Lampedusa Tra Cerimonie e Proteste ” Europa Nazista ”

Lampedusa – Le telecamere di LiberaEspressione – Lampedusa Tra Cerimonie e Proteste ” Europa Nazista ”
Lampedusa assiste all’ennesima passerella dei politici che da anni solcano quest’ isola ma di fatto gli isolani stanchi affermano di aver visto ben poco di tutte le promesse ricevute. Un giorno che doveva essere di preghiera e di riflessione in occasione del primo anniversario dalla strage del 3 ottobre 2013, nella quale 366
migranti persero la vita si è trasformato in un giorno di programmi politici e contestazioni da parte di alcuni Lampedusani.
Al dibattito promosso dal Comune di Lampedusa e Linosa hanno partecipato i massimi esponenti della politica nazionale e Europea tra cui Laura Boldrini ,Martin Schulz, Maria De Asuncao Esteves, Federica Mogherini Luigi Manconi, Rosario Crocetta ed il sindaco di Lampedusa e Linosa, Giusi Nicolini.

Fortemente contestato Martin Schulz e definito “ Nazista” da Giacomo Sferlazzo componente del collettivo Askavusa “ non siete graditi siete voi i colpevoli” ha gridato Sferlazzo a tutti i politici.
Nonostante non ci siano state emergenze che riguardano l’immigrazione sembra che Lampedusa sia diventato un bel cartello sul mediterraneo dove propagandare le intenzioni politiche nazionali e Europee per quanto concerne l’immigrazione.

I superstiti e i parenti con le vedette della capitaneria di porto, dei carabinieri e della guardia finanza si sono recati sul posto della tragedia per un momento di raccoglimento e di preghiera.
Il Sindaco Nicolini definisce questa visita un momento storico, affinché le isole Pelagie possano esporre ai diretti interessati le varie problematiche che da sempre affliggono le Pelagie e nel contempo salvare i migranti che affollano il mar mediterraneo.

 

Between the desert and the fire

Refugees have been crossing the border between Eritrea and Sudan for more than 40 years.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that northern Sudan houses more than 100,000 Eritrean refugees, but over the years the profile of these migrants has changed.

Those escaping the Eritrean war of independence in the 1960s tended to settle in Sudan, some even gaining Sudanese nationality.

In recent years, however, refugees have increasingly been using Sudan as a transit country before moving north – often as part of the diaspora fleeing North Africa to Europe, with all the dangers involved in crossing the Mediterranean.

Eritrea is not an easy country to get out of. So emigrants often fall prey to the shady world of middlemen, brokers and smugglers making easy money out of people desperate to leave.

In Between the desert and the fire, we explore what continues to drive Eritreans from their own country; the poor conditions they often encounter in refugee camps across the border; and the smuggling and human trafficking surrounding them. We also look at the pressure the Sudanese government and international aid agencies are under in dealing with the problems that arise.

 

Meraf Bahta: ”It meant so much”

Swedish Championship gold medalist Meraf Bahta fled his native Eritrea when she suddenly called to military service. SVT’s program Skavlan says long-distance runner on the first impressions of Sweden and gratitude towards his new family.
Without them I would not have lived here now, says Bahta.

She is Sweden’s fastest woman in the 5000 meters and the newly appointed European Championship gold medalist over the distance.

But long before Bahta became a Swedish citizen in 2013, she began in her löparkarriär in Eritrea, where she grew up. In Friday night’s episode of SVT programs Skavlan tells löparstjärnan when her talent was first discovered.

I started running in school. But really, I was not interested in running. My teacher forced me to run many times. Then he told my parents that I have talent but I do not like to run. One time I competed in the school against a very good girl. She was the best in school. She said: ”You can not run away from me.” Then I was angry. Why did she say so? So I ran past her, saying Bahta.
”Could not live my life

The road to a Swedish citizenship has been long for Meraf Bahta. After having been rejected last summer Bahta could not compete in the World Championships in Moscow. But four months later, the day before Christmas Eve, the Migration Board changed its view and granted citizenship.

Before that Bahta left his native Eritrea when she suddenly called into military service in 2009.

I could not live my life. And I could not keep running as I do now, says Bahta.
”Very nervous

She found a cheap flight to Sweden and ended up in a refugee camp in Älvsbyn in Norrbotten – in the middle of the Swedish winter.

I had never seen snow before in my entire life. It was very cold, dark and freezing temperatures. It was the night the whole day. I thought, ”how can I live here? ’. I never saw any people on the street. It very nervous, she says in the program Skavlan.

After a time, took the Swedish Athletic Association contact Bahta he now calls his Swedish dad Ulf Björklund – who along with wife Bodil received Bahta on the Kode north of Gothenburg. There she was able to continue practicing running.

It meant so much to me. I forgot my problems for a little awhile. I met many new people and teammates, and could talk about other things, she says.

Today she lives with continued with his Swedish family and a Swedish coach.

Without them I would not be living here now. They mean a lot to me, says Bahta.

 

 

‘ደቂሰ ነይረ ተበራቢረ’ ላልማየ ላሎ! ኣቶ ገብሩ ኣስራት፡ ቀዳማይ ክፋል

‘ደቂሰ ነይረ ተበራቢረ’
ላልማየ ላሎ! ኣቶ ገብሩ ኣስራት፡

ረድኢ መሓሪ /ኣለና/
ቀዳማይ ክፋል

02 ጥቅምቲ 2014

ሎሚ ኣቶ ገብሩ ኣስራት፡ ንነዊሕ ዓመታት ተሓቢኡሉ ካብ ዝነበረ መጋረጃ ወጺኡ ኢዩ ዝላለየና ዘሎ። ግዜ ዝወለዶ፡ እቲ ዕፋፈቱ ከም ተመን መስከረም ዝቐየረ ገብሩ ብወግዒ ምስ ኤርትራውያን ተላልዩ ኣሎ። ዘረባ እናጸላእና ከኣ፡ ንነዊሕ ዓመታት ተጠኒሱ ዝነበረ ጉዳይ

“ሉኣላዊነትና ዲሞክራሲ በኢትዮጵያ” ዝስሙ ዕንዱ ተወሊዱ። ከይፈቶና ከኣ፡ መንገዲ ገዲፍና ናብ ጓል መንገዲ ንክንኣቱ ተገዲድና ኣለና።

ሎሚ ኩሉ ኤርትራዊ ብሓደ ቃና ኣንጻር ጨካን ስርዓት ህግደፍ ክቃለስ ምተገብአ። ብፍላይ ከኣ እዚ ቅንያት እዚ ልዕሊ 360 መንእሰያት ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ላምፐዱዛ ዝሃለቑሉ ግዜ ስለዝኾነ፡ ብሓባር ኣብ ረዚን ሓዘን ኣብ ዘለናሉ ግዜ፡ ከምዚ ዝኣመሰለ ጓል መንገዲ ኣጓኒፉና ኣሎ።

ኣቶ ገብሩ ኣስራት ‘ደቂሰ ነይረ፡ ተበራቢረ’ ብዝብል ሓድሽ ላልማየ ላሎ ኣዛሪቡና ኣንቱም ሰባት! ከምቲ ‘ልዕሊ ጳጳስ ካቶሊክ ምዃን’ ዝብል ኣበሃህላ፡ ልዕሊ ኤርትራውያን ኤርትራዊ ዝኾነ ሊቅ ተቐልቂሉና ኣሎ። ቅድም ገዲም ተጋዳላይ ህ.ወ.ሓ.ት. ደሓር ከኣ ኣማሓዳሪ ክልል ትግራይ ዝነበረ፣

ቀጺሉ’ውን ብስም ‘ዓረና’ ዝፍለጥ ወግዓዊ ተቓዋሚ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ዝኾነ ኣቶ ገብሩ ኣስራት፤ ልዕሊ ኤርትራውያን ሓላዪ ኤርትራ፡ ፈላስፋ ታሪኽ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከም ዝኾነ ከይሓነኸ ነጊሩና ያኢ!

መጽሓፍ ኣቶ ገብሩ ዛጊት ናብ ኢደይ ኣይበጽሐትን። እንተኾነ ግን ካብቲ ቃለ መጠይቑ ከም ዝሰማዕኩዎ፡ ምስቲ ቅድም ደርሆ ድያ ተወሊዳ ወይስ እንቋቑሖ ዝብል ሓሸውየ ዝመሳሰል ትንታነ ሰሚዐሉ። ብድሕሪ ምንባበይ እውን ከም ኤርትራዊ ዜጋ መጠን፡ ንጉዳይ ሃገረይ ብዝምልከት ታሪኽ ህዝበይ ብዓቕመይ ክነግር ሓላፍነት ኣሎኒ። ንከምዚ ዝኣመሰለን ብድዐ፡ ኣጠማምታ ቅንጅት ኣብ ጉዳይ ኤርትራን ምትእኽኻብ ደምህት ኣብ ደጎልናን ዝምልከት እዋናዊ ኣኼባታት ንክግበር በዚ ኣጋጣሚ’ዚ ንኤርትራውያን ደለይቲ ፍትሒ እጽውዕ ኣለኹ።

ብስስዐ ኣቶ ገብሩ ወላ’ኳ ዝጭለፍ ማንካ ማይ ባሕሪ ኤርትራ እንተዘየሎ፡ ኩሉ ደላዪ ፍትሒ ኤርትራዊ ግን ነዚ ከምዚ ዝኣመሰለ ሕዱር ሕማም ባሕሪ፡ ድጉል ህርፋን ብወግዒ ክምልሰሉ ይግባእ። ጉዳይ ኣፍደገ ባሕሪ ኢትዮጵያ፡ ጉዳይ ንቡር ዝምድና ህዝብታት ኤርትራን ትግራይን፣ ጉዳይ ምሕዋይ በሰላ ኲናት 1998-2000፡ ብድሕሪ ውድቀት ስርዓት ህግደፍ ንክልቲኡ ህዝብታት ዝምልከት ጉዳይ’ምበር ንኣቶ ገብሩ ዝምልከት ዛዕባ ኣይኮነን።

‘ደቂሰ ነይረ፡ ተበራቢረ!’ እዚ ሓድሽ ማህሌት እዚ ንዓና ንኤርትራውያን ውድባዊ፡ ፖለቲካዊን ሃይማኖታዊን ፍልልያትና ብዘየገድስ ብሓፈሻ፡ ንዳሕረዎት ወለዶ’ዛ ሃገር ድማ ብፍላይ ዓቢ ብድሆ ኢዩ። ፍልስፍና ኣቶ ገብሩ፡ ካብ ቅሂሙ ዝነበረ ሓሙኽሽቲ ዝረአ ዘሎ ሓደገኛ ቁልዒ ስለዝኾነ ድማ ምስትውዓል ዘድልዮ ጉዳይ ኢዩ። ስለምንታይ ሎሚ ከምዚ ዝበለ ጉዳይ ተወሊዱ? ስለምንታይ ቅድሚ 5፡ 10 ወይ 20 ዓመታት ወ.ዘ.ተ… ዘይተዘርበ?

ኣቶ ገብሩ ካብ ታሪኽ ዘመነ ምነሊክን ወራር ሙሶሊኒን፡ ንቃልሲ ህዝቢታት ኤርትራን ትግራይን፤ ቃልሲ ንናጽነት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እዋን ስሳታት፡ ምምስራትን ምፍራስን ፈደረሽን፡ ክሳብ ኲናት ባድመን ውዕል ኣልጀርስን ገምጢሉ ኣንቢብዎ ኣሎ። ኣስዒቡ እውን ካብ ውሳኔ ዘ ሀግን ጉዳይ ምሕንጻጽ ዶባትን ዝምልከት ላልማየ ላሎ ኣቶ ገብሩ፡ ወላ’ኳ ከም ጉዳይ ደረቐኛ ውሕጅ፣ ኣብ ክንዲ ዘንቆልቁል የንቃዕርር እንተኾነ፣ ንዓና ንኤርትራውያን ከም ህዝቢ መጠን ግን ሱርናን መሰረትናን ዝበናቑር ሓድሽ ኣፍራዛ ኢዩ። ስለዝኾነ ከኣ፡ ልቢ ጌርና ክንሰምዖን ኣብ ክዉንነት ዝተመርኮሰ ውድዓዊ መልሲ ክንህበሉን ግድነት ኢዩ።

‘ዘየደቅስ ነጊሮሙኻ፡ ድቅስ ይሓድሩ’ ንከይከውን፣ ክሳብ እታ መጽሓፍ ናብ ኢደይ እትኣቱ፡ ኣብዚ ቀዳማይ ክፋል ጽሑፈይ መእተዊ ነቲ ዝንቡዕ ታሪኽ ንክኸውን ገለ ንክብል ደሪኹኒ።

ታሪኽ ሓደ ሓደ ግዜ ንክትኣምኖ ብዘጸግም ቋንቋ ይዘባረቕ’ዩ። ቅድሚት ዝነበረ ንድሕሪት፣ ድሕሪት ዝነበረ እውን ንቕድሚት ይገማጠል ኢዩ። ኩሉ ክብርታት ሓደ ሕብረተ-ሰብ ብፍላይ ከኣ ታሪኽ ከም መጋርያ ደምበ፡ ፍቱን ዋና ይደሊ ኢዩ። ታሪኽ ተዃዕኒኑ ጥንቅልዒት ደቂሱ ንክነብር፡ ዘይታኸስን ዝወራረስን ጓሳ የድልዮ ኢዩ። ዋና ዘይብሉ ታሪኽ፡ ውዒሉ ሓዲሩ ናብ ጽውጽዋይ ስለዝቕየር፡ ከምዚ ናይ ኣቶ ገብሩ ዝኣመሰሉ ሓደስቲ ፈላስፋታት እንተተራእዩ ዘገርም ኣይኮነን።

ከምቲ “ደቂ ኣሓኻ ጥንቅልዒት ቀርነን፡ ሽያኽ ሓርማዝ ዝሰትያ ደኒነን፤ እቲ ምንታይ ንዓኻ ኣሚነን” ዝብል ማሰ ቀዳሞት፡ ታሪኽ’ውን ኣብ መንጎ ብዙሓት ሕምሩግ ተርእዮታት ከም ጽሩይ ወርቂ ተኾሊዑ ንክነብር እሙን ዋና የድልዮ ኢዩ። ኣቶ ገብሩ ሎሚ ቅነ ብዛዕባ እታ ዝደረሳ መጽሓፉ ምስ ድምጺ ኣሜሪካ ክፍሊ ትግርኛ ኣብ ዘካየዶ ቃለ-ምልልስ ጉዳም ዝኾነ ጽውጽዋይ- ወደኮይ ጽልማይ ኢዩ ክነግረና ቀንዩ።

ኣቶ ገብሩ ብዛዕባ ታሪኽ ሃገሩ ክጽሕፍ ዝኾነ ይኹን ቅሬታ የብልናን። ኣብ ገዛእ ጉዳይና፡ ንሱ ዋና ንሕና ጓኖት፡ ንሱ ኡስታዝ ንሕና ድማ ተመሃሮ ንክንከውን ግን ኣይግድን! እዋእ! ከመይ ድያ ኮይና እዛ ኣዱንያ? ‘ደቂሰ ነይረ ተበራቢረ!።’ ሰብ ወይ ሰባት’ከ ይህልዉ’ዶ ይኾኑ ኢሉ እውን ስኽፍ ኣይበሎን። ብሓቂ ትሕዝቶ መጽሓፍ ኣቶ ገብሩ ኣስራት ከም ቃለ ምልልሱ ምስ ድምጺ ኣሜሪካ እንተደኣ ኮይና ከኣ፡ ጥሙሕ ገብሩን ደቀ መዛምርቱን ንወለዶ ኤርትራ ዝብድህ ሓድሽ ዓቐበት ክኸውን ኢዩ። እቲ ምንታይ ንቀዳሞትን ዳሕረዎትን ወለዶታት ኤርትራ ዘራኽብ ዕትብቲና ዝበትኽ መላጸ ስለዝኾነ።

ብሰንኪ ፈያር ስርዓት ኢሳይያስ፡ ከምዚ ዝኣመሰለ ንህዝብታት ዝፈላሊ ቀስተ-ደመና ከጋጥም ከኣ ባህርያዊ ኢዩ። ‘ንእሾኽ እሾኽ ኢያ ተውጽኣ፡ ኣራግጻኻ ግን ኣይትቐይር’ ከም ዝበሃል፣ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ወላ’ኳ ሎሚ ብሰንኪ እሾኽ ዳንዴር ስርዓት ህግደፍ እንተሓንከሰ፡ ጽባሕ ቢጊሓት መስሓቕ ሸራፋት ኮይኑ ኣይክተርፍን ኢዩ።

ይ ቕ ጽ ል…

Escaping Eritrea’s ’open prison’

Forced military service and rights abuses lead many Eritreans to take the treacherous boat journey to Europe.

Khalid al-Amin  is one of the lucky ones who survived the treacherous journey. Last year on October 3, more than 300 Eritreans drowned when their boat sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa as they were trying to make their way to Europe.

He told Al Jazeera with the lack of basic rights and oppressive rule in Eritrea, he saw the risky journey across the Mediterranean as the only way out.

”As Eritreans we are dead regardless. We are doomed if we stay, and we risk death if we leave. Without freedom you are dead,” said Amin, 39, a refugee among thousands of Eritreans who embarked on the dangerous voyage across the sea. 

He now resides in Sweden after he escaped to Libya via the Sudanese desert and then to Italy by boat.

”Dying is better than a life serving an authoritarian and dictatorial regime,” Amin said.

Eritrea is one of the most secretive and heavily surveilled countries. SMS is not allowed, and internet service providers must use state-owned infrastructure.

The country has no independent media. According to The Committee to Protect Journalists, 22 journalists were imprisoned in Eritrea as of December 2013, the fourth-largest number in the world.

Following a 30-year armed struggle for independence from Ethiopian rule, Eritrean rebels defeated the Ethiopian army in 1991. Formal independence was established in May 1993, when Eritreans overwhelmingly voted for statehood in a referendum supervised by the United Nations.

No elections

Isaias Afewerki has been the country’s only president since independence. Elections were supposed to be held in 2001, but were postponed with no new date set.

Afewerki’s government has created a militarised society with mandatory conscription into the national service – supposedly for only 18 months, but frequently extended indefinitely. Both male and female citizens from the age of 18 to 55 must complete compulsory service.

All conscripts must go to Sawa, a desert turned into a military base, where they must complete their high school education and military service.

Amin was part of the first wave of conscripts following independence in 1991. He was 18-years old when he joined the army and his military service lasted for 10 years.

”In the beginning it was great, I just wanted to serve my country and was very happy to be part of rebuilding the newly liberated Eritrea,” he said.

Gradually Amin said he felt he was serving the interest of the generals, rather than his country. According to Freedom House, an independent watchdog organisation, freedom of movement is tightly controlled.

Eritreans under the age of 50 are rarely given permission to go abroad, and those who try to travel without the correct documents face imprisonment. The authorities adopt a shoot-on-sight policy towards people found in locations deemed a no-go, especially close to the border.

Torture and sexual abuse

Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said conscripts are subjected to punishment that could amount to torture, and women face sexual abuse by military commanders.

”Many of the conscripts are used as forced labour for private and government projects,” she told Al Jazeera. ”There is no independent judiciary. Most people who are detained, whether they are conscripts or people accused of other crimes, are held in terrible conditions.”

Amin, now working as a care assistant in Sweden, painted a dark picture of life for conscripts, especially female ones. ”The female soldiers did everything we did. In addition they were forced to cook for the commanders, wash their clothes, and some were forced to have sex with them.”

He said if a woman refused to have sex with an officer, she would be accused of something she had not done and would be punished accordingly.

”Punishment would vary from having hands and legs tied to having ice-cold water poured over them several times in cold weather; be hung by a tree, or put inside a container under the blazing sun. In the worst case, death,” said Amin.

UNHCR estimates in the last few years, about 4,000 Eritreans have left the country every month.

”The flow of Eritrean youth fleeing the country shows that the persistent, alarming patterns of serious human rights violations in Eritrea need scrutiny and action,” Lefkow said.

Ibrahim Sherefay, 31, made it to Lyon, France. He endured harsh treatment at the hands of Libyans as he was caught there while trying to make it to Italy.

”I was put in jail for three months under inhumane conditions in Benghazi, where I was allowed fresh air for one hour during the day. After I was set free I went to Tripoli, and in my second attempt I made it to Italy by boat,” said Sherefay.

The alarming rate of Eritreans fleeing the country in recent years led the UN Human Rights Council to set up a commission of inquiry in June to investigate rights abuses in Eritrea.

Sheila Keetharuth, the council’s special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, told Al Jazeera there has been mounting documentation of human rights violations, such as arbitrary arrest, torture of prisoners, and indefinite military service with appalling conditions and forced labour for conscripts.

’Modern day slavery’

Salih Sabah, an Eritrean rights activist and a leading opposition figure who has resided in Sweden for 25 years, welcomed the UN investigation, but said it was more than 10 years too late.

”It is the first time for me to see an organisation from the UN criticising the Eritrean regime,” he said.

He accused the Eritrean government of pursuing a new form of ”modern day slavery” through military service, and keeping Eritreans in an ”open prison”.

Sabah said he  believes the commission was established now because the dire situation is embarrassing for the UN, and even the European Union because this is happening at ”the door steps of Europe”.

They told us that we are going to travel to Europe in a big boat, but we were shocked and surprised to see that it was a small fishing boat. We are very lucky to have survived.

– Idris Ali Salih Idris, Eritrean migrant

”People are dying on a weekly basis, not all are covered by the media. We know of accidents that happen between Turkey and Cyprus and no one is reporting that,” Sabah said.

Though the UN inquiry has been seen as a positive step, questions have been raised of its potential impact since the government has not given the commission permission to enter Eritrea.

”I have no access to the country; there is no cooperation from the Eritrean government with my mandate,” Keetharuth, the special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, said.

Al Jazeera sought comment from the Eritrean government through its embassy in Qatar, but requests were not answered.

Many Eritreans who flee the country undertake dangerous journeys through Libya, Egypt, and across the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

One of them is Idris Ali Salih Idris, 36, who arrived in southern Sweden two weeks ago.

He made it out of Sudan via Libya with the help of traffickers. It took him eight days by land to reach the Libyan desert.

”We didn’t have enough water, we lived on crackers and some juice. Once we reached Libya, we were met there by the traffickers. They treated us harshly. They moved us into a smaller car and they took most of our belongings away from us,”  Idris said.

”They told us that we are going to travel to Europe in a big boat, but we were shocked and surprised to see that it was a small fishing boat. We are very lucky to have survived.”

Source: Al Jazeera