By Petros Tesfagiorgis

Miss Lul Seyoum an outstanding activist in UK, me and other Eritreans among them, an ex- Asmara University lecturer and country director of British Council in Eritrea; an environmental scientist; and one who has senior position in the Eritrean Ministry of finance, {3 of them Trustees and founding members of Eritrean Refugee Support Association in UK (ERSA-UK)} were privileged to attend the debate on Eritrea and Ethiopia dated 27 January 2015 in parliament at the House of Lords. It is an amazing British tradition of transparency that anybody even tourists can attend debates from the gallery where we were sitting. The actual debate took place in the chamber.

For me it was more than simple attendance, it is a date with history. Lord Avebury used to book rooms in the parliament to hold the Eritrean support committee meetings and I was attending the meetings regularly.   Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead (Labour) and Lord Eric Avebury (Liberal Party) have a deep sense of value of freedom and justice as to commit themselves to support,   with devotion and passion, people struggling for their freedom in Eritrea (Africa) far away from the United Kingdom.

During the debate when Lord Avebury  was introducing himself, he  said” In the 1970s, I was   chairman of the Eritrea Support Group, which campaigned in Parliament and the media for Eritrea’s freedom and tried to persuade Ministers to support the self-determination of the Eritrean people.”  Lord Avebury was modest to limit his involvement.  Most significantly, he was also honorary chairman of Eritrean Relief Association-UK that managed to raise substantial amount of funds from British NGOs such as Oxfam, Caffod, Christian Aid, Euro Action Accord etc.  A consortium organised by War-on-Want (WOW) have managed to raise more than 1 million pound and bought water drilling rig in order to reduce water shortage in the areas liberated by EPLF.   Credit must go to   the late Mary Dines who was the Secretary General of the Charity War-On Want when ERA-UK during the time when ERA-UK was in the process of getting registered as a charity in late 1977. She introduced ERA-UK   to Lord Avebury with a recommendation to be the chairman. After her return from her visit to Eritrea in 1978 Mary Dines resigned from War-On-Want and committed to worked full time for ERA.  She is popularly known as Maria Teresa of Eritrea.

I am over the moon to see at the Chamber Baroness Glynes Kinnock and Lord Eric Avebury who are part of long history of Eritrean struggle joined by Lord Chedgey (Liberal Democratic Party) who is today championing the case of Eritrea at the highest British political level. On behalf of myself and all those who are struggling for justice for the people of Eritrea I extend my thanks to him and I salute him.  I was so happy to get introduced to him on the way out at the corridor.

In recognition of this undertaking Lord Avebury started his debate by saying , “My Lords, I warmly congratulate my noble friend Lord Chidgey on securing this short debate that links Eritrea and Ethiopia, and on his masterly summary of the human rights violations in Eritrea and the consequent exodus of large numbers of refugees.

On congratulating Lord Chidgey Lord Avebury was referring to the well documented and well researched extensive report he presented at  beginning the debate.

 

The debate:

Lord Chidgey (Liberal Democrat):   “My Lords, according to UN agency, in the first 10 months of 2014, the number of asylum seekers in Europe from Eritrea nearly tripled. In Ethiopia and Sudan, the number of Eritrean refugees also increased sharply.  By November, some 37,000 Eritreans had sought refuge in Europe, compared with around 13,000 a year ago.   An unprecedented number of Eritreans are fleeing their country as refugees, on a precarious journey to Europe as well as to bordering countries.  As at mid-2013, the UNHCR estimated that the total population of concern originating from Eritrea was more than 313,000 people, including more than 292,000 refugees and 20,000 asylum seekers.”

Lord Chidgey mentioned the report by UN Human Rights Council, that Eritrea holds many detainees without charge or due process. He also covered the report of Sheila Keetharuth the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea and that her request to visit Eritrea has been denied.

Lord Patten (Conservative):  I quote “My Lords, migration from Ethiopia and Eritrea to Western Europe can be understood only in relation to where those leaving go to. Take Ethiopia… that country is now host to more than 600,000 immigrants- the highest number of refugees taken in by any African Country.  The Government of Ethiopia should be highly commended for accepting and managing so many with such scant resources.  A lot of Somalis, many more from Sudan and more from Eritrea itself, of course flood into Ethiopia.  Then there is the huge number – more than 160,000- of recent returnees’ refugee: Ethiopians returning to Addis Ababa from Saudi Arabia   since the Amnesty there granted by the late King Abdullah ended.   They, too, are often destitute when they arrive.”

“Where do all these people go if they try to get away from Ethiopia? The answer is that not all, by any means, go to Europe – that is a contemporary urban myth.” “Vital work needs to be done to try to anchor people where they are in Ethiopia or Eritrea – to develop there a stable, trustworthy civil society within which sustainable local livelihoods can emerge.”

Here the good Lord has got it wrong. Eritreans are running away because of gross human rights violations.  And although there is a lot of poverty, it is the result of mishandling of the economy and the society by PFDJ.

As Lord Patten suggests having a formidable civil society in Eritrea is a dream. There is no freedom of association than enables civil society to flourish.  He believes it is better to support the refugees where they are and   witnessed the support CAFOD and other NGOs give to Ethiopia.”  He said “The CAFFOD programme are giving to more than 65,000 people, more than 60% of whom are women and girls, which is much to the good.”  But that is in Ethiopia not Eritrea.

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead (Labour):  Baroness Kinnock started by criticising Ethiopia of imprisoning journalists- curtailing freedom of expression – and the fact that many of the journalists have fled the country. I would add my voice to this criticism. I would say Ethiopia is far away from achieving democracy as we know it in the West and they do imprison opposition figures and journalists.   But unlike Eritrea  they set the country on the road to fast development. In the past Ethiopia’s was only Addis Ababa hardly connected by road to the country side except major towns?  Today modern cities are mushrooming in all parts of Ethiopia, with universities, clinics and factories. The infrastructure of roads, services all over Ethiopia is amazing.

She said   “On the subject of migration, I begin with a shocking fact which serves to illustrate the desperation of Eritreans.  Almost as many Eritreans fled their country – a country which, incidentally, is not at war- as Syrians fled theirs in 2014. UNHCR has said, “From January to October 2014, more than 60,000 Syrians, including almost 10,000 children, arrived by sea.  In the same period almost 35,000 Eritreans arrived by sea in the Mediterranean, including 3,380 unaccompanied children”.

“Surely, we have to ask exactly what makes people take such a terrible risk to leave their country.  The cruelty, tyranny and oppression of Isaias Afewerki and his regime know no bounds.  Eritrea is isolated politically, regionally and internationally and it is under UN sanctions because of its alleged support for al-Shabaab in Somalia.  The country is often described as Africa’s North Korea. All rights and freedoms are denied.  There is no religious freedom or political pluralism, and no freedom of the media or of speech.

The special rapporteur says that the authorities in Eritrea show no inclination to tackle the root causes of the exodus.  She confirms a lack of rule of law, and reported cases of extrajudicial disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture in detention.”

“Also, does the Minister agree with the suggestion made by some European Governments that it is necessary now to offer additional support and engagement to Eritrea, arguing that additional aid will lead to more openness and to change?  Surely there can be no {new beginning”, as has been suggested, with this regime.  As history proves, concession to regimes such as Eritrea will achieve absolutely nothing.   I ask the minister to give some detail on the apparent willingness of the UK to have discussion with the Eritrean regime on.

Lord Avebury:

Lord Avebury highlight the UN imposed federation between Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1952 and the subsequent forced annexation which gave rise to the beginning of the 30 years long armed struggle that led to independence in May 1991.

He said “In 1993, after the Eritreans gained their freedom, they held a referendum, in which there was a 99.3% turnout, in favour of independence, an event that no one who was there could ever forget.  There was a spontaneous outburst of joy, with singing and dancing in the streets, and it seemed as if Eritrea, with its talented and hard-working people would become a beacon of democracy and prosperity in the Horn of Africa.  However, that dream was shattered when Ethiopia launched a fresh war of aggression on the pretence of a dispute over the border between the two countries.”

Lord Avebury may have forgotten the fact that the commission that studded how the war started has established the fact that it is Eritrea and not Ethiopia that started the war.  The Eritrean Government has admitted it although it failed to tell to the Eritrean people. Nevertheless I would say both Ethiopia and Eritrea has to be blamed. War is destructive for both the losers and winners.  Lord Avebury recommended engagement with Eritrea and put pressure of Ethiopia and Eritrea to make sustainable peace.

The Lord Bishop of Derby:

He said “The number of migrants we experience in Western Europe is simply a cry for help, showing us the scale and seriousness of government malfunction and the complexity of the history we are looking at. Therefore, there has to be an approach that is not just bilateral, with these countries trying to work with the EU, the UN and through the Foreign Office, and to try not just to look at the political possibilities but to engage with voluntary and faith sectors to work with the desperate need on the ground, especially in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, where there is all the suffering and no real access to giving help.

Therefore, I will be interested if the Minister can comment on the overall strategy and how working with Europe and the UN might give some hope, besides bilateral things; on any representations on honouring religious freedom in Eritrea.

 

Lord Rea (Labour).  He highlighted Lord Avebury’s concern, how the no-war no-peace is damaging Eritrea. The unresolved dispute is impacting the Eritrea’s economy.

He said, “When we were in Eritrea, we visited, among other places, the Red Sea port of Massawa, where we met the minister for the coast and fisheries, Petros Solomon, an impressive former senior officer in the independence struggle.  He took us to see a remarkable coastal prawn and tilapia aquaculture pilot project, which was being developed with the help of a small American grant. If that project had gone ahead and expanded it could have become a valuable food-producing and export industry.  Sadly, it was abandoned, possibly due to government opposition to external NGOs.”

It goes without saying that today Massawa is a dead port city. A friend of mine who visited it recently said, “I visited a different Massawa, it lost its past glamour and bustling night life. It is now a depressed town – crying for mercy”.  He lamented saying “cry my beloved Eritrea.”

Lord Rea continued, “In 2001, I was among those invited to attend the 10^th anniversary celebrations of the end of the independence struggle.  However shortly after our visit, 15 senior government members, known as the G15, who had signed a letter to President Isaias Afewerki urging him to implement the agreed democratic constitution and hold election, were arrested.  They included Petros Solomon, whom the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, and I had met one and a half year earlier.  Some 13 years later, he is still in prison, without trial and held incommunicado, as is his wife. Can the noble Baroness, to whom I gave notice of this question, say whether our embassy has been able to obtain any information about this man and his colleagues who are still detained? Some fear that he and some of the other G15 letter writers may no longer be alive.

Well what do you expect? Gross Human Rights violations are incompatible with social and economic progress.  The heroes of the Eritrean revolution such as Petros Solomon are incarcerated. The Government by monopolizing the economy has destroyed the middle class, many of the business and the professional class who would have been the engine of the growth of the economy have migrated to Uganda, South Sudan, and Angola etc unable to you their business and industrial skill to develop Eritrea.

Baroness Morgan of Ely (Labour).  My lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, on securing this important debate, and particularly on his illuminating introduction.

Baroness Morgan has reiterated the impact of the exodus on the UK and said “we cannot isolate ourselves from the problems of the world.  She went on, “There are some key points which we would like the Government to take on board.  We believe that all possible pressure should be brought to bear in particular on the Eritrean regime to give way to a democratic Government who will respect human rights and the wishes of their people.  What this does not mean is attempting to start a new relationship with the existing Eritrean authorities through providing unconditional aid. Given the failure of all previous attempts to engage in a meaningful way, do the Government really believe that the regime can respond positively?  Do the Government agree that, unless there is clear and verifiable evidence that human rights have improved there is no beginning to give aid?” 

 

To continue in part 2.  The Plight of Refugees is placed on Europe’s political centre ground: What are the role of the Diaspora opposition in the post-House of Lords debate?