OPEN LETTER: Urgent Call for immediate humanitarian assistance for Eritrean refugees in Al Hudaydah Prison
20 September 2017 OPEN LETTER Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Palais des Nations Avenue de las Paix 8-14 1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland Your Excellency, RE: Urgent Call
20 September 2017
OPEN LETTER
Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed
Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen
Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen
Palais des Nations
Avenue de las Paix 8-14
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Your Excellency,
RE: Urgent Call for immediate humanitarian assistance for Eritrean refugees in Al Hudaydah Prison
I am writing on behalf of Eritrea Focus, an umbrella organisation for individuals and groups campaigning for the human rights of Eritreans. We were involved in the formation of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eritrea in 2015, with the aim of drawing attention to the suffering of the Eritrean people, including tens of thousands of refugees.
This letter is to draw your attention to the urgent situation of Eritrean refugees in Al Hudaydah Prison. These refugees have been there for almost 2 years and are in a very desperate physical and mental condition.
A number of these refugees are under the age of 18 and have not yet been registered as such by the UNHCR. We have been reliably informed of an outbreak of Cholera in the prison along with an infectious skin condition that is contagious and it is affecting almost all of the refugees.
Furthermore, some of the Eritrean refugees are suffering from malnutrition, with many emaciated as you can see from the pictures below sent to us from the prison itself. No one has taken any responsibility for the plight of these unfortunate refugees. They have no access to medical care and as a result they have become susceptible to various types of diseases adding to their misery.
Your Excellency,
We believe that the situation of the Eritrean refugees warrants your immediate attention. As the mandate holder for peace and stability and Special Envoy in charge of Yemen, we plead and urge you to take the following steps as a matter of priority:
- Ensure coordinated efforts are made alongside UNHCR and the Red Cross to access of the Eritrean Refugees in Al Hudaydah Prison;
- Ensure the registration of all the refugees in Al Hudaydah Prison in accordance with the UNHCR guidelines;
- Ensure all refugees in the prison are given emergency medical assistance;
- Ensure all Eritrean refugees are provided with basic humanitarian assistance, including food and water;
- Ensure that these refugees are released from the prison in Al Hudaydah as a matter of priority. They should be relocated to a safe place through family reunion schemes or other such like.
These refugees have fled their homeland for fear of their safety and are not able to return to Eritrea. They have a legitimate fear of torture and persecution. As you know, the UN Human Rights Council determined that crimes committed in Eritrea since 1991 amount to ‘crimes against humanity’.
In conclusion, we in Eritrea Focus urge Your Excellency to intervene on behalf of the Eritrean refugees in Yemen and to seek reasonable arrangements for their rehabilitation. We remain hopeful that you will do everything in your power to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
Yours sincerely,
Habte Hagos
Chairman
Eritrea Focus
Amba September 21, 2017
Thank you at Habte for remembering the Eritrean refugees who are mostly ethnic Afars from Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Long, long ago, when I was nave, I believed and saw myself as an Arab or Arabic person, then saw the light the way Eritrean refugees have been treated in the last 15 years in Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia … as spare-part organ harvests, sex slaves, sources of enslaved labour, sources of ransom money, kidnap …. all the horors including executions and beheading. Now, I see myself as the end part of the Arab world and their Abeed, far below than their goats. Such is my Arabized shamed identity.
I will not be surprised if some idiots who hate the truth respond negatively to this sad fate of Eritrean refugees in the Arabic world.
Beraki T. September 21, 2017
Brother/sister Amba,
I absolutely agree with you about some of the muslim and dekalu idiots who hate the truth so badly.
We will definitely have the comedian (the former Iraqi defense minister “Ali”) with his normal “hijabs” disguised as
Sol, amanuel, andom, Kalighe, alem, Nahon, Kidane unashamedly and arrogantly defending his evil Islam shit.
The few useless, toothless and spineless/gutless dekalu, danilo and ahmid salih should just be ignored and pitied.
B. A. September 22, 2017
Berakhi,
FYI Ali comeic was Saddam’s minister of information not Defense.
And i agree with you that this guy…….
Sol, amanuel, andom, Kalighe, alem, Nahon, Kidane unashamedly and arrogantly defending his evil Islam shit. ………………. is a weyane and CIA sell out agent and his attempts are to harm Eritrean government and people by spreading his evil islamic shit.
k.tewolde September 21, 2017
It looks like somebody unleashed the crusader army at once to rile up the ‘christian nation’, I wish that was the case,it would have been easier to distinguish the enemy from the friend even for the layman.In the meantime the poor continue to suffer regardless of their ethnicity and religious background while the conquistadors like AEYB blow the trumpets Babylon.
Tsehaye September 21, 2017
You are all little fascists. The irony is that those who pretend to care or to love Eritrean more than the rest of us are in fact those traitors who abandoned the country in its difficult times. You in your own admission are a former ELF stooge who is full of himself but should be reminded not to try lecturing or preaching hoaxes. It’s about time you guys stop acting like your ISIS.
AHMED SALEH !!! September 21, 2017
Some idiots have no other business expect trash
talks . What you read is reality of humans suffering
but these jerks enjoy to politicize at their expense .
TESFALDETABRAHA September 21, 2017
አየ ረድዮ አሰና ሐሶት ክአ ሕጂ ዓለም ዝፈልጦ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት ናብ ሊብያ እዮም ዝኸዱ እምበር ናብ የመን ዝኸደ የለን ምናልባሽ ነቶም ኢትዮጲያውያን ተጋሩ ከም ኤርትራውያን ክትቆጽሮም ደሊኻ ከይትኽውን ካበይ አምጺእካዮ ስደተተኛታት ኤርትራውያን አብ የመን
Beraki T. September 21, 2017
The super “pure” Eritrean Tesfaldet Abraha, tell us if you are not “Tigrean – Ethiopian” yourself why the hell you speaking in the Tigrean Tigrigna language????
As a Chinese or Singaporean Eritrean shouldn’t you be speaking in Chinese language then??
Alternatively, if you still feel like your old fascist Italian and barbarian Arabs then shouldn’t you
be speaking in Italian or Arabic instead of the Tigrigna language of the Tigrean/Ethiopian people? You see hopeless Tesfaldet, you are just a sold out slave and a disposable cheap material.
Ram September 21, 2017
Let them die. I don’t want to be associated with these people. These animals have no place in Eritrea no more. When your IQ is lower than a retarded person, what do you expect out of life? Nothing but hardship and suffering.
Asmara Eritrea September 21, 2017
I happen to believe all Eritreans are nationalist to the core and believe in equal rights for all regardless of, gender ethnicity or religion. That’s what makes Eritrea unique. As such, what one or two have written above is far from the truth and unworthy of response..
I also passionately believe all PFDJ members, except the few at the top, are nationalists albeit misguided by the fallacy that only Isaias can glue Eritrea together. They have been brainwashed and fear that the country could disintegrated without the dictator. They join the PFDJ for the simple love of their country and not because they like Isaias (in fat the vast majority of the PFDJ I know hate him to the core). Who can blame them given the state of the opposition – with every man and his dog having a so called an opposition group? Soon we will see a wife and a husband with their own opposition group. Our fragmentation is what is sustaining the brutal dictator in power, not the PFDJ.
It is high time those in opposition wake up not for their self-interest but for the interest of the country and the people. Isaias is hell bent to destroy our country to pieces and he will not stop until he achieves that goal. With unity we can stop him from achieving his dream.
Eritrea forever, death to dictatorship.
Kalighe September 21, 2017
Asmara Eritrea
Iseyas has a brutal system in place that many Higdefites blieve is tge EPLF and support.
His absence, which can happen anytime, will not affect his regime.
There are hundreds if not thousands, who will follow his legacy, because they are afraid to face justice for crimes they have been committing against innocent people for the last 25 years of his rule.
The problem is not only Iseyas, ( in fact more than him, because he is living mostly in hiding), Higdef should be blamed.
There is no point in blaming the opposition, they are doing what they can, if people hate Iseyas but want keep his regime in place, it’s their choice.
Asmara Eritrea September 23, 2017
Dear K Tewolde
I always find your comments intellectually stimulating and perhaps the most intelligently crafted ones on Assenna website. However, what I find puzzling is your repeated response to people who can only be describe as illiterate and narrow-minded individuals such Lingo. They really are not worth the minutes you spend replying to them. If I was you, I would simply ignore them because that is probably the only language they understand.
Eritrea forever, death to dictatorship.
k.tewolde September 27, 2017
I humbly accept your compliment with reciprocity A.E. As much as I want to,it is atrocious for them to be given a carte blanche to insult everybody who are simply exercising their freedom of expression in this medium,sometimes we got to stand up and let them taste their own puke.