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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Aug 17 2011 - 10:37:59 EDT
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/40398f5f-0583-4e56-ac36-7927c0f8421b.aspx
Illicit funds: Eritrean CG denies UN monitoring group’s allegation
By Matovu Abdallah Twaha August 17, 2011
DUBAI: The Eritrean Consul General in Dubai Yohannes Telemichael has refuted
allegations raised by a UN group accusing the Horn of African country of
charging money from its community in the diaspora and passing it enroute
Kenya to “finance” fighters in Somalia.
The accusations contained in a July report by the UN Monitoring Group on
Eritrea and Somalia bear serious implications if adopted by the UN Security
Council because it may act as the basis for tightening sanctions on Eritrea.
“They almost solely got Ethiopia’s ‘intelligence’ information and position
and it will be very unfortunate if they go ahead consider them as factual,”
said Yohannes Telemichael.
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia after a prolonged bloody war and
now has a population of about 5 million of which an estimated 25 per cent
make up the diaspora community.
In the UAE alone, there is an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 Eritreans, according
to the consul general.
The report states that the ruling party in Eritrea, People’s Front for
Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), charges 2 per cent as income tax from its
nationals in the diaspora collected by diplomats at Eritrean missions
abroad.
It adds, “whereas consular finances in the United States are co-ordinated by
a senior official at the Eritrean embassy in Washington, DC, US-based
non-consular agents regularly carry PFDJ cash to foreign destinations.”
According to the report, some of the hard currency stream is directed
towards Nairobi, where the Eritrean embassy receives cash into accounts
under its control.
The consul general said that Eritreans have the right to send money back
home like anybody else, “but those who send it unofficially are harming us
as a government and we’re totally against them because they lead to the
currency going to black market, but we do not have concrete evidence against
anybody. Unfortunately, the report suggests that they do it on our behalf.”
On the income tax, the Consul General told The Gulf Today, “We’re not
charging but they come and pay off their salary. Eritrea’s economy is mainly
based on gold mines and remittance from its nationals.”
The looming sanctions target exactly the two industries: Remittances and
mining, something which Yohannes says is “advanced by Ethiopia and parroted
by the US.”
“The big powers want to reduce us, like they have done to many other
countries including Egypt, to a donor-recipient relationship. We want to
have a relationship of partnership.”
When asked of their relationship with Al Shabab fighters in Somalia as the
report stated, Yohannes said “our position on Somalia is known: The country
should be left to the Somalis to run their affairs and be inclusive. Somalia
does not start and stop in Mogadishu nor does it need foreign intervention,
be it proxy.”
Eritrea has written a preliminary response to the UN, “but we have asked for
at least more three months to respond in detail to the 500 page document.”
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