From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Jan 27 2010 - 11:23:43 EST
Eritrea says refugees not fleeing political repression
Wed Jan 27, 2010 3:32pm GMT
By Jeremy Clarke
ASMARA (Reuters) - Eritrea said on Wednesday the thousands of people who
leave the Red Sea state every year were not responding to any political
persecution, but seeking economic opportunities overseas.
Eritrea, with its population of 5 million creates one of the highest numbers
of refugees of any country in the world not at war, according to the United
Nations.
Unemployment is high and poverty rife. Mandatory service in the armed forces
is a source of great discontent among young people wary of continuing border
clashes with Ethiopia.
Eritrea is also the subject of United Nations sanctions imposed over
allegations Asmara has supported Islamist rebel groups in Somalia. Asmara
denies the accusation.
"Ninety-five percent of the population do national service very willingly,
with pride," Yemane Ghebremeskel, director of the Eritrean president's
office, told Reuters.
"National service has been extended because of the situation of the war
(with Ethiopia) and there are some young people who feel they cannot serve
longer. That happens (but) we are talking about a very small minority of
people," Yemane said.
Passports are not commonly issued to young Eritreans. The United Nations say
tens of thousands flee Eritrea in secret every year, often crossing the
porous border with Sudan and attempting the dangerous trek towards southern
Europe.
But Eritrea, which has traditionally shunned external aid and been
suspicious of organizations wanting to operate there, disputes aid agency
statistics on refugee levels, saying they are exaggerations designed to
tarnish the nation's image.
MIGRATION DISCOURAGED
"People move for economic reasons and that is a global phenomenon. People
are not leaving because the political reality here is not conducive for them
to lead their normal lives," Yemane said.
"Remember many people have come back to Eritrea too. From Ethiopia and Sudan
alone in the last 20 years repatriation exceeds 200,000 people. It is not a
one-way street."
But some of Eritrea's star athletes have recently used the opportunity of
international competition to flee the country.
In December, 12 footballers playing for the national side disappeared in
Kenya after competing in a regional tournament. They later presented
themselves at the Nairobi offices of the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees.
In 2008 six Eritrean athletes competing in the World Cross Country
Championships in Scotland walked into a local police station and asked for
asylum, saying they feared being forced back into national service when they
returned home.
"These are isolated cases. They happen in many countries. But the larger
pictures shows the more people are returning," Yemane said.
"Every citizen has a right to come back but it is an offence to leave a
country without permission ... there would be a proportionate penalty. You
are not going to exempt them because he or she is a football player," he
said.
In a Reuters interview in October, President Isaias Afwerki said that most
fleeing the country were "going for a picnic" and they will be welcomed back
home when they come.
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