ONLY DEATH WILL FREE ERITREANS

By: Nazareth Yemane

Year in and year out President Isaias of Eritrea continues to make speeches of hope and promise, speeches he cannot and will not keep. On several occasions and during New Years Eve speeches he spoke regarding the Boarder Dispute, saying” since the world community failed to take punitive measures against Ethiopia for defying the International outcome, Eritrea could not and would not live as a hostage of Ethiopia“. Meaning Eritrea will take her own measures to secure what was forcefully taken from her. Listening to the speeches of the President many of us believed him, hoping that he had finally come up with a possible solution to the Boarder problem.

Since 2004-05 almost three years has passed and no new measures have been put forth or taken by the Government of Eritrea to have our land returned from the occupation of Ethiopia.

 To engage in a conflict is relatively simple and easy, especially when you convince your people that their country is invaded by an aggressive enemy, however it would take a great deal of courage to get away from such a situation. In fact any reasonable leader would have the sense to enter into a compromise for the sake of his/her country and its people even though the truth is on his/her side. What if the Boarder dispute takes another 15-20 years, are the people of Eritrea destined to continue to live in such a miserable state?

So what is the Government of Eritrea is going to do, and what is his contribution toward peace and stability? When will the nightmare end thus allowing Eritreans to be free from their frustrations and limitations?
One wonders what kind of mischievous speech will the President of Eritrea come up with at the beginning of the year 2007?

Lately, the issue of demarcation seems to have disappeared from the mindset of the President of Eritrea. His attention seems to have been focused on the problems of Somalia and the Sudan. Maybe in the thoughts of the President of Eritrea, the Boarder Demarcation issue is not as important as it once seemed to be? One wonders why the President is so focused on the problem of others than of his own. As far as we know there was not a single drop of blood of Somali, Sudanese or Rwandans during the 30 year Eritrean war, yet he seems to be obligated somehow.

The president and others must be reminded that the Independence of Eritrea was achieved only by Eritreans, and the struggle took the lives of well over 100 thousand young Eritrean heroes of both genders with well over 200 thousand Eritreans wounded to bring “ALL” of Eritrea from darkness into light. These heroes made it possible for the present leadership to build a state and a nation. One should also remember the Independence of Eritrea was taken not given and each and every one from home to the Diaspora had contributed to the success. However, due to the negligence and incompetence of the leadership, Eritrea lost her colonial boundary in a short period of time.

The present Eritrea is not the country our Brothers and Sisters gave their lives for, nor is it the country we all dreamed of, unless it was the president doing all the dreaming. Present day Eritrea is a totally disaster, it is the only country without a constitution, law or justice or a national budget, and Eritrea is presently full of corrupted government officials at all level.

Presently, Eritrea has thousands of people imprisoned, many being tortured and some have disappeared without a trace, with many of those who fought by the president’s side for over 3 decades imprisoned for no apparent reason. Of course if one chooses to believe the allegations put forth by the government, they are all charged with treason. If you believe the government’s treason theory, you should also take into consideration that not a single imprisoned Eritrean has been granted the right to give his/her accounting of anything. According to some Eritrean web sites some of the prisoners particularly those who fought on the president’s side have actually died in prison. This through the eyes of many is unacceptable and truly a crime against humanity.

As many know and realize, the rule by the late Emperor Haile Slasie and Mengustu was brutal, many were killed because of their nationality and ethnicity, and it was justified, why because they were enemies of Eritrea and it was their rule by fear and terror that drove many Eritrean Heroes into the mountains of Eritrea including the president himself vowing to get rid of Ethiopia to obtain freedom for the people of Eritrea. However, the brutality and the rule of terror by the present leadership is unjustified and unacceptable. It is a simply betrayal of Eritrean people who gave shelter, food and water and who fought and died by the president’s side during the 30-year struggle.


The president made a vow to secure freedom and a better way of life for Eritreans, contrary to this he has led the country to the point of misery and he turned out to be an enemy of the state. It is sad and shameful to see younger males and females abandoning an Independent Eritrea in order to search for peace and stability elsewhere. Again it is very sad to see our scholars who have come from the diaspora to build the state and to see those who graduated after independence leave Eritrea or only to become alcoholics due to the bitter and miserable life they have had to endure in their home land.

During the most recent war of the Boarder conflict, according to the Eritrean Government’s own admittance, 19 thousand people loss their lives. This to a small and new country like Eritrea is like a small city dropping into the ocean; nine or nineteen thousand is far too many for a small nation to lose. After all the economical strength of ones nation is its people.

If the leadership of Eritrea has the common decency after loosing the colonial boundary and with the massive loss of life, they should have stepped down thus removing themselves from power without any question, but with the Government of Eritrea there is no decency, it doesn’t exist.

In a number of my articles, I wrote in favor of the government with regards to the boarder Dispute, and I am still in favor due to the arrogance by the government of Ethiopia and the negligence of the Western world, however Brother and Sisters it is the duty of the Government of Eritrea to find a solution to the problem, it is not up to you and me. You and I are simply cheerleaders, but those who applause and clap their hands when the government is at fault are not being honest with themselves or others.

It would seem that peace and stability in Eritrea is somehow attached to the boarder demarcation, this must be why the Government of Eritrea is totally focused on the change of regime in Ethiopia. It is naïve for the Government of Eritrea to even think that a change of regime in Ethiopia will bring peace and stability to Eritrea. The Government of Eritrea should have learned from its best cronies namely WEYANE. If Melles goes and is replaced by Wergessa or Belachew, to most Eritreans this does not make a difference, mainly because they are all enemies and their attitude toward Eritrea and Eritreans would not be different than that of WEYANE.

 While many African countries are trying to stop the brain drain in accommodating and meeting the demands of the younger generation, including the education and employment needs, as well as creating a livable environment by calling their educated children from the diaspora. However, in Eritrea, the university is shut down by order of the government thus creating a situation where those of the younger generation who were suppose to become the back bone of the economy felt they had to run away in search of freedom with no hope of coming back. Many of those who were escaping were shot at the boarder by the military of Eritrea and some were lost in the desert and others became the food of sharks in the ocean. They all obtained their freedom through death.

The fate of most Eritreans seems similar, only death will allow for their freedom.

Voice of Eritrea at CKDU 88.1 F M.
Halifax Canada.