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A Look at Eritrea, an Isolated African Nation

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) By RODNEY MUHUMUZA By The Associated Press Thousands of people each year flee Eritrea, a small Horn of Africa nation. Despite relative peace, many leave the repressive regime taking trips that can be as

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA By The Associated Press
Thousands of people each year flee Eritrea, a small Horn of Africa nation. Despite relative peace, many leave the repressive regime taking trips that can be as perilous as the recent boat disaster off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Here is a look at the isolated country:

INDEPENDENCE

Eritrea declared independence in 1993 following a United Nations-backed referendum in which Eritreans voted to break away from Ethiopia. Eritrea’s pro-independence leaders fought a guerrilla war against Ethiopia that ended in 1991. Relations between landlocked Ethiopia and Eritrea, which has a Red Sea coastline, have since remained tense, with both countries’ armies occasionally clashing over an undefined common border. From May 1998 to June 2000, the neighbors fought a costly and bloody war over a disputed border territory. Both countries continue to accuse each other of supporting armed groups across the border.

POPULATION

Roughly the size of Pennsylvania, Eritrea has a population of at least 6 million people. About 69 percent of them are poor, the school enrollment rate stands at 47 percent and annual per capita income was $403 in 2010, according to the World Bank. The country has faced chronic drought over the years, fueled in part by the government’s restrictive economic policies, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook. Nine ethnic groups are recognized in the country, including the dominant Tigrinya.

LEADERSHIP

Isaias Afworki, a former guerrilla fighter who became the leader of Eritrea’s war of independence, has been president since 1993 after being the country’s de facto leader since 1991. He is said to rule with a firm hand, brooking no opposition to his authority, according to rights groups that depict him as a tyrant. At least 10,000 political prisoners have been held by Afworki’s administration over the last two decades, Amnesty International said in a report released earlier this year. “With no known exception, not a single political prisoner has ever been charged with a crime or tried, had access to a lawyer or been brought before a judge or a judicial officer to assess the legality and necessity of the detention,” the rights group said in the May report.

In January more than 100 dissident soldiers were reported to storm the headquarters of the Ministry of Information in the capital, Asmara, where they read a statement on state TV urging constitutional rule and freedom for political prisoners. That incident was interpreted by some analysts as an attempted power grab that never succeeded, although details of it remain unclear. Elections have not been held in Eritrea since independence.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Rights groups, which often lack access to the country, have called Eritrea an oppressive state where the rights of civilians are frequently violated. Human Rights Watch, which once described Eritrea as “a giant prison,” reports that “torture, arbitrary detention, and severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and religious freedom remain routine” in the country. The group says in its global report for 2013 that “political parties are not allowed” in Eritrea and there are “no institutional constraints on” Afworki. “Eritreans are routinely subject to imprisonment without explanation, trial, or any form of due process. Incarceration often lasts indefinitely,” the report says.

aseye.asena@gmail.com

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19 COMMENTS
  • samalyemen October 10, 2013

    Dear Mr. Rodney
    Eritrea was never part of ethiopia, italia or turkey. So eritreans voted for indepence not “Eritreans voted to break away from Ethiopia” as it was part of it.

    • Hailom N. October 10, 2013

      SAMALYEMAN YOU ARE RIGHT EVREY ONE PLEASE GO TO ( JEBERTI.COM ) AND LISEN TO ( ABONA GERMIA FLIPO WEDI FLIPO MILAN – ITALIANO ) AND YOU WILL HER SPECIALY PART 27 TO PART 30 INTERVIEW VEREY IMPORTANT. ALSO ASENA CAN YOU INTERVIEW WEDI FLIPO THANK YOU.

    • yared October 11, 2013

      bezi zbelkayo tarik esemamae thanks a lot man .but be fast to help ur peaple from those ethiopians again

  • Suleiman Salim October 10, 2013

    (soure facebook..)

    ካብ መዓስከር ማይ ዓይኒ ጥራሕ ቁጽሪ ተዓፊኖም ዝተወስዱ መንእሰያት ኤርትራውያን 140 በጺሑ ይርከብ፡፡ ኣራ ነቶም ስደተኛታት ነቲ ዝተፈጥረ ሽግር ተሓተቲ ከም ዝኾኑን ይቕሬታ ክሓቱ ከም ዝግብኦምን የገድዶም ኣሎ፡፡ ካብቶም ስደተኛታት ብገንዘብ ዝኽፈሉ ሰባት ከም ዝረቑሑን ናብ ሽረ ከይዶም ከኣ ምስ ዩን ኤች ሲ ኣር ከምዝራኸቡን ገይሮም ኣለዉ፡፡ እቶም ዝተወስዱ ሰባት ክሳብ ሕጂ ደሃዮም የለን፡፡

    ሎሚ ንግሆ ዕለት 10 ጥቅምቲ ካልእ ዘሕዝን ተርእዮ ተፈጢሩ ኣሎ፡፡ ኣብ ከባቢ ሽረን ሸራሮን ተፍቲሽ ጌሮም ኣብ ኢዶም መንቀሳቐሲ ፍቓድ ንዘይጸንሖም ኤርትራውያን ብዘስካሕክሕ ግፍዒ ዝተሓወሶ ኣተሃራርማ ቀጥቂጦም ምስ ደሞም ናብ ቤት ማእስርቲ ይዳንጉንዎም ኣለዉ፡፡ ህዝቢ ትግራይ ዋላ ሓንቲ ኢዱ ኣይሓወሰን፡፡ ነዚ ዝገብሩ ዘለው ፌድራል ፖሊስን ምልሻን ኢዮም።

    ስለዚ እቶም ኣብ ሓድሽ መዓስከር ዘለው ኣሕዋትናውን ኣብ ሓደጋ ኣለው ማለት ኢዩ፡፡ እቶም ምስ መንቀሳቐሲኦም ዝትረኽቡ’ውን ኣይተሃረሙን እምበር ካብ ማእሰርትስ ኣይደሓኑን።

    እዚ ኩሉ እናኮነ ስቕታ ማእከላይ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ኣይተረደኣናን። እቶም ዝጭፍጭፉና ዘለው ፖሊስን ምልሻን መን ዲዩ ዝእዝዞም???????????? ፍቐደይናታት እንተዘይኮይኖም የፍልጡና’ሞ ዝወረደ ክወድር ዓዶም ክንሓድገሎም።

    በጃኹም ሽግርና ሼር ኣብ ምባልን ንዝምልከቶ ኣካል ኣብ ምኹሕኳሕን ኣይትጋደፉና፡፡

    ርግኣት በየነ ኣዲስ ኣበባ

    • Raul October 10, 2013

      ካብ ሱሌማን ኮ ናብ ሶሎሙን ትቐርብ ግን ደሓን ይኹነልካ
      አቲ ጽሑፍ ዚብሎ ካልእ ንስኻ ዝመለስካዮ ካልእ፨ እንታይ ንምባል ኮን ትኸውን? ልብኻ ትብሎን ቀለምካን ትተፍኦ ተምላስን መቸም ነንበይኑ ምኻኑ ርዱእ ዩ፡ እንተዘይኮይኑ (ልብኻን ቀለምካን ሓደ እንተኾይኑ) ግን ሕሙም ኢኻ። ግደፎ ኩሉ ካልእ ነገራት፥ ብሞት ኤርትራውያን ግን ሕዘን። ስም ኣይትድለየሉ ንምሓዛን። ኣከሳሳብ ኣይትጻወት። ካበየኖቶም ኮን ትኸውን፥
      1. ካብቶም መብጽዓ ናይ ስልጣን ዝተኣትወሎም ተበልጽቲ መንእሰያት?
      2.ካብቶም ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝመጽእ ዝኾነ ይኹን ለውጢ ዘፍርሖም ሰብ ገበን?
      3.ካብቶም ሓንሳብ ሓርበኛታት ተባሂልና ኢና ሞ ውልቃዊ ዝናናን ስምናን ከይተለወጠ ዓለም ክንገድፋ ዝብሉ ሓለውቲ ዝሞተ ዝና?
      4.ካብቶም ብስም ምሕላቕ ኤርትራውያን ንኤርትራውያን ህይወቶም፣ ታሪኾም ፡ ሓበኖም ከመሽምሹ ምስ ወያነ ዝሰርሑ ዘለዉ ሰብ ሕቡእ ኣጀንዳ?
      5.ካብቶም ምስ ጎረቤቶም ብውልቂ ምስ ተቐያየሙ ጎረቤቶም ዝድግፎ ፖለቲካዊ ኣጠማምታ ንኸይድግፉ ካብ ለውጢ ዝሃደሙ
      6.ካብቶም ናይ ዝገበርዎ ፖለቲካዊ ወደኽደኽ ቅድሚ ቶም ኣብ ግንባራት ግንባሮም ዝሃቡ ኣብ ኣስመራ መሬት ዝተመጠዉ
      7.ካብቶም ኣብ ደገ ብናይ መንነት ቅልውላው ነብሶም ዘትሓቱ ሞ ኣብ ስደት ንዘሎ ዕድላት ከም ዘይጥቀሙሉ ዝተረድኡ ግዳያት ስነ-ኣእምሮ ስደት
      8. ካብቶም፥ ሓደ ካብዞም መራሕቲ ናይ ሕማቕ ዘመን ዘለዎም ሰብ ጸቢብ ሓንጎል?
      9. ካብቶም መንግስቲ ናይ ከምዚ ዓይነት ወገን ወኪል ዩ ብምባል ብኣውራጃነት ዝተቆማጥዑ
      10. ካብቶም ገዛ ህዝቢ መንጢሎም ቅድሚ ስድራ ስውኣት ገዛ ዝወረሱ
      11.ካብቶም ንዱባይ እናኸዱ ገለ ናይ ንግድን ምጥፍፋእን ዕድላት ዝረኸቡ
      13.ካብቶም ዓውደ-መጽናዕቲ ዶ ኮርስ ዶ እናበሉ ብዶላር ኣበል ዝበልዑ
      14. ካብቶም ሓሳባትን ፈጠራን መንእሰያት እናቐተሉ መንእሰያት ሃገር ክርከቡ ዘይክእሉ’ዮም እናበሎ መንፈስ መንእሰያት ዘህደሙ
      15ወዘተ፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፨
      ካብዞም ዝተጠቕሱ ኮቶ ኣይትወጽእን ኢኻ
      እንተወጻእካ ካብቶም ቀንዲ ኢኻ፥ ካብቶም ምንጭን መንጫጭሒ ናይ ዚ ኩሉ ንኤርትራን ህዝባን ዘጋጥሞም ዘሎ ሽግራት ኢኻ። ተኣረም። እንተወሓደ ሰብ ዝመሰሎ ክገልጽ ኣፍቅድ። ኣይንሓሱ፥ ሕክናና ዓይንና እዝንና ልብና ዝወለዶ ብርዕና ተፍስስዕ። ዝተሃላለኽ ሰብ ኣበረኛ ወይ ድማ ድንኪ ዝኾነ ሓንጎል ዝውንን ምኻኑ ርዱእን ግሉጽን ዩ፡

      • Haile October 10, 2013

        I have never heard such a trash comment like this one throughout the previous years. Imagine the extent to which Higdafawyan have undermined the Eritrean society and the above mentioned garbage comment is expected from the rotten Higdefawyan. The time has approached when higdefawyan will be hunted like the NAZI members. Death for Higfef and higdefawyan.

    • Hailom N. October 10, 2013

      SULEIMAN SALIM PLEASE GO TO OR TEL TO MEDENAGERI.COM OR MESCEREM.COM. DON’T TRAY TO TOWIST THINGS THERE IS ROOL OF LOAW IN ETHIOPIA. SOON OR LATER WE WILL NOW WHO START IT PROBABLY LIKE YOU SMAGLERS.

      • ahmed saleh October 11, 2013

        SERAM ERITREA , BETI YITEFOU BETI DIMA YILAGETZU . ZEBEN GIRINBIT KEM ZITEBAHLE UWAN KEDEM .

  • Semhar October 10, 2013

    To Assena,
    please interview Yemane T/Gergish, a party member of EPLF.
You can get it in the YouTube.

    To all peace loving Eritreans,
    please listen to the interview of Yemane T/Gergish, a party member of EPLF.
You can get it in the YouTube.
    Here is the URL address of Yamane T/Gergish
All Eritreans should listen to this interesting interview!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNxe9SoSvz4

  • Semhar October 10, 2013

    Let freedom ring in Senhit, Keren!
    Let freedom ring in Akeleguzay, Adi keyih!
    Let freedom ring in Denkel, Asseb!
    Let freedom ring in Barka, akurdet!
    Let freedom ring in Sahil Nakfa!
    Let freedom ring in Seraye, Adi Ugri!
    Let freedom ring in Hamassien, Asmera!
    Let freedom ring in Semhar, Massawa!

    Eritrea will be free soon.

    • Suleiman Salim October 10, 2013

      nsKi nay qedem aregit adgi iKi.

  • samalyemen October 10, 2013

    Raul…….. I agreed on every thing. MR. Rodney. ….. except the excerpt which implies Eritrea was a part of Ethiopia. ” to break away from Ethiopia”. Well there was nothing says Suleiman on my name but Sam. ….. n I rather die than be part of pfdj or DIA……. I am doing all I can on my power for the destruction of dia tyranny. Are you ? If yes that is what matters. ….. and I forgive u for ur base less accusation.
    Peace

  • sara gual eritra October 10, 2013

    RAUL
    kemey dehan eto nezi weyto sulemam
    grm hito zhabkayo GOD bless you

    • Suleiman Salim October 10, 2013

      Gual Eritra? ha ha ha!!!

      You are not gual Eritrea anti metalelit.

  • Raul October 10, 2013

    sara

    men yu kemzi nay be’alzi tebelaxi kizareb zikil nifeltom ina. adina ehdigomunas hiji ka dedihrena ab cyber?

    • Suleiman Salim October 10, 2013

      (soure facebook..)
      ካብ መዓስከር ማይ ዓይኒ ጥራሕ ቁጽሪ ተዓፊኖም ዝተወስዱ መንእሰያት ኤርትራውያን 140 በጺሑ ይርከብ፡፡ ኣራ ነቶም ስደተኛታት ነቲ ዝተፈጥረ ሽግር ተሓተቲ ከም ዝኾኑን ይቕሬታ ክሓቱ ከም ዝግብኦምን የገድዶም ኣሎ፡፡ ካብቶም ስደተኛታት ብገንዘብ ዝኽፈሉ ሰባት ከም ዝረቑሑን ናብ ሽረ ከይዶም ከኣ ምስ ዩን ኤች ሲ ኣር ከምዝራኸቡን ገይሮም ኣለዉ፡፡ እቶም ዝተወስዱ ሰባት ክሳብ ሕጂ ደሃዮም የለን፡፡
      ሎሚ ንግሆ ዕለት 10 ጥቅምቲ ካልእ ዘሕዝን ተርእዮ ተፈጢሩ ኣሎ፡፡ ኣብ ከባቢ ሽረን ሸራሮን ተፍቲሽ ጌሮም ኣብ ኢዶም መንቀሳቐሲ ፍቓድ ንዘይጸንሖም ኤርትራውያን ብዘስካሕክሕ ግፍዒ ዝተሓወሶ ኣተሃራርማ ቀጥቂጦም ምስ ደሞም ናብ ቤት ማእስርቲ ይዳንጉንዎም ኣለዉ፡፡ ህዝቢ ትግራይ ዋላ ሓንቲ ኢዱ ኣይሓወሰን፡፡ ነዚ ዝገብሩ ዘለው ፌድራል ፖሊስን ምልሻን ኢዮም።
      ስለዚ እቶም ኣብ ሓድሽ መዓስከር ዘለው ኣሕዋትናውን ኣብ ሓደጋ ኣለው ማለት ኢዩ፡፡ እቶም ምስ መንቀሳቐሲኦም ዝትረኽቡ’ውን ኣይተሃረሙን እምበር ካብ ማእሰርትስ ኣይደሓኑን።
      እዚ ኩሉ እናኮነ ስቕታ ማእከላይ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ኣይተረደኣናን። እቶም ዝጭፍጭፉና ዘለው ፖሊስን ምልሻን መን ዲዩ ዝእዝዞም???????????? ፍቐደይናታት እንተዘይኮይኖም የፍልጡና’ሞ ዝወረደ ክወድር ዓዶም ክንሓድገሎም።
      በጃኹም ሽግርና ሼር ኣብ ምባልን ንዝምልከቶ ኣካል ኣብ ምኹሕኳሕን ኣይትጋደፉና፡፡
      ርግኣት በየነ ኣዲስ ኣበባ

      • Hailom N. October 10, 2013

        HAWENA ETHIOPIA HAVE CONSTITUTION AND WE NOW WHO ARE GO AND TELL TO NITI WEDI WETADER MESKEREM .COM. GO TO HELL YOU AND YOUR FACEBOOK.

      • Raul October 11, 2013

        ካብ ሱሌማን ኮ ናብ ሶሎሙን ትቐርብ ግን ደሓን ይኹነልካ
        አቲ ጽሑፍ ዚብሎ ካልእ ንስኻ ዝመለስካዮ ካልእ፨ እንታይ ንምባል ኮን ትኸውን? ልብኻ ትብሎን ቀለምካን ትተፍኦ ተምላስን መቸም ነንበይኑ ምኻኑ ርዱእ ዩ፡ እንተዘይኮይኑ (ልብኻን ቀለምካን ሓደ እንተኾይኑ) ግን ሕሙም ኢኻ። ግደፎ ኩሉ ካልእ ነገራት፥ ብሞት ኤርትራውያን ግን ሕዘን። ስም ኣይትድለየሉ ንምሓዛን። ኣከሳሳብ ኣይትጻወት። ካበየኖቶም ኮን ትኸውን፥
        1. ካብቶም መብጽዓ ናይ ስልጣን ዝተኣትወሎም ተበልጽቲ መንእሰያት?
        2.ካብቶም ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝመጽእ ዝኾነ ይኹን ለውጢ ዘፍርሖም ሰብ ገበን?
        3.ካብቶም ሓንሳብ ሓርበኛታት ተባሂልና ኢና ሞ ውልቃዊ ዝናናን ስምናን ከይተለወጠ ዓለም ክንገድፋ ዝብሉ ሓለውቲ ዝሞተ ዝና?
        4.ካብቶም ብስም ምሕላቕ ኤርትራውያን ንኤርትራውያን ህይወቶም፣ ታሪኾም ፡ ሓበኖም ከመሽምሹ ምስ ወያነ ዝሰርሑ ዘለዉ ሰብ ሕቡእ ኣጀንዳ?
        5.ካብቶም ምስ ጎረቤቶም ብውልቂ ምስ ተቐያየሙ ጎረቤቶም ዝድግፎ ፖለቲካዊ ኣጠማምታ ንኸይድግፉ ካብ ለውጢ ዝሃደሙ
        6.ካብቶም ናይ ዝገበርዎ ፖለቲካዊ ወደኽደኽ ቅድሚ ቶም ኣብ ግንባራት ግንባሮም ዝሃቡ ኣብ ኣስመራ መሬት ዝተመጠዉ
        7.ካብቶም ኣብ ደገ ብናይ መንነት ቅልውላው ነብሶም ዘትሓቱ ሞ ኣብ ስደት ንዘሎ ዕድላት ከም ዘይጥቀሙሉ ዝተረድኡ ግዳያት ስነ-ኣእምሮ ስደት
        8. ካብቶም፥ ሓደ ካብዞም መራሕቲ ናይ ሕማቕ ዘመን ዘለዎም ሰብ ጸቢብ ሓንጎል?
        9. ካብቶም መንግስቲ ናይ ከምዚ ዓይነት ወገን ወኪል ዩ ብምባል ብኣውራጃነት ዝተቆማጥዑ
        10. ካብቶም ገዛ ህዝቢ መንጢሎም ቅድሚ ስድራ ስውኣት ገዛ ዝወረሱ
        11.ካብቶም ንዱባይ እናኸዱ ገለ ናይ ንግድን ምጥፍፋእን ዕድላት ዝረኸቡ
        13.ካብቶም ዓውደ-መጽናዕቲ ዶ ኮርስ ዶ እናበሉ ብዶላር ኣበል ዝበልዑ
        14. ካብቶም ሓሳባትን ፈጠራን መንእሰያት እናቐተሉ መንእሰያት ሃገር ክርከቡ ዘይክእሉ’ዮም እናበሎ መንፈስ መንእሰያት ዘህደሙ
        15ወዘተ፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፠፨
        ካብዞም ዝተጠቕሱ ኮቶ ኣይትወጽእን ኢኻ
        እንተወጻእካ ካብቶም ቀንዲ ኢኻ፥ ካብቶም ምንጭን መንጫጭሒ ናይ ዚ ኩሉ ንኤርትራን ህዝባን ዘጋጥሞም ዘሎ ሽግራት ኢኻ። ተኣረም። እንተወሓደ ሰብ ዝመሰሎ ክገልጽ ኣፍቅድ። ኣይንሓሱ፥ ሕክናና ዓይንና እዝንና ልብና ዝወለዶ ብርዕና ተፍስስዕ። ዝተሃላለኽ ሰብ ኣበረኛ ወይ ድማ ድንኪ ዝኾነ ሓንጎል ዝውንን ምኻኑ ርዱእን ግሉጽን ዩ፡

  • Keren October 10, 2013

    The headline tells it all, no need to comment further, Eritrea has become a lost cause after all the people who were sent to death in the 30 years Ghedli. Nothing good has come from:
    A Look at Eritrea, an Isolated African Nation

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