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Via Monsters and Critics, Egyptian police apparently opened fire on a gang of human traffickers helping Eritrean and Sudanese refugees escape to Israel through the Sinai Peninsula. What's the significance? In recent months there has been a marked up-tick in the number of Eritreans entering Egypt illegally and seeking asylum. Egypt, in turn, has come under criticism from the United Nations High Commission on Refugees for forcibly repatriating Eritreans, despite their asylum claims. Meanwhile, UNHCR is trying to interview Eritrean asylum seekers to assess their claims for refugee status, but so far UNHCR officials have not be given access to all detention facilities housing Eritreans.
With Egypt being such hostile territory for Eritrean asylum seekers, a growing number have sought refuge in Israel. Writing in Ha'aretz Nurit Wuhrgaft tells the story of one intrepid young asylum seeker who made it all the way from Eritrea to Be'er Sheva in southern Israel.
It took him eight months to reach Sudan. He found his way there with the help of strangers and crossed the border without a problem. "I knew I was in another country only when I reached a village and heard the people there speaking Arabic," he says. In Sudan, he was taken in by fellow countrymen who fled Eritrea years before and settled there. During his month-long stay in Sudan, he contacted relatives who had fled years ago to Malta, and they sent him a little money for food. He used the money to pay a truck driver to take him to the capital city of Khartoum and to buy a train ticket to Cairo. In Cairo, he met some of his countrymen who warned him that he might be arrested there and even expelled back home. They suggested he join them on a trek to Israel, where, they promised, his life would be safer. P. agreed even though he had no idea where he was going. The difficult journey, traveled partially by foot, took only three days. When they crossed the border, they were detained by soldiers who took them to Be'er Sheva. "They were nice to us," he says of the soldiers, fired only in the air, were polite to us, took us in their car to Be'er Sheva and there they dropped us off and left." P. and his friends wandered around the city and asked how to get to the United Nations offices. A student put them in touch with Yohannes L. Bayu, director of the African Refugees Development Center. "I saw people after many hours of walking, exhausted, hungry and despairing," says Bayu. He mobilized the small community of Eritreans in Israel to help them find a temporary place to live, organize a collection campaign and raise money. They also gave the newcomers sheets and blankets, which were used to create makeshift beds.
Comments
Mr. Goldberg,
If your "dispatch" had included this piece of information it would have some level of balance.
http://www.shabait.com/staging/publish/article_008519.html
For thoe of us who have been following this website, when it comes to Eritrea, balance seems to be the last thing the so called dispatchers are interested in.
Posted by: Ben Teklu at July 3, 2008 9:17 AM
The ironic part is Eritreans stow away their belongings (including sometimes cars and bycles) looking for a better life but only to end up in more destitute places like Egypt where people reportedly fight each other for bread. Nobody fights for bread in Eritrea, where life is simple and yet beautiful.
Posted by: Daniel at July 4, 2008 2:12 AM
Human traffikers are vultures who entice innocent/desparate people into leaving their warm surroundings.
Posted by: Tirhas at July 4, 2008 2:15 AM
Eritrean returnees being taken care of...?
http://www.shabait.com/staging/publish/article_008519.html
Posted by: hade libi at July 4, 2008 2:17 AM
Eritrean nationals Who Returned Home From Egypt Express Satisfaction With the Warm Hospitality Accorded Them. A total of 740 Eritrean nationals, of whom 85 are females, who returned home from Egypt expressed satisfaction with the warm hospitality accorded them.
The nationals said that they regret the dangerous journey outside the Homeland risking their lives, and pointed out that they had experienced that nothing good can be obtained by leaving one's own country other than hardship and misery. Moreover, they lauded the warm hospitality and care accorded them on the part of the Eritrean people and Government upon return home.
In a meeting with the nationals who returned home, Mr. Abdalla Jabir, Head of Organizational Affairs at the PFDJ, expressed welcome on behalf of the Government and the Front and underlined the blessing of living in one's own nation. Stressing that it is normal for any person who commits illegal cross-border journey to demonstrate remorse, he called on the group to henceforth sever the nation with dedication through drawing lesson from their past misdeeds.
One of the citizens who returned home, Solomon Amanuel, recalled the life of misery as a refuge. Recalling the baseless allegation on the part of media outlets and so-called human rights champions claiming that the group would undergo severe punishment upon return home, he pointed out that they not only received warm welcome but also the necessary medical checkup.
Similarly, Yonas Mengisteab said that individuals who posed as staff members of the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees, as well as claiming to be 'champions' of human rights had been trading in our name.
Semainesh Ethiopia on her part recalled with feelings of anguish life as a refugee on the one hand, and expressed deep satisfaction with the return of the group to their Homeland on the other.
Still another youth, Abdelhafez Omar, not only praised the warm hospitality accorded the group upon return home but also stressed that nothing good could be obtained from leading a life as a refugee. He also regretted the dangerous move the group had taken in abandoning their Homeland.
Reports indicated that the nationals who returned home would join their respective families and workplace.
Posted by: Home Sweet home at July 4, 2008 8:57 PM
Thank God 740 real Eritreans returned back to their homeland. They were received with great joy and they have a bright future in Eritrea now. For the Ethiopians and people of other nations who claim Eritrean identity good luck; the UN already knows the old tricks. They need to reveal their true identity. I think Mr. Yohannes Bayu is doing a good job helping his fellow Ethiopians not Eritreans for sure.
Posted by: DY at July 6, 2008 3:22 PM
Ben-
Thanks very much for your comments. We try very hard to maintain a balanced approach to the situation in Eritrea. I have stressed in repeated postings that ethiopia was in the wrong to ignore the findings of the boundary commission. That said, I was very discouraged this spring when the government in Asmara harassed UNMEE out of existence. I think this was ultimately counter-productive to the cause of peace and security throughout the region.
Posted by: Mark Leon Goldberg at July 7, 2008 11:27 PM
There is no need to discuss UNMEE's functions. I am sure everybody is aware of that. To tell you the truth its mandate is incomplete and over. To make a story short for UNMEE to stay idled without UN enforcing the rule of law was counter-productive for Eritrea. It was a waste of time and money for the international community. The fact that the minority Woyane regime in Ethiopia did not accept and implement the final and binding judgment was the biggest hurdle for peace and security throughout the region. The rule of the jungle and the devastating US foreign policy for the horn is reflecting the consequences as well.
Posted by: DY at July 8, 2008 1:55 PM
hi how are you i am eriterian nationality so i want talk to about eriterian return from egypet who are they they aout from eriteria legally and also they are fighter so if eriterian gov axcepted them we will see like befor like theey return from malta eriterian gov what he do he bring them on tv and they do good inetrview if we see in this time were are they they are in dahlak in preason . so i want say what dont belive this governement of eriteria we see soon may be they kill them we know him we have expi riance about it
Posted by: kally at July 28, 2008 1:03 PM