Eritrea: Land of
Can-Do People!
(Yikealo! kikewn eyu

ERI-NEWS

kemey zeykewn!)

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

President Isaias Held Discussions with Finnish Ministerof International Development
President Isaias Afwerki met and held
discussions with Mr. Pekka Haavisto, the Minister of International
Development of Finland, on 29 May
2014.
President Isaias and Mr. Pekka Haavisto exchanged views on areas ofcooperation in the education sector.
They reached understanding for an
Eritrean delegation to visit Finland anddiscuss with representatives of educational institutions the development oftangible cooperation programs in thesector.

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

Volume 1, Issue 1101 June 2014
Inside this issue:Eritrea Attended the17th Ministerial
Conference of theNon-Aligned
Movement

2

Remarks byBrigadier General
Abraha Kassa, Headof the Office ofNational Security ofthe State of Eritrea
at the Preparatory 2
Meeting for theEritrea Participated at a Regional Meeting on Human
RegionalConference
Trafficking and Smugglingon Human TraffickAn Eritrean delegation led by the Head of Union Commission in cooperation with ing and Smuggling in
the Office of National Security, Brigadier IOM and UNHCR. It was attended by the the Horn of Africa,
21 May 2014,General Abraha Kassa, participated in the representatives of Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt
Khartoum,
Sudan
Preparatory Meeting for the Regional and Ethiopia as well as some partner states.
Conference on Human Trafficking andSmuggling in the Horn of Africa, held from You can read the remarks made at the21-22 May 2014 in Khartoum, Sudan.
meeting by the head of the Eritrean delegation, Brigadier General Abraha Kassa, onThe meeting was organized by the African
pages 2 and 3 of this Newsletter.

They also conducted extensive discussions on the developments in the Hornof Africa region, especially the situation
in South Sudan.

Ambassador Araya Desta Delivered His Credentials to theExecutive Secretary of UNECA
On 27 May 2014, Ambassador Araya Desta
presented his Credentials to the Executive
Secretary of the UN Economic Commission
for Africa (UNECA), Dr. Carlos Lopes.

and expressed his availability to provide
him with the necessary support in discharging his duties. The Executive Secretaryalso expressed his best wishes to President
Isaias Afwerki, the People and Government
During the occasion, Ambassador Araya
conveyed to the Executive Secretary the of Eritrea and indicated his plan to visit
best wishes of President Isaias Afwerki for Asmara in the near future.
his well-being.
Ambassador Araya expressed his commitDr. Lopes, on his part, congratulated ment to strengthen the working relations
Ambassador Araya on his new assignment between Eritrea and UNECA.

Vol 1. Issue 11, 01 June 2014

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

Page 2

Volume 1, Issue 11

Eritrea Attended the 17th Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement
An Eritrean delegation, headed by Ambassador
Girma Asmerom, Permanent Representative ofEritrea to the United Nations, participated at the17th Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned
Movement held from 26-30 May 2014 in Algiers,Algeria.
The full text of the Statement delivered by the Eritrean delegation at the Conference can be accessed at
http://www.tesfanews.net/wp-content/uploads/
Eritrea_Statement_NAM_2014.pdf

Remarks by Brigadier General Abraha Kassa, Head of the Office of National Securityof the State of Eritrea
at the Preparatory Meeting for the Regional Conference on Human Trafficking andSmuggling in the Horn of Africa, 21 May 2014, Khartoum, Sudan
United States with other collaborating states,organizations and agencies.

Mr. Chairman,
Let me start my remarks by thanking the Government and people of the sisterly Republic of theSudan for their traditional warm hospitality
extended to me and my delegation since ourarrival in this beautiful city of Khartoum.
I would also like, at the outset, to express Eritrea’s
appreciation to the AU-led initiative to combat
human trafficking and smuggling in the Horn ofAfrica Region. This preparatory meeting is one ina serious of activities that have been going on
since the inception of the initiative in 2012. My
country has been actively participating andcontributing to the process from the start.

♦The scheme is politically motivated and carried out under a meticulous plan. It forms
part and parcel of the war declared against
the people and nation of Eritrea.

♦The main purpose of the scheme is todegrade Eritrea’s human resources andcapital, demonize the Government of Eritrea
and undermine its efforts to seek justice andremove the occupation of its sovereignterritories. The transparent ploy is designed
to stifle Eritrea’s voice and deflect international attention from Ethiopia’s breach ofinternational law and infringement ofEritrea’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Following this, I will try to briefly share Eritrea’sviews in regard to the problem of human trafficking and smuggling, the efforts undertaken by
Eritrea to combat and prevent these heinous
crimes, and some ideas on the way forward.
1.

The Challenge of Human Trafficking andSmuggling in Eritrea♦

The migration of Eritreans is not a phenomenon driven by an economic pull factor as it isusually the case in our contemporary times.
This is in fact a deliberate case of humantrafficking conceived and orchestrated by the

2. Eritrea’s Efforts to Combat and Prevent
Human Trafficking
The Government of Eritrea has deployed a multifaceted approach to combat and prevent humantrafficking and smuggling as well as to assist thevictims.
♦The people and Government of Eritrea haveredoubled their diplomatic, political, andeconomic efforts to foil the hostile activities
organized by the U.S. Administration and its

Vol 1. Issue 11, 01 June 2014

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Volume 1, Issue 11

Remarks by Brigadier General Abraha Kassa... (cont from page 2)
collaborators.
♦Awareness raising - Eritrea has undertaken acomprehensive campaign on the national media
and other public fora strongly featuring
trafficking victims, their families and communities.

♦Prosecution of criminals – Eritrean Government law enforcement agencies and local
communities are actively working in identifying and apprehending the perpetrators of thesecrimes and bring them to justice.

♦Support to victims – Eritrea opposes any
stigmatization of victims of human trafficking
and provides them with all possible assistance.
Eritrean diplomatic missions and communities
in the countries of destination provide themwith consular services and other assistances
they may require.

♦Eritrea has been consulting with the Sudan,
Egypt and other relevant countries on migration and other related issues.

♦The Government of Eritrea has made several
diplomatic demarches and sent official lettersto protest and oppose and seek remedies to thistransgression.
In 2004, the GOE sent demarches to theUNHCR and a number of European countries who were instigating the mass migration of the members of the Kunama ethnic
group under the false pretext that they represented a suppressed minority group. TheGOE has likewise sent letters to Libyaduring the Qhadaffi years- to Egypt, Israel
and the Sudan to protest and expose thenetwork of intelligence agencies mired inthis deplorable act.
President Isaias has also sent a letter to theUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
requesting the UN to launch a comprehensive investigation of the act through an
independent, neutral and transparent body.

At the Extraordinary Session of the AU
Assembly held in October 2013, Eritrea
called on the AUC to study the root causesof the problem, and investigate the criminal
networks in order to take collective action
at the continental level.

3. The Way Forward♦ The

crime of human trafficking that isperpetrated against the people and Government of Eritrea for ulterior politicalobjectives should not be underrated ordownplayed. The crime must stop and thoseculpable must be held to account.

♦ The transnational nature of human traffick-ing and smuggling makes it imperative forstates- origin, transit and host- to cooperate
in the investigation of the criminal activities
and in the prosecution of the criminals.
Regional and international organizations,such as the AU and UN also have theresponsibility to utilize their wide presence
to collect information and undertake serious
investigations into the crimes.
♦ With this in mind, the GOE regrets

thatto-date there has not been any noticeable
activity either by AU or UN in way ofundertaking the investigations requested byEritrea. I would like to use this opportunity
to reiterate Eritrea’s call on UN and AU toinvestigate the crimes of human trafficking
and smuggling in order to bring thecriminals to justice.

Mr. Chairman,
In conclusion, I wish to express my delegation’s
belief that the discussion we will have over thesetwo days will lay a solid basis for the Regional
Meeting on the subject planned to be held in thenear future.
Thank you!

Vol 1. Issue 11, 01 June 2014