Eritrea: Land ofCan-Do People!

ERI-NEWS
Bi-Weekly Newsletter
Permanent Mission of the State of Eritrea to AU
and UNECA
Press Section

National Service: A toolfor EconomicDevelopment, National
Cohesion and theDefence of Sovereignty

Vol 2. Issue 46
30 December 2015
Inside Pages:
Emir of Qatar Visited
Press Statement of theMinistry
Flydubaiof
toForeign
Launch 2
Affairs of the State of 2
Eritreaon Saudi
Pictorial
Arabia’s
Initiative
Reportageof in 3theFight
AgainstEritrean Festivals 5
Terrorism

President Isaias Paid Working Visit to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
developments of mutual interest toboth countries.
The two leaders further reviewed
progress of implementation ofprevious agreements and exploredways and means of coordination in thefight against terrorism.
President Isaias Afwerki paid a three
day working visit to Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia from 19-21 December
2015.

President Isaias Afwerki also held
similar talks with Deputy Crown
Prince and the Minister of Defense of
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince
Mohammed Bin Salman.

During his stay, President Isaias met
with King Salman Bin Abdelaziz on
the strengthening of bilateral ties aswell as on regional and internationalIt is recalled that President Isaias had
paid a similar working visit to theKingdom of Saudi Arabia in April thisyear.

Vol 2. Issue 46, 30 December 2015

Germany’s Minister ofEconomic Cooperation 3and Development
Visited Eritrea
Eritrea Participated at
Plenary Session of theAFCAC
3
Press Statement:
UNHCR Eligibility
Guidelines: Factual
Findings or Recycled
Defamation?
Contact Addresses:
Tel: +251-116620052
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Email:eritreanaumission@
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P.o.Box: 5527
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Eritrean Mission toAU& ECA@EritreaAU4

Page 2Eri-NewsEmir of Qatar Visited Eritrea
reviewed the ties of friendship and cooperation thatexist between the two countries and discussed various
matters that will further promote the mutual interests ofboth countries and peoples.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani affirmed that theState of Qatar will expand, both in scope and quality, its
current investments in Eritrea as well as embark on newventures.

On 18th December, Emir of the State of Qatar,
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, paid a
one-day working visit to Eritrea
Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani was accorded a warm
welcome by President Isaias Afwerki on arrivalat the Asmara International Airport.

President Isaias and Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani also
exchanged views on the overall political developments
and trends unfolding in the wider Horn of Africa andMiddle Eastern region.
The Emir of the State of Qatar was seen off at Asmara
Airport on his departure by President Isaias Afwerki,
Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, and Mr. Yemane
Gebreab, Head of PFDJ Political Affairs.

The two leaders subsequently held talks at theState House. In the meeting, the two leaders

Press Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Eritrea on Saudi
Arabia’s Initiative in the Fight Against Terrorism
The Government ofEritrea views theinitiative launchedby the Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia to form
an alliance against
terrorism as a vitalstep in the promotion of peace and stability in
our region and the world as a whole.

without reservations and to extend its contribution to thealliance.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara21 Dec. 2015

The Government of Eritrea believes that theinitiative is part and parcel of ongoing endeavors
towards the establishment of broad strategiccooperation to combat terrorism and lawlessness
and thereby guarantee peace and security in ourregion. In this spirit, the Government of Eritrea
expresses its readiness to support the initiative

Vol 2. Issue 46, 30 December 2015

Page 3Eri-News

Germany’s Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Visited Eritrea
On 15 December 2015, President Isaias Afwerki
received at State House a senior German delegation
led by Dr. Gerd Muller, the Minister of Economic
Cooperation and Development.

President Isaias also underlined Eritrea’s readiness todiscuss with Germany and other partners itsperspectives on political developments including
issues of a political democratic order and humanrights that are intertwined with the tasks andchallenges of nation building.
Both sides exchanged views on broader political developments in Eritrea and the region as a whole.
The senior German delegation inspected new facilities that are under construction at the Orotta National
Referral Hospital through bilateral cooperation. Minister Muller was accompanied by Ms.
Amna Nurhusein, Eritrea’s Health Minister, during
the visit to the hospital premises.

Both sides discussed in depth the prospects of The German delegation visited the Eritrean Instituteresuming bilateral ties of cooperation between the two of Technology at Mai Nefhi. Minister Muller wascountries.
briefed on the academic programmes of the Instituteand had discussions with students there.
President Isaias explained in greater detail the policies
and programmes that the GOE is pursuing in the The delegation’s one-day working visit waspolitical, economic and social tasks and dimensions of concluded with a public meeting with civil society
nation-building. In this connection, President Isaias associations, investors and the youth at the Head
expressed Eritrea’s readiness and desire to foster solid Quarters of the National Confederation of Eritrean
ties of partnership with Germany in furthering these Workers.
objectives.

Eritrea Participated at Plenary Session of the African Civil Aviation Commission
A delegation led by Eritrea’s Ambassador to Egypt,
Mr. Fasil Ghebresilassie, participated in the 25th
Plenary Session of the African Civil Aviation
Commission (AFCAC) held in Cairo, Egypt from
8-10 December 2015.
The plenary session discussed safety and security
challenges of civil aviation in Africa, air transport
issues, as well as the environmental impact of global
air service.

agency of theAfrican Union andhas avision of
fostering a safe,
secure, efficient,costeffective,sustainableandenvironmentallyfriendly civil aviation in Africa.

AFCAC was established in 1964 and is composed of54 member states. It functions as a specialized
Vol 2. Issue 46, 30 December 2015

Page 4Eri-News

Press Statement
UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines: Factual Findings or Recycled
Defamation?

Summary
In April 2009, the UNHCR issued a35-pagebooklet entitled “UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines
for Assessing the International Protection Needs
for Asylum-Seekers from Eritrea”. UNHCR
further published the second Guidelines on 20April 2011. This 37-page document wasessentially a replica of the first publication in termsof format, language and substantive contents albeit
few, insignificant and inconsequential, updates.
UNHCR’s purported purpose in issuing theseguidelines was to “assist decision-makers,including UNHCR staff, Governments and private
practitioners in assessing the protection needs ofEritrean asylum-seekers”. The organization
flaunted these guidelines as “authoritative legalinterpretations of the refugee criteria in respect ofspecific groups on the basis of objectively
assessed social, political, economic, security,human rights and humanitarian conditions in thecountry of origin concerned”. It further asserted
that “the guidelines are researched strictly and arewritten based on factual evidence provided by
UNHCR’s global network of field offices andinformation from independent country specialists,
researchers and other sources which is rigorously
reviewed for reliability”.
As we will demonstrate in subsequent sections,nothing can be farther from the truth.
First off, UNHCR “Guidelines on Eritrea” do notemanate from a” rigorous and independentfact-finding work” conducted by the agency inEritrea and elsewhere abroad. This is borne out by
the following salient facts:•Both reports epitomize sloppy, cut-and-paste,desk “research”, characterized as they were, bywholesale regurgitation of prevalent, negative
literature on Eritrea from biased and politicallymotivated entities. This is indeed amplified by acursory scrutiny of the footnotes and references. The
two booklets contain 473 references. The bulk of thesefootnotes are, however, iterative attributions to i) US
State Department of State, Country Report on HumanRights; ii) Amnesty International; iii) Human Rights
Watch; iv) Reporters Without Borders; and, v) a
couple of notorious Eritrean quisling publications.
• A largely recycled document from suspect entities
can hardly qualify for “factual evidences collected andrigorously validated by the UNHCR” or provided byother “independent country specialists”.
• UNHCR’s lopsided methodology of informationcollection and validation is extremely hard toexplain. Along with other UN agencies including theUNDP, UNICEF, and the WHO, UNHCR has a duly
accredited and fully functioning UN office in Eritrea
headed by a Resident Representative. But there are noindications whatsoever that the “findings” the booklets
enumerate largely quoting the usual, Eritrea-bashingsources cited above, have been validated or reviewed
by the UNHCR Office in Asmara for purposes of“rigorous factual accuracy and reliability”. If anything,the UNHCR Office in Asmara and UNHCR’s global
network of field offices are conspicuous in thebooklets for their almost total absence as credible
sources of information and/or validation for UNHCR’s“findings and conclusions”.
Secondly, most of the “findings” are replete with
presumptuous caveats and qualifications such as“reportedly”, “allegedly”, etc. In view of the gravity ofthe subject matter and its ramifications for the country
in question, UNHCR’s approach accentuates anVol 2. Issue 46, 30 December 2015

Page 5Eri-News…. Press Statement
UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines: Factual Findings or Recycled Defamation?
appallinglackofresponsibility
andprofessionalism. This contrasts starkly with, andundermines, UNHCR’s proclaimed standards of“objectivity, accuracy and reliability”.

UNHCR any moral ground or responsibility toscavenge on unaccounted, fabricated information on thecountry’s situation.

Thirdly, the UNHCR is guilty of a breach of trust to
the host nation. Common sense, normative
decency and agreed ground rules dictate that theUNHCR communicate its findings, however
unsavory, to the host nation. The UNHCR is also
duty-bound to request policy clarifications from thehost nation instead of second-guessing them and/orseeking third party interpretation; particularly when
the latter are not disinterested entities and/or when
they harbor hostile political agendas. In the case of
these booklets, however, the whole exercise wasshrouded in secrecy in as far as Eritrea isconcerned. The UNHCR did not, in fact,communicate its findings formally to the GOE
while circulating them to other entities.

In view of these facts, UNHCR’s preference to rely
solely and fully on narratives peddled by Eritrea’s
known detractors cannot be shrugged off as oversightor poor judgment. It may indeed belie an underlying
agenda that may have been imposed on it by its
principal funders.

The UNHCR tries to justify this wayward approach
under the lame excuse that “access toindependently verifiable information on thesituation in Eritrea is difficult to obtain given theEritrean Government’s control over virtually every
aspect of life in the country, the lack of independent
media and the curtailment of NGOs activities”.

AsmaraFull text can be accessed at http://www.shabait.com/news/
local-news/20954-unhcr-eligibility-guidelines-factualfindings-or-recycled-defamation

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
17 December 2015

In Eritrea as elsewhere, the statutory mandate ofNGOs is to carry out humanitarian/development
work. Why the UNHCR conflates the development
work of NGOs with anti-government, alternative
media is difficult to comprehend. Furthermore,
there are a plethora of UN agencies in Eritrea that
produce comprehensive annual/periodic reports on
the country. Eritrea’s development partners (theEuropean Union, Africa Development Fund etc.)
also produce periodic reports that focus on theirspecific projects but that also include theunderlying political, economic, security and socialrealities in the country. More importantly, notvisiting the country for any reason, does not giveVol 2. Issue 46, 30 December 2015