Day: October 1, 2021

A major aid agency operating in Libya said Friday that it had reports that at least 500 migrants had been arbitrarily detained during a security operation in Tripoli announced by Libyan authorities.

“We are hearing that more than 500 migrants, including women and children, have been rounded up, arbitrarily detained and are at risk of abuse and ill-treatment,” Dax Roque, the country director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a statement.

Libya’s Interior Ministry said security services had carried out a “major security operation” against what it called criminals, liquor and drug dealers, and illegal immigrants. Pictures posted by the Interior Ministry showed dozens of migrants sitting with hands cuffed behind them or being taken away in vehicles.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants live in Libya, many hoping to pass through and cross the Mediterranean to reach a better life in Europe.

Libya has had little peace or stability, however, since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled Moammar Gadhafi, and rights groups say migrants face threats of detention, extortion and abuse.

Thousands of refugees and migrants are held in official detention facilities, some controlled by armed groups. An unknown number are held in squalid centers run by traffickers.

Source: Voice of America

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that Ethiopia has no legal right to expel seven U.N. humanitarian officials.

Guterres told the Ethiopian leader in a phone conversation Friday that the world body does not accept Ethiopia’s decision to expel the senior U.N. officials, according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.

Haq said the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs sent a note to Ethiopia’s U.N. mission in New York on Friday stating the U.N.’s “longstanding legal position” that the action of declaring someone “persona non grata” does not apply to U.N. personnel.

Ethiopia announced the expulsion on Thursday, giving the U.N. officials 72 hours to leave.

In a tweet, Ethiopia’s ministry of foreign affairs said the seven were “meddling in the internal affairs of the country.”

The tweet came amid growing pressure on the government over its deadly blockade of the Tigray region where children are reportedly starving to death. Ethiopia’s government has accused humanitarian workers of supporting the Tigray forces who have been fighting its soldiers and allied forces since November, a charge that aid workers deny.

Spokesperson Haq said the U.N. officials remained in the country. When asked by a reporter if the U.N. officials would leave Ethiopia by the end of 72 hours, Haq did not directly answer.

The U.N. officials include the deputy chief of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs and a representative of the U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

UNICEF said Friday the Ethiopian government’s decision to expel the U.N. officials from the country is “regrettable and alarming.”

Declaring its work “is more urgent than ever,” UNICEF said in a statement that children are bearing the brunt of the country’s worsening humanitarian crisis.

“We have full confidence in the teams working on the ground to save children’s lives, guided — as always — by the principles of impartiality, humanity, neutrality and independence. Our programs will continue,” UNICEF added, noting it has been present in the African nation for more than 60 years.

Conflict-induced hunger

The Ethiopian federal government has been engaged in an armed conflict with forces in the northern Tigray region for nearly one year. The government declared a unilateral cease-fire and withdrew its forces in June, but the conflict has continued to spill into the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar.

Of the 6 million people who live in Tigray, the U.N. says 5.2 million need some level of food assistance. More than 400,000 people are living in famine-like conditions, and another 1.8 million people are on the brink of famine.

“It is critically important that the humanitarian operation continues, and it does,” OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said Friday at a Geneva briefing, according to Reuters. “Until now there is no indication that [Ethiopia’s decision] stops the operation.”

U.N. human rights spokesperson Rupert Colville said at the briefing that the expulsion of the head of its reporting team was a “really grave step.”

On Wednesday, U.N. Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths said that after 11 months of conflict and three months of a de-facto government blockade, the humanitarian crisis in Tigray is spiraling out of control.

One hundred aid trucks are needed daily in the region, but in the past week, only 79 in total were allowed in, a U.N. spokesman said.

“Trucks carrying fuel and medical supplies still cannot enter into Tigray,” U.N. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday. “Trucks are waiting in Semera, in Afar, to travel to Mekelle.”

The federal government headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, blames the rebels for blocking aid deliveries.

U.S. condemnation

“The U.S. government condemns in the strongest possible terms the government of Ethiopia’s unprecedented action to expel the leadership of all of the United Nations organizations involved in ongoing humanitarian operations,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order allowing the government to impose financial sanctions on those who prolong the Tigray conflict.

“We will not hesitate to use this or any other tool at our disposal to respond quickly and decisively to those who obstruct humanitarian assistance to people of Ethiopia,” Psaki said.

The U.N. Security Council held private talks Friday about Ethiopia’s decision as well as North Korea’s recent missile launches.

Kenya’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Martin Kimani, who took over as the Security Council president for October, told reporters Friday, “A number of members expressed very strong concerns” about both situations during Friday’s talks, but said no resolutions were passed on either matter.

Diplomatic sources told Reuters news agency that any aggressive action by the council on Ethiopia’s actions was unlikely because China and Russia long have maintained the Tigrayan conflict is an internal matter.

Source: Voice of America

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who led last month’s coup in Guinea, promised to respect the country’s international commitments while transitioning to civilian rule as he was sworn in as interim president on Friday.

Doumbouya, who led the overthrow of President Alpha Conde on September 5, was sworn in by Supreme Court head Mamadou Sylla for a transition period of unspecified length.

The new interim president spoke of his commitment that neither he nor any member of the junta would stand in any future elections that the military has promised to organize after the transition period.

His administration’s mission, he said, is to “re-found the state” by drafting a new constitution, fighting corruption, reforming the electoral system and then organizing “free, credible and transparent” elections.

The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Supreme Court with local personalities and foreign envoys in attendance, including the Chinese and Russian ambassadors, as well as Doumbouya’s wife and mother.

Later Friday, in a message to the nation read on television, Doumbouya said that “in the coming days a prime minister will be appointed and then a government as well as various organs of the transition.”

He also announced the creation of a body to fight corruption.

Many Western nations limited their presence at the swearing-in to lower-rank diplomats.

Doumbouya again said nothing about how long he will remain the interim leader of the impoverished West African nation. But he promised to “respect all the national and international commitments to which the country has subscribed.”

Before the swearing-in, Supreme Court president Sylla compared Doumbouya’s task to piloting a ship “loaded with many painful events, numerous demands and immense and urgent expectations”.

He urged the new leader not to let himself be diverted “by the force of the waves of demagogy and the storm of the personality cult.”

The ceremony was held on the eve of a public holiday celebrating the 1958 declaration of independence from France.

Doumbouya, 41, will serve as transitional president until the country returns to civilian rule, according to a blueprint unveiled by the junta on Monday that does not mention a timeline.

Until then he retains the right to hire, and fire, an interim prime minister.

The September 5 coup, the latest bout of turbulence in one of Africa’s most volatile countries, saw the overthrow of 83-year-old president Conde.

The deposed leader is being held at an undisclosed location.

Conde became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010 and was re-elected in 2015.

But last year he pushed through a controversial new constitution that allowed him to run for a third term in October 2020.

The move sparked mass demonstrations in which dozens of protesters were killed. Conde won re-election but the political opposition maintained the poll was a sham.

The turbulence has sparked deep concern among Guinea’s neighbors.

The coup is the second to take place in the region, after Mali, in less than 13 months.

The region’s bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is demanding that elections be held within six months and that Conde be released.

Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite abundant reserves of minerals including iron ore, gold and diamonds.

Source: Voice of America

Mr. President,

I have the honor to deliver a joint statement on behalf of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Bolivia, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the State of Palestine, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Zimbabwe, and my own country China.

As COVID-19 continues to impose severe impacts on economic and social development in all countries, especially in developing countries, we call on all member states to address the pandemic through a global response based on unity, solidarity and international cooperation.

We reaffirm the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations as well as the duty of States to cooperate with one another in accordance with the Charter.

We are concerned about the use of unilateral coercive measures against developing countries which run counter to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and International Law, multilateralism and the basic norms of international relations.

We are deeply troubled by the negative consequences brought by unilateral coercive measures to targeted countries, which cause severe economic, social and humanitarian impact in these countries and severely hinder their effort for promoting and protecting human rights.

We are particularly concerned about the direct and indirect devastating impact to populations of the affected countries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous reports and sources indicate that unilateral coercive measures cause severe shortage in essential supplies such as food, water, electricity, medicines and medical equipment for COVID-19, exacerbate poverty, make it difficult for countries to provide adequate humanitarian support on time, and hinder humanitarian organizations’ ability to deliver life-saving assistance to affected people and families, especially the most vulnerable.

We reaffirm that everyone was born with equal rights. Unilateral coercive measures deprive the affected population of the full realization of their human rights, hinder their well-being and social welfare, in particular women, children, youth, the elderly and persons with disabilities.

We recall the Secretary-General’s appeal of 26 March 2020 on the waiving of sanctions that undermine countries’ capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the statement made by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 23 March 2020 on the need to ease or suspend sectoral sanctions in light of their debilitating impact on the health sector and human rights. We also welcome the Group of 77 and China’s statement calling to adopt urgent and effective measures to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries, as well as the Non-Aligned Movement’s Declarations and Communiques on condemning unilateral coercive measures and urging their elimination to ensure the effectiveness of national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We recognize the work done by the Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, other special procedures of the Human Rights Council and relevant human rights treaty bodies.

We reaffirm the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and recall a number of GA resolutions, including the Omnibus Resolution on Comprehensive and coordinated response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which strongly urges states to refrain from promulgating and applying any unilateral economic, financial or trade measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

We call for complete and immediate lifting of current unilateral coercive measures toward targeted countries. It is imperative to ensure that affected countries have adequate resources and support for pandemic response and recovery, that humanitarian aid can reach those in need without any delay or impediment, and that the suffering of those populations cease immediately.

We urge states to avoid imposing future unilateral sanctions not in accordance with international law and the UN Charter. The current circumstance calls for solidarity and unity rather than confrontation and division to address the global challenge and promote and protect human rights for all.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

An Eritrean man has died at the age of 127, his family has claimed, as they called for Guinness World Records to recognise him as the oldest person to ever have lived.

The family of Natabay Tinsiew said he died peacefully on Monday in his remote village of Azefa – which is found in a gorge surrounded by mountains and has a population of around 300 people.

His grandson Zere Natabay told BBC Tigrinya that the secrets to his long life were ‘patience, generosity and a joyful life.’

Mr Zere told the broadcaster that church records, including his grandfather’s birth certificate, say that he was born in the same year he was baptized in 1894, which would make him 127 years old at the time of his death.

However, the family of Natabay Tinsiew claim that he was actually born 10 years earlier in 1884, and that he was actually baptised 10 years later when a priest came to their village.

At the time, priests were few and far between, and people would have to wait for them to visit their more remote villages.

Father Mentay, a Catholic priest who served in Azefa for seven years, confirmed that local records show Mr Natabay was born in 1894, saying that he was present when Azefa village celebrated his 120th birthday in 2014.

Mr Zere said that he had already contacted Guinness World Records to validate the official documents of his grandfather’s birth, and was waiting for a response.

Mr Natabay married his wife in 1934. She later died in 2019 at the age of 99.

The Eritran worked as a herdsman, and owned many cattle, goats, honey bees and during his life has seen give generations of his family grow up.

Mr Zere told BBC Tigrinya his grandfather would be remembered as ‘an extraordinary man’ who was kind, caring and hardworking.

Currently, the record for the world’s oldest person to have ever lived is held by Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122.

Meanwhile, the oldest man to have ever lived was Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who died in 2013 at the age of 116, according to the Guinness World Records.

The oldest person alive today is Kane Tanaka, a 118-year-old Japanese woman.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

The Eritrean Ambassador to the Republic of Uganda, Mr. Mohammed Suleiman met and held talks on 29 October with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda, Gen. Al-Haji Abubakar Odongo Jeje, on strengthening bilateral relations.

At the meeting held in Kampala, Ambassador Mohammed and Foreign Minister Gen. Abubakar Odongo Jeje commending the progress of the relations between Eritrea and Uganda, they agreed to further consolidate the bilateral ties.

The two sides also discussed and exchanged views on the regional and global development of interest to the two countries, particularly developments in the Horn of Africa.

Stating that Eritrean nationals residing in Uganda are contributing in the economic development of the country, the Foreign Minister Gen. Al-Haji Abubakar Odongo Jeje expressed conviction that the Government of Uganda will extend due support to the Eritrean nationals in the country.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

Berhane is a patriot whose dedication and contribution to the Eritrean community in London is one of a kind. A leader of the YPFDJ, he designed the now famous logo of YPFDJ. He firmly believes in the effect of soft power and has consistently been working to fight against the misconstrued representation of Eritrea by the international community. Berhane is also a singer striving to infuse different genres of music into Eritrean traditional music. His community refers to him as “the voice of the community”. Here is the journey of a man who is part of a great history.

Welcome back to Eritrea. Please introduce yourself to our readers?

Thank you! My name is Berhane Semere. I was born and raised in Asmara and then moved to London when I was a teenager. I have been living in London for almost 27 years. I had a diploma in graphic design and was working on it when I came across a course called designing city and architectural planning. Currently I am working for my master’s degree in it. I am also a part time singer and the chairman of eight YPFDJ chapters in the United Kingdom. Sometimes I give virtual lectures on Photoshop. I also serve as the host for Meadna YouTube channel.

It is widely believed that people who participate in everything never excel in anything, but you’ve proved that wrong; how do you do that?

Honestly it is hard to juggle everything and I have to sacrifice something now and then. But I have a lot of passion for the things I do, especially the ones that are related to Eritrea such as public diplomacy in the media.

You were part of the history that happened during the Eritrea- Ethiopia border war. Tell us about it?

The history happened in 2000. A couple of my friends and I were participating in the parliament debates mainly to lobby some officials in order to raise awareness about the war. While doing that I somehow heard that the Ethiopians in London were going to have a demonstration the next day. So we urgently had as meeting and I convinced the Eritrean community that we needed to have a counter attack, and the community did not fail me. So we printed posters all night and went to have our own protest. The protest went on for seven days, we blocked the road it was on every news station. The more people heard about it the more they came to participate. I was imprisoned on the spot but was let go after several hours. It was an effective demonstration because it made our cause and Eritreans as a people more visible to the world. This event is covered in a book called Mekete.

What pushed you to go into graphic design?

As a kid I used to love to paint, and I like art in general. When the opportunity came to study graphic design I was so pleased. After studying graphic design I went on to design many posters emphasizing on the activities of the Eritrean diaspora such as fund raising events, cycling festivals, Independence Day celebrations and commemorations of Martyrs Day as well as magazine and calendars. I also design logo; the famous one is the one I did with the YPFDJ.

Your engagement with the YPFDJ is undeniable; so tell us the role of YPFDJ in the London community?

I truly believe that YPFDJ is a booster for Eritrean public diplomacy. It spreads the idea that the Eritrean youth must continue to be leaders within their communities in the Diaspora and to serve as ambassadors for Eritrea in the Diaspora. It also tightens the bond among the young generations in the Diaspora.

Let’s talk about your music?

Music is a great part of my life. I have not got the chance to do it full time yet, but I do try to include it in every aspect of my work. So far I have released eight singles; many of them refer to Eritrea’s current situation. I like collaborating and modernizing our traditional music. I write most of my lyrics and also produce melodies. Since I have a lot of passion for music I did interview some of the famous Eritrean singers on Maedna YouTube channel during the early stages of Covid- 19.

What is aired on Meadna?

Meadna, as a website , started in 2004, and its main content was information of the activities of the diaspora community. It was quite well known and served the London community and others. As a YouTube channel it airs all the activities of the community, virtual discussion aimed at raising awareness about mass migration, updates on covid-19 vaccination as well as entertaining programs such as interviews of famous singers.

What is your future plan?

We are living in a war of narratives. So what I want to accomplish is to spread the message that negative press is a fact of life, and the best way to combat negative online press is to increase positive online press. Also, with the help of the Eritrean community I want to create a satellite television station. I have no doubt it will be accomplished soon because the diaspora community is not the type of community to say no to anything related to its nation.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea