On August 8, 1999, Reuters reported on a visit by ICRC president Mr. Cornelio Sammuraga to the warring nations of Eritrea and Ethiopia. The article stated that the ICRC was denied access to Ethiopian POWs by Eritrea while Ethiopia gave the organization access to Eritrean POWs. (It is not clear who these POWs are .... were they captured during the war (which is possible) or were they picked up from the streets of Addis Abeba while they were going about their daily chores and declared POWs? The ICRC ought to provide answers to these questions.) It was also strange to note, however, that ICRC's president seemed to have been content and almost complimentary of the Ethiopian government by indicating that he "..... had received assurances from Meles that if there were a further deportation of Eritreans it would be done in accordance with international humanitarian laws, with no family separations and no unaccompanied children." For sure there were more in-depth conversations between Mr. Meles Zenawi and the ICRC president, however, it was bone-crushing to find out that the ICRC is willing and morally capable of settling for less than what was the right thing to do. May be the ICRC has, not one, but two books on its shelf , i.e., one for Africa and the second one for the rest of the world. This is to say the following:

One expects the ICRC to argue for NO deportations of citizens. It is reasonable to expect the humble but inquisitive ICRC president to pose the logical but prying questions to the Ethiopian premier. But, all of the basic issues that beg explanations are still unanswered. Here are just a handful :

1. How is an individual qualified as an "Eritrean?" Are all Ethiopians with an Eritrean blood considered Eritrean? If yes, then why were they ever allowed to vote and continue to hold Ethiopian citizenship? How about the Prime Minister himself who is supposed to have an Eritrean mother - will he continue to retain his Ethiopian citizenship? Well then, the Woyane government has to explain to the world why its policy is not random? Doesn't international law make it illegal to render someone stateless, which is what Woyane has done? The rule about deportation applies only to nationals of other countries, not to citizens as they are not to be deported out of their own country. As for Woyane's leadership, their foreign minister just recently delivered a speech, a speech that was nothing more than pure oratorical, at the UN where he spoke of law, law enforcement, and accountability by African leaders. I am just fuming to find out if Woyane's officials really believe they are a model for Africa, or if they are playing "hide and seek" with the world. I want to believe the latter one, but fear the former may be the case.

2. Deport Eritreans all Woyane wants, why confiscate their property without calling it robbery? Sure it is common to run a business with partial debt financing, or carry a residential mortgage, so making the deportee settle their debt before they leave is all appropriate (ones the decision to deport is made). Then, how can Woyane deport 65,000 people without a penny in their pocket unless it is going to assert that 100% of them lived in 100% debt. If Woyane still continues to believe the world is populated by a bunch of bozos, it sure will hold this position.

3. Confiscate all the property they want from Eritreans, just what kind of a heart and compassion does Woyane have to be so brutal and humanly antagonistic or inimical towards another human being, let alone those that lived with them ever since the first man walked on this planet? How come no one in the "rank and file" of Woyane was not gutsy enough to blow a whistle and demand rationalization of the actions being taken, unless those that attempted to do same were quietly silenced? Woyane sure did plan to decimate Eritreans, but even more unbelievable was that it knowingly and willfully obliterated unsuspecting Ethiopians as well. Woyane, in power for less than a decade, has brutally forced out families that have lived in various parts of Ethiopia for the last 60+ years ..... how cold and cruel, how inhumane, how despicable. WOYANE IS HEARTLESS !!!. Woyane has morally drowned and it will never recover. Goodwill goes a long way; however, basic human decency and compassion is fundamental to life.

Eritreans ought to be proud of the leadership in Asmara for their decency and humility. As long as people are involved, it is a given that mistakes will be done and as such one can never dare to say the Eritrean government did not err a dime during these tumultuous two years, going back to the time when Woyane actually forcefully took over Badme. However, it would not be a strenuous task to muster a global consensus that the Eritrean government's reputation has so far been unscathed. Eritrean leaders can walk through life with their chin up and their furs puffed-up. And, whenever things stabilize, the truth will continue to come out in larger volumes and Woyane's true color will glow in due time.

In the mean time, since Woyane's doings are well documented and publicized, what one would ask the ICRC to do is to document and publish how many Ethiopians were ever deported by the government of Eritrea, if any. It is almost unprofessional for the president of ICRC to stroll back and forth in the region and come out with nothing to independently clarify the conflicting reports. Ethiopia's bogus "deportee" statistics can not be compared to what they have done to Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin. If Ethiopian "deportees" were directly displaced by the war, lost their jobs because businesses shut down, or were forced away by the Woyane officials themselves, these are all refugees but not deportees. The ICRC owes the people of Africa an honest, unpoliticized, and unambiguous and documented "state of affairs" report. Repeating what Woyane claims again and again will not help anyone. In addition to this, the ICRC should also inquire why Woyane continues to prevent "Eritreans" from leaving Ethiopia? If it does not consider them citizens, why hold them? Since when does one nation hold citizens of another nation hostage? To be "reasonable" to Woyane, the only thing that the world should be asking of them is, please LET ERITREANS LEAVE ETHIOPIA AND ALLOW THEM TO GO WHEREVER THEY WISH!!!

Not deporting them is not the end state, letting them do as they wish is !!! This is now all for ICRC to answer. Providing timely and accurate assessment should be the primary responsibility of an organization such as the ICRC. Its current role has failed to prevent mutual degradation. It needs to review its mission.

Rule-of-thumb: If you feel that the action you are about to take is something you would not feel comfortable defending in public, don't follow through with it as it may be illegal, unethical, or immoral. (Woyane has to answer this for itself. For those who are executing on behalf of their masters, the rule is no different.)