By Berhane Alazar When I read the latest report of the so called Eritrea Somalia Monitoring Group (ESMG), here in referred to as MG, the first phrase that came to my mind was what I used to hear my kids and their friends repeating somewhat aimlessly
Liar! Liar!
Pants on fire!
I mean, the MG doesn’t even seem to master the art of lying. For heaven’s sake, there’s got to be some elements in its report that might persuade the most gullible and unsuspecting soul. But, arrogantly, accusing Eritrea solely based on certain less than credible sources gives away the secret of its mission under which the MG apparently was directed to operate by the powers to be!
After what amounts to heavy handed US pressure on the MG and US blackmailing the rest of the members of the UNSC, not one, but two unjust and illegal sanctions were imposed on Eritrea based on, at best, hearsays – and pure fabrications at worst! Those sanctions were passed primarily on Ethiopia-fed and US-digested fairy tales that Eritrea was supporting Somalia’s Al Shabab in a proxy war to get back at Ethiopia! Never mind why Eritrea would get back at Ethiopia through a non-bordering state, Somalia, when it has a common border with Ethiopia more than 1,000 km long is, of course, part of the ineptitude of this group and its handlers.
So, now after all the damage to Eritrea it believes has been done, the same group came up with a report that appears to exonerate the all along innocent Eritrea that Eritrea was wrongly accused of supporting the Al Shebab. We have a saying in Tigrigna that amply describes the state of the bellicose posture the US adopts vis-a-vis Eritrea’s independent political standing. ‘z’aKlen THinensi be’alemaryam ybla’! But, wait a minute! The group does not get served well if it contradicts its earlier reports. Does it? And what does it do to sound as if its previous reports on Eritrea were never wrong? In its latest report, it simply stated that the Eritreans appear to have “Stopped” supporting the nonexistent Al-Shebab support in the first place. Talk about cowardly behavior committed against the people and government of Eritrea based on “Credible but NOT verified” stories! Credible but not verified…!
But surely, Eritrea could not be off the hook just because the irresponsible group said that Eritrea no longer supports the Somali insurgents. You guessed it; Eritrea must be accused of supporting any other group in the area or beyond. Who is watching anyway? Why, it is tantalizing to state some wild assertions that it is supporting the opposition groups in Ethiopia. Poor Ethiopia! Really! That is what the latest report is trying to tell the gullible person or group, if there is one. Here again, it clearly shows what the purpose of the illegal and unjust sanctions that were imposed on Eritrea. It had nothing to do with the palatable excuse that Eritrea was supporting Al-Shebab or even their latest drama of Eritrea invading Djibouti, which of course was not true. All the huffing and puffing of the current US Ambassador to the UN and other US officials were to hoodwink world opinion in support of the Addis Ababa regime and encourage that regime to continue to disregard the rule of law in its relations with Eritrea.
Here we have a government in Ethiopia that OPENLY and arrogantly brags about providing military assistance to the ever mushrooming Jihadists and regionalist groups of Eritrean self-exiles in a vain attempt to overthrow the popular government of Eritrea. Yet, this clueless and shameless group finds it appropriate to accuse Eritrea of supporting Ethiopian rebels while conveniently remaining mum on the open hostility shown by the Ethiopian regime. But again, why would this stand of the MG surprise any astute political observer when the UNSC itself has the same corrupt position when agitating a nonexistent border issue with Djibouti while placing under the rug the unimplemented Ethio-Eritrea border verdict of April 13, 2003 that awarded Badme and others to Eritrea! It is Ethiopia that has refused to abide by the same international decision it had signed to respect and continues to occupy a swath of sovereign Eritrean territories.
Speaking about Djibouti, one can’t help but wonder why this hapless group continues to remain the laughing stock of some Horn of Africa watchers, when it expects us to believe about some phantom Djiboutian “POWs” that had escaped from Eritrea. Let me guess, just because someone said that they are POWs that escaped from Eritrea under, no doubt, the coercion or duress of certain authorities and just because the “Trustworthy” MG reported it, one is to believe lock, stock and barrel about the authenticity of the story? Just like that?
Finally, as to the so called “2% Tax”, what part of “It is my money and I do whatever the hell I wanted to do with it legally” the MG and its supporters don’t understand? And that is what it is; and it will remain so as long as there is some need to help our people back home. The responsibility of supporting our people is not something we Eritreans take it lightly. Those Eritreans who chose not to participate in that program may be doing it and nobody is fussing about it.