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Thousands of Eritrean students bused to Forced Labour Camps in Eritrea.

Staring from 9th July 2016 over 27 000 Eritrean school children were bused to various forced labour camps around the country. This shocking latest action against school children comes in the wake of a damning

Staring from 9th July 2016 over 27 000 Eritrean school children were bused to various forced labour camps around the country. This shocking latest action against school children comes in the wake of a damning report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea which confirmed Crimes Against Humanity have been committed by the ruling regime since 1991 in what it called ‘systematic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights’ including enslavement, forced conscription and forced labour. The students are often taken to remote places without the the protection of their parents or guardians and are exposed to all sorts of abuses including sexual abuses against girls, and hard labour. Any student who refuses to participate is denied access to education and rounded up for forced conscription. This practice violates the 1999 Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention of the Worst Forms of Child Labour which prohibit any work that denies children the right to education and any form of forced labour.
The student forced labour grogram known as ‘Students Summer Work Program’ in Eritrea usually comes before the indefinite forced conscription of all high school students who are made to finish their secondary education in a single military training, juggling between classes and military training. Once the students or any other youth are forced into conscription there is no way out. For all intents and purposes they are owned by the regime which the UN report rightly described as modern slavery. The regime enslaves around half a million Eritrean youth at any given time as confirmed by the UN report. As a result, the desperate youth continue to risk their lives to flee the country to seek for protection elsewhere. The tragic mass drowning of Eritreans in the Mediterranean Sea, the gruesome beheading of Eritrean migrants in Libya, and harrowing trafficking and kidnapping for ransom and organ harvesting of Eritrean in the Sinai desert and the hundreds of thousands of refugees (including unaccompanied children) in camps in Ethiopia and Sudan are consequences of the desperation Eritrean youth feel under the most brutal regime in the world. Many others are languishing inside Eritrean chain of prisons or serving as slave soldiers and labourers in the army.
We call upon the world to stand with us and defend the rights of Eritrean school children and stop all forms of slavery, forced conscription, and forced labour in Eritrea. This is the time to challenge the brutal rulers in Eritrea and force them to free the Eritrean youth from modern slavery. Let’s demand for:
1. The immediate return of all Eritrean students currently in forced labour camps to their families
2. Immediate and total ban of Forced Labour in Eritrea
3. Immediate and total ban of Forced Conscription in Eritrea
For the financial compensation of all those who participated in forced labour
4. All those responsible for the enslavement, forced conscription, and forced labour to be held accountable
Eritrea is the only country in the world without a constitution and is ‘ruled by fear’ as the UN report accurately describes it. There have never been any national elections since its independence, no national assembly, no justice system, no civicl society, no independent press, and all forms of freedoms and rights are banned. The one-man regime has terrorised the people in order to stay in power unchallenged.
EMDHR
24 July 2016
Pretoria, South Africa

aseye.asena@gmail.com

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40 COMMENTS
  • Alem July 26, 2016

    Now it is time to advocate for the eradication of the criminal regime rather than ask for the respect of our rights that have been denied for 25 yrs

  • Alem July 26, 2016

    Now it is time to advocate for the eradication of the criminal regime rather than ask for the respect of our rights that have been denied for 25 yrs.

  • Sol July 26, 2016

    The problem of such campaigns of the regime that it is conducted without any preparation regarding human needs such as appropriate food, medication and appropriate accommodation, the reason that exposes these children to serious diseases. According to radio medrekh, from the last Sawa round 200 were died, 2000 were imprisoned and 2500 fled.

  • meseret July 26, 2016

    summer students campaign was started 1993. And it is good plan of reforestation program. But you guys are blindly opposing against your own country and people. Even you don’t know what you are doing. It is good to have your own political standing, but don’t be so fool.

  • Gobo July 26, 2016

    http://www.ntv.co.ug/tags/mihretab-sium

    Eritreans in Uganda tarnishing Eritreans name, why?

  • ኣርዓዶም July 26, 2016

    ይገርም ዩ ናይ ህግደፍ ግፍዕታት ኣዝዩ ዘስደምም።

    ኣበየነይቲ ሃገር ጎልበት ቆልቑ ገርካ ሃገር ክህነጽ ተራእዩ፡ እዝም ቖልዑ ደቒ 9-ክሳብ 16 ዕድመኦም ኣብ ክንዲ ኣብታ ዓመታዊ ዝርኽብዋ ኦረፍቲ ዘተንፍሱን ዝዘናግዑን ብስም ሃገራዊ ህንጸት ግዚኦም ኣብ አምዚ ሳንቲም ዘይክፈሎ በረኻ ከሕልፍዎ ክትርኢ ከለኻ፡ በቓ ኣዝዩ ደምካ ዘፍልሕ ኣዝዩ ዝሕዝን ኢዩ። እዞም ቖልዑ እንተን ዝረከብወን ናይ ክልተ ውርሒ ዕረፍቲ ምስ ድራቤቶምን ፈተውቶምን እንተሕለፉ ድ ኣይምሓሸን፡ ኣየነይቲ ሃገር ኢያ ችጭኵሮ ቖልዑ ለሚዓ፡ ኣንታ ኣምላኽ፡ ነዚ ምዝመዛ እዚ መወዳእታ ኣንተገበርካሉ ክንደይ ሰናይ ምኵነ፡

    ሃገረ ህግደፍ ብጭኵሮ ቖልዑ ክትለምዕ፡ንኹሉ ህዝቢ ዓለም ኣደንጽይዎ ይርከብ። እዚ ግን ንጹር ምዝመዛ ኢዩ፡ ኣታ መንእሰይ ወለዶ ንምንታይ ግዜኻ ኣብ ማዕዶ ተሕልፎ ኣለኻ፡ ከም`ቲ ስርናይ ከይወደቐት ዘይትፈሪ፡ ሰብ ንሓርነቱን መሰሉን ከይወደቐ ፍጹም ኣይፈርን ኢዩ፡ ብርግጽ ድማ ትርእዮ ኣለኣ፡ ህዝብና ብጃምላ ይጸንት` ቖልዑና ኣደዳ ምዝመዛን ዓመጽን ኮይኖም፡ በጃኻ ብሓድነት ተበራበር ንሓድንት።

  • k.tewolde July 26, 2016

    meseret,with all due brotherly respect,if you are a mother living here in the west,enjoying the fruits of democracy where you can decide the future of your kids,where you can choose which summer camp they will attend,which school they would go,in what neighborhood they will be raised,where you can scrutinize and evaluate their teachers credentials,where you can actively get involved in PTA to make a direct impact on your child’s education,would you honestly send your kids to ‘summer students campaign’ as you called it in authoritarian,dictatorial Eritrea where you have no control who is watching after them,what they are getting exposed to,under what conditions…?reforestation program? I call it deflowering program.Let us get real,this is a regime that denies the identity of its own children drowning in the Mediterranean,that is self appointed and refuses to give up the power to the people for 25 years and gluts, ‘ see you on the 50th’. Reforestation is not in the agenda of this regime,as a matter of fact,Eritrea boasts the most arid,bald and dusty terrain that you will mistake it for the surface of the moon from a satellite due to mismanagement of this mediocre regime in Asmara.Sister, if you are defending this group of outlaws back home,send your children there,they will never forgive you for the rest of their adult life,that is ,if they made their way back to you.And this is not blindly opposing but shedding a light to blind supporting.

    • k.tewolde July 26, 2016

      By the way,I just finished watching the nomination of the first female presumptive president of the U.S.A. democracy at work,what a poignant moment.I am proud to be a citizen of this country.Eritrea be jealous and do the right thing.

  • Setit July 26, 2016

    MESERET or whoever you are,
    ThIS IS CALLED CHILD LABOR AND IS ILLEGAL! PERIOD
    DON’T TRY TO LEGALIZE/ROMANTICIZE AN ILLEGAL ACTION!

  • Almaz July 26, 2016

    This site seems devoted to all evil of Eritrea/PFDJ. So, no one should be surprised reading an op-ed trashing any project of good deeds from the legitimate government of Eritrea. a luta continua!

  • meseret July 27, 2016

    K.tewolde, here is my answer in short,
    I participated summer camp(1993-1994), 1st round national service, ten years millitary(2000-2010) that is all no regret. But i am saying when you oppose be fair and reasonable. Don’t be hostile. I support critics but when it is constructive.hostily makes people blind. Let you have a constructive critic. As i have said any person can have his/her own political view, but we should not paint everything black.

    • k.tewolde July 27, 2016

      Fair enough meseret,but you have to call a spade a spade.If things were ok back home,we won’t be here.I like your open spirit.

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