Eritrea

E R I T R E A

ACRONYMS:

ARDU - Afar Revolutionary Democratic Union
ARDUF - Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front
CERA - Commission for Eritrean Refugee Affairs
CRS - Catholic Relief Secretariat
ECE - Evangelical Church of Eritrea
EDLM - Eritrean Democratic Liberation Movement
EDM - Eritrean Democratic Movement
ELF - Eritrean Liberation Front
ELF-RC - ELF-Revolutionary Council
ELF-UO - ELF-Unity Organisation
EPLF Eritrean People's Liberation Front
ERRA - Eritrean Relief and Rehabilitation Association
ERD - Emergency Relief Desk
PFDJ - Popular Front for Democracy and Justice
PGE - Provisional Government of Eritrea
PROFERI - Programme for Refugee Reintegration and Rehabilitation of Resettlement Areas in Eritrea

PRESIDENT AFWERKI ON CNN
(EP 11 Feb 95)
Towards the end of his three-week visit to America, President Isaias Afwerki was interviewed by CNN. What follows is the full text of the interview, broadcast on February 4.

...CNN: As you talked to people here in Washington and perhaps in Europe and elsewhere, I am sure you realized that there is a mood for not spending much money outside the US or other Europian countries. Is that difficult to counteract?

ISAIAS: ...What makes a difference is what we do in our own countries. If we keep our own houses in order, use our domestic resources effectively, use borrowed money effectively, I don't think we need to talk about aid. I believe we need to have a common perspective and understanding of the issue of aid. Africa cannot solve its problems by depending on aid.

CNN: What are the top priorities in Eritrea in the next few years?

ISAIAS: In a country devastated by a very long war, we first of all need to deal with our infrastructure - roads, telecommunications, energy and basic infrastructure for development in the country. If we can overcome that difficulty and can effectively use our domestic resources, then we will be in a position to say that we are self-sufficient and can solve our problems on our own.

CNN: How can you do that?

ISAIAS: It is possible by designing correct economic policies. Encouraging investments internally, combining resources from within and outside the country and having good governance will definitely solve the problems and make programs successful.

CNN: Is fixing roads or fixing telephone systems going to be enough to help solve health and life expectancy problems in your country?

ISAIAS: I don't think it is difficult. The difficult part of it has been the abuse and misuse of resources in many parts of Africa. Domestic resources have not been used effectively. Aid coming from outside has been going to private pockets.That is why we find ourselves trapped in very difficult circumstances. If we can change our attitudes in terms of governance, if we know how to use our resources, human and otherwise, I don't think it's an impossible task.

CNN: Do you have to get together with your counterparts, the leaders of other African countries?

ISAIAS: I think that is a major thing that we have in mind. Given the global economic circumstances we have to live with that reality, not as individual separate states. We have to organize ourselves as regional and sub-regional components. We can then effectively implement programs in a collective manner.

CNN: Does that also mean getting together and dealing with the corruption you just referred to?

ISAIAS: Without dealing with corruption in Africa, without good governance, I don't think any political agenda will be successful. Not only one particular agenda in one country but collectively dealing with such problems, definitely will have its impact on the overall change that would happen any time in the future.

CNN: The superpowers, the colonial powers have effectively left Africa. Have you been left, those of you who have to lead Africa, with enough governance and educational resources?

ISAIAS: I don't think that we have been left alone. We still have problems linked to the Cold War era. African countries and African governments are not fully independent to deal with their own affairs. There is a lot of interference, a lot of pressure, a lot of influence coming from outside. People need to be free in the first place from all these linkages. We need to look forward but we don't need to link our history, which is not a good one, to be an obstacle in formulating new correct policies in implementing them by using the resources available in each and every country.

CNN: Some analysts say that all the money that goes to Africa, the requirements, the details of lending are too much for fledgling governments like yours to handle. Is that the case, what can you do with those requirements?

ISAIAS: I think there is a lot of cynicism in that attitude. Many of these governments and partners from the North, who talk about the abuse of resources, have themselves deliberately corrupted governments for their own ends. It has now become a hangover in many parts of Africa. I think they shoulder responsibility equally with the governments who have misused those resources. When talking about new attitudes, we are talking about changing the whole attitude from within and from without the continent.

CNN: Many people say South Africa is going to be an engine for change throughout the continent. Do you feel that way?

ISAIAS: If many African countries and governments are allowed to make it on their own, are supported to stand on their own two feet, I am quite sure Africa, not only in the South but the whole of the continent will be able to make it.

CNN: We hear a lot about problems like Rwanda, Somalia. The West intervenes to try to solve problems and by the time it is over, its troops are pulled out in shame, insulted in some cases. People then say why give money, why give aid, why give expertise?

ISAIAS: That is part of the cynicism that people have in mind - bringing about the ugly side of Africa to justify policies that are misguided. I believe they do not reflect what Africa is doing to get rid of the ills of the past and look forward to change reality. People talk about Rwanda and Somalia to give an image that is distorted. They basically end up justifying wrong policies formulated by those who talk about the ugly side of Africa.

CNN: Is that the media's fault to some extent?

ISAIAS: I think the media has nothing to do with this. It is part of the institutions of the West. We can't single out the media and blame it for distorting the image of Africa.

CNN: Do non-governmental organizations make enough of a difference?

ISAIAS: I don't think they are going to make any difference. We're talking about encouraging meaningful investment from outside , from the business community side to see that opportunities are seriously utilized in mutually beneficial programs. I don't think governmental or non-governmental programs in Africa will help solve the chronic problems we witnessed.

CNN: Imagine that I am a business person, and you are trying to persuade me to invest in Eritrea. What have you got for me?

ISAIAS: I would need to make the climate very conducive for investment and those who are interested in investing. With bad governance, with bad management of the economy you cannot possibly encourage investors to go anywhere in Africa. What we are doing in Eritrea is make it possible for investors to seriously consider having a venture in our country.

CNN: What can they find in Eritrea if they come looking?

ISAIAS: Peace in the first place, a conducive economic climate for investment. The potential resources for investment are there - tourism, mining, industry and fisheries among other things.

CNN: There've been complaints that western industries come in, exploit the people, pay low wages and suck the continent dry of its resources.

ISAIAS: Unequal partnership has been one of the causes of the problems we see in many African countries. Partnership has not been well-defined or designed. We need to revise that too, make external investments or engagements in Africa mutually useful.

ERITREAN NATIONALS EMPLOYED ABROAD TO PAY TAX
(SWB 21 Feb 95 [VBME in Tigrigna, 16 Feb 95])
The government of Eritrea has issued Decree No 67 of 1995 on taxation. The decree particularly targets Eritreans gainfully employed abroad. The main objective of this decree, which was issued on 10th February 1995, is to provide Eritrean expatriates with a legal channel through which they can contribute towards their country's development. According to the decree, every paid expatriate employee must hand over 2% of his net income. The Foreign Ministry has been charged with collecting the tax through its embassies or consulates and transferring the proceeds to the state Treasury.

/HAB/ The law, in practice since independence, caused a heated debate in Sweden last summer. Sweden questioned Eritrea's right to tax Swedes of Eritrean origin. (See HAB 4/94.)

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES HAVE LOST CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS
(SWB 4 Mar 95 [VBME in Tigrigna, 2 Mar 95])
Text, as broadcast by Eritrean radio, of a Ministry of Interior statement regarding Jehovah's Witnesses

As may be recalled a presidential statement was issued on 25th October 1994, regarding Jehovah's Witnesses in Eritrea. Some groups have used the said statement to try to portray the government as an oppressor and abuser of human rights, and for the past two months they have been spreading misinformation about the government. However, the accusations by the Jehovah's Witnesses have no basis whatsoever and are total lies. The truth is the following:

The Jehovah's Witnesses lost their right to citizenship because they refuse to accept the government of Eritrea and its laws. The government has refrained from taking action against them, hoping they would cease their repeated unlawful actions.

1. The Eritrean people have felt the consequences of 30 years of bloody war and have lost over 60,000 people, with 20,000 crippled and over 700,000 forced to flee. [Words indistinct] therefore those who watched silently while the Eritrean people were killed indiscriminately, cannot talk about morality now when the only action taken [against the Jehovah's Witnesses] is sacking them from their jobs. There is no family that has not lost loved ones in the war. Those who are not affected are the Jehovah's Witnesses. They refused to take part in the struggle. As a result, the Eritrean people developed a strong hatred of them.

3. In 1991, when the people of Eritrea were casting their votes during the referendum, those people [Jehovah's Witnesses] refused to cast their votes, saying they did not recognize the so-called government of Eritrea, but only the heavenly bodies.

4. The Jehovah's Witnesses cannot speak about human rights regarding a government they do not recognize. They have lost their right of citizenship as a result of not recognizing the government of Eritrea and accepting its laws. What everybody should understand is that the rights of individuals go hand in hand with national obligations.

5. The people of Eritrea were angered when the Jehovah's Witnesses refused to vote during the referendum and asked the government to take the necessary action against them, while some people took action of their own against them. The government, including the president himself, tried to calm the situation and warned those people who were taking action against the Jehovah's believers.

6. The Jehovah's Witnesses refused to do national service.

7. Finally, the government stated that they [Jehovah's Witnesses] would not have rights equal to those of any other citizen since they had refused to accept the government and its laws. [Passage indistinct] Patience has its limits. Based on the above points, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has no option other than to abide by the statement issued on 25th February 1994 [date as heard].

Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asmara, 1st March 1995.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION STATEMENT
(EP 25 Mar 95)
The Ministry of Education issued on March 20,1995 the following statement

- All students who obtain less than 2.0 grade point average in the secondary school leaving certificate examination should do national service duty for one and a half years. After completing their national service they will be provided with the opportunity to obtain suitable vocational skills and those who succeed will have the chance of pursuing their higher education.

- Students who get above 2.0 grade point average in the secondary school leaving certificate examination will receive a one-year preparatory course which qualifies them to join the university. At the end of the year, however, they will sit for an examination for the entrance of the university.

- Students who pass the university entrance examination will continue their university education without interuption provided that they do their national service duty after finishing their university studies.

- Students who could not pass the university entrance examination will be provided with the opportunity to obtain a certificate or diploma or its equivalent through formal vocational training or other courses, provided that they do their national service duty for one and a half years after finishing their vocational training.

UPGRADING TEACHERS
(DM Feb-Mar 95, p.11)
Foundations for a new educational system are the subject of a four-week workshop being held at the Teacher Training Institute in the capital, Asmara, which opened in the middle of January. The 21 participants from the Ministry of Education will discuss upgrading the skills of at least 2000 elementary school teachers over a two-year period. The proposed requalification exercise, which would be carried out in cooperation with UNICEF and the Italian government, will start with 500 teachers during the next summer holidays.

EDUCATION BY RADIO
(DM Feb-Mar 95, p.9)
A new adult education program went on the air at the beginning of 1995. Announcing the new broadcast, the Ministry of Education said that 50 villages will be given 50 radio units each in an effort to boost the national literacy campaign in rural areas. The radio program, which includes features on agriculture, health, and civic education, will be broadcast three times a week.

ERRA AND CERA TO MERGE
(EP 1 Apr 95)
ERRA and CERA are set to merge in a move aimed at reducing duplication of work and streamlining administration. According to Dr. Nerayo Teklemichael, the head of the Eritrean Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, the new body will probably have the status of a Commission. It will be responsible for the reintegration of ex-fighters and returnees, who are currently dealt with by the two separate bodies. A timetable for the merger has not yet been set but it is likely to happen shortly...

DISABILITY DOES NOT MEAN INABILITY
(EP 11 Mar 95, by Jacky Sutton)
...Eritrea lost 65,000 fighters in the war, 90,000 children were orphaned and thousands fled their homes and their country. But the burden of peace weighs most heavily on those 58,500 people, fighters and civilians, who suffered disability or trauma as a direct or indirect result of the war. How many employers go out of their way to hire someone who is blind, in a wheelchair or still suffering from the effects of brutality? Not many. Most offices cannot cater to the needs of disabled people - they lack wheelchair access, lifts, special toilets etc. Another problem is transport. But another is fear and the baseless and irrational belief that disability makes a person unproductive...

On March 9 a conference on disability issues, the first of its kind in Eritrea, opened in Asmara. It brought together over 400 people from Eritrea and abroad to discuss practical ways to ensure that families and communities can support and encourage disabled people to lead active and productive lives. Among the issues discussed were the difficulties caused by physical and mental impairment, blindness and deafness.

In a speech to the conference, the head of the Social Affairs Authority, Ms. Aster Fesshazion spoke of the need for clearcut policies on disability issues. "We must use our limited resources," she said,"to ensure that disabled people enjoy the same rights as everyone else."...

It is up to Eritrea, its government and its people, to ensure that disabled people, now and in the future, take their rightful place in the society that they, fighter and civilian alike, helped to free. And it is time that non-disabled people realise and challenge the fact that all too often their attitude is the biggest problem that disabled people have to face.

FOOD SECURITY

FOOD ASSESSMENT FOR 1995
(DM Feb-Mar 95, p.19)
The rains in 1994 have generally been normal, providing a more favorable environment for crop production. The spell of normal rain in 1994 (as was the case in 1986, 1988 and 1992) played a major role in boosting agricultural production and in helping to restock herds of livestock which were badly depleted due to the severe droughts of 1982-1984. Despite the favorable rains in 1994, in some areas crops have been affected by worms and hailstorms. Floods in some districts and shortage of rains in others has also influenced overall food production. According to ERRA, the total estimated gross production during the 1994/95 crops season will be approximately 270,000 metric tons, representing a three-fold increase over the previous season. Nevertheless, despite best efforts to reduce the need for food aid. Eritrea will be requiring 200,000 metric tons of food aid from external sources in 1995.

INTELLIGENT USE OF EMERGENCY FOOD AID
(DM Feb-Mar 95, p.16)
...Three out of four Eritreans have been receiving food aid until recently. In 1993, the country imported, through commercial and aid channels, almost 300,000 MT which covered approximately 60 percent of the annual requirements. At present there are various modalities put in place for dispensing emergency food aid, including:

a) free distribution of food...

b) food for work...

c) cash for work has been introduced on a limited scale in very few areas. The money that has been paid out to the target group comes from monitization of food aid...

It is against this background that ERRA has decided to initiate a debate with international donor organizations on issues related to the rational use of emergency food aid in Eritrea. ERRA, rightly, states that it is unwise to continue using emergency food aid as was done during the war years. There should be a fundamental change in approach in the use of food aid so that it ultimately leads to food security and improves the capacity and capability of the beneficiaries to cope with emerging situations.

ERRA is putting its fingers on two sets of problems which have beset Eritrea's food situation--the immediate and the underlying. Since the first one contributes to the other, the two have merged, in many minds. In the eyes of some outsiders, it may be "neater" to counter visible hunger than to stop its recurrence...

It is to avoid this very pitfall that ERRA wants a "radical revision of donor policies" on relief food aid. According to ERRA, food aid should be used to reduce dependency on food aid. ERRA sees food security as a state when all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive healthy life.

In practical terms, this translates into giving Eritreans the necessary elbow room to allow them to use food aid in the way that they consider most appropriate for their own reality but always with the proviso that all actions taken enhance concretely food security for the general population. Flexible use of food aid, including its monitization, is essential if Eritrea is ever to devise homegrown solutions to combat food dependency...

The negative side-effects of free distribution of relief food (with the exception of life-saving situations) in the recipient country are well-known: Many young people in rural and urban areas in Eritrea and elsewhere in Africa are waiting for their quota of food handouts while idling away their time and their energy... Furthermore, imported food aid packages (cereals, pulses, edible oils, etc.) have literally swamped many African rural markets. Certainly, relief food aid is not intended to drive local producers out of the market. When farmers in Europe are being subsidized to stay in business, is it right that farmers living on the edge of survival in poor countries be forced to compete with imported food donations distributed freely?

Today, relief food plays a central role in supplementing the diet of chronically drought affected people in Eritrea. In many instances, the food is handed out to the deserving target groups under so-called `food for work' schemes. Food for work, even though it has some merits, is not the real solution. `Cash for work', on the other hand, is a more realistic option when the long-term interest of the recipient is taken into account. Why? For the simple, yet fundamental, reason that money (as opposed to quotas of grain and vegetable oil) empowers. Money presents choices and, at the same, nurtures the nascent market forces. Nobody with earned cash in his/her hands and with food to be purchased will go hungry.

In the coming months, the Eritrean government is expected to announce a moratorium on free distribution of food aid except for those who are absolutely needy. The criteria for the entitlement to free distribution of food aid would be on account of poor health, old age, physical disability and for female headed households with children under five years of age. The new focus will be on food for work and cash for work, and where situations allow a combination of the two...

PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE: DISASTER WORKSHOP CONCLUDES
(EP 25 Feb 95)
Preventing disasters and coping with emergencies were the focus of discussion at a national workshop held in Asmara this week.

The five-day event was jointly organized by the Eritrean Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (ERRA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), within the framework of the UN Disaster Management Training Program for Africa. It brought together 60 representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, donor agencies and the UN to discuss effective ways of lessening the impact of natural and man-made disasters...

The workshop called for practical steps to establish an integrated mechanism for disaster management. Such a strategy, participants stressed, should include ways to lessen the long-term impact of disasters. The workshop adopted four key recommendations: the establishment of a disaster prevention and management co-ordinating agency with clearcut powers; appropriate legislation covering the activities of such a body; the inclusion of an action program on drought-management in the country's macro-policy; and increased popular participation in the prevention and management of disasters. A department dealing with disaster prevention and management has already been set up under the office of the Director of ERRA.

MARINE RESOURCES STILL TO BE TAPPED, SAYS MINISTER
(EP 1 Apr 95)
Eritrea has yet to adequately exploit its abundant marine resources, according to Dr. Saleh Meky, the Minister of Marine Resources.

In an interview on Monday on Eritrean Television, Dr. Saleh said that Eritreans had so far failed to invest in fisheries, despite the potential for rich returns. He added that people with appropriate skills were reluctant to work in the lowland coastal regions.

Dr. Saleh noted that a wide variety of fish live in the Red Sea; many of them are unique to the area and many are highly nutritious and valuable sources of food...

FOREIGN COOPERATION

SOUTH KOREAN COMPANY BUILDS SEMBEL HOUSING PROJECT
(ION 25 Feb 95, p.7)
South Korean company Keangnam Enterprises Limited, a member of the Daewoo Group, has begun work on Eritrea's biggest housing building programme, at a ceremony in Asmara on February 15. The Sembel Housing Project will cost US $70 million and will comprise fifty five-story apartment blocks with accommodation for more than 1,300 families. The complex being built on the outskirts of Asmara will include a shopping centre, sporting facilities and a stadium. Work is scheduled for completion in 1997...

US TO TRAIN ERITREAN MILITARY
(ION 4 Mar 95, p.5)
Speaking at a recent news conference, Eritrean head of state Issayas Afeworki announced that he had signed agreements with the United States during his trip to Washington in order to obtain US support in transforming the Eritrean armed forces into a regular army. The agreement includes Eritrean military being trained in US military training bases. President Afeworki also discussed with his American hosts a possible extension of the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) to countries such as Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. The subject might also be taken up with Rwanda's strongman, general Paul Kagame, when he makes an official visit to Asmara this week.

ITALY SIGNS COOPERATION ACCORD WITH ERITREA
(Reuter 14 Mar 95)
ROME - Italy signed an economic cooperation agreement with its former colony Eritrea on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said.

It said the agreement was signed by foreign ministers Susanna Agnelli and Petros Solomon in Rome.

A ministry statement said Italy, which ruled Eritrea from 1890 until 1940, would help the newly independent state develop through appropriate financing and had agreed to help fund a national energy project in the country...

FOREIGN RELATIONS

RWANDA'S KAGAME HOLDS TALKS WITH AFEWERKI
(SWB 1 Mar 95 [VBME in Tigrigna, 27 Feb 95])
A senior Rwandan delegation this morning held talks with President Isayas Afewerki. During the talks the Rwandan vice-president, Mr Paul Kagame, briefed the president on the situation in Rwanda and exchanged views on bilateral issues.

For his part, President Isayas noted that the government of Eritrea would do everything possible to help the Rwandan government in its bid to bring about peace in the country.

MUBARAK, AFEWERKI DISCUSS REGIONAL, INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
(SWB 22 Mar 95 [MENA news agency, Cairo, in Arabic 20 Mar 95])
Cairo, 20th March: President Husni Mubarak and Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki held talks at the Presidential Office in Heliopolis this evening. They discussed African issues in general and the problem of the Horn of Africa in particular as part of Red Sea security. In addition they discussed the problem of refugees and its impact on security and stability in a number of African states...

AFEWERKI HOME AFTER VISITS TO KENYA AND UGANDA
(SWB 1 Apr 95 [VBME in Tigrigna, 30 Mar 95])
President Isayas Afewerki returned to Asmara at 1800 [local time] today after ending his working visits to Kenya and Uganda. President Isayas met President Daniel arap Moi in Kenya and President Museveni in Uganda and held talks on bilateral relations and regional issues. On his way home, President Isayas stopped briefly at Addis Ababa's Bole international airport, where he met President Meles Zenawi...

WAR OF WORDS
(ION 8 Apr 95, p.4)
The day that Khartoum saw the opening of the Arab and Islamic conference (held from March 30 to April 2) which brought in the representatives of some three hundred Islamic organizations under the chairmanship of National Islamic Front leader Hassan al-Tourabi, the Eritrean government produced a fresh list of accusations against Sudan. The Eritrean embassy in Addis Ababa issued a communique on March 30 claiming that Sudanese security forces were telling young Eritrean refugees in camps inside Sudan either to volunteer for the Sudanese army or to leave the country. The pressure has seen many of the young men returning hurriedly to Eritrea: out of about 300,000 Eritrean refugees at present in Sudan, 15,000 returned home since the start of the Eritrean repatriation program in November. The Islamic conference delegates in Khartoum did not sit back: they adopted a joint communique at the end of the meeting stating their support for "oppressed Islamic communities" throughout the world and in particular those in Azerbaijan, Burma, Eritrea, Tadzhikistan and Tunisia.[emphasis added]...

KIDNAPPED ITALIANS REPORTED TO BE WELL
(SWB 4 Apr 95 [RAI Due TV, Rome, in Italian 3 Apr 95])
We have received some good news from Eritrea on the Italians kidnapped in the desert between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The news that they are well has come from Maurizio Melani, the Italian ambassador in Addis Ababa, who has been in contact with the kidnappers, who are all members of the Temboid [phonetic] tribe, a strong ethnic group in the Danakil desert. Some members of the area's Council of Elders allowed this contact between our diplomats and the kidnappers.

The kidnappers themselves confirmed that the Italians were well and said they had been kidnapped because they had strayed into the tribe's area without authorization. The kidnappers' demands for the release of the hostages are still not known but Ambassador Melani said that there had been no attempt to ask for ransom.