As East Africa faces famine, autocratic Eritrea suffers in silence as refugees flee

[PasserBy]

Currently there are close to 100,000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray, Ethiopia. It is ironic.

 

 

MAI-AINI, Ethiopia - Alem Teke watched her crops in Eritrea shrivel and die from drought. She braved landmines and escaped being raped by soldiers to save her children from starvation by fleeing across the border to a refugee camp in neighbouring Ethiopia

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Alem, a farmer's wife, made it to the Mai-Aini refugee camp in Ethiopia. She was more fortunate than some of her friends who were raped. Like many people fleeing famine that has hit parts of the Horn of Africa, Alem has overcome the odds to escape hunger, but as the world focuses on famine in Somalia, Eritrea suffers in silence.

 

Eritrea, a nation of 5 million people that borders Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti, has also seen failed rains and widespread food shortages. But its autocratic government, which faces international sanctions, refuses to acknowledge a drought has swept its territory. Satellite images show that the Red Sea nation has been hit by drought conditions similar to those in Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Nearly 1,000 Eritreans arrived at a refugee camp in northern Ethiopia in July alone, officials said.

Alem has also taken a dangerous political stand by fleeing to Eritrea's archenemy, Ethiopia. The two nations severed ties in 2000 after a brutal border war that killed more than 80,000 people.

To return to Eritrea would mean certain punishment. Alem said government officials took away the lion's share of last year's harvest. She said they promised to pay but didn't and she couldn't feed her five children anymore.

 

"It was a matter of life and death," said the 40-year-old. "The government bleeds us farmers dry to feed the army. My husband is enlisted and I haven't heard from him in years. I couldn't wait any longer, not while my children were starving."

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, said last week that many of the Eritrean refugees crossing borders into Sudan and Ethiopia suffer from malnutrition. He urged the reclusive Eritrean regime, led by longtime President Isaias Afwerki, to address the hunger and work with humanitarian organizations to prevent catastrophe.

Over the last few years, more than 48,000 Eritreans — most of them young, educated men or soldiers who have deserted the army — have fled to Ethiopia. Some 1,000 Eritreans risk death each month by crossing the border. Among the refugees are large numbers of children sent by their parents to escape future military service.

 

Simon Girmaw, a protection officer for the U.N. refugee agency, said the influx of refugees usually slows dramatically during the rainy season, from mid-June to mid-September, because flowing rivers deny access and farmers are busy preparing for the harvest.

But this year, he said, refugees are able to cross the ankle-deep or dry rivers by foot at most places. And many farmers aren't waiting for rains to come this year. Berhane Hailu, who screens refugees for Ethiopia's refugee agency, said an increasing number of Eritreans mention lack of food as their reason for fleeing.

 

One of the refugees, who said he was a statistician at the country's agriculture ministry, said the nation's food supplies are exhausted. He asked to remain anonymous for fear his family would face reprisals — other refugees have cited examples of their families being fined or jailed after their flight — as he painted a picture of spiraling problems in the pariah nation.

The statistician said the government has now rationed each family to only 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of grain each month. He said authorities have run out of stock and are trying to import wheat from Sudan, paying with mining revenues, Eritrea's only source of income besides remittances from Eritreans living abroad.

 

Refugees from southern Eritrea said their families haven't been able to buy food from the government for the last three months and that food prices have spiraled.

Refugees said a goat is now selling for more than $200 and a cow nearly costs $1,000. Soldiers are paid about $30 a month.

 

And, the statistician said, rains have failed

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"If the rains continue to fail, large parts of the country could be hungry in October, when farmers are supposed to harvest most of the staple crops," the statistician said.

On top of those problems, the country doesn't receive foreign aid and is sanctioned by the U.N. because of human rights violations. It is also believed to support extremist groups, including Somalia's top militant group, the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.

The U.N. World Food Program says it hasn't distributed any food in Eritrea since 2005, nor has it received requests for food assistance.

Farmer Bereket Zere braved landmines to walk for days across the border to Ethiopia.

If he returns, he faces certain punishment for skirting the military service that is required of all men and women.

 

"I realized there's no use in staying," said the 21-year-old. "I was waiting to be enlisted in the army, there was no work, and, even if rains come, there will be hardly any harvest this year."

Another refugee, teacher Gebrehiwot Zere, said the food problems were the last straw for him. He said he was already exhausted by economic hardship and the country's authoritarianism before he decided to take the journey that requires travelling by night, hiding in bushes during daytime, and creeping through hostile areas where soldiers have been instructed to shoot at anything that runs.

Some refugees have described crossing one of the minefields near the border, where the soldiers don't patrol, as the safest option.

 

"That's why most who make it are young and strong," Gebrehiwot said. "If the drought continues, young children and elderly will be in trouble: There is no escape for them."

[Polanyi]

Eritrea houses our cousins the Jeberti.com. DOn't badmouth the man dem.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

And we should believe Ethiopian sources,, Eritrea is one of the fastest growing economies in africa Why would they spend their lives in poor Ethiopia?

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Food crisis in Ethiopia

 

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

While eritrea is the most self sufficient nation in Africa

[Dabrow]

If you are of food shortest, you should not flee to Ethiopia. Its a oxymoron. Tell another fake story.

[PasserBy]

Drought forces thousands of Somalis into Ethiopia

Source: AFP

Africa | Thu, 07 Jul 2011

 

 

 

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Thousands of Somalis have fled into neighbouring Ethiopia to seek relief from a harsh drought that has hit the Horn of Africa region, a World Food Programme official said Thursday.

 

Some 1,600 Somalis are arriving daily at refugee camps in southeast Ethiopia which are already home to more than 110,000 refugees.

 

"They all had the same story: it's hunger," said Judith Shuler, a WFP spokeswoman in Ethiopia.

 

Two large camps in the region are already overcrowded and a new one that was set up last week already houses 12,000 refugees.

 

"We do what we can, but people when they arrive are in very bad shape and have very high malnourishment," said Sabine Wahning, a UN refugee agency programme officer.

 

The severe drought has also forced thousands of other Somalis into Kenya, which hosts the world's largest refugee camp mainly inhabited by Somalis who have fled relentless conflict back home.

 

On Tuesday, Somalia's Al-Qaeda-inspired rebels, who expelled foreign aid groups in regions under their control two years ago, appealed for help to thousands of residents devastated by the drought.

 

The current drought has been described by aid groups as one of the worst in decades.

[SomaliNationalist]

" Ethiopiais one of the World's poorest countries. Out of a population of around 80 million (2008) people, 35 million people are living in abject poverty.

 

In one of the world's poorest countries, where about 44 per cent of the population lives under the poverty line, more than 12 million people are chronically or at least periodically food insecure. Most of them live in rural areas with agriculture as their main occupation.

 

With 80% of Ethiopians dependent on agriculture as their main livelihood, severe arid conditions due to persistent lack of rainfall coupled with civil disputes have worsened Ethiopian poverty. All efforts have been made to improve conditions in Ethiopia but things have hardly changed. The extremely poor people comprise of the small and marginal farmers.

 

 

Areas where poverty in Ethiopia is pronounced:

 

 

Poverty in Ethiopia is more pronounced in the rural areas as compared to the urban areas. The situation worsened recently because of sharp increases in the prices of food and fertilizers on world markets, which made it more difficult for poor households in Ethiopia, as elsewhere, to secure adequate food supplies. Rural areas have uniform distribution of poverty, Oromiya, being an exception. Oromiya cultivates enset, which acts as a buffer storage at the time of drought and dearth.

http://finance.mapsofworld.com/economy/ethiopia/poverty.html

 

 

 

 

ETHIOPIA: Ruled by a Corrupt and Myopic Minority Clique

By: Sophia Tesfamariam

September 13, 2004

I read an article dated 31 August 2004 entitled “Premier ignores Vision 2020 invitation” about an invitation extended to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia by the Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA) in which they asked the leader of the minority regime to “express his vision for the year 2020” through their forum. According to the article, the PM had “ignored” their invitation and that EEA had also “tried to approach other government officials to present their views to the public, to no avail”. I honestly cannot imagine what Meles Zenawi could have offered the forum except more of the lies and deceptions he has become famous for, thus undermining the forum and the other invited guests. This arrogant, erratic, flip-flopping, inconsistent, belligerent, defiant, irresponsible and myopic and street-smart leader is incapable of having a coherent vision for Ethiopia, for any year!

The reason is simple and straightforward, as one of the participants of the EEA forum, Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam, Chairman of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRC) has in the past aptly described Meles’ regime as being:

" … an ethnic-based federation… dominated by the minority ethnic Tigrayans… the federal structure in effect divides and rules larger ethnic groups such as the Oromos and Amharas and bars non-members of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front…” Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam is not biased when he says that the Meles regime is dominated by the minority ethnic Tigrayans. He is just stating the facts as he and other Ethiopians know them to be. As if Ethiopia has a shortage of qualified and capable sons and daughters, the key and most important government posts are held by Tigrayans. The Prime Minister is Tigrayan, so is the Foreign Minister, Chief of Police, Chief of Staff, Chief of Security, Mayor of Addis Abeba, Minister of Federal Affairs and his Deputy, even the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church is Tigrayan. In the diplomatic arena, most important Ambassadorial posts are held by Tigrayans or are deliberately staffed by hand picked Tigrayan cadres to act as de facto Ambassadors.

Moreover, Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) members and their families control the transportation, manufacturing and several other industries in Ethiopia. Tigray region is also the single highest beneficiary of the massive aid and loan guarantees that is being given to Ethiopia by the IMF, World Bank and international donors. Schools, colleges, roads, airports, factories, and other infrastructure projects are carried out in the Tigray state while the rest of Ethiopia is ignored, and massive debts are incurred, in the name of the Ethiopian people.

A new form of Apartheid is taking hold in Ethiopia through regulations and proclamations by Meles Zenawi’s minority regime. These “Federal Laws” enacted directly by TPLF cadres, Minister of Federal Affairs Abay Tsehaye and his Deputy Barnabas Gebre-Ab (also known as the Minister of Genocide) are designed to systematically alienate and deprive the Ethiopian people not just equal rights, but most importantly it is designed to divide and rule the people of Ethiopia and render them hopeless and helpless. It is not surprising then that in today’s Ethiopia we see students and people from all walks of life being gunned down in broad daylight. Genocide and violent ethnic clashes and religious conflicts are on the rise. Clashes between Meles Zenawi’s security forces and Ethiopians, who are fighting for their basic rights, have intensified.

The Tigrayan Prime Minister of Ethiopia is doing exactly what the Sudanese leader is doing in the Sudan today. He is pursuing the same ethnic and political policy that is breeding genocide and ethnic cleansing in Southern Sudan and Darfur. As many international news media, rights groups, UN employees and NGO’s have noted, the Ethiopian regions of Afar, Arussi, Gambela, Gondar, ******,Oromia, Sidama, Tigray , Wollo etc. are in terminal crisis. It was in July 1998, exposing his bigotry and racist attitude, that the Tigrayan Prime Minister at the height of the massive inhumane deportations of over 80,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin from Ethiopia, had arrogantly and defiantly said:

“The Ethiopian government has the unrestricted right to expel any foreigner from the country for any reason whatsoever. Any foreigner, whether Eritrean, Japanese, etc., lives in Ethiopia because of the goodwill of the government. If the Ethiopian government says ‘Go, because we don't like the colour of your eyes,' they have to leave.”

In spite of the above stated facts, Meles Zenawi, the leader of the minority clique ruling Ethiopia today is being pampered by international donors as he diverts funds donated for famine, resettlement and HIV-AIDs to consolidate his military and security apparatus.

Meles Zenawi’s regime has also become a source of deep embarrassment for the people of Ethiopia. In the last 13 years, Meles and his clique have lied repeatedly to the people of Ethiopia about Ethiopia’s political, economic and social issues. A case in point is the final and binding decision of the Eritrea Ethiopia Border Commission (EEBC). After publicly claiming to have “won” in court and accepting the decision as final and binding and urging the international community to pressure Eritrea for the speedy demarcation of the border, this flip flopping Prime Minister is now defiantly holding the process hostage by rejecting the decision. To this day, neither the families nor the Ethiopian people have been informed of the death of the more than 120,000 innocent Ethiopians who perished when they were used as cannon fodder and minesweepers in the Tigrayan clique’s war of aggression and expansion.

The personal excesses of the TPLF cadres is shameful and embarrassing, not to mention a waste of resources a poor country such as Ethiopia can ill afford. There are security guards that accompany TPLF cadres everywhere, even when they travel overseas in first class cabin. How can they be so afraid of the people they claim to serve? I can understand if the Prime Minister had a limited number of personal guards, but not a whole brigade! I hear streets in Addis are closed for several kilometers when his motorcade is on the road and that the hundreds of soldiers lining the streets are not even allowed to look at his car. Over two thousand soldiers guard his palace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. No wonder the Prime Minister and his clique never travel out of Addis Ababa. Why all this paranoia and fear? That is why I have always maintained that this clique ruling Ethiopia lacks credibility, integrity and most of all legitimacy.

Today, Meles Zenawi is a danger not just to Ethiopians, but also to Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan etc. and he is also a danger to regional and international peace and security. Therefore, for the sake of the Ethiopian people, and the people of the region and for the sake of regional stability and international peace and security, the international community should take appropriate punitive actions and pressure the Tigrayan minority regime to treat the people of Ethiopia with respect and dignity, and to respect international law and demarcate the Eritrea Ethiopia border without any pre-conditions and further delay.

 

http://www.dehai.org/demarcation-watch/articles/Sophia_Tesfamariam_Ethiopia_ruled_by_corrupt_and_myopic_minority_clique.html