come from Northern Africa. This week, the Area Bishop for the Horn of Africa, Dr Grant LeMarquand, said: “If refugees from anywhere need our sympathy, it would be people from Eritrea.”

The country “may have one of the most repressive governments in the world at the moment”, he said. “For Christians especially, the situation is bleak.” Many had been imprisoned, he said, under a legal system where very few churches have been permitted registration. The single Anglican Church was an illegal entity. Its building, rectory, and car had all been taken over by another denomination. Eritrea was also reported to be one of the worst sources of sex-trafficking in the world, he said.

The source of migration from Ethiopia, where he lives, was different, he said, and generally economic in nature. The increasing number of Ethiopians gaining an education could not find graduate jobs, and were leaving to seek better opportunities: “Many have been trying to travel to the West legitimately, often causing what is often called a brain-drain: our best and brightest leave the country. It does not help Africa for the West to say we will simply take anyone who applies. This will continue to rob Africa of its richest resource.”

A young girl from Eritrea is among the refugees that a church in Whitstable has welcomed to the UK.

The Team Vicar of Whitstable, the Revd Stephen Coneys, said on Tuesday: “When you meet the person behind the rhetoric, your perspective is changed.” The Church at parish level had a part to play, he suggested, in tackling fears about new arrivals. It could “stand in the gap between the asylum-seekers and those sections of the local community that are worried or fearful.”

He described how a young girl from Eritrea had become part of the congregation and befriended his daughter. Her father, a Christian pastor, had been imprisoned, and her mother sent her to the UK after they fled to Sudan. "It was just so humbling to meet such a person, so vulnerable and gentle and strong," he said.

While welcoming the bishops’ “prophetic” interventions, he suggested that local churches could help to tackle "myths", including the failure to distinguish between economic migrants and asylum-seekers. Some local people were afraid, he said, that asylum-seekers were “dangerous or, in some dark sense, predatory”.

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Tackling fears: the Revd Stephen Coneys 

Tackling fears: the Revd Stephen Coneys 

Mr Coneys has organised a letter signed by churches in Whitstable pledging support to the unaccompanied 16 and 17-year-old boys who will be accommodated at a temporary reception centre in the town. The churches have offered to visit, befriend and support the children, who will stay at the centre while they wait to have their asylum applications processed. 

"Amidst the confusion and controversy surrounding this initiative, the fact is that young people will arrive at Ladesfield in various states of exhaustion and distress," the letter reads. "Our personal experience of young asylum seekers is that there is nothing to fear and much to learn from individuals who are both vulnerable and often have humbling stories to tell. . . We hope to be able to share a little love with them – so that when they leave they have a good story to tell about our town."

Source=http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/7-august/news/world/northern-africa-faces-brain-drain

Aug 6, 2015 - 15:05

Sommaruga:

Sommaruga: "Not a single European country sends people back there” 

(Keystone)

Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga has defended the government’s policy for processing asylum requests from Eritrean refugees, following a critical letter she received from the Lucerne cantonal government.

Sommaruga said on Thursday it was “unthinkable” that Switzerland would send people back to a “despotic state”.

A letter addressed to Sommaruga by Guido Graf, a member of the conservative right Swiss People’s Party in Lucerne’s cantonal government, on Tuesday stated that “the difficult economic situation and the threat of military service” for young Eritreans – even if they face “difficult prospects” – does not justify granting them refugee status and implementing an “overly generous” policy.

Sommaruga, who answered questions from journalists during an annual walk-about in Bern, said the letter was based on the false assumption that Eritrean asylum seeker are automatically recognised as refugees. 

Eritreans make up the largest national group of asylum seekers to Switzerland, with 6640 Eritreans having been granted refugee status in 2014. Only two other European countries had accepted more Eritreans: Germany, with 13,200 and Sweden, with 11,500.

‘Crimes against humanity’

Veronica Almedom of the Geneva-based group Stop Slavery in Eritrea told swissinfo.ch that Graf’s argument is “based on a few elements and it is certain that if he understood the situation in its entirety, his comments would be different”.

Almedom, who is Swiss of Eritrean origin, emphasised that “no one who would risk crossing the Mediterranean would do so for the sake of just making a little more money. We are looking at crimes against humanity, which are widespread and systematic”.

“It is not right to make this into a political game… and to use it for political reasons, to win votes, in order to appear popular,” she said.

Meanwhile Sommaruga said that while conflicting reports existed on Eritrea, it was generally agreed that Eritrea is a dictatorship, in which not even the Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has access to prisoners.

“That is why not a single European country sends people back there,” she added.
 

swissinfo.ch

Source=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/asylum-politics_justice-minister-defends-eritrean-refugee-policy/41589274

 

Sesadu 1

The Swedish- Eritrean Partnership for Democracy and Development/ SESADU invites Dan Connel at the 54th Anniversary of the Eritrean Liberation Struggle that has started on First September 1961. Dan Connel will hold two seminars in Sweden one in the city of Uppsala and the second in the city of Stockholm. He will be the honorary guest of the historical event of the Eritrean people in Sweden from 10th September to 13th September 2015.

The Theme of the seminar is ,

"Eritrean Refugee Journeys: Why they flee & what they face"

Hundreds of thousands of Eritreans have fled a suffocating dictatorship over the past decade,Dan Conel making the once promising new nation one of the world’s largest per capita producers of refugees. To reach a safe haven they risk imprisonment in Eritrea’s medieval jails, kidnapping and torture by human traffickers, anonymous death on perilous desert and sea crossings, and more. Then comes the disheartening struggle to gain recognition as a refugee from countries looking for an excuse to lock them out. Yet still they come. This presentation draws on field research in North America, Europe, Israel, East and Southern Africa, South and Central America, and the Horn of Africa to put a human face on this crisis, map its main corridors, and explore options to deal with it.

Dan Connell is a visiting scholar at Boston University’s African Studies Center and a retired senior lecturer in journalism and African studies at Simmons College, who has researched and written about Eritrea for nearly 40 years. He is the author or editor of 10 books, includingAgainst All Odds: A Chronicle of the Eritrean Revolution(1997),Conversations with Eritrean Political Prisoners(2005), and a Historical Dictionary of Eritrea(2010). He is currently working on a book on the refugee crisis.

The schedule and place of the seminars will be announced later.

Swedish- Eritrean Community for Democratic Change/ SESADU

Sesadu 1

Thousands marched in Stockholm against the Eritrea's totalitarian regime's supporters festival in Sweden. Our youth for justice and democracy in Eritrea gathered from different cities of Sweden and converged in front of the PFDJ Festival with thundering and chanting slogans expressing the sad situation in our country and warning the festival goers that this festival under the name of the Eritrean people is not for the benefit of the Eritrean people but it is just serving the dictator and elongate our people's suffering.

Stockholm Rally 1

Protesters have poured into the place of the festival to denounce such festivals that are used as political propaganda and misleading our people by telling lies to the diaspora Eritrea. They demanded that the Swedish Municipality must stop such activities that have been save haven for dictators that have been accused crimes against humanity and being destabilizing factor in the region.

Stockholm Rally 2

Speakers at the rally were, Arhe Hamednaca, Member of the Swedish Parliament, Anders Östberg secretary of the Stockholm's workers chapter of the social democratic party in international relations and Mohammed Nur, chairperson of the association of social democratic party in the suburb of Stockholm/ Tensta expressed their worries on the human rights situation in Eritrea, demanding that all activities connected with the Eritrean dictator in Sweden must be stopped.

Stockholm Rally 3Another speaker was the well known journalist Martin Schibbye, he appreciated and welcomed such huge rally for freedom of speech and human rights in Eritrea and told the rally that he will be going to the festival and conduct interview with the leaders and participants of the festival. Martin was accompanied by his photograph, Johan Person.

Stockholm Rally 4

What was unique with rally 2015 in Sweden was 98% were the youngsters who were oppressed by this regime holding various slogans and placards telling the festival goers, " If there is democracy and justice in Eritrea" Go back to Eritrea, why are you here?

The rally started at 11.00 AM and stayed up to 20.00 PM without no stop chanting, singing and delivering different speeches. A joint speech was read by the Swedish - Eritrean Partnership for Democracy and Development/ SESADU chairman, Fesseha Nair in Tigrinya and the Arabic version by Abdulkarim Mustafa.

Stockholm Rally 5

The rally concluded peacefully and cordially at the place. When the rally was concluded all rally participants were told to go to the Hall of Husbygård to meet there and have their dinner , discuss and entertain. Thanks to our sister organization Eritrean Solidarity Movement National Salvation/ESMNS/ and our sister organisation Kebire Relief organization who has extended its support to this evening by giving us this opportunity after the rally.

Stockholm Rally 6

At the reception Hall, words of appreciation and thanks giving were presented by the elders and young recommending that now is the time to lay down strategic planning and implementation to reach the final blow to the dictator and save our people inside Eritrea

Stockholm Rally 7

Later in the evening, Young Musicians and Artists entertained the rally participants with sensational songs and readings reminding the brutal situation inside Eritrea

Thank you all Freedom and Justice Activists!

Rally Organizers/ SESADU

Sink or Swim - I am Dr. Daniel Rezene

Thursday, 30 July 2015 04:55 Written by

Thanks to Meskerem.net’s heinous postings, I came to know Dr. Daniel Rezene. I learned he is a proud Eritrean who has been actively participating in the movement for justice. Why is it then the PFDJ regime and its evil agents making so much noises about him? 

Let it be known that the criminal regime knows that the movement for justice is closing the veins of its life support. Thus, the regime and its agents around the globe are engaged in an eleventh hour campaign. Character assassination, dehumanizing and name calling are just the tip of the iceberg comparing to a kitchen sink strategy to come. The regime is targeting to cripple the movement for justice that is exponentially growing around the globe. Who is Dr. Daniel Rezene? 

It is irrelevant what place, village, region or city he grew up. He is an Eritrean who believes justice for all. Because he believes what I believe, and he stands for all the values I stand for, I am Dr. Daniel Rezene. I call on all justice seekers to voice this slogan. It is not about Dr. Daniel, it is about our cause. If we don’t swim, we will sink. So, we better swim together and keep the hope alive.

 

 

Movement for Justice Will Never Sink!

A Brief Book Review

Wednesday, 22 July 2015 22:15 Written by

Medhanie Habtezghi (2010). Enkie, (እንከ) translated into Tigrigna as lekas (ለካ, A Surprise!). A Novel based on factual events. AITAS e-edit, Oslo, Norway. 132 pages, 12 sections.

A Brief Book Review by Kiflemariam Hamde,

Umeå University,

Sweden

Medhanie’s 2010 book is published both in Blin (እንከኤ)and in Tigrinya (ለካስ). I can translate both as A Surprise! The author dedicates the book to those (1) who find themselves in a bad situation escaping from the atrocities in Eritrea, and (2) those who were jailed, punished unjustly, those who died in search for peace, those whose yearnings for justice never realized, and to those who have lost their voice, the voiceless (Dedication page). The author aims to give voice to the voiceless and the silenced!

This is a brief note rather than an elongated review as readers who understand Blin and/or Tigrinya can have access to either of them. I will thus confine my note to the main storyline. Enkie, (እንከ) or (ለካ, a Surprise!) is the second novel by Medhanie Habtezghi who lives in Oslo, Norway. The first novel that he authored in 2008 was titled as Lexen axra merwedi (A Ring that Inflicted Pain, or literally, The Ring which became a Sore) and the review appeared in Asmarino.com. For the current work, the subtitle tells us that the novel is based on reality for the first 10 years after the Independence of Eritrea in 1991. So, I can guess the events occurring after Independence up to 2010 might be the bases for the story. The main story line deals with the fate of one of the main actors who grew up after Eritrea’s liberation, and narrates what happened to the Eritrean youth since then. The main actor, Zeresenay Andit, lost both his parents in liberating Eritrea. His grandmother lived outside of the capital city and all of her four children joined the liberation war and were martyred. She had to raise Zeresenay after liberation but upbringing him was not either any easy encounter with the vagaries of life. The story could apply to any (typical) Eritrean youth since the 1990s, namely youngsters finding themselves alone, one or both parents dead, growing up during the hysteric early 1990s after the liberation of the country, yearning for full liberation, a free Eritrea, and dreaming of education, prosperity, tranquility, and peace. Alas, holds the author, these expectation turned out to be rather more of a dream than the reality. Expectations and sacrifice never intersect with reality!

   Zeresenay grew up hearing a lot about the beauty of Asmara city, especially the down town streets with the Independence Street stretching amongst the city’s main buildings, which signified real freedom. The Street, for Zeresenay, was a symbol of victory even if it was not accessible to his grandparent generations when the Italians created it and called it, in daily parlance, ‘Campushtato’. Even during the British Administration (1940s) that Street was barely allowed for the locals (Eritreans) but to a limited scope. Yet, after Ethiopia annexed Eritrea as part of its entity, the Street changed a name with its new masters and became the arena of domination and rule by foreigner entity. Moreover, it was mainly Europeans who owned the retail shops and entertainment sites until Dergue replaced Emperor Haile-Selassie as new rulers of Ethiopia (1974). With Eritrea’s Independence in 1991, the street was rightly named “Independence Street”, a symbol of freedom and tranquility, thought at least the majority of Eritreans if not all of them. The main actor Zeresenay also yearned to visit it one day, as many Eritrean youth residing outside of the capital city who wished to walk stably along the Independence Street to “show at last freedom prevailed” (page 2) and entertain themselves in their own capital city. Although, one day, Zeresenay travelled and succeeded to come to the down town, to his surprise, he found out that Asmara city was still dominated by people with alien and foreign names who were the same personalities as during the Dergue era (1974-1991). Moreover, once in walking in the Street, Zeresenay experienced the unexpected: he faced enmity and opposition, and was treated as an alien in the very capital city which he thought symbolized liberation and peace. He was eventually captured, jailed and punished by the cruel old Dergue guards who served now the Eritrean government instead of leaving people to live in peace. That was a shock and a Surprise to Zeresenay, and all his dreams were to come to be true later on. ‘Nothing has changed, it became even worse’, pondered Zeresenay as he faced the opposite of what he and everybody else expected after Eritrean Independence. In the jail where old Dergue security personnel still worked (Section 2, pages 16-29) he met and learnt a lot from Eritrean prison mates who were there for no apparent crimes. Some of the inmates served prison three times, first under the Emperor in the 1960s, then under the Dergue since mid-1970s, and now under the Eritrean government, and in all of them, the same security investigators and interrogators served. For example, he remembers two of the security called Amsalu and Akalu (30-31). He was released however, with no reason given!

   To make the long story shorter, in the meantime Zeresenay got married to Yordanos, got a baby daughter whom they named Rahwa (Tranquility) to fulfil their wish for a peaceful life. The atrocities that he once encountered as mere dreams came out to be true for many young Eritreans. Consequently, to escape these atrocities, many youngsters were but forced to flee towards the Sudan, experiencing the hazardous life towards that, the ungoverned situation in the Sahara desert, unexpected and arrogant bandits in Libya, and worse enough, the journey toward safety via the Mediterranean Sea. In the last Section of the book (pages 124-132), the author recounts events in the Sea. After many tribulations, the family decided to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards Italy, and on their way, the ship wrecked, leaving 54 dead out of the total 154 travelers. Moreover, their young daughter could not make up the whole route in journey as she dropped off her father’s hands at the chaotic moment. The survivors were taken to Maltese hospital, and not to Italy. Once his grandmother had interpreted his dream of saving his half body from the sea while the other half was drowned. He had thought that was a mere dream. However, in that Maltese hospital, now that he lost his only daughter Rahwa, he realized that the dream was not a mere dream but A Surprise, wherefrom the title of the book derived.

   The book was written by the end of the last decade and published in 2010, well before the deadly events in 2013 when almost 350 Eritreans were drowned in Lampedusa. But those stories were not widely spread at that time. That is why the novel is realistic enough so much so that for last few years, the contents of the story have become daily news in the whole world, and instant feelings of guilty and anguish among Eritreans. As in his previous novel, the Ring that Became a Sore, to make his point, Medhanie makes use of many allegorical speech, in both the Blin and the Tigrinya versions, rhetorical and proverbial expressions. In many of the Sections, Medhanie turns to a poetic language. For example, in page 11 in the Blin version, there is a poem on the beauty of Asmara by pro-government supporters, and on page 13 a crazy but realistic guy, Aygdudu, exposes the hypocrite and false promises of the former. For their aesthetic character, both the Blin poem and Tigrinya tend to have been written independently of each other and not translation to either of them. This paradoxical combination of poems and verses shows how emotions and rationality, joy and grief, hate and love, moments of challenge and opportunity can be expressed in different genres, and in one text. The poetic expression even give time for less monotone reading of the paragraphs. In spite of the real but sad stories in the latter work, the reader can still enjoy the beauty in the language. As a reader, I can only appreciate Medhanie’s linguistic competence not only in his mother tongue, Blin, but especially in his mastery of the Tigrinya language. I thus encourage readers of both languages to read this great literary work, which gives vivid life to the lifeless, and greatly provides voice to the voiceless, as the author dedicated to the work for them. He reminds readers about the real but sad challenges Eritrean youth are facing nowadays. I hope the author continues with a third book on the fate of Eritreans once they reached their final destinations (safely).

A much deeper comprehensive review might be required to do justice to the contents of the whole story, especially from the point of view of literary theory and literary criticism. My overall evaluation however, is very positive in the use of complex language in both Blin and Tigrinya, the author’s skills in interspersing prose and verses, idioms and proverbs, and the terminology in Blin to fill gaps in the existing vocabulary.

   This book is in fact “a voice to the voiceless and the silenced” modern Eritrean youth who are disappearing and suffering in the hot and cruel sands of the Sahara and Libya. The message is a reminiscent of Abba Gerbreyesus Hailu’s novel, Hade Zanta (1928) when the Italian colonizers had forced our grandfathers to tread those very locations as conscripts. I encourage you to read it in Blin ((እንከ) Tigrigna (ለካስ) or both!

Medhanie Habtezghi lives in Oslo, Norway, and is a father of four. He has earned L.LB at the University of Asmara (1999) and wrote the LL.B senior thesis “Customary Marriage and Divorce in Blin Society”. He did his Masterate degree in Public International Law (2010) with a thesis titled “Environmental Protection in Eritrea under the Light of Biodiversity Convention and the Rio Declaration Principles: the Interdependence of political, Economic and Environmental Principles”. University of Oslo, Norway.

Medhanie can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

AFRICA

Hissene Habre, once described as "Africa's Pinochet", to face trial in Senegal for crimes against humanity.

20 Jul 2015 02:34 GMT|Africa,Chad,Senegal,Human Rights,Human Rights Watch

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Habre's trial is seen by many as a milestone in African justice [AFP]

Hissene Habre, the former leader of Chad once described as "Africa's Pinochet" by Human Rights Watch (HRW), is about to face trial in Senegal over the alleged political killings of thousands of people during his time in power.

The trial, starting on Monday, will be the first of an African leader on the African continent for crimes against humanity.

It is seen by many as a milestone in African justice.

Habre, who led Chad between 1982 and 1990, will be tried by the Senegalese courts' Extraordinary African Chambers, a court established to hear his case under an African Union agreement.

 
Hopes high for long-awaited trial of Hissene Habre

It is the first trial in Africa of a universal jurisdiction case, in which a country's national courts can prosecute the most serious crimes committed abroad by a foreigner and against foreign victims, HRW said.

It is also the first time the courts of one country are prosecuting the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes, it said.

"It shows that you can actually achieve justice here in Africa," said HRW counsel Reed Brody, who has been working on the case against Habre since 1999.

22 years in exile

The former ruler had been living in exile in Senegal for 22 years untilhis arrestin July, 2013, followingyears of procrastinatingby Senegal under former president Abdoulaye Wade. 

Habre's government was responsible for an estimated 40,000 deaths, according to report published in May 1992 by a 10-member Chadian truth commission formed by Chad's current president, Idriss Deby.

The Chad commission particularly blamed Habre's political police force, the Directorate of Documentation and Security, saying it used torture methods including whipping, beating, burning and the extraction of fingernails.

Human Rights Watch said it had evidence that at least 1,200 were killed and 12,000 tortured under Habre's rule.

A Belgian investigating team that travelled to Chad in 2002 visited detention centres and mass graves and found thousands of documents from Habre's political police, providing strong evidence of torture and rights violations.

In 2010 about 8.6 million euros ($10m) was pledged by the European Union, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the African Union and Chad to hold the trial.

The International Court of Justice in 2012 ordered Senegal to either try or extradite the former leader.

Habre's defence lawyers have dismissed the tribunal as a political tool of his enemies, and say the government of Deby, who removed Habre from office, is the court's largest donor.

The trial will be conducted by Senegalese and other African judges.

Hundreds of witnesses are expected to testify.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/trial-chad-ruler-killings-set-150720010734492.html

                              Sesadu 1

A Huge Public Rally against PFDJ Festival in Stockholm - Sweden

The Swedish- Eritrean Partnership for Democracy and Human rights/ SESADU in cooperation with other partners invites all activists for democracy and justice in Eritrea to a rally under the theme,Stop PFDJ Festivals" in Sweden and continue the struggle against human rights violations in Eritrea.

Date : Saturday 1st August 2015

Time: 11.00 -20.00

Place: Folketshus-EggbeyGård Järvafältet

Welcome all!

Organizing Committee/SESADU in cooperation with others

Sesadu 1

A Huge Public Rally against PFDJ Festival in Stockholm - Sweden

The Swedish- Eritrean Partnership for Democracy and Human rights/ SESADU in cooperation with other partners invites all activists for democracy and justice in Eritrea to a rally under the theme,Stop PFDJ Festivals" in Sweden and continue the struggle against human rights violations in Eritrea.

Date : Saturday 1st August 2015

Time: 11.00 -20.00

Place: Folketshus-EggbeyGård Järvafältet

Welcome all!

Organizing Committee/SESADU in cooperation with others

10 Reasons Why You Should Attend the Bologna Summit

Thursday, 09 July 2015 09:18 Written by
bologna grp

In Contributed Articles, Expose PFDJ, EYSC Action, Featured by Miriam SeptemberJuly 8, 2015

While making dinner and having my children run around the house, I thought about how to increase the understanding towards the Bologna Summit. So I sat spontaneously down to type a few words into my computer, which ended up to be the outline below thirty minute later. I hope it is worth your consideration.

You see, we always ask ourselves how to make the opposition more impactful and here is a chance for each one of us to play our part this summer.

Three Bologna Summits are planned for 2015 to increase accessibility, participation, and ultimately output: In London (July), Oakland (August), and in the end in Bologna Italy during October. Here are 10 quick reasons why attending and supporting the Bologna Summit 2015 may be worthwhile.

1. Creative anti-PFDJ action and demos are important to mobilise the wider mass and create momentum – but they cannot take the biggest worry of us: How will a weak and fragmented Eritrean opposition ever be an alternative to the dictator and his regime, now or post-PFDJ? The Bologna Summit aims directly at strengthening the opposition’s effectiveness and work towards increased unity among like-minded groups. It’s one avenue among others you can join.

2. Democracy is not just established on paper or through a system, it first needs to be installed in the mindset of Eritreans, both abroad and inside Eritrea. The Bologna Summit strongly rallies around tolerance, mutual cooperation, and democratic values.

3. One of the opposition’s greatest failure thus far, in my view, has been the inability to link up with the people of Eritrea and pro-democratic entities inside the country. The Bologna Summit actively incorporates the strategy to link up with change agents inside Eritrea. They are our most valuable hope and the greatest fear of the dictator. They deserve our attention and combined effort.

4. World statistics regarding regime change have shown that the large part of regime change that took place through armed struggle resulted in another authoritarian regime. Eritrea’s struggle for independence is a relict to that (Eritrea, Libya, Syria etc). Unfortunately, non-violent struggle and non-cooperation is widely misunderstood among Eritreans and sometimes even ridiculed, yet it is the most powerful strategy towards democratic regime change with the least casualties (Tunisia, Serbia, Burkina Faso etc), and believe it or not, the one dictators fear most.

5. The Bologna Summit is independent. If something has been missing in Eritrea’s opposition policies it is a strong, independently managed and lead Eritrean opposition entity. The Bologna Forum is a young effort, but recognising the fact that it runs independent and can survive self-sufficiently (including financially) is important and in that respect Bologna has achieved rather great momentum and has kept the peace among endorsing organisations.

6. The Bologna Summit is growing organically. We ache for unity, however all hasty attempts in the past to ‘unite’ under one name, one umbrella, or one event have often not resulted in effective cooperation. The Bologna Forum deserves a chance, it is growing organically, and you can become part of that grassroots growth story.

7. The demo in Geneva was a historical moment for all justice seekers and one of great hope and pride. Having said that you cannot build a political platform or alternative to Higdef through mass events without a leading body and clear political agenda. That gap needs to be filled, in many ways. Bologna is just one avenue, and you can choose to strengthen that further, among other.

8. Bologna has attracted a high participation of youth and women at all levels. In fact, women participation during the last two summits where around 40%. Among the highest in any opposition-lead effort (accept for women groups) – The Bologna Forum believes in the active role youth and women have to play on Eritrea’s path towards democracy. And I think what is also worth mentioning is that the Bologna Summit managed to adopt an image and dynamic that fits into the 21st century.

9. The Bologna Summit focuses on the mantra ‘Eritrean solutions for Eritrean problems’ as an effective strategy towards a Eritrean people-lead democracy. This strategy has thus far been largely misunderstood and has been nearly invisible in Eritrean opposition politics. When it was made public, HIGDEF noticed: I don’ t think it was a coincidence that they cancelled all festivals to summon in Bologna in 2014 after 23 years. This mantra hits PFDJ propaganda right into the foot and weakens its political stand point.

10. And lastly, the Bologna Forum is a gathering by Eritreans who want to see justice, freedom, and prosperity, and peace in Eritrea. It is an open platform to learn, debate, work, connect, and make new friends – it is an effort by Eritreans for all Eritreans and friends of Eritrea, and we hope at least that this is worth your support and participation.

We hope to see you at the Bologna Summit in London, Oakland, or Italy – you are warmly welcome.

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