ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ተኣሲሩ፡ ምቕናይ ጥራይ!

ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ተኣሲሩ፡ ምቕናይ ጥራይ!
ረድኢ መሓሪ /ኣለና/ 05 ሓምለ 2015

ክቡራት ደለይቲ ፍትሒ፡ ግዜ ከም ሰተታ ንክግምጠል ዝቀራረብ ዘሎ ኢዩ ዝመስል’ሞ ምቕናይ ጥራይ። ኣከያይዳ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ፡ እታ በብመዓልቱ ናብ ክሳድ መሳርሕቱ ዝውርውራ ገመድ መመሊሳ ኢያ እትሽንቆቕ ዘላ። tegadalitፍልስፍና ኢሳይያስ፡ “ብዘይ መጎትካዮ ተፈረድ፡ ብዘይ ደየብካዮ ውረድ” ኣብ ዝብል ሰረተ-እምነት ዝተመርኮሰ ኢዩ። ክንዲ ዝኾነ ድማ ኣብ እንዳ ኢሳይያስ፡ ቅዋም፡ ሕጊ፡ መጎተ፡ ጠበቓን ፍትሒን የለን። ብጸድፊ ደይብካ፡ ብጸድፊ ንክትወርድ ትፍረድ። ካብ ዘመነ ገድሊ ክሳብ ሎሚ፡ ብዘይካ ተኣሲሩ ዝብል ዜና’ምበር፡ ተፈሪዱ ወይ ተፈቲሑ ዝብል ወረ ኣይተሰምዐን።

ካብቲ ኩሉ ግዜ ንሰምዖ ዝነበርና ናይ ምእሳር ወረታት፡ ኣብዚ ቀረባ ኣዋርሕ ፍልይ ዝበለ ማእሰርቲ ሰሚዕና። ንሱ ከኣ ምእሳር ኣብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ገበነኛ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ከም ሓላፊ ጸጥታ ዝፍለጥ ዝነበረ ኮሎኔል ተስፋልደት ተስፋስላሴ ኢዩ። ባህርያት ኢሳይያስ ንዘይፈልጥ፡ ንምእማኑ ዘጸግም ዜና ኢዩ ዝነበረ። እቲ ምንታይ፡ ዋና ተለኣኣኺ፡ ኣሳሪ፡ ቀጥቃጢን ሰላሕታዊ ቀታሊ ሰባትን ዝነበረ ሰብ ተኣሲሩ ክትሰምዕ እንከለኻ፣ ንምእማኑ ስለዘጸግም ኢዩ። ‘ህዉኽ ኣዳጉራ፡ ኣብ ቁራዕ እንከሎ የጥርጥ’ ከም ዝተባህለ፣ ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ድማ ኣብተን ርኣዩኒ…ርኣዩኒ ዝብለለን ዝነበረ ህዉኻት ዓመታቱ፡ ንክንደይ ሰባት ዘየሽቆጥቆጠን ዘየጥረጠ!

ደሓር’ውን ኣብ ስርዓት ኢሳይያስ፡ ደድሕሪ ምእሳር ሞት’ምበር ሂወት ዘይሕሰብ ስለዝኾነ፡ ቀንዲ መጋበርያ ገበነኛ ስርዓት ዝነበረ ተስፋልደት ምእሳሩ፣ ብድሕሪ ምእሳሩ’ውን ህጣሙ ምጥፋእ፣ እህምምምም! ከየበለ ኣይሕለፍን ኢዩ። ምእሳር እዚ ኮሎኔል እዚ፡ ኣብ ዘመነ-ህግደፍ ብዘይካ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ዘይእሰር፡ ዘይድስክልን ዘይባረርን በዓል ስልጣን የለን ማለት ምዃኑ ኢዩ ዝነግረና ዘሎ። ‘ወይልኻ ጣላ ብዕራይ፡ ምስ ተረፍካ ዳሕራይ’ ከም ዝበሃል ከኣ፣ ወዲ ተካሊት! ነዞም ሎሚ ዘመናውያን ገበርቲን ሓደግቲን ዘለዉ ኮሎኔላትን ጀነራላትን’ውን ብመዓልቶም ከረኻኽበሎም ኢዩ። ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ካብ ተኣስረ፡ ጉዳይ እቶም ካልኦት ቀንዲ ኢደ-በይዛ (ላዕለዎት ሓለፍቲ ህግደፍን ሃ/ድሕነትን፡ ጀነራላት፡ ኮሎኔላት፡ ወ.ዘ.ተ.) ከመይ ክኸውን ኢዩ? ኢልካ ምሕሳብ ሰዓቱ ዝኣኸለ ይመስል። እዚ ዕሉል ሰታዪ ደም፡ ነዚ ሜላ’ዚ ካብ ፈለማ ሰብዓታት፡ ክሳብ ሎሚ ይጥቀመሉ ኣሎ።

ኣብ ዘመነ ገበነኛ ኢሳይያስ፡ ምእሳር ብሞት ከም ዝትካእ፡ ጎዳጉዲ ሓለዋ ሰውራን ዒራዒሮን ምስክራት ኢየን። ብድሕሪ ምእሳር ጉጅለ 15፡ እቶም ቀንዲ ኣገልገልቲ ህግደፍ ዝነበሩ በዓል ዓብደላ ጃብር፡ ሙስጣፋ ኑር ሑሴን፡ ሜ/ር ጀነራል ዑመር ጠዊል፡ ተኣሲሮምን ጠፊኦምን ዝብል ዛንታ ኢዩ ስዒቡዎም። ንምእሳር ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ብዝምልከት፡ ብዕለት 29 ሰነ 2015 መግለጺ መንግስቲ ኣሜሪካ ኣብ ድምጺ ኣሜሪካ መደብ ክፍሊ ትግርኛ እውን ጸብጻቡ ተዘርዚሩ ኣሎ። ተስፋልደት፡ ሓደ ካብቶም ብኣጻብዕቲ ዝቑጸሩ ኣዝዮም እሙናት፡ ቀንዲ ደቂ ውሻጠ፡ መጋበርያ ህግደፍን የማናይ ኢድ ኢሳይያስን ምንባሩ ዘይፈልጥ ሰብ የለን። ስለዚ፡ ገመድ ዳሕረዎት ንምርኣይ ምቕናይ ጥራይ!

ከምቲ ‘ጭሕሚ ብጻይካ ክላጸ፡ ንጭሕምኻ ማይ ልኸ’ ዝበሃል፣ ምእሳር ኮሎኔል ተስፋልደት ማለት፡ ምንጽልላው መልኣከ-ሞት ነቶም ንኢሳይያስ ናይ ቀረባ ተለኣኣኽቲን ተግበርቲ ገበናት ዝነበሩን ዘለዉን ሰባት ኢዩ ዝነግረና ዘሎ።

ብድሕሪ ምእሳር ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት፡ ‘እንዳ ኣንጭዋ ቡቕሊ፡ እንዳ ጻጸ እኽሊ ኣይሰኣንን’ ከም ዝበሃል፣ እንዳ ኢሳይያስ ከኣ ወረታት ምእሳርን ሞትን መሊኡ ኢዩ’ሞ፤ ብድሕሪ ምእሳር እዚ ኮሎኔል እዚ መን’ዩ ኣሚኑን ደቂሱን ክሓድር? ምቕናይ ጥራይ! ኣብ ስርዓት ህግደፍ፡ ኢሳይያስ ብዘይካ’ቶም ብደምን ባዮሎጂን ኣሕዋቱ ዝኾኑ ሰበስልጣንን ኣባላት ደምህትህን ዝኣምኖ ሰብ ከም ዘየለ ኢዩ ዝነግር ዘሎ። ካብ ሎሚ ንደሓር እቶም ኣብ ደማስ፡ ጋዴንን ዓላን ዓስኪሮም ዘለዉ ወተሃደራት ደምህት፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ ገበርትን ሓደግትን ከም ዝኾኑ፣ ናይ ኣደባባዪ ምስጢር ኢዩ። ስለዚ ብኣቆጻጽራ ኢሳይያስ፡ ሰዓት ምፍናውን ምእሳርን ኤርትራውያን፡ ምሻምን ምስሳይን ደምህት ዝኣኸለ ኢዩ ዝመስል ዘሎ። ካብ ሕጂ ንደሓር ኣብ ኩሉ ምስጢራዊ ጉዳያቱ፡ ብዘይካ ኣሕዋቱ ደቂ ትግራይ፡ ኤርትራዊ ደም ዘለዎ በዓል መዚ ደጊም ኣየድልዮን ኢዩ። ነዚ ብወለዶ ዝልለ ኣገባብ ኣሰራርሓ ካብ ነዊሕ ዓመታት በብቁሩብ ክለማመደሉ ብድሕሪ ምጽንሑ፡ እዋሓስ፡ አግብእ! እነሆ ብጋህዲን ብጸሓይ ቀትሪን ይጥቀመሉ ኣሎ።

ኢሳይያስ ካብ ነዊሕ ዓመታት ዝጥቀመሉ ዝነበረ ካልእ ሜላ፡ ንሰባት ከም ዲስፖሳብል ስሪንጋ ተጠቒምካ ምቕያርን ምድርባይን ኢዩ። ወላ’ኳ ውሑዳት መኮንናት /ከም በዓል ብ/ጀ ኢዮብ ሓሊባይ/ ንራዕዲን ሽበራን ተኣሲሮም ይፍትሑ እንተነበሩ፡ ናብ ቀንዲ ኣማኒኡን ተግባሪ ውጥናቱን ዝኾነ ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ገመድ ክዝርግሕ ግን ዘገርም ኢዩ። ወላ’ኳ ኣብ እምነት ኢሳይያስ “ምስጢራት ንዝፈልጡ፡ በብመዓልቶም ምጥፋእ” ዝብል ሰረተ-እምነት ዝኽተል እንተኾነ፡ ምእሳር ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ግን ዝቐልጠፈ ይመስል። ብኣሰራርሓ ኢሳይያስ፡ ከም ተስፋልደት ዝኣመሰለ ቀንዲ እሙን ልኡኽን ፈላጢ ከበድቲ ምስጢራትን፡ ድሕሪ ምእሳሩ ብሂወት ናይ ምምላስ ዕድሉ ኣዝዩ ዝማህመነ ኢዩ።

ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት፡ ኣብ መዓልታዊ ምንቅስቓስ ኢሳይያስ ተጸሚዱ ዝከታተል ዝነበረ በዓል ስልጣን ኢዩ ነይሩ። ማዕረ’ቶም ካልኦት ደቂ ውሻጠ፡ ኣሎ ዝበሃል ምስጢራት ደብተራን መንግስቲ ህግደፍን ዝፈልጥ ዝነበረ ሰብ’ውን ኢዩ።

ተስፋልደት ኣብ ‘ንግስነት’ ኢሳይያስ ክሳብ መዓልቱ ዘእክል (ኤክስፓየር ዝኸውን) ገባርን ሓዳግን ዝነበረ፡ ንሙሉእ ሚኒስትሪ ምክልኻል ብድሕሪ መጋረጃ ዘመሓድር፡ ንኮሎኔላትን ጀነራላትን ስእሊ መራሒኡ ተሓንጊጡ ዝህድድ፡ ዘውርድን ዘደስክልን፡ ንኣሃዱታት ሚኒስትሪ ምክልኻል ዝኽልጥን ዝቆጻጸርን ዝነበረ ኣዝዩ ተኣማኒ ሰብ ኢዩ። ተስፋልደት፡ ብሕጽር ዝበለ ኣገላልጻ፡ ሕንቁቕ ሕሳስ ልደ ህግደፍ ኢዩ ነይሩ እንተተባህለ፡ ምግናን ኣይኮነን።

ካብ ዝኾነ ሚኒስተር፡ ጀነራልን ኣማሓደርቲን ፍሉይ ሓለፋ ዝነበሮ ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት፡ ኣብ ኣስመራ ንምዕዳል ምሩጽ ቪላታትን መሬትን ቀዳማይ በዓል ስልጣል ኢዩ ዝነበረ። ብሰንኪ ንሱ ዝህቦ ዝነበረ ትእዛዛት ከኣ ብዙሓት ስድራ ቤታት ንነዊሕ ዓመታት ካብ ዝተቐመጥኦ ኣባይቲ ብወተሃደራት ተጓሒፈን ኢየን። ‘መርገም ወለዲ እንተዘይ ቀተለስ፡ የዕነኒ’ ከም ዝበሃል’ምበኣር፣ እቲ ብዝርንዝሕ ንብዓት ኣዴታት ዝተሰነየ፡ ናብ ሰማያት ክሳብ ኣርያም ዝዓረገ መርገም፡ እነሆ ኣብ ምእሳር ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ኣሃዱ ኢሉ ይቕጽል ኣሎ።

ኣብ ዘመነ ኢሳይያስ፡ እዚ ትራጄዲ’ዚ ካፋ ኢዩ፣ ካብኡ ዝገድድ መሾምቦባ ድማ ምስዓቡ ዘይተርፍ ኢዩ። ከምቲ ‘ግደ ዓዳላይ ደልዳላይ’ ዝበሃል፡ ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት፡ ንገዛእ ርእሱ ኣብ ማእከል ከተማ ኣስመራ ሰለስተ ዓበይቲ ቪላታት ነበሮ። ሓደ ኣብ ጥቓ ጋራጅ ኦድዮን፣ ኣብ ከባቢ ማ/ ቤት ጽሕፈት ጉምሩክ፡ ምሉእ ፓላሶ፡ ካልኣይ ኣብ ከባቢ ቤት ጽሕፈት “ማሕበር ውጥን ስድራቤት” ጥቓ ኤምባሲ ግብጺ፣ ከምኡ’ውን ሳልሳይ፡ መቋመሪ፡ መስከሪን መዐመጺ ኣዋልድን ኣብ እንዳ ኮርያ ምሩጽ ገዛ ነበሮ። ንብረትን ሽመትን ኣብ ዘመነ ኢሳይያስ ግን፡ “ግራት ፈረቓን ሽመት ዓቓን” ኢዩ። ብድሕሪ ምእሳሩ፡ ሓንቲ ካብተን ቪላታቱ፡ ነቲ ሎሚ ኣብ ኣስመራን ከባቢኣን መነጽር ጀነራል ፊሊጶስ ወድዩ ‘መን ከማይ’ ዝብል ዘሎ ኣዛዚ ክ/ሰራዊት 59 ኮ/ል ‘ጆን-ዓሊ’ ተዋሂባቶ ከም ዘላ ይስማዕ ኣሎ።

ኣብ ዘመነ ህግደፍ፡ ብዘይካ ኢሳይያስ ንኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ዝሓትት ሰብ ኣይነበረን። ኩላቶም ጀነራላት ኣብ ትሕቲኡ ኢዮም ዝሰግዱን ዝንብርከኹን ዝነበሩ። እዚ በዓል መዚ እዚ በብመዓልቲ መካይን እናቀያየረ ዝዛወር ዝነበረ፡ ብኢሳይያስ ይወሃቦ ንዝነበረ ቅንጸላ ደቀባት ዝትግብር ዝነበረ ምዃኑ ኣብ ኣስመራ ይዝረበሉ ነይሩ ኢዩ። መንእሰያት ኣስመራ “ዓፋኝ ጓድ” ዝብል ሳጓ ሂቦሞ ነይሮም ኢዮም። ካብ ኣማውታ ገዲም ተጋዳላይ ዳውድ ማሕሙድ ራካ (ኣልኮሊዛቶ ገባእኩ) ክሳብ ኣማውታ ኮ/ል ሓድጉ ሃብተገርግሽ (ኮምሬድ)፡ ወዲ ምዒተ፡ ዓንደሚካኤል ካሕሳይ፡ መሓመድ ሓጎስ (እንዳ ኦሞ)፡ ከምኡ’ውን ክሳብ ኣብዚ ቀረባ ግዜ “ብብሃንደበታዊ ሕማም ሞይቶም” ብዝብል ምስምስ ብመርዚ ተሰሚሞን ዝጠፍኡ ዝነበሩ ደቀባትን መራግእቲ ሃገራውነትን ቀንዲ ተግባሪ ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት ምንባሩ ኢዩ ዝፍለጥ። ሰባት ኣብ ምጥፋእ ናይ ኢሳይያስ ኢደ-በይዛ ኮይኖም ዝሰርሑ ዘለዉ፡ ከም በዓል ብ/ር ጀነራል ጠዓመ ጎይትኦም (መቐለ) እውን ተረፍ ኣለዉዎ።

ኣብ ስርዓት ኢሳይያስ፡ እሕሕ ክብል! ሕነ ክፈዲ ይኽእል ኢዩ ተባሂሉ ዝተጠርጠረ፡ ወይ ንእሽቶ ተቓውሞ ዘርኣየ ዜጋ ብቕጽበት ኢዩ ዝጠፍእ። ሞት ሓው ዑቕበ ኣብርሃ፡ ሞት ሓው ዳውብ (ዳይረክተር ቤት ትምህርቲ ጃልያ ዝነበረ) ሞት ዶክተርር ፍስሃ ሃይለ (መምህርን ዲን ኤዲኬሽንን ኣብ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ኣስመራ ዝነበረ) ወ.ዘ.ተ… ካልኦት ኣዝዮም ብዙሓትን ተሰሚሞም ተቐቲሎም ኢዮም።

ኣብ ዘመነ-ኢሳይያስ ካብ ግዜ ቃልሲ ክሳብ ሎሚ በብዓመቱ ዝርሸኑን ዝጠፍኡን ዝነበሩ ሃገራውያን፡ ምኽንያት ብምፍጣርን ብኢደ-በይዛን’ምበር፣ ብኢድ ኢሳይያስ ዝተቐትለ ሰብ ኣይነበረን። ኢሳይያስ እቲ ቀንዲ ንኤርትራን ህዝባን ብጅምላ ንምጥፋእ ዝተጠቕመሉ ምኽንያት፡ ምብራዕ ኲናት ኣብ ባድመ ኢዩ። ካብ ወርሒ ግንቦት 1998 ክሳብ ለይቲ ሎሚ ዝጠፍኡ መራሕቲ ሃይማኖት፡ መሪሕነት መንግስቲ ህግደፍን ህዝቢን ድማ ቆጺርካ ዝውድኡ ኣይኮኑን።

ኢሳይያስ ኣብ ቃልሲ ንውድብ ህዝባዊ ግንባር፡ ብድሕሪ ናጽነት ከኣ ንመንግስቲ ህግደፍ፡ ዘለቕለቕ ከም ዘይብለኦ ማዕረ ቁመቱ ገይሩ ኢዩ ሰሪሕወን። ወዳጄ ክኢላ ሳርቶ!! ብዘይክኡ ካልእ ዜጋ ቀሲኑ ክነብረለን ማለት ዘበት ኢዩ። ክንዲ ዝኾነ ኢዩ ድማ፡ ህድማን ስደትን ብእግሪ ኣያ ዑቕባይ ኮይኑ ዘሎ። ኣብ ዘመነ ኢሳይያስ፡ ብዘይካ ንሱን ናይ ባዮሎጂ ኣሕዋቱን መን ኣሎ ዘይሃድምን ክሃድም ዘይደሊን? ብርሃነ ወዱ’ውን ሓደ ካብቶም ክሃድም ፈቲኑ ዝተታሕዘ መንእሰይ ኢዩ። ብርሃነ ብሰንኪ ናብ ኣቡኡ ዘቕረቦ ሕቶ፡ ምስ ተቐጥቀጠ ኢዩ ምስ ራብዓይ ርእሱ ንህድማ ዝወጠነ።

ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ ‘ዳዕሮ ዕንክሊል፡ ገበልኡ ገዲፉ ዘይገበልኡ የጽልል’ ከም ዝበሃል፡ ኣንቱም ዓደቦኹም ክሒድኩም ምስ ልኡኽ ጥፍኣት ትስዕስዑን ተዳኽሩን ዘለኹም ጀነራላትን ኮሎኔላትን ህግደፍ፡ ኣብ ምስትውዓል ዘድልዮ እዋን ኢና ዘለና’ሞ፤ ከምዛ ናይ ኮ/ል ተስፋልደት መሸንቆቓ ገመድ ከይተደርበየትልኩም እንከላ ሕሰቡ። ’ህድግ ለነ ከመ ንሕነ ንሃድግ ለዘኣበሰ-ለነ’ ተባሂሉ ከም ዝጽለ፣ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጽንቃቕ ህድግ-ለነ ከይወድአ እንከሎ፤ ሎሚ ተጠዓሱ።

ከምቲ ህጣራ ስነ-ጥበባዊ ኣቶ ኣተወብርሃን ሰጊድ “ዝበላዕኩሞ ምለሱ ብዱላ ከይትኹልሰሱ” ዝበሎ፡ ብርግጽ ከኣ ዘመነ ፍዳ ክመጽእ ኢዩ። ህዝቢ ቅዋማዊ መንግስቲ ተኺሉ ዝመሓደረሉ፡ ሕነ’ቶም ፎእ ሞት ዝሞቱ ዜጋታቱ ዝፈድየሉ ዘመን ርሑቕ ኣይኮነን። ትማሊ በርቂ ኣብ ጀነቫ መስ-መስ-መስ! ኢሉ ኣሎ። ጽባሕ ቢጊሓት ከኣ፡ ሃሚን ማይ ኖህን ክወርድ ኢዩ። ኢድ ጸናሒት ሸናሒት ኢያ። እታ ውልፍቲ ደም ሰብ ዝኾነት ጋህሲ ዒራ-ዒሮ ኣፋ ሃህ ኣቢላ ነቶም ገበነኛታት ጭፍራ ህግደፍን ኣበ-ነፍሶም ኣባ-ከይሲ ውልቀ-መላኺ ኢሳይያስን ትጽበዮም ኣላ።

ንሰፈር ዕንዱላይ ንየማን ገዲፉ ዘንቆልቁል ጽርግያ ዓናጉለ፡ ጥውይዋይ ሓራማጥል፡ ውርድ ምስ በልካ’ውን ኣጻድፍ ኣደይ ቅበጽኒ፣ ሞግኦን ሳቡርን ከኣ ደርጓዕጓዕ ዝብል ድምጺ ገበነኛታት ንክሰምዓ ተዳልየን ኣለዋ። ንኺድ ናብቲ ብሩህ ደረት-ትርኢት፣ ንደርዘን ዓመታት ሃንቀው ዝበልናያ ጸሓይ ሓርነት እትበርቀሉ ጥርዚ ክንርኢ ኢና’ሞ ምቕናይ ጥራይ!!

ሞት ክናና ንኢሳይያስ

UK: Flawed Policy on Eritrean Refugee Claims

(London, July 2, 2015) – The United Kingdom’s Home Office should issue new guidance to staff screening Eritrean refugee claims that reflects the continued real risk of persecution and other abuses there, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.

Three key changes to recent Home Office asylum guidance on Eritrean asylum claims are based exclusively on a flawed Danish report that suggests there have been improvements in the human rights situation in Eritrea and on statements by Eritrean government officials. But the most up-to-date evidence, including a June 2015 UN Commission of Inquiry report and recent Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritreans who have fled the country, indicates that long-standing abuses continue.

“The reliance on a weak and discredited report suggests the Home Office is more interested in keeping asylum seekers out than in protecting people in danger,” said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of relying on Eritrean government ‘plans’ to end decades of human rights abuse, the UK should draw on current independent evidence of repression to assess Eritreans’ refugee claims.”

The UK’s new guidance could lead decision-makers to erroneously dismiss Eritreans’ genuine protection claims stemming from draft evasion and desertion, the harsh conditions of prolonged national service, or from punishment for leaving Eritrea without permission.

Deporting such people would amount to refoulement, the forced return of a person to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution or other serious harm, Human Rights Watch said.

The number of Eritreans arriving in Europe and lodging asylum claims increased dramatically in 2014, when 44,600 applied, compared with 14,580 in 2013 and 6,400 in 2012. Almost all arrived by boat from Libya.

The vast majority of those lodging asylum claims in 2014 did so in Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, with much lower numbers in the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Malta, and the UK, where 3,280 people registered claims. A chief immigration adviser at the Danish Immigration Service who co-authored the Danish report has said that the report was hastily produced in response to the increasing numbers of Eritreans lodging claims in Denmark in 2014. By the end of the year, 2,275 had registered in Denmark.

In line with global refugee recognition statistics for Eritreans in recent years, 89 percent of the 15,900 Eritrean asylum seekers whose cases were resolved in the EU in 2014 received some kind of protected status. Sixty percent received refugee status and 27 percent received subsidiary protected status based on human rights grounds.

Eritrea was one of eight African countries that met with EU member states in November 2014 as part of the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, also known as the Khartoum Process. Its stated aim is to stop trafficking and smuggling of migrants from the Horn of Africa to Europe. The change in the UK policy probably stemmed from this effort along with the increasing number of Eritreans arriving in the UK, Human Rights Watch said.

Between January 1 and the end of March 2015, record numbers of Eritreans – 3,552 – lodged asylum claims in the UK, according to the Home Office.

In March, the Home Office published two reports on Eritrea announcing key changes in guidance for reviewing Eritrean asylum claims. The reports say that the Eritrean authorities no longer view draft evaders or deserters as traitors or political opponents, that they and others leaving Eritrea without permission no longer automatically risk persecution or other harm on return, and that not all military service conscripts face abuse.

The changes are based almost exclusively on the discredited December 2014 Danish Immigration Service report, which suggests that the Eritrean government may be carrying out reforms that would allow Eritrean asylum seekers fleeing Eritrea’s abusive, indefinite national conscription program to be safely returned to the country.

However, the conclusions in the Danish report are based mostly on interviews with members of the diplomatic community in Asmara who have limited ability to speak freely to people in Eritrea and who qualified their statements, including by saying that the fate of people returned to Eritrea is unclear, and that government reforms of the national service conscription are rumoured, but not confirmed. No independent human rights investigators – including members of the UN Commission of Inquiry – have been able to investigate the situation in Eritrea.

Western diplomats have also openly told visiting Norwegian immigration experts that what they can say about human rights conditions in Eritrea amounts to little more than “views and … speculation.”

The UK report also says Eritrean government officials’ claim they plan to limit national service to 18 months. The authorities had made similar announcements previously, but there is no evidence they have made these changes on the ground. 

In December, the UN refugee agency criticized the Danish report on a number of grounds, including that interviewees’ information had “often been used selectively in the report.”

These and other concerns undermine the Danish report’s two key conclusions, Human Rights Watch said. The report says that anyone leaving Eritrea illegally, including draft evaders, can safely return if they pay a 2 percent diaspora tax and sign a letter of apology at any Eritrean Embassy worldwide for having left the country illegally, and that draft evaders and deserters are no longer considered by the Eritrean regime to be traitors or political opponents.

On June 29, the UK’s Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI) – which makes recommendations to the UK’s Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration about the content of material produced by the Home Office’s Country of Origin Information Servicepublished its criticism of the Home Office reports, which it said were “marred by serious methodological concerns.”

Human Rights Watch said that evidence from other sources, including the June 5, 2015, UN Commission of Inquiry report on Eritrea and recent Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritreans who left the country in 2014 and 2015, indicates there has been no change in the pattern of serious abuses in Eritrea.

“Until there is clear evidence, substantiated by international human rights investigators, that Eritrea has ended its abuse of national conscripts, the UK and other countries should base their policies on the best available independent evidence,” Simpson said. “That includes the words of Eritreans brave enough to speak out over Eritrea’s ongoing human rights crisis.”

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Eritrea, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/eritrea

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on refugees, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/topic/refugees

United Nations admits fault in Eritrea/North Korea plagiarism embarrassment

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has admitted making a error by publishing a letter on its official website from the Eritrean government containing two paragraphs copied from an earlier North Korean statement.

The letter was in response to a 484-page report of the council about Eritrea’s ”systematic and gross” human rights violations, which may amount to crimes against humanity.

The Eritrean mission called the report ”totally unfounded and devoid of all merit” and dismissed the accusations of human rights violations as ”a continuation and escalation of politically motivated campaign to undermine the political, economic and social progress the country is making”.

After accusing the US of setting up a ”human rights racket”, the letter included a statement with reference to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea:

”The moves of the hostile forces to dare provoke the socialist system of the DPRK which was chosen and has been consolidated by the Korean people will not be able to escape disgraceful doom.”

The human rights council spokesman Rolando Gomez told IBTimes UK that the reference to the North Korean dictatorship ”was indeed an error committed by the UN Secretariat in processing this Human Rights Council document”.

He added: ”The corrected version will be on-line soon.”

A quick search showed that the original statement was published in February by the DPRK spokesman for the foreign ministry in reference to a conference held in Washington about human rights violations in North Korea.

Eritrea and North Korea are the first and second most-censored countries according to a list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists.