Any entity that highlights a wrongdoing to the Government of Eritrea is considered as 'hostile to Eritrea'. Amnesty International is a case in point.

Statement by NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland following the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize winner for 2019.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, with the committee that decides the awards singling out his efforts to achieve peace with neighboring country Eritrea. But notably, the prize was not awarded to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Abiy’s partner in the talks. Instead, Nobel Committee Chair Berit Reiss-Andersen simply acknowledged that “peace does not arise from the actions of one party alone” and said that they hope the “peace agreement will help to bring about positive change for the entire populations of Ethiopia and Eritrea.”

Why the great exodus of young people, whom one might call them the future of Eritrea? This is the key question, that can only be answered by an Eritrean outside his or her country, where her/his answer will not be heard by informers and secret police, and will not result in immediate imprisonment for criticising the regime or perceived disloyalty and treason to the country.

There was nothing I felt unable to tell my Baba… so me telling him how absolutely devastated I am, how much of a void he has left at my core and how lost and forlorn I feel even surrounded by everyone who had meant everything to both of us would not surprise him. There was and will always be a spot in my heart that can only be touched by his tenderness… by the softness of his gaze and by the smooth strokes of his hand on my back. Every conversation ended with him telling me how much he loved me… once we got over the debate of the day, the telling-off of the week and when we finished exhausting our list of hashed, rehashed and re-rehashed jokes (new ones were saved for special occasions).

Part V of Yosief Ghebrehiwet’s analysis regarding the chronic problems Eritrea is facing can be described as ground-breaking. The analysis is a serious critique of the Eritrean Opposition Groups - their basic approach in resisting the Isaias Afwerki regime. Yosief believes the tools and arguments the Opposition Groups are using are off-centred.

While Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was praised for efforts to end years of bitter tension with Eritrea in his Nobel Peace Prize award last week, his Eritrean partner in the peace-making has conspicuously failed to offer his congratulations. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki was acknowledged for accepting Abiy's peace offer in the Norwegian Nobel Committee's announcement, which held out hope of «positive change» in both countries. But he was not given a share of the prize and has made no public statement on the award.

Sim cards are like gold dust in Eritrea. Citizens need to apply to the local government administration to get one. And even if you get a Sim card, you can't use it to access the internet because there is no mobile data.

Five players of Eritrea’s U-20 team have disappeared from their Hotel in Jinja ahead of the semi-finals of the on-going Cecafa U-20 Challenge Cup. Eritrea will face Kenya’s Raising Stars in one of the semi-final games at the Fufa technical Center today, while Tanzania battle Sudan in the other match in Gulu.

Daniel Avery and K Thor Jensen wrote an article on Newsweek concerning three Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) - Paulos Eyasu, Isaac Mogos and Negede Teklemariam - who have been mercilessly incarcerated since 1994 for refusing to take part in military service which is part of their pacifist beliefs..

እዚ ኹሉ ኣብ ላዕሊ ዝጠቀስክዎ ጭራ ብርሃርን’ዩ እምበር ብርሃን ኣይኮነን። ብርሃን ክኸውን ካብ ድኽነትን፡ ድንቁርናን፡ ስደትን፡ ፋሕፋሕ ስድራቤታትን፡ ውርደትን፡ ሕፍረትን፡ ሕልፈትን፡ ትሪ ልቢን፡ ንዘረባታት ከም ቁምነገር ከም ስራሕ ምውሳድን ወጺእና ኣብ ብረታዊ ቃልሲ ዘእተወና ምኽንያት ዘኪርና፡ ሕልናና ዳኛና ጌርና ን “ይኣክል” ኩላትና ሓቢርና ብቀጻሊ መዳብት ግብራዊ ክንገብሮ ኣለና። ኢሳይስ ከም ውጹእ ርእሰ መላኽን ገብናኛን ብብዙሓት ወጻእተኛታት ምፍላጥን፡ እሱራትና ዘይምፍታሕን፡ ገደብ ዘይብሉ ዕስክርና ደው ዘይምባልን፡ 22 ዝኣክላ ቤት ሕክምና ምዕጻውን፡ ቤት ትምህርታት ምህጋርን፡ መንግስቲ ኣመሪካ መስል እምነት ምውጋድን፡ ምእሳር መራሕቲ ሃይማኖታትን ኣይንጻወሮን ኢና ምባል፡ ዓለም ክቅልበሉ ን “ይእክል” ግብራዊ ክገብሮ ዓቢ ተራ ኣለዎ።

In May 2001, a group of veteran freedom fighters - members of the parliament and Eritrean government (and party) officials - in an effort to bring about an open dialogue that was designed to usher in democracy and constitutional governance, wrote an open letter which was critical of the regime. Their letter called upon all People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) members to express their opinion through legal and democratic means and to give their support to the goals and principles they considered just. The government subsequently announced that the fifteen individuals were acting illegally and were posing a threat to national security. Eleven were detained on 18th and 19th September 2001, three avoided arrest because they were out of the country, and one who recanted was spared. That defining incident – one that changed the course of progress - was in violation of Eritrean laws, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eritreans have publicly and consistently campaigned for the release of the prisoners since Sep 18, 2001. Campaigners and family members of the incarcerated managed to hook up with international institutions to highlight the draconian stance the regime had taken against the reformers.

ካብ ስቱድዮ ወጺኤ ነቲ ኣብ መስመር ተለፎን ዝነበረ ሰብ ከዘራርቦ ብኢዳ ኣመልከተትኒ።….“ዕብዳን ድዩ ጽላለ!’’…ኣስደመመኒ። ሰዓት እናኣኸለ ደኣ ናበይ ክወጽእ፧ ደጊማ ናይ “ንዓ’’ ምልክት ክትገብረለይ እንከላ ሰንፈላል ኮይናን ተረቢሻን ከምዝነበረት ኣብ ገጻ ይንበብ።…..“እንታይ ህጹጽ ነገር ተረኺቡ፧’’….ኢለ ኣዕዘምዘምኩ። ቅድሚ ንባብ ምጅማርካ ትንፋስካ ከተርግእ ስለዘድሊ፡ ሰዓት ኣብ ምእካሉ ካብ ስቱድዮ ክወጽእ ኣይደለኹን። ኣብ ወርሒ ለካቲት 1999 ዓ.ም. ከምኡ እውን ኣብ ግንቦት 2000 ዓ.ም. ዝተኻየደ ብ“2ይን 3ይን ወራር’’ ዝፍለጥ ዶባዊ ውግእ ክጅመር እንከሎ (ክልቲኡ ቀዳማት) እውን ናይ ረፍዲ ተረኛ ብምንባረይ፡ ንዕኡ እናዘከርኩ…“ሕጂ’ኸ እንታይ ተረኽበ፧’’ በልኩ። ካብ ስቱድዮ ወጺኤ፡ ነቲ ኣብ መስመር ዝነበረ ሰብ ከዘራርብ ግድን ምዃኑ ካብ ኩነታት ኣጸዋውዓ ናይታ ተክኒሻን ምስተገንዘብኩ ድማ፡ ካብ ኮፍ ኢለሉ ዝነበርኩ መንበር ተንሲኤ፡ ነቲ ድርብራብ መዓጹ ናይ ስቱድዮ ከፊተ ወጻእኩ’ሞ ንልዓት ናይ’ታ ተለፎን ኣልዓልኩ።

Yosief Ghebrehiwet has added a comprehensive analysis to his previous three interviews regarding the Peace Agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia. This time he has dealt with the outcome of the rapprochement with Ethiopia, lifting of UN sanctions and EU's financial aid.

We may ask ourselves why it is important to help this powerful movement by joining it. “AI’s work has resulted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And now AI seeks to implement and protect it. These statutes are important because they are based on necessities such as fairness, equality, dignity and respect.”

Many Eritreans remember Solomon Abera for reading an announcement that killed the nation’s independent press. As Solomon was reading what he was instructed to read, government agents were busy rounding up two groups of people - journalists who worked independently and government dissidents who called for democratic reforms - all of whom have disappeared in custody. Unfortunately, Solomon passed away pre-maturely. He died of cancer on 1 Dec 2011 in a hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, leaving behind a wife and two children.

Kibreab worked at the Ministry of Information for the last 15 years; he is an experienced sports journalist. In 2016 he travelled to Brazil with Team Eritrea during the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (Rio 2016). He transmitted numerous stories from to Eritrea.

The ‘Vuelta a España’ (Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, the race was first organized in 1935. Along with the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta makes up cycling's prestigious 3rd Grand Tour. The Vuelta a España consist of 21 day-long stages over a 23-day period that includes 2 rest days which covers and the finish is in the Spanish capital Madrid. In this year’s race the cyclists will cover 3,272 Km – from 24 Aug to 15 Sep. BTW, it is very rare to find a cyclist who can take part all three major races in a year.

Today, 30 Aug, is the International Day of the Disappeared. It is a day to remember the fate of individuals imprisoned in places unknown to their relatives without legal representation. Eritrea has its share of political prisoners whose whereabouts and conditions are unknown. Imprisonment under such secret circumstances is a grave violation of human rights.  

If there is a single goal that Shaebia has pursued relentlessly in its mieda and post-independence years, it is this: self preservation at any cost. The advantage Isaias (and Shaebia) has had in this survival game is that he has never been beholden to any cause, ideology or principle that might interfere with this original intent. All the “causes” that Shaebia professed to have had at one time or another – communism, revolution, nationalism, constitution, martyrdom, sovereignty, independence, demarcation, etc – have all been employed as various means to attain that goal, and that goal only. The evidence to this is that once these “causes” serve their purpose, none of them leave any trace in the system itself. For instance, once it dropped its communist rhetoric, not the slightest trace of its leftist past is to be found in whatever it says or does. Among the tens of thousands that made it from mieda to independent Eritrea, you wouldn’t find a single teghadalay conversant in leftist ideology.

Minister Ignazio Cassis has been trying to invite his counterpart Osman Saleh to Switzerland since last fall. So far his efforts have been unsuccessful. To date, there is no date for this official visit, as confirmed by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). What is astonishing: the Eritrean Foreign Minister was in Switzerland this summer. As the investigation by the «Rundschau» shows, the high-ranking representative of the controversial Eritrean regime took part in a big festival exactly one month ago in the Markthalle Burgdorf in the canton of Bern. There he danced along the regime-loyal compatriots. He did not meet Swiss authorities during his trip. Osman Saleh: the Uninvited Foreign Minister of Eritrea Sneaks in Switzerland Asmarino.com Intro: Eritreans make up the largest portion of refugees in Switzerland. There are over 40,000 Eritrean refugees in the small country of Switzerland whose population is 8.5 million. Switzerland is in the process of shutting down its open-door policy toward Eritreans which in the past had automatically granted them refugee status. Many Eritreans granted temporary residence in Switzerland after seeing their bid for asylum rejected have received letters informing them their status is now under review. The Swiss government wants to develop a repatriation policy together with the Eritrean government, a plan which has proven problematic to ratify to date. Nevertheless, there is still no regulated repatriation agreement between Switzerland and Eritrea. One of the reasons for this is that the Eritrean government has repeatedly ignored the invitation of Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis to attend a diplomatic meeting. In July, Osman Saleh sent a message to the Swiss foreign minister saying that he was going to ‘stop by’ (outside the etiquette observed by diplomats) and sneaked in the country a few days later without an official invitation from the Swiss government.  He danced with the PFDJ members in their festival – former Eritrean refugees who still feel uncomfortable to go back to ‘liberated’ Eritrea - and that was portrayed as a positive gesture. The international community is aware of the rights of all Eritrean citizens remain severely restricted back home, and the lives of the younger generations who are conscripted into national service are especially impacted. The 2018 Peace Agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia means nothing to members of national service; more and more young people are still being conscripted and herded to Sawa to serve in the national service indefinitely. Eritrea does not want the refugees to return home for various reasons. Many of those refugees have become the source of income for the country because they send money to their families – they have become the social safety net for the poor. Moreover, the government considers those who have fled as ‘excess’ citizens – so why not take advantage of the ‘excess population’.  The strange thing is the fact that some of the asylum seekers are caught on camera ‘dancing’ with the very forces that drove them out of the country. How can one dance together with Osman Saleh in Bern, Switzerland, when in fact he is one of the reasons why Eritreans had to flee the country. The regime used the Osman Saleh incident as propaganda – that Eritreans are ‘with PFDJ’ no matter what. Osman Saleh’s Scandalous Visit to Switzerland Wednesday, 21.08.2019, 15:50 by Georg Humbel Source: https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/eklat-um-ministerbesuch-eritrea-brueskiert-die-schweiz Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis (FDP), head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, has invited Osman Saleh to Switzerland last autumn. Until today there is no fixed date for this visit. The Eritrean side informs Cassis there would be a meeting. However, the Councillor was apparently on vacation. Swiss politicians who oversee asylum cases are angry. The explosive asylum dossier remains gridlocked.   Minister Ignazio Cassis has been trying to invite his counterpart Osman Saleh to Switzerland since last fall. So far his efforts have been unsuccessful. To date, there is no date for this official visit, as confirmed by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). What is astonishing: the Eritrean Foreign Minister was in Switzerland this summer. As the investigation by the «Rundschau» shows, the high-ranking representative of the controversial Eritrean regime took part in a big festival exactly one month ago in the Markthalle Burgdorf in the canton of Bern. There he danced along the regime-loyal compatriots. He did not meet Swiss authorities during his trip. Short term appointment offered As DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) informed SRF (Swiss Radio and Television) in writing, the Confederation had been briefed shortly before Saleh's appearance: «On July 9, the permanent mission of Eritrea in Geneva informed the FDFA that the Eritrean Foreign Minister will be in Switzerland from 16 to 22 July.  »The Eritrean side requested a meeting with Federal Councillor Cassis. However, Cassis was unable to take advantage of this short-term deadline for reasons of conflicting schedule. According to inquiry made by SRF Cassis was on vacation. Outraged politicians at the Foreign Affairs The short-term visit in the middle of the summer holidays caused outrage among Swiss parliamentarians: «This is very strange. To my knowledge, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis has already tried three times to invite him to Switzerland. But that never worked », said FDP Council of States and foreign policy Damian Müller. Such visits should be announced in good time. «Of course that is an affront to Switzerland. That is quite clear, »said SP National Council Cédric Wermuth, annoyed.  «Switzerland has issued an official invitation to Eritrea. The invitation was never answered and then, all of a sudden, Osman Saleh comes for a propaganda appearance of his dictatorship in Switzerland. That should not have happened», said Wermuth. Enraged Eritrean opposition The appearance of Osman Saleh is a PR stunt which pleased the loyal group to the regime in Switzerland.  But the majority of the refugees fear the regime and have fled the entrenched dictatorship in their homeland. For this group, the appearance of Osman Saleh in Burgdorf is also an affront. «We strongly condemn the fact that the regime in Switzerland can carry out dubious propaganda performances unchecked,» said Okbaab Tesfamariam, media spokesman for the Eritrean Media Association Switzerland. «[Such a sneaky] performance proves that the Eritrean regime cannot be trusted,» Tesfamariam continues. With such a dictatorship no repatriation agreements should be concluded, says the Eritrean activist. Totally Frozen Asylum Dossier From no other country, except Eritrea, have so many asylum seekers come to Switzerland in recent years. The Confederation wants to negotiate with the East African country for the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers. But in the meantime representatives of the SVP no longer believe in a repatriation agreement: «This regime is dancing right under our nose,» said SVP National Councillor Barbara Steinemann. Realistically, it would probably be «hardly possible» to negotiate such a contract with this regime.

Documents of the colonial era are sparse and incomplete, but they are also one of the written sources preserved in the post-fascist period.  By going over the documents available at the Archive of the Historical Office of the SME, Professor Alessandro Volterra, expert in History of Africa, reconstructed the story of Fessehatsion Beyn (Fessahazien Beienè), who had a very special life for a colonial subject of the fascist era.

We must pass on our stories, passion and urgency from generation to generation. Our work truly is never done. In tribute to our emerging female leaders, activists and artists, here's a short video that commemmorates the young women we carry our torches with.

Eyob dominated in ascending the 147.3-kilometer stage by clocking in at 4:16:33. It was an important milestone for the Eritrean as he had met his own target in his debut of the tour.

Veronica Almedom, who arrived in Switzerland from Eritrea as a baby, is now a member of the Federal Commission on Migration. Immigration affects everyone in Switzerland, but some people more directly than others. Veronica Almedom, who arrived from Eritrea as a baby with her family, is now an activist for the human rights of Eritreans.

The Eritrean Government has issued a communique to bring schools run by the Catholic Church, Faith Mission, the Orthodox Church as well as schools run by Eritrean Muslims under its control. The communique was quietly issued a few days ago without informing the public; this morning BBC has come to learn that seven secondary schools have been nationalised to date.  Those schools that have been nationalised are located in various towns around the country; they were well known and smoothly run by their constituent sponsors.

The fact that both Isaias and Abbiy have conditioned the implementation of the Peace Accord on the further weakening of Tigray says it all. You have equally got it wrong with the other two questions; no one is ignoring or bypassing the reality of Tigray – neither Isaias nor Abiy. The fact that they have a different response in mind doesn’t mean that they are ignoring that reality. So much so, they are hell bent to change that reality before they start implementing the Peace Accord.

What is unique about Saba is the fact she gets lost in her poetry during recitals. Poetry is her real world now, as far as she is concerned. The eruption of her imagination and poignant poetry, when she shifts her passion, with the energy of desperation, from the child she was, the woman she is onto the world of poetry, dominates her discussions. The chaotic reality of life in Eritrea is always present on her mind.

The bilateral summit that took place on 8–9 July 2018 in Asmara, Eritrea, between Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was concluded by signing a Peace Agreement between the two countries.  What is your take on the Peace Agreement?

Selam gualei, yes, giving your life to a noble cause is not easy, it takes your all, yet that is what one could call real life. You have a noble purpose! You were brought up in a comfortable home, you would have kept silent but you opted to travel the right road - be the voice of the voiceless and fight injustice to the core! Life is well lived, life has true meaning only if you share what you have – your time, your love, your money, your knowledge! As you are given, give back, as others want to help you when you need it, help others, as you want to be heard and respected, listen to others intently and respect them too. Standing the whole population together and selflessness is what made us win the liberation war.

“በብወልቅን ብጉጅለታትን በብእዋኑን እንተዘይኮይንና፡ ከም ሓደ ህዝቢ ሓቢርና መኪትና፡ ነዚ ኣጽናቲ ስርዓት እዚ ሓንሳእን መወዳእታን ብንግህኡ ካብ ሱሩ ሚሒና ዘይጓሓፍናዮ፡ ን28 ዓመታት ዝኣክል ዝተዓዘምናስ እንታይ ኮይንና ኢና?

Yiakil Protest San Jose California - 

The justice seekers need to define their priorities and engage in campaign activities. I hope the management committee of the USA “Baito” in Washington and in other places in Europe, Canada, and Australia, draw an action plan (Road map) that guides their activism. Once they organises in such way it makes easier to coordinate global demonstration on specific serious issues. It is fundamentally crucial that the Yeakel movement puts the pains and suffering of the people at the centre of the advocacy campaign. For Serious work the association must be institutionalized. Members must pay small membership fees. There must be an office and full or part time paid workers.

When Selam talks about the PFDJ she turns dead serious, one can see that her demeanour changes. “Our job is”, she says, “to take off our rose-tinted spectacles and realise that there are serious problems in Eritrea that need fixing.” “Our world should make sense to us; and it should also make sense to others, particularly the PFDJ lot!” she argues.

What is the meaning of Eritrea’s decision to stage a major military parade at this precise moment? A few days ago Eritrea celebrated the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Sawa Military Training Centre and the launching of the National Service Programme.  It was a dual ceremony - the graduation of members of the 32nd round national service was also conducted under the theme “Sawa: The Perfect Choice for Sustainability.”