One Eritrean writer wants you to pay attention to what’s happening in her country.
Since we are all mobile and, therefore, homeless, there is no ‘home’ in a physical, material or national sense, that refugees can return to. There was never a ‘home’ in the first place.
—Professor Gaim Kibreab, London South Bank University
“Why don’t you Eritreans and Ethiopians fix your own problems and your own refugee crisis?”
Uttered by an older, European woman during a recent dinner, the words struck a chord in my heart.
The conversation had delved into how the global society could and should work together to avoid the problem that affected me deeply: the involuntary mass exodus of Eritreans from their homes, left stranded or drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in search of reprieve from persecution.
My dinner companion’s words triggered an assault to my identity and felt reminiscent of neocolonialist thinking. “Why fight such a senseless war,” she continued. “You Eritreans don’t need independence, you’re better off as one country.”
The situation was very personal for me, a young Eritrean woman, born in Kenya and currently living in the United States. To me, my stance was straightforward: inasmuch as we all share the responsibility for displacement of a people, we must also share the burden of protecting and meeting the needs of those forced to flee in search of protection and livelihood. This was what I thought, but it was obvious that my opinion was not shared by my fellow dinner guest.
We argued; she believed countries in Africa had been independent for long enough and therefore couldn’t blame former colonial powers for their current state of affairs. However, this naïve outlook exemplified a lack of acknowledgment and understanding of one critical fact: African countries are still very much tied—politically, culturally and socio-economically—to the European powers that ruled them.
The dinner guest continued on her rant, ultimately ending with a curt “It’s not my problem.”
There is a lot to examine behind the words of this dinner guest: the disregard for the lives lost on both sides, Eritreans and Ethiopians; the families torn apart by war; the people trying to survive by crossing borders on foot, Eritrean mothers having to hide their children from the “Derg” (Ethiopian military government), the “Red Terror,” the famine and much more. Her statements, wrong contextually, left me feeling enraged and in despair.
Achieving independence for a country establishes its very existence and acknowledges its legitimacy. The very act of gaining independence breaks free from a country’s oppressors and gives the people recognition of their rights and identity. It gives the nation its freedom to decide its own fate.
The 30-year War: The longest ever experienced between two African countries
For contextual purposes, Eritrea, a small east African nation along the Red Sea, was initially an Italian colony from 1890 to 1941 and colonized by the British until 1952. In 1950, the United Nations proposed and passed a resolution: Eritrea was to be declared a federation of the Ethiopian Empire—without the approval of the majority of the Eritrean people. However, the resolution was violated by the Ethiopian government that in actuality, had a stronghold on Eritrean affairs, further undermining the economic, social and political order of a federated Eritrea and turning it into an Ethiopian colony.
The Eritrean War of Independence was fought for thirty years, ending in 1991. In 1993, Eritrea declared its independence after 99.8 percent of the population voted in favor of it; the country was soon recognized as a member of the United Nations. However, between 1998 and 2000, there was a bloody war waged under the pretext of a border dispute. Although Eritrean and Ethopian heads of state signed the Algiers Agreement as final and binding, Ethiopia refused to accept the decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission and a state of “no war, no peace” prevailed until July 2018. In spite of the formal declarations, not much has changed since the signing of the agreement—the border still remains undemarcated.
It is important to clarify that the cause of the current refugee exodus is a result of the border war. In the time since, Eritreans have since faced: indefinite military conscription, illegal detention and extra-judicial torture and killings, food insecurity and a general lack of freedom.
Eritreans are being denied a dignified life. At least a generation has been wiped out by President Isaias Afewerki, a former freedom fighter, who has turned out to be one of the worst dictators in the world, and rules the country with an iron fist.
I’d be remiss to neglect mentioning the 2018 Ethiopia-Eritrea Peace Summit that resulted in Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. The summit was prematurely celebrated as a step towards regional stability, when literally, the only things restored were telecommunication lines and direct air flight routes. Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s short-lived façade as a visionary and progressive leader evoked his true colors as a budding autocrat.
Ethiopia is currently facing a civil conflict in Tigray, a region in the northwest, mainly due to Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) refusing to acknowledge the 2019 formed federal ruling Prosperity Party and subsequently deciding to hold their regional elections, which the federal government did not recognize. Dr. Abiy’s decision to suspend nationwide elections due to the coronavirus was the straw that broke the camel’s back: in under two weeks the internal conflict has escalated to an international war involving Eritrea, with the potential to morph into a regional war.
Would Ethiopia have engaged Tigray at this level of conflict, without having resolved the “cold war” with Eritrea? It is befitting that both nations have Tigray as a common adversary. Isaias Afewerki’s enfeebled military has yet again been dragged into another conflict with TPLF, only this time, meddling in Ethiopian internal affairs. We can only deduce that the numerous clandestine state visits between Dr. Abiy and President Afewerki were all working right to this moment – to destabilize Tigray. TPLF retaliated with threats to attack Asmara and Massawa, of which there are reports that TPLF have followed through and foiled an attack on Asmara.
The surmounting tensions in the diaspora are reminiscent of the war in 1998. When will the leaders of Eritrea be held accountable for their actions? These actions continue to be at the cost of the innocent Eritrean people who are not fighting a war that is theirs to fight. As a result of this new war: there will be an increase of refugees escaping conflict, IDPs, and the Eritrean refugees in Tigrayan camps; Adi Harush and Mai Aini, already a marginalized community, face further human rights violations. Humanitarian aid workers’ mobility is restricted and they cannot provide food security or health assistance. The refugee camps are also facing complications due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the internal politics in Eritrea remain the same; the oppressive status quo prevails. Political prisoners are still being detained, military service has not been suspended, and the infamous two percent income tax on all Eritrean citizens living in the diaspora is still being imposed. We can only assume that the situation under the threat of the coronavirus is worse than what the government claims. Residents are silenced and phones are tapped. There is no alternative source of information and the state-owned media is palpably unreliable. Eritrea is on the brink of famine, and those who continue to flee are embarking on perilous journeys and are suffering at the hands of merciless human traffickers. The internal vacuum created by the current regime must come to an end in order to restore a functioning government and society. When will this generational trauma end?
The silent war we are currently waging by trying to mobilize ourselves from the diaspora and biding our time to restore a compassionate society and to re-liberate the country is what further fortifies my identity as an Eritrean.
A state of “no war, no peace” is senseless, especially when it threatens liberation of the oppressed. And no war of great magnitude is fought only by the two warring nations; western influences and proxies are always part of the puzzle. Conflict over resources and demarcation of borders could avert the risk of escalation of war, especially when the parties concerned are willing to negotiate and the international bodies facilitate the process of mediation fairly and efficiently.
We have seen and continue to witness the number of people fleeing from African, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries towards Europe. In 2019 alone, 123,663 people risked their lives attempting to reach the shores of Europe by sea and land; 1,319 have been feared dead or missing. The Western nations have proved that they do not have policies in place, and some are ill equipped to provide assistance to those in dire need.
This should be enough for anyone living comfortably in the West to empathize or try to understand their plight rather than questioning whether refugees have legitimate grounds to flee their countries of origin, or make outrageous claims that others are piggybacking off other’s stories to their “golden ticket to freedom.” To make unabashed statements and not think about the implications of making these factually incorrect statements is deeply rooted in the essence of white and “Western” privilege. Only when Westerners empathize with the plight of those who are forced to flee will it stop being considered an “African issue.” It is high time that the problem is perceived as a global responsibility which requires a global solution.
We have to remember that whilst they are refugees of different ethnic backgrounds knocking on your doors, they are above all, humans too. The life of any Eritrean that makes that journey to Libya and across the volatile Mediterranean Sea is worth no less than mine – I just got dealt with a different set of cards. Who gives anyone the right to dictate another’s identity or plight? The polarized politics in the global North has given a group of people the agency to voice their antiquated thoughts and opinions, which is essentially the same hateful rhetoric from previous dark eras in global history.
ናጽነት የኹርዕ : ስራሕ የብልዕ
Independence is to dignity, what work is to livelihood–Tigrinya proverb
