Eritrea Wire

At least 23 migrants were missing and two bodies recovered from the sea off Tunisia, the Red Crescent reported Wednesday, after the military said more than 100 migrants were intercepted.

The Tunisian navy said a boat headed for Europe from Zuwara in Libya was intercepted on Tuesday near Miskar oil platform, some 67 kilometres (52 miles) off the coast.

The migrants — 37 Eritreans, 32 Sudanese and an Egyptian, aged between 15 and 40 — were handed over to the Red Crescent and International Organization for Migration in the southern port Of Zarzis.

Apart from 23 people missing, two bodies were recovered from the water, according to the Red Crescent.

The Tunisian army, for its part, said 39 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were intercepted at sea off the eastern port city of Sfax on Monday night.

Tunisia and Libya are key departure points for migrants attempting the dangerous crossing from the North African coast to Europe, particularly Italy.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

Tiffany Haddish was lined up to replace Ellen DeGeneres as host of NBC’s coveted daytime talk show. But in the end the network plumped for Texas-born former singer Kelly Clarkson.

American actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish has enraged social media users for her opinions on the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

The 41-year-old performer, who recently lost out on the coveted job of replacing Ellen DeGeneres as an NBC talk show host, has been described as a “disgusting human being” because she supports Eritrea, which is fighting alongside the Ethiopians.

In recent months the Eritreans have been accused of carrying out mass rapes and murdering Tigrayan civilians.

But because the area is a war zone foreign journalists have been unable to reach the area to confirm claims made on social media.

The patriarch of Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church, Abune Matthias, recently accused the Ethiopian government and its Eritrean allies of “genocide”.

He said: “I am not clear why they want to declare genocide on the people of Tigray. It is not the fault of the Tigray people. The whole world should know it.”

Haddish, who voices one of the characters in the Netflix sitcom Tuca and Bertie, has denied the Tigrayan people were the victims of “genocide.”

United States President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire in Tigray last week but Abiy Ahmed’s government has refused until the TPLF is militarily defeated.

Haddish was born in Los Angeles in 1979 and her father, Tsihaye Reda Haddish, was a refugee who had fled Eritrea, which was then part of Ethiopia.

In the last few years Tiffany Haddish has become increasingly enamoured with Eritrea and its controversial leader, Isaias Afwerki, who has been the country’s President since it became independent in 1993.

She first visited the country in 2018 to bury her father and the following year she became a naturalised Eritrean citizen.

Last year she was criticised for defending Afwerki and his government by some of the thousands of Eritreans who have fled the country and claim it is run like a jail with no elections, indefinite national service and a complex of underground prisons.

Although Buzzfeed ran an article which suggested Haddish was very naive, she has not wavered and continues to support Afwerki and his government’s policies on Tigray.

On Wednesday, 2 June, Haddish tweeted: “Awet N’ Hafash!!!”

“Awet N’ Hafash” is an Eritrean phrase, roughly translated as “Victory to the Masses”, which was used by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front during the war of independence and remains a common slogan with Afwerki’s Eritrean government.

Later the same day Haddish retweeted an article headlined: “A Morally Bankrupt Institution: How the UN is Betraying Ethiopia.”

Haddish, who has starred in Hollywood movies like Girls’ Trip, Night School and Like A Boss, tweeted: “While people trying to make me look like the bad Guy pay attention to who is really behind all this. This is a Great read.”

The political and military situation in the Horn of Africa is extremely complex.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 after settling a border dispute with Eritrea and the two countries have become allies against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled Ethiopia until the death of its leader Meles Zenawi in 2012.

In November last year Eritrean troops crossed into Tigray in support of a military offensive by the Ethiopian government against the TPLF.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

An NHS worker who has spent the pandemic helping save lives on a coronavirus ward says Home Secretary Priti Patel’s immigration plans will see refugees like her turned away from the UK.

Mariam, from Eritrea, has been working exhausting 12-hour shifts in a Leeds hospital assisting Covid-19 patients – sometimes four days in a row.

The Leeds hospital worker, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was granted asylum after her arrival in the UK and works as a clinical support worker, battling on the front line of the health crisis.

Mariam said: “The UK gave me an opportunity and now I’m working. I don’t want to be dependent on the government. I’m working and if I’m asked to help, I will help.”

Home Office plans to overhaul the immigration system may well have seen her asylum application rejected because of her method of arrival, Mariam said.

Mariam joined the health service after coming to Britain in the back of a lorry in 2009, fleeing persecution and imprisonment in Eritrea.

Mariam said: “When I left Eritrea, I didn’t know if I was going to live or die. I just knew I had to get out. Every day, I thank God for bringing me here, and secondly I thank the people of the UK who saved me.”

Almost two in three people currently free to make asylum claims in the UK under current rules could be turned away under proposed new Home Office reforms.

The group – a coalition of more than 200 organisations, founded by Asylum Matters, British Red Cross, Freedom from Torture, Refugee Action, Refugee Council and Scottish Refugee Council – is calling for a more fair and humane approach to the UK’s asylum system.

The government has claimed that for the year ending September 2019, more than 60 per cent of asylum claims were from people who are deemed to have entered the UK “illegally”.

Ms Patel has made clear that under government proposals, the way people enter the UK will have an impact on their asylum claim and their status in the UK.

“We will deem their claim as inadmissible, and make every effort to remove those who enter the UK illegally having travelled through a safe country first in which they could and should have claimed asylum,” she said.

When plans were unveiled in March, a group of more than 450 immigration experts argued that the government was creating an artificial divide between “legal” and “illegal” arrival in the UK to seek asylum.

The experts described the the Home Office plan as “deeply troubling” and claiming it vilified people who have no option but to travel by irregular means to seek safety.

Sabir Zazai, Together With Refugees spokesperson and a refugee himself, said: “Abandoning people fleeing war and persecution, including women and children, is not who we are in the UK.”

Shabnam Nasimi, the executive director of Conservative Friends of Afghanistan, said the home secretary’s plans risks punishing refugees.

Ms Nasimi said: “I think putting refugees in the same box as European economic migrants punishes refugees, people who are fleeing war torn countries such as Afghanistan for security and a safe life.

“If we close our doors what does it say about Britain, particularly global Britain after Brexit?”

A Home Office spokesperson said the current asylum system is “broken” and the new plan would help people based on need.

“We make no apology for seeking to fix a system which is being exploited by human traffickers, who are encouraging women and children to risk their lives crossing the Channel.”

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

Danakali Ltd’s (ASX:DNK) (LON:DNK) (OTCMKTS:SBMSF) (FRA:SO3) Colluli Sulphate of Potash (SOP) Project in Eritrea is set to be a global game-changer with the potential to become the world’s first zero-carbon producer of SOP.

The company, which has one of the world’s largest solid salt, near-surface high-grade SOP reserve of 1.1 billion tonnes or 200 years of life of mine, is fully permitted.

Colluli is the only resource in the world that is ideal for SOP production that can be extracted in solid form.

It also has access to solar, wind and one of the world’s greatest geothermal energy systems – the East African rift.

Colluli Mining Share Company (CMSC), is a 50:50 joint venture between Danakali and the Eritrean National Mining Corporation (ENAMCO).

High potential for zero carbon

Colluli can disrupt incumbents in the market, with the capacity to displace all carbon-intensive Mannheim SOP production globally.

The company plans to transition to renewable energy, as it has options to access solar, wind and geothermal energy.

Danakil Basin has predictable sunlight, with African rift system is well-endowed with geothermal energy potential and there is predictable wind resource.

In May 2021, the company demonstrated economic, construction, operational and environmental optimisations at the Water Intake Treatment Area (WITA) using filtered seawater during extensive test-work in the pre-development process for SOP.

It will now rely on a combination of beach well intake, smaller pumping station and greater renewable energy to pump filtered seawater to the SOP processing plant at the Colluli mine site.

Lower costs and higher volumes

Its open cut costs are lower and volumes are higher than underground mining, making it one of the lowest-cost SOP producers in the world.

With a depth of 16 metres, its capital expenditure, including working capital is US$320 million, with a production target of about 1 million tons per annum.

The first two strategic growth phases will produce 944,000 tons per annum (tpa).

It also has robust returns with a net present value (NPV) of US$439 million and an internal rate of return of 31%.

The company has secured US$221 million of senior debt and equity project financing.

Market potential

SOP is currently under-applied in the areas expecting the highest rate of population growth, the majority of which are near to Colluli.

It is close to the established SOP markets of Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and developing markets in Africa.

Demand is driven by the rapidly growing middle class in developing nations, changing dietary preferences and global population growth.

It has a 10-year take-or-pay offtake agreement with EuroChem for up to 100% of its production.

SOP demand and supply dynamics support a robust pricing environment, offering attractive margins for low-cost primary producers like Danakali.

Since 2014, the average SOP price premium to Muriate of Potash (MOP) is US$221 per tonne.

Transport links

Further, no other SOP project is located closer to port infrastructure with the port capacity at Massawa.

The future Anfile Bay port development, about 87 kilometres from site, will create “unrivalled global port advantage.”

Multi-commodity potential

Colluli can readily expand to become a multi-commodity premium fertilizer producer.

Once the Anfile Bay is developed, a number of its products can be commercialised, the company said.

COVID-19 impact

The company said no major impact on its operational costs was expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Access to the Colluli site is secured and the company can get people into the country with the one-week quarantine period.

It is power-ready to go, with its renewables integration being investigated by Aggreko.

Its reverse osmosis plant is near completion and final geotechnical investigations are required.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online