ERI-NEWS

Bi-Weekly Newsletter
Prepared by the Press Section of the
Permanent Mission of the State of Eritrea to AU
and UNECA

President Isaias Conducted Official Visit to Egypt Vol 5. Issue 76

President Isaias Afwerki 18 January 2018
conducted a two-day
working visit to Egypt, In this issue
starting 09 January, at the
invitation of H.E. Abdel
Fattah el-Sisi, President of
the Arab Republic of
Egypt. EU’s Ambivalent
3
Stance on Migration
President Isaias and
President el-Sisi held talks
and discussed on growing
trade and investment ties between the
UNHRC Special
two countries as well as regional and
President Isaias was accompanied by Rapporteur in
international topics of mutual impor- 4
Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and Cahoots with
tance in addition to developments in
Presidential Advisor Yemane Gebreab. Subversive Groups
regional and international issues. More-
over, asserting that the importance of The relations between Eritrea and Egypt
mutual cooperation between the two are growing on the basis of common
countries is decisive, the two leaders understanding on regional and interna-
agreed to further strengthen the existing tional issues as well as lasting stability
bilateral relations. and development.

President Isaias Afwerki’s Interview on Regional Issues

President Isaias Afwerki, in an interview fictitious story was a continuation of
with local media conducted on 14 numerous lies deliberately peddled
January, elaborated on important and against Eritrea by various media outlets
timely regional issues. in the past years in order to foment
Contact Addresses:
President Isaias dismissed Al-Jazeera’s tension and to deflect public attention Tel: +251-116620052
fabricated, latest news story on the from real domestic problems in certain Fax:+251-116620011
Email:eritreanaumission@
“deployment of Egyptian and Emirati countries. gmail.com
troops and weapons in Sawa (western Outright lies repeated ad nauseam by P.o.Box: 5527
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Eritrea” as ridiculous and the “joke of an assortment of Eritrea’s detractors
the New Year/2018”. As usual, this have been many indeed, President Isaias Eritrean Mission to
baseless story was widely recycled by noted. These include, among others, AU& ECA
other media outlets without any verifica- wild stories of juxtaposed “Israeli and
tion. President Isaias underlined that this Iranian military bases in Eritrea’s @EritreaAU
Contd. on page 2

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018

Page 2 Eri-News

President Isaias Afwerki’s Interview on Regional Issues…. Contd. from page 1

Dahlak Islands…Israeli Listening Post at Amba/ perspective, if the purported establishment of a

Mount Soira (southern Eritrea)…Egyptian troops Turkish military base in Sudan; i.e. on the western
deployed in Tsorona (propagated last year prior to flank of the Red Sea were to become true - this
and apparently to justify TPLF aggression in that area development will provoke certain questions in view of
at the time)”. the sensitivity of this important maritime route.
President Isaias President Isaias
asserted that the Afwerki emphasized
latest Al Jeezera that the unfolding
news story was situation in Ethiopia
concocted and is a matter of high
planted by the TPLF concern to the peo-
regime in Ethiopia – ple and government
where the TV chan- of Eritrea above any
nel has opened a new other country. The
bureau recently with intractable political
the specific task of crisis that has beset
spearheading and Ethiopia in the past
coordinating the months is the result
disinformation of the TPLF’s
campaign against myopic and deliber-
Eritrea. The underly- ate policy of institu-
ing purpose of the tionalizing ethnic
Egyptian troop deployment fake story is to drive a polarization for the last 25 years or so. The TPLF
wedge between Sudan and Eritrea and plunge the regime pursued this misguided policy so as to secure
Sudan into unnecessary conflict. Certain special total political, economic and security domination of
interest groups in the Sudan were complicit in this the country to benefit a narrow group. The insertion of
act. President Isaias stated that the Sudanese people the “right of secession” in the “Federal Constitution”
will not be misled by this crass disinformation and was maliciously crafted in order to legitimize and
fall into the trap. perpetuate centrifugal tendencies of ethnic polariza-
In regard to recent media reports of an agreement tion and institutionalization. “This game is now over”,
between the Sudan and Turkey for the establishment President Isaias stressed. The damage inculcated in
of a military base by the latter in Suaken, President Ethiopia and the region as a whole is considerable
Isaias noted that “it would be unwise and premature indeed, President Isaias stated, adding, “external
to comment on this matter at this stage on the basis of powers who provided subsidy and succor to the TPLF
hearsay and without incontrovertible evidence.” regime throughout these years must also share the
Available information at this juncture indicates that blame”.
this is indeed a public relations stint. On the other President Isaias concluded his remarks by expressing
hand, President Isaias stated that Turkish military the hope that the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia will
presence in Somalia is both unjustifiable and inexpli- recoup, in the near future, the opportunities they had
cable since it has no geographic proximity or bearing lost in the past 25 years due to the TPLF’s noxious
on Turkey’s national security considerations. In this policies.

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018

Page 3 Eri-News

EU’s Ambivalent Stance on Migration

Editorial published by the Ministry of Information for cogent reasons. Indeed, declining demography
of Eritrea on 28 December 2017 could only be countered with a properly crafted immi-
gration policy that was hinged on attracting both
In what appears as a knee-jerk reaction to public
highly qualified and manual labour. In this scheme,
outrage following the recent CNN footage showing
skilled/professional migrants would meet labour
“migrants being sold as slaves” in Libya, the EU has
deficits in high-end manufacturing/service sectors
floated the notion of a “humanitarian corridor” to
while unskilled migrants would cater for labour
relocate “stranded refugees to Europe”.
demand in menial jobs as well as household chores for
In an apparent bid to elaborate the contours of this aging European populations.
new policy, Italian Interior Minister, Marco Minniti,
stated this week that “up to 10,000 refugees are slated But this equilibrium has been somewhat disrupted
recently due to some critical factors. EU’s interven-
to benefit from the programme in 2018”.
tionist wars in the Middle East, particularly in Syria
This perplexing stance provokes more questions than and Libya, have immensely exacerbated the migration
the ostensible remedies that it pretends to offer. First influx. Coupled with economic stagnation, this trend
off, does the “new policy” stem from philanthropic has bred resentment bordering on xenophobia in many
considerations or does it actually camouflage other EU countries in substantial segments of the citizenry
ulterior political motives? Can the approach offer a giving rise to unprecedented electoral gains for
credible panacea to the underlying problem? What is hitherto marginal nationalist/populist political forces
the origin and significance of these numbers? Who in several European countries. Public acrimony and
are the “refugees”? etc. ambivalence of Europe regarding migration can this
The EU project is admittedly grappling with a pleth- be distilled to, and is inextricably linked with, the
ora of deep-seated and multi-layered problems these interplay of these factors.
days. Centrifugal tendencies epitomized by Brexit The Libyan Dimension
and other separatist movements; EU’s imminent
economic eclipse in the global pecking order due to As intimated above, NATO’s reckless and
the inexorable rise of more dynamic emerging ill-conceived military intervention in Libya in 2011
economies, (the G7 by 2050 will not include a has entailed a host of unforeseen and perhaps
European country, according to some forecasts); and unintended consequences. This is not the forum to
demographic challenges – population growth in most discuss the merits or deficiencies of the Qhaddafi
EU countries has fallen from high positive values in regime. Whatever the verdict on this matter – and this
is principally the prerogative of the Libyan people –
the 1960’s to essentially zero recently – have all
poked huge potholes in the EU project putting in NATO’s military intervention was untenable from the
outset in terms of international law. And, the folly has
doubt its ultimate viability.
only been amplified by the mayhem and chaos its
Compounded by this backdrop of profound political sequel has bred in Libya, and other countries in the
uncertainty, EU immigration policies – both at the neighborhood, as a result of acts of terror by AQIM/
Union and individual country levels - have tended to ISIS franchises which have evidently flourished in the
be ambivalent; vacillating from an “open” to vacuum that was created.
“fortress Europe” facade largely on account of the
dynamics of domestic/electoral politics in the The “refugee crisis” that has unfolded ever since must
thus be gauged and proposed solutions assessed,
individual Member States.
within this context. The primary issue to address in
It must be stressed here that in terms of pure national this regard is what is the rationale for creating a
interest, political parties of all philosophical persua- “humanitarian corridor” to catapult these hapless
sions in Europe have all along embraced migration Contd. on page 4

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018

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EU’s Ambivalent Stance on Migration...Contd. from page 3

victims to far off alien lands. What are the prospects countries” to the youth who leave the country
for their proper and worthy integration in the illegally. In recent years, perhaps in response to public
European communities? Or is this a scheme essen- protest against migration in European cities, the
tially designed to attract cheap manual labour albeit scheme has morphed into extending financial largesse
its convenient packaging in humanitarian garb? And to Ethiopia to “create employment opportunities” to
above all, are these “refugees” facing persecution in these “refugees”. And of course, incessant demoniza-
their home countries, or economic migrants in search tion of the Eritrean Government has become a
of elusive “green pastures”; caught in the dragnet, so favoured instrument in their tool box as they need to
to speak, of the unholy alliance of human traffickers justify and imbue “humanitarian mantle” to this
and the purveyors of a sinister political agenda? misguided policy.
For Eritrea, the latter issue is of paramount impor- All these schemes have had their toll. But they have
tance. Certain political forces in Europe and essentially failed to achieve their primary
elsewhere have connived for more than ten years objective. Now in Libya too, we hear the same old
now, to pursue policies of “strategic depopulation” choir. The Reuters news story of December 25 this
against Eritrea as part and parcel of their over- week alludes to the “evacuation of 162 vulnerable
arching policy of “regime change”. people from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and
Eritrea’s youth, especially those in the National Yemen”.
Service, were particularly targeted in advancing this As we have repeatedly underlined, dwelling on these
futile scheme. These Governments have often episodes in isolation will not bear any fruit. Indeed,
employed the UNHCR as a lead agency to rationalize Eritrea has repeatedly urged the UN to undertake an
and orchestrate this policy. The UNHCR malicious independent and transparent investigation of the whole
guidelines, issued in 2009 and 2011, and which episode both in order to bring about a comprehensive
advocated literally granting blanket “bona fide and lasting solution to this scourge and to take appro-
refugee status” to Eritrean economic migrants, were priate measures against the culpable parties.
concocted to provide legal cover to this subversive This request was first made through the letter of
scheme. (Earlier in 2004, the Kunama ethnic group President Isaias Afwerki to Ban ki-Moon on 5
was mendaciously categorized as a “persecuted February 2013 and repeated on several occasions
people” and targeted, mostly unsuccessfully, for thereafter, including through a recent letter to UNSG
resettlement in third countries, including Ethiopia). Antonio Guterres. Postponement of effective action
This deplorable scheme has many facets/tentacles will continue to compound the problem in all its
and included “promises of fast resettlement in third dimensions.

UNHRC Special Rapporteur in Cahoots with Subversive Groups

Press Statement issued by the Permanent Mission of cted invited guests during the first day (October 19th)
the State of Eritrea to the UN and other included the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea (SR)
International Organizations in Geneva, Ms. Sheila Keetharuth; Ms. Mirjam van Reisen
on 24 December 2017 (European External Policy Advisor) - who has
In mid-October 2017, Eritrea's avowed detractors publicly and vocally opposed Eritrea's independence
convened a meeting in Brussels under the rubric of from the outset - as well as a number of notorious
"human rights situation in Eritrea". Principal speak- "regime• change" activists and their foreign mentors.
ers at the event - which was open to limited and sele- The first day public event was followed by a closed
Contd. on page 5

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018

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UNHRC Special Rapporteur in Cahoots with Subversive Groups...Contd. from page 4

meeting that was held on 20th October. The Special ging her duties. The SR has persistently
Rapporteur participated in the closed meeting too in exploited the UN mandate to mobilize self-described
particular guiding the special discussion on coordina- "human rights activists" associated with human
tion of all the disjointed "regime-change" activ- traffickers and involved in a declared regime-change
ists. Documents and audio recordings obtained of agenda.
the closed meeting reveal the "six-month plan of
As we have incessantly clarified, virtually all her
action" that this murky group have charted out to annual reports were also culled from the rumblings of
advance their elusive agenda of subversion and these notorious 'regime-change' activists as
"regime-change". The main points of this plan of well as from willfully concocted disinformation
action for the period leading to the upcoming June
provided to her by Ethiopia and Djibouti. Further-
Report of the SR include the following actions: more, she has often doubled as an activist to
• Implement the proposal of the SR, on a launch pre-emptive press statements and campaigns
coordinated campaign to extend the Human of her "unfounded" reports prior to their submission
Rights Council (HRC) special mandate on the to and discussion by the UNHRC sessions.
human rights situation in Eritrea This time round, the SR continues to irrevocably
• Accordingly, establish a networking of cross the red line to go beyond recycling and varnish-
Eritrean organizations abroad under an ing the vitriolic reports of these subversive group in
umbrella organization, but excluding those UNHRC garb to officially behave as one of their
sympathetic to the Eritrean Government active members. The outcry is, however, another
• Campaign against Europe's recent policy desperate effort to solicit support for her forthcoming
shift on the political asylum of Eritreans in- effort to blackmail the HRC and keep Eritrea under
cluding programmes to contain Eritrean the continued agenda of the HRC and thereby renew
"refugees" in neighboring countries the mandate.
The Permanent Mission of the State of Eritrea to the The UNHRC and the OHCHR have not heeded our
UN and other international organizations in Geneva repeated appeals in the past that drew attention to her
is not perturbed by the nefarious, if inconsequential, inherent bias stemming from her unorthodox asso-
schemes that these notorious groups float from time ciation with Eritrea's detractors and arch-enemies. The
to time. For some of these sell-outs, this has indeed OHCHR in fact went out of its way to portray our
long become a "convenient" way of life for appropri- legitimate concerns as "witch hunting": stating in its
ating funds from certain institutions. press briefing of 21st November this year that
"Ms Keetharuth has been faithfully carrying out the
What we find unacceptable is the deplorable presence
mandate given to her by the UNHRC, and she should
and complicity of the Special Rapporteur in this illicit
not be subjected to vitriolic personalized attach by
gathering. Her conduct contravenes accepted ethical
norms and standards of " ... discretion, transparency, Government officials".
impartiality and even-handedness ... " enshrined in The curtains have been lifted now. Her compromised
the relevant UN guidelines that must be strictly position is not defensible and cannot be rationalized
observed by experts and special rapporteurs. anymore. As such, the Permanent Mission of Eritrea in
Geneva expressly requests the UNHRC to take swift
This is not indeed the first time that Mrs Sheila
action without further delay and also reject her
Keetharuth has been found wanting in terms of
on-going premeditated campaign to continue the
objectivity, neutrality and professionalism in dischar-
special mandate on Eritrea.

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018