(English version at the bottom)
ከም ዝፍለጥ ኣብ መወዳእታ ኣዋርሕ ናይ ዝሓለፈ ዓመት፡ ብስም ምቅያር ባጤራ፡ ኩሉ ኣብ ኢድ ህዝቢ ዝነበረ ገንዘብ ናብ ባንክታት መንግስቲ ከም ዝኣቱ ብምግባር፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ገንዘብ ህዝቢ ርኡይ ዝምታ ተኻይዱ ዩ ። ባንክ ኤርትራ ኣብ እዋኑ ከም ዝሓበሮ 40 ሚኢታዊት ካብቲ ኣብ ኢድ ህዝቢ ዝነበረ ገንዘብ ጥራይ እዩ፡ ኣብቲ ዝተወሰነ ናይ ግዜ ሰሌዳ ክቕየር ተኻኢሉ ፡ እዚ ማለት ከኣ 60 ሚኢታኢውት ናይቲ ኣብ ዕዳጋታት ሃገርና ዝንቀሳቐስ ዝነበረ ገንዘብ ገለ ብመጠን ንብረት ገለ ከኣ ከይተቐየረ ትርጉም ኣልቦ ኮይኑ ተሪፉ ማለት እዩ።

ካብዚ ብምቅጻል ተገልጋሊ ህዝቢ ገንዘቡ ኣብ ባንክታት ጅሆ ተታሒዙ፡ ኣብ ወርሒ ዝተወሰነ መቁነን (5000 ናቅፋ) ካብ ገንዘቡ ጥራይ ከውጽእ ብምድንጋግ፡ ኣብ ዕዳጋን ዕለታዊ መነባብሮን ህዝቢ ከቢድ ተጽዕኖ ፈጢሩ ኣሎ። ንሱ ከይኣክል ኩሉ ልዕሊ 3000 ናቅፋ ዝግበር ናይ ንግዲ ምልውዋጥ ብቼክ ክካየድ ብምግባር ( ዝተጻሕፈ ቼክ’ውን ብምኽንያት እቲ ልዕል ኢሉ ዝተጠቅሰ ድንጋጌ ብጥረ ገንዘብ ክወጽእ ስለዘይክእል፡ ስማዊ ምዝውዋር ገንዘብ ካብ ሕሳብ ናብ ሕሳብ ከም ዝካየድ ይኸውን፡ መወዳእታኡ ድማ እቲ ገንዘብ ኣብ ኢድ ባንክታት ጅሆ ይተሓዝ) ኣብ ልዕሊ ኩሉ ገንዘብ ምሉእ ምቑጽጻር ወኒኑ። ኣብዚ’ውን ጠጠው ኣይበለን፡ ኣባላት ጸጥታን ሃገራዊ ድሕነትን ብምውፋር፡ ነብሲ ወከፍ ናይ ንግዲ ትካላት (እንኮላይ ንኣሽቱ ናይ ሸቀጠ-ሸቀጥ ትካላት ከይተረፈ)፡ ብዛዕባ ድሕሪ ባጤራ ምቅያሩ ዘኻዕበተኦ ኣታዊ? ክንደይ ካብኡ ናብ ባንክታት ኣትዩ? ከምኡ’ድማ ክንደይ ገንዘብ ካብ ባንክታት ኣውጺኦም ዝምልከት ምፍርራህን፡ ጸቅጥን ዝተሓወሶ ሰፊሕ ምቁጽጻር ይካየድ ኣሎ። ሕጂ’ውን ተወሳኺ ዝምታ ኣብ ልዕሊ ገንዘብ ህዝቢ ንምክያድ፡ ባንክታት ሓድሽ ምልክታ ኣውጺአን ኣለዋ። ብመሰረት እዚ ምልክታ፡ “ኣብ ልዕል’ቲ ብዓማዊል ናብ ሓድሽ ባጤራ ናቅፋ ክቅየር ናብ ባንክ ኤርትራ ዝተስተለመ ገንዘብ ፡ ወነንቱ 2% ክሳብ 4% ዝዝርጋሕ ናይ ኣገልግሎት ክፍሊት ከፊሎም ከውጽእዎ ተወሲኑ ሎ”። እዚ ማለት ህዝቢ ነቲ ኣብ ባንክታት ጅሆ ተታሒዙ ዘሎ ገንዝቡ ግብሪ ክኸፍለሉ እዩ ማለት’ዩ። ብተወሳኺ ምስቲ ኣብ ላዕሊ ዝተጠቅሰ ድንጋጌ ልውውጥ ዕዳጋ ብቼክ ጥራይ ክኸውን ዝቅይድ ድንጋጌ፡ ኣብ ባንክታት ብዙሕ ምጥፍፋእን ምትላልን የጋጥም ብምህላዉ፡ ባንክ ኤርትራ ልዕሊ ኣብ ባንክ ዘሎ ሕሳብካ ቼክ ምጽሓፍ፡ ምስ ምዝርጋሕ ዘይሕጋዊ ገንዘብ (currency forging) ዝመዓራረ ገበናዊ ጥሕሰት ከምዝቆጽሮ ኣፍሊጡ ኣሎ።

ስርዓት ህግደፍ ነቲ ካብ ነዊሕ ኣትሒዙ ብስእነት ስርዓተ ሕግን መባእታዊ ሰብኣዊ መሰላትን ሓይሩ ክሳቕዩ ዝጸነሐ ህዝብና፡ ሎሚ ከኣ በቲ ሓሚሙ ክሕከመሉ፡ ጠምዩ ክዕንገለሉ፡ ዓሪቑ ክኽደነሉ፡ ካብ ኣፉን ኣፍ ደቁን ኣሕዲጉ ዘዋህለሎ ሒደት ገንዘብ ሃጊሩ ዳግማይ ካብ ዝኸፍአ ናብ ዝበኣሰ ኩነተ መነባብሮ ክሽመም ፈሪድዎ ሎ።

ፕሮጀክት ዓርቢ ሓርነት

Undue control of private financial transactions in Eritrea
Freedom Friday (Arbi Harnet) Activists inside Eritrea report that the Eritrean public is suffering from draconian control over every financial transaction as a result of new banking rules that continue to be introduced following the currency change at the close of 2015.

At the end of 2015, the regime in Eritrea introduced new currency forcing people to pay in all the cash in their hand into the banks. However it has since been disclosed, by the banks, only 40% of the money believed to be in circulation at the time was actually paid in, leaving the remainder 60% totally unaccounted for.

Since then the regime introduced new rules prohibiting individuals from withdrawing over 5,000 Nakfa (about $316.47), out of their accounts per month. Additionally all transactions over 3,000 Nakfa are decreed to only be made through bank transfers with no cash exchanging between individuals or companies. These rules mean, much of the cash in the country is actually held hostage by the banks and there is very little cash in circulation making it difficult for people in everyday life.

National security forces are heavily engaged in ensuring that cash flow in the hands of business people (including small traders) is limited. They make stringent inquiries, putting immense pressure on owners of businesses to account for every penny they withdraw from banks and also any cash they have made in profit.

A recent, surprise announcement has also made it clear that those who paid in their old currency into the banks will be levied with a heft percentage in transaction charges for the services. According to a notice, a picture copy of which was enclosed with the report sent by Arbi Harnet activists, there will be a levy of 2% -4% of the amount paid in, charged for swapping the old currency with the new one.

Additionally, the banks have also introduces extreme measures against those who are caught up in banking errors when transacting in cheques, which is new and alien to the society. According to the notices in the pictures accompanying the report sent, anyone found to be paying checks where they don’t have enough funds, will be charged with a serious crime of currency forgery.

According to the report people are really sad about the loss of control over their hard earned money and particularly anxious about ability to cover emergency expenditures such as urgent medical needs. The activists consider this a continued violation on top of the gross and systematic violations the regime has been perpetrating against its people for many years.

Project Arbi Harnet (Freedom Friday)