http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/eritrea-envoy-at-knesset-we-are-demonized-in-the-world-just-like-israel-1.443849
Eritrea envoy at Knesset: We are demonized in the world just like Israel
Ambassador Tesfamariam Tekeste says Eritrea will not allow people who will 'sabotage the building of the state' to return.
By Jonathan Lis | Jun.25, 2012 | 5:39 PM
Eritrea is demonized across the world the same way Israel is, the Eritrean ambassador to Israel said Monday during a Knesset committee meeting.
Tesfamariam Tekeste, who spoke to the Knesset Committee on Foreign Workers, said that the West and international organizations demonize his homeland without ever having stepped a foot in it.
“No one is going to teach me about human rights,” Tekeste said. “If I believed every word that was said about Israel, I would not have come here. They make Israel look like some kind of hell, but I can read between the lines.
Tekeste further told the committee that Eritrea makes use of the resources it has, and does not rely on the Western world, which he claims has imposed democratic regimes on many African countries, causing internal wars and tremendous loss of life.
“Eritrea gained its independence 21 years ago and I am sure that in 10 years it will be the most well-respected democracy in Africa,” Temeske added.
The ambassador also claimed that Eritrea faced a lack of cooperation when it called on Israel to return first Eritrean citizens who arrived in the country in 2007, and that the country will not allow people who “will sabotage the building of the state" to return.
Avi Granot, the head of African affairs in the Foreign Ministry said during the meeting that Israel would like to see “more cooperation and responsibility on Eritrea's part.”
Granot added that Israel would like to know that those who return to Eritrea receive all the proper protections and rights granted by international conventions, and that Israel “has a responsibility toward these people as well as a responsibility to return them to their home land.” Granot further stated that that Israel is looking for a third-party country that will agree to accept the Eritrean migrants, to no avail.
MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), who heads the committee, said that the Israeli attitude toward the situation in Eritrea and toward Eritrean citizens within Israel derives from its commitments to international treaties and UN decisions. Horowitz called the international documents released on Eritrea “harsh and unambiguous.”
MK Shlomo Molla (Kadima) asked Tekeste to find avenues for cooperation with Israel so that the Eritreans can return to their homeland.
At one point, Yonatan Gher, head of Amnesty International in Israel, listed off crimes committed by the Eritrean government, saying that the country does not allow foreign media, freedom of worship or freedom of speech and enforces a mandatory military service which often includes forced physical labor. Gher also added that the return of Eritreans to their home country may end up “costing them their lives.”
Tekeste responded to the criticism by saying that Eritrea has been dealing with accusations for many years, all of which are part of a “negative campaign against Eritrea.”
Received on Mon Jun 25 2012 - 17:01:35 EDT
