Date: Wed Dec 3 19:11:37 2014
<http://www.madote.com/2014/12/the-north-korea-of-africa-eritrean.html>
"The North Korea of Africa" & The Eritrean Opposition
By Makhate Berhane,
Dec 3, 2014 | 1:00 PM
We've all seen this ridiculous statement littered in articles on Eritrean
opposition websites and it's even been used to describe the current
situation in Eritrea by major international news organizations such as the
BBC, Reuters, and The New York Times. Any reasonable person with knowledge
of the happenings in Eritrea would admit that this phrase is exaggerated and
doesn't tell the complete tale of Eritrea. This phrase is also a favored one
among the Eritrean Opposition parties.
Being a second generation Eritrean-American, I'm the first to admit that
Eritrea is nowhere near perfect and that there is room and a need for
change. To say otherwise, would also be unreasonable. But, it's phrases like
"The North Korea of Africa" that make me, and many other Eritreans believe
that there is a more sinister political agenda being pushed by the West,
specifically the United States, that is bigger than the mask of gross human
rights violations that they claim. This is the same West that supported,
with money and arms, the monarchy of Haile Selassie as he slaughtered
thousands of Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalis as he tried to consolidate
his power over the region. This is the same West that supported the brutal
regime of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and still
supports one of the worst violators of human rights in the world, King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Now all of a sudden this same West decides that
they can no longer tolerate the human rights abuses of a small country in
the Horn of Africa? It just doesn't add up.
Eritreans like myself, found further cause for suspicion and weariness of
the "goodwill" of the West and Western NGOs in a recently leaked letter from
the head finance expert of the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG).
The finance expert, Dinesh Mahtani, wrote a letter to the Australian
government, explicitly in his role as the finance expert of the SEMG, asking
for them to grant the former Eritrean Minister of Information, Ali Abdu,
full refugee status so that he could travel and "coordinate his activities".
The letter went on to also state that Mahtani believed that Ali Abdu "has
great potential to play a stabilizing role in Eritrea, with the country
possibly headed towards an uncertain period...Without moderate figureheads
such as Mr. Abdu, a transitional process in Eritrea may fall prey to
polarizing and possibly violent forces." It's clear that Mahtani was
operating outside the parameters of the SEMG's mandate, and that he is in
favor of regime change in Eritrea and that the SEMG is doing more than just
investigating and monitoring. The SEMG is polluting the Eritrean political
arena with their own desires and wishes without considering the will of the
Eritrean people, as has tragically happened time and time again to Eritrea
throughout our short history. This is at the very least unprofessional, and
at worst, illegal. It must be noted that Dinesh Mahtani did resign after
this letter came to light.
As disenchanted as I am with the Eritrean government, I'm even more
disenchanted with the Eritrean opposition. The opposition parties are
divided, divisive, outdated, lack a clear vision for Eritrea's way forward
and seem to be motivated by vendetta more than they are by love for their
countrymen and women. How out-of-touch these parties are with the Eritrean
people is best exemplified in the location of their opposition meetings:
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Some opposition groups even receive financial and
logistical help from the current government in Addis Ababa. Many Eritreans,
including myself, see these actions by the opposition as being shady and
subversive as many Eritreans still have bitter feelings towards the
government in Ethiopia over the bloody border war that was fought between
1998 and 2000. These feelings of bitterness between the two countries will
take time to heal, but the healing can't start until Ethiopia withdraws from
almost a quarter of Eritrea's territory that it occupies. It must be noted
that Ethiopia explicitly agreed to follow the rulings of the UN founded
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) that ruled that this Ethiopian
occupied land was historically and rightfully Eritrean territory. Another
aspect of the Eritrean opposition that makes me questions their intentions,
is their constant support of UN sponsored sanctions against Eritrea, when
sanctions have proven time and time again to hurt the common civilians more
than it does the government. The goals of sanctions are to pressure a
government to act according to a set of demands. The pressure, no doubt, is
meant to come from the citizens who are going to be hurt by the implemented
sanctions. It's a favored realpolitik tool of the West to force countries to
bend over to their demands.
Another aspect of the Eritrean opposition that, in my opinion, hurts their
legitimacy, is their arrogance in not considering the will and aspirations
of Eritreans who live in Eritrea. Many of these opposition leaders are
Western educated elitists who live cushy lives with their families in Europe
or the US and are former ELF (Jebha) fighters who left the country in the
1980's and haven't lived in the country since. It amazes me that these
leaders truly believe in their rewritten, flawless history of the ELF.
Respect must be paid to the ELF for starting Eritrea's struggle, but we
can't airbrush the historical facts that ultimately resulted in their
downfall. Political change has to be organic and have the popular support of
the people that will be affect, without this, it is illegitimate and is
bound to fail.
A common sentiment I hear from many newly arrived immigrants from Eritrea,
who get to the U.S. through The Sinai, through the dangerous water off the
coast of Malta, and through other dangerous and illegal schemes, is that
they are unhappy with the government in Eritrea, but don't trust the
opposition parties, so instead, they opt to remain neutral. Many, including
myself, don't think the opposition parties are capable or realistic about
the on-the-ground situation in Eritrea. What I feel is the final nail in the
coffin of the Eritrean opposition in the West, is their failure to garner
popular support or traction among the hundreds of thousands of Eritreans
living abroad. For all the years they've been operating, they've yet to turn
the popular tide against the government. I don't think that this is because
many Eritreans are extremely happy with the PFDJ, I think it's more of a
reflection of their distrust and apathy toward the opposition parties and
their ideology.
Again, I by no means wrote this paper in support of the government in
Asmara. It's a critique of the opposition parties who operate outside the
borders of Eritrea.
<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2HbnxCT2Es4/VH95GlgFVCI/AAAAAAAAHnw/o4686pe4f0k/s
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rean%2BOpposition.jpg>
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ean%2BOpposition.jpg
Eritrean Opposition members holding a demonstration in Washington, D.C. This
rally was organized by the de facto opposition leader, Dan Connell, a
non-Eritrean American who has made a small fortune from selling books on
Eritrea.
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