http://www.dw.com/en/germany-and-eritrea-friends-again/a-19548631
Date 13.09.2016
Germany and Eritrea – friends again?
Eritrea is often in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Scores of
young Eritreans have fled human rights abuses in their country. A
recent high-level panel tried to charter new ways for an
Eritrean-German dialogue.
"To compare Eritrea with North Korea is the most inaccurate thing I
have heard in my life. It is totally wrong," Uschi Eid, a seasoned
politician and president of the German-African Foundation said.
Eid, a long-time observer of Eritrean politics, made the remark at the
opening of a panel discussion on the current political and economic
situation in Eritrea and the future of German–Eritrean relations. The
discussion, co-hosted by DW, brought together Eritrean delegates,
including Yemane Gebreab, head of the ruling (and only party) People's
Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) and a number of high ranking
German officials, media professionals and representatives of NGOs
working in Eritrea.
For some of the experts gathered in Berlin, the often-cited comparison
between Eritrea and North Korea was not too far-fetched. Eritrea's
clandestine foreign policy agenda, a forced military service, alleged
human rights violations and ongoing cross-border skirmishes with
arch-enemy Ethiopia, but mostly the exodus of young Eritreans applying
for asylum in Germany, have set alarm bells ringing.
When it gained independence in 1993 Eritrea was paraded as a beacon of
hope for Africa. But critics point to the fact that the Eritrean
government has still not implemented the constitution drafted in 1997,
thus setting the newly-independent country on a path towards the
authoritarian, one-party state that it is today.
Gebreab: "We want to build a political system that is suited to our
own situation"
In response, Yemane Gebreab, Eritrea's head of political affairs and a
close advisor to President Isaias Afewerki told DW that many African
countries have dysfunctional multi-party systems and constitutions
that only exist on paper. He argued that Eritrea is simply pursuing
its own, unique governance approach.
National Service: 'a very important project'
On of the main reasons for young people to leave Eritrea is said to be
its forced conscription to the military or "national" service, which
can take 10 years or more. The country is listed among the world's top
10 source countries of migration. In late 2015, the Eritrean
government pledged to shorten its national service to its original 18
months. One year later, very little has changed on the ground and
youngsters continue to flee in droves.
Undeterred by the criticism, Gebreab told the Berlin panel that for
the sake of nation-building and in the light of persistent threats
from its neighbor Ethiopia, his country "should be commended" for its
national service. He also said that it secured much-needed job
opportunities for young people. It's a "very important project" and
has "proved its value," he told DW later.
In an emotional challenge to Gebreab's argument, Almaz Zerai, a
representative of the diaspora Network of Eritrean Women, said the
reality on the ground totally contradicted the statements made by the
Eritrean government. She said it was high time for them to "go out of
the state of denial." The announcement of the government to increase
the payment to conscripts holds little value for the activist: "They
tell us that now that the salaries are increasing, the problem is
going to be solved," she told DW. "No. It [should be] about letting
the youth live their lives - to let them live free as they want to,"
she argued.
Eritrea's Bisha Mine is supposed to be the first of four mines in the country
War economy
Eritrea today receives very little foreign assistance. Official
development aid stood at $83.3 million (74 million euros) a year in
2014, according to the Development Assistance Committee of the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (DCD-DAC).
Although agriculture takes the first position as a driver of the GDP,
the country is said to have huge natural resources, including gold,
copper, zinc and potash. It currently has one new mine and three more
are expected to be working by 2018. However, for Gebreab the current
cash flow from mining "cannot even cover the bill."
To keep the economy afloat, cash-strapped Eritrea greatly depends on
remittances sent home from exiled citizens around the world. It has
been alleged that the government, desperate for money, turns a blind
eye to the mass exodus in expectation of euros and dollars.
Where to go from here?
German MP Christoph Straesser says Germany needs guarantees that
rights are respected
So where does that leave future relations between Germany and Eritrea?
The reported human rights violations have so far made German officials
reluctant to engage publicly with Eritrea. "We cannot give development
assistance to any country, be it Eritrea or any other, without any
guarantees that political and civil rights will be respected,"
Christoph Straesser, a German MP and former Special Rapporteur on
Human Rights for a parliamentary group of the Social Democtrats (SPD)
party, tells DW on the sidelines of the conference.
The recent EU decision to award an additional 200 million aid package
to Eritrea to stem the wave of refugees has been questioned by many.
Critics argue that the allocation of funds could result in
strengthening the Eritrean government's muscle in silencing dissent,
thus increasing the magnitude of the migration crisis.
Straesser, who led a group of German MPs on a recent fact-finding
mission to Eritrea, asserted that the fund should be channeled to
fight the cause of migration rather than supporting the regime.
Echoing his sentiments, the exiled campaigner Zerai told the panelists
that pouring millions of dollars would not change anything unless the
regime "diagnosed itself and was ready for treatment."
Georg Schmidt, the Foreign Affairs Office's Sub-Sahara representative,
summed up the state of affairs: The Eritrean people have a "hunger for
bread and a hunger for justice," he said. What this means for
Germany's re-engagement with Eritrea is something that needs careful
consideration.
Received on Thu Sep 15 2016 - 14:02:41 EDT