ERI-NEWS
Bi-Weekly Newsletter
Prepared by the Press Section of thePermanent Mission of the State of Eritrea to AU
and UNECA
President Isaias Conducted Official Visit to Egypt

Vol 5. Issue 76
18 January 2018

President Isaias Afwerki
conducted a two-day
working visit to Egypt,
starting 09 January, at theinvitation of H.E. Abdel
Fattah el-Sisi, President ofthe Arab Republic ofEgypt.

In this issue

President Isaias andPresident el-Sisi held talks
and discussed on growing
trade and investment ties between thetwo countries as well as regional andPresident Isaias was accompanied byinternational topics of mutual imporForeign Minister Osman Saleh andtance in addition to developments in
Presidential Advisor Yemane Gebreab.
regional and international issues. Moreover, asserting that the importance of The relations between Eritrea and Egypt
mutual cooperation between the two are growing on the basis of common
countries is decisive, the two leaders understanding on regional and internaagreed to further strengthen the existing tional issues as well as lasting stabilityand development.
bilateral relations.

EU’s Ambivalent3Stance on Migration

UNHRC SpecialRapporteur inCahoots with
Subversive Groups

President Isaias Afwerki’s Interview on Regional Issues
President Isaias Afwerki, in an interview
with local media conducted on 14January, elaborated on important andtimely regional issues.

fictitious story was a continuation ofnumerous lies deliberately peddled
against Eritrea by various media outlets
in the past years in order to foment
President Isaias dismissed Al-Jazeera’s tension and to deflect public attention
fabricated, latest news story on the from real domestic problems in certain“deployment of Egyptian and Emirati countries.
troops and weapons in Sawa (western Outright lies repeated ad nauseam byEritrea” as ridiculous and the “joke of an assortment of Eritrea’s detractors
the New Year/2018”. As usual, this have been many indeed, President Isaias
baseless story was widely recycled by noted. These include, among others,
other media outlets without any verifica- wild stories of juxtaposed “Israeli andtion. President Isaias underlined that this Iranian military bases in Eritrea’sContd. on page 2
Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018

Contact Addresses:
Tel: +251-116620052
Fax:+251-116620011
Email:eritreanaumission@gmail.com
P.o.Box: 5527
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Eritrean Mission toAU& ECA@EritreaAU4

Page 2Eri-News

President Isaias Afwerki’s Interview on Regional Issues…. Contd. from page 1
Dahlak Islands…Israeli Listening Post at Amba/
Mount Soira (southern Eritrea)…Egyptian troops
deployed in Tsorona (propagated last year prior toand apparently to justify TPLF aggression in that areaat the time)”.

perspective, if the purported establishment of aTurkish military base in Sudan; i.e. on the western
flank of the Red Sea were to become true - thisdevelopment will provoke certain questions in view ofthe sensitivity of this important maritime route.

President
Isaiasasserted that thelatest Al Jeezera
news story wasconcoctedandplanted by the TPLF
regime in Ethiopia –where the TV channel has opened a new
bureau recently withthe specific task ofspearheading andcoordinating thedisinformation
campaign against
Eritrea. The underlying purpose of theEgyptian troop deployment fake story is to drive awedge between Sudan and Eritrea and plunge theSudan into unnecessary conflict. Certain special
interest groups in the Sudan were complicit in thisact. President Isaias stated that the Sudanese people
will not be misled by this crass disinformation andfall into the trap.

President
IsaiasAfwerki emphasizedthat the unfolding
situation in Ethiopia
is a matter of highconcern to the people and governmentof Eritrea above anyother country. The
intractable politicalcrisis that has beset
Ethiopia in the pastmonths is the resultoftheTPLF’s
myopic and deliberate policy of institutionalizing
ethnicpolarization for the last 25 years or so. The TPLF
regime pursued this misguided policy so as to secure
total political, economic and security domination of
the country to benefit a narrow group. The insertion of
the “right of secession” in the “Federal Constitution”
was maliciously crafted in order to legitimize andperpetuate centrifugal tendencies of ethnic polarization and institutionalization. “This game is now over”,
President Isaias stressed. The damage inculcated in
Ethiopia and the region as a whole is considerable
indeed, President Isaias stated, adding, “external
powers who provided subsidy and succor to the TPLF
regime throughout these years must also share theblame”.

In regard to recent media reports of an agreement
between the Sudan and Turkey for the establishmentof a military base by the latter in Suaken, President
Isaias noted that “it would be unwise and premature
to comment on this matter at this stage on the basis ofhearsay and without incontrovertible evidence.”
Available information at this juncture indicates that
this is indeed a public relations stint. On the otherhand, President Isaias stated that Turkish militarypresence in Somalia is both unjustifiable and inexplicable since it has no geographic proximity or bearing
on Turkey’s national security considerations. In thisPresident Isaias concluded his remarks by expressing
the hope that the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia will
recoup, in the near future, the opportunities they had
lost in the past 25 years due to the TPLF’s noxious
policies.

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018

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EU’s Ambivalent Stance on Migration
Editorial published by the Ministry of Informationof Eritrea on 28 December 2017
In what appears as a knee-jerk reaction to public
outrage following the recent CNN footage showing“migrants being sold as slaves” in Libya, the EU has
floated the notion of a “humanitarian corridor” torelocate “stranded refugees to Europe”.

for cogent reasons. Indeed, declining demography
could only be countered with a properly crafted immigration policy that was hinged on attracting both
highly qualified and manual labour. In this scheme,
skilled/professional migrants would meet labour
deficits in high-end manufacturing/service sectors
while unskilled migrants would cater for labourdemand in menial jobs as well as household chores foraging European populations.

In an apparent bid to elaborate the contours of thisnew policy, Italian Interior Minister, Marco Minniti,
stated this week that “up to 10,000 refugees are slated But this equilibrium has been somewhat disrupted
recently due to some critical factors. EU’s intervento benefit from the programme in 2018”.
tionist wars in the Middle East, particularly in Syria
This perplexing stance provokes more questions than and Libya, have immensely exacerbated the migration
the ostensible remedies that it pretends to offer. First influx. Coupled with economic stagnation, this trend
off, does the “new policy” stem from philanthropic has bred resentment bordering on xenophobia in many
considerations or does it actually camouflage other EU countries in substantial segments of the citizenry
ulterior political motives? Can the approach offer a giving rise to unprecedented electoral gains for
credible panacea to the underlying problem? What is hitherto marginal nationalist/populist political forces
the origin and significance of these numbers? Who in several European countries. Public acrimony andare the “refugees”? etc.
ambivalence of Europe regarding migration can thisThe EU project is admittedly grappling with a pleth- be distilled to, and is inextricably linked with, theora of deep-seated and multi-layered problems these interplay of these factors.
days. Centrifugal tendencies epitomized by Brexit The Libyan Dimension
and other separatist movements; EU’s imminent
economic eclipse in the global pecking order due to As intimated above, NATO’s reckless andthe inexorable rise of more dynamic emerging ill-conceived military intervention in Libya in 2011
economies, (the G7 by 2050 will not include a has entailed a host of unforeseen and perhaps
European country, according to some forecasts); and unintended consequences. This is not the forum todemographic challenges – population growth in most discuss the merits or deficiencies of the Qhaddafi
EU countries has fallen from high positive values in regime. Whatever the verdict on this matter – and thisis principally the prerogative of the Libyan people –the 1960’s to essentially zero recently – have all
poked huge potholes in the EU project putting in NATO’s military intervention was untenable from theoutset in terms of international law. And, the folly has
doubt its ultimate viability.
only been amplified by the mayhem and chaos its
Compounded by this backdrop of profound political sequel has bred in Libya, and other countries in theuncertainty, EU immigration policies – both at the neighborhood, as a result of acts of terror by AQIM/
Union and individual country levels - have tended to ISIS franchises which have evidently flourished in thebe ambivalent; vacillating from an “open” to vacuum that was created.
“fortress Europe” facade largely on account of thedynamics of domestic/electoral politics in the The “refugee crisis” that has unfolded ever since must
thus be gauged and proposed solutions assessed,individual Member States.
within this context. The primary issue to address in
It must be stressed here that in terms of pure national this regard is what is the rationale for creating ainterest, political parties of all philosophical persua- “humanitarian corridor” to catapult these haplesssions in Europe have all along embraced migration
Contd. on page 4

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018

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EU’s Ambivalent Stance on Migration...Contd. from page 3
victims to far off alien lands. What are the prospects
for their proper and worthy integration in theEuropean communities? Or is this a scheme essentially designed to attract cheap manual labour albeit
its convenient packaging in humanitarian garb? And
above all, are these “refugees” facing persecution in
their home countries, or economic migrants in searchof elusive “green pastures”; caught in the dragnet, soto speak, of the unholy alliance of human traffickers
and the purveyors of a sinister political agenda?

countries” to the youth who leave the country
illegally. In recent years, perhaps in response to public
protest against migration in European cities, thescheme has morphed into extending financial largesse
to Ethiopia to “create employment opportunities” tothese “refugees”. And of course, incessant demonization of the Eritrean Government has become afavoured instrument in their tool box as they need tojustify and imbue “humanitarian mantle” to thismisguided policy.

For Eritrea, the latter issue is of paramount importance. Certain political forces in Europe andelsewhere have connived for more than ten years
now, to pursue policies of “strategic depopulation”
against Eritrea as part and parcel of their overarching policy of “regime change”.

All these schemes have had their toll. But they haveessentially failed to achieve their primaryobjective. Now in Libya too, we hear the same oldchoir. The Reuters news story of December 25 thisweek alludes to the “evacuation of 162 vulnerable
people from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia andEritrea’s youth, especially those in the National Yemen”.
Service, were particularly targeted in advancing this As we have repeatedly underlined, dwelling on thesefutile scheme. These Governments have often episodes in isolation will not bear any fruit. Indeed,
employed the UNHCR as a lead agency to rationalize Eritrea has repeatedly urged the UN to undertake anand orchestrate this policy. The UNHCR malicious independent and transparent investigation of the wholeguidelines, issued in 2009 and 2011, and which episode both in order to bring about a comprehensive
advocated literally granting blanket “bona fide and lasting solution to this scourge and to take approrefugee status” to Eritrean economic migrants, were priate measures against the culpable parties.
concocted to provide legal cover to this subversive This request was first made through the letter ofscheme. (Earlier in 2004, the Kunama ethnic group President Isaias Afwerki to Ban ki-Moon on 5
was mendaciously categorized as a “persecuted February 2013 and repeated on several occasions
people” and targeted, mostly unsuccessfully, for thereafter, including through a recent letter to UNSG
resettlement in third countries, including Ethiopia).
Antonio Guterres. Postponement of effective action
This deplorable scheme has many facets/tentacles will continue to compound the problem in all itsdimensions.
and included “promises of fast resettlement in third

UNHRC Special Rapporteur in Cahoots with Subversive Groups
cted invited guests during the first day (October 19th)
included the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea (SR)Ms. Sheila Keetharuth; Ms. Mirjam van Reisen(European External Policy Advisor) - who has
In mid-October 2017, Eritrea's avowed detractors publicly and vocally opposed Eritrea's independence
convened a meeting in Brussels under the rubric of from the outset - as well as a number of notorious"human rights situation in Eritrea". Principal speak- "regime• change" activists and their foreign mentors.
ers at the event - which was open to limited and sele- The first day public event was followed by a closed
Contd. on page 5
Press Statement issued by the Permanent Mission of
the State of Eritrea to the UN and other
International Organizations in Geneva,
on 24 December 2017

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018

Page 5Eri-NewsUNHRC Special Rapporteur in Cahoots with Subversive Groups...Contd. from page 4
meeting that was held on 20th October. The Special
Rapporteur participated in the closed meeting too inparticular guiding the special discussion on coordination of all the disjointed "regime-change" activists. Documents and audio recordings obtained of
the closed meeting reveal the "six-month plan ofaction" that this murky group have charted out toadvance their elusive agenda of subversion and"regime-change". The main points of this plan ofaction for the period leading to the upcoming JuneReport of the SR include the following actions:ging her duties. The SR has persistently
exploited the UN mandate to mobilize self-described"human rights activists" associated with humantraffickers and involved in a declared regime-change
agenda.

The Permanent Mission of the State of Eritrea to theUN and other international organizations in Geneva
is not perturbed by the nefarious, if inconsequential,
schemes that these notorious groups float from time
to time. For some of these sell-outs, this has indeed
long become a "convenient" way of life for appropriating funds from certain institutions.

The UNHRC and the OHCHR have not heeded ourrepeated appeals in the past that drew attention to her
inherent bias stemming from her unorthodox association with Eritrea's detractors and arch-enemies. The
OHCHR in fact went out of its way to portray ourlegitimate concerns as "witch hunting": stating in its
press briefing of 21st November this year that"Ms Keetharuth has been faithfully carrying out themandate given to her by the UNHRC, and she should
not be subjected to vitriolic personalized attach by
Government officials".

As we have incessantly clarified, virtually all her
annual reports were also culled from the rumblings ofthese notorious 'regime-change' activists aswell as from willfully concocted disinformation
provided to her by Ethiopia and Djibouti. Furthermore, she has often doubled as an activist to• Implement the proposal of the SR, on a launch pre-emptive press statements and campaigns
coordinated campaign to extend the Human of her "unfounded" reports prior to their submission
Rights Council (HRC) special mandate on the to and discussion by the UNHRC sessions.
humanrights
situation
inEritrea This time round, the SR continues to irrevocably• Accordingly, establish a networking of cross the red line to go beyond recycling and varnishEritrean organizations abroad under an ing the vitriolic reports of these subversive group inumbrella organization, but excluding those UNHRC garb to officially behave as one of their
sympathetic to the Eritrean Government active members. The outcry is, however, another• Campaign against Europe's recent policy desperate effort to solicit support for her forthcoming
shift on the political asylum of Eritreans in- effort to blackmail the HRC and keep Eritrea undercluding programmes to contain Eritrean the continued agenda of the HRC and thereby renew
the mandate.
"refugees" in neighboring countries

What we find unacceptable is the deplorable presence
and complicity of the Special Rapporteur in this illicit
gathering. Her conduct contravenes accepted ethicalnorms and standards of " ... discretion, transparency,
impartiality and even-handedness ... " enshrined in The curtains have been lifted now. Her compromised
the relevant UN guidelines that must be strictly position is not defensible and cannot be rationalized
anymore. As such, the Permanent Mission of Eritrea inobserved by experts and special rapporteurs.
Geneva expressly requests the UNHRC to take swiftThis is not indeed the first time that Mrs Sheila
action without further delay and also reject her
Keetharuth has been found wanting in terms ofon-going premeditated campaign to continue theobjectivity, neutrality and professionalism in discharspecial mandate on Eritrea.

Vol 5. Issue 76, 18 January 2018