Whether the looming catastrophe is caused by nature or man and, if so, by whom, is at the moment, of little consequence to the over one million Eritreans who face starvation, disease and destitute.  Regardless of their views towards the government of Eritrea, we call on the international community to extend their goodwill and reach out in kindness to the people of Eritrea.  We call on the opposition parties and, indeed, all Eritrean organizations to send urgent letters of appeal to the donor nations and organizations to extend food, medicine and temporary shelter.  We call on the government of Eritrea to re-evaluate its policies�including its �Warsai-Yeka�alo initiative� that promises to deny the Eritrean family farms the manpower they desperately need and its hosting of Sudan�s opposition in Eritrea�s breadbasket risking another ignition of destructive war.    We call on all Eritreans to explore the true meaning of self-governance so we won�t find ourselves, generation after generation, begging for the help of nations who can govern themselves. To donate to the World Food Programme, please visit the following:
http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=4 � � �Human Actions & Natural Causes�, The Pencil, 8/5/02

The above was written shortly after the government of Eritrea issued a drought warning in July of this year.  At the time, the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC) was projecting that about half a million Eritreans were facing drought, an estimate it revised significantly (to 1.4 million) within three months.

For months prior to our appeal, we had been encouraging a campaign of �Starve The Monster.�   A typical statement read:

1. When sending money to family members in Eritrea, make every effort to avoid the PFDJ Mafia Market of moneychangers and extortionists.  Despite their propaganda, the PFDJ does not love your family more than you do.  Try to send the money directly to your family members.  (2) Do not pay any money of any sort to the G-1.  No 2%, no bonds, no �mklKal hager�, no �lmAt hager.�  Your money is being used to finance the creation of a full-fledged police state where your brothers, sisters, parents are being spied on and terrorized; (3) Do not participate in any activity that raises funds for the G-1.   Do not buy their videotapes, do not buy their books, do not attend their fund-raising functions.   If you want to support an Eritrean artist, give the money directly to the artist.   If you are buying artistic products (books, video/audio tapes, CDs) thinking you are supporting an artist, please remember that the PFDJ keeps 85% of the revenues from the sale of the artist�s product;  (4) DO support your compatriots: the displaced, the orphaned, the injured and those who are seeking asylum from the oppressive regime in Asmara.   But do not use the PFDJ as the middleman.   Find genuine NGOs that are not beholden to the PFDJ to channel the funds to the poor Eritreans.  � Starve The Monster, The Pencil, March 4, 2002

The challenge of how to help the Eritrean people without funding a system that enslaves them has been an issue that has occupied the minds of many freedom and justice loving Eritreans.  Meanwhile, the government and its supporters have been busy misinforming everyone that the Eritrean movements for democracy have been lobbying donor nations to �starve Eritrea� and are, therefore, �anti-Eritrea.�  In this issue of The Pencil, we will discuss (a) the severity and causes of the drought; (b) Who is responsible? (c) How to help the Eritrean people without funding the dictatorship in Asmara.

The Severity & Causes of the Drought 

According to various news reports, between 1 to 1.4 million Eritreans face drought and famine.  It is difficult to estimate what percentage of the population this is for one absurd reason: the PFDJ plays politics even with the size of Eritrea�s population.  In his November 2002 address to the UN, Eritrea�s Permanent Representative, Mr. Ahmed Baduri, said that Eritrea�s population was 3.5 million.  This is the same number that was reported by the CIA World Factbook in its 1995 report on Eritrea.  (The CIA now estimates Eritrea�s population at 4.4 million.)  Does the 3.5 million include the nearly one million Eritrean in Diaspora?  The government isn�t saying: it is all a secret.

Regardless of Eritrea�s population, to have 1.4 million Eritreans facing drought and famine is a huge tragedy.  Like most tragedies, this one is natural and man-made.  The natural aspect is the failure of the March-June as well as the June-August rains.  The man-made aspect of the tragedy is the war and the post-war decisions: displacement of farmers; mobilization and postponement of the demobilization of the youth; as well inaccessibility of Eritrea�s �breadbasket� due to landmines.  Consequently, Eritrea is able to meet only 15% of its food requirement and it will need assistance well into December of next year.

Who Is Responsible?

Effective leaders use tragedies that befall their nations to rally and unify their people: they use embracing language; galvanize their people to focus on their common ground.   But Eritrea doesn�t just have the misfortune of bad weather; it is led by an incompetent government.  As judged by the orchestrated �meKetes,� the PFDJ is using this tragedy to divide Eritreans further, to demagogue the tragedy of the drought, to dodge responsibility and blame the blameless for its own ill-advised policies.

We ask Eritreans to consider the following.  For the sake of argument, let�s postulate that the government of Eritrea was entirely blameless with respect to the two-year disastrous war with Ethiopia.  Let�s talk about the events after the war.  Was it the government or was it the opposition who expelled (�failed to renew the contract�) of the de-mining experts and, by its action, has made Eritrea�s breadbasket inaccessible?   Was it the government, or was it the opposition, who has refused to demobilize the youth and thereby destroy Eritrea�s agricultural sector?

There is also a claim, repeated ad nausea, that the Eritrean opposition is actively lobbying donor nations and requesting that they suspend or discontinue aid to Eritrea.   Like most African nations, Eritrea receives two types of aid: development and humanitarian aid.  To simplify the difference between the two, developmental aid is very conditional and humanitarian is somewhat conditional.  We do not know of a single opposition figure who has privately or publicly called for the suspension of humanitarian aid to the Eritrean people.   

As for the development aid, before we talk about the role of the opposition and the government in creating the Eritrean dilemma, we think we should spend a little time identifying the donors, the aid and the conditions for the aid.

After the end of the Cold War, the relationship between the �donor nations� and the Third World changed from that of a benefactor/protector-raw materials-supplier to something euphemistically known as a �partnership.�  In this new world order, the rich countries would provide the loans and grants; in exchange, the receiving countries would meet measurable objectives.  This was the new game and Eritrea, notwithstanding its government's habitual posturing,  willingly agreed to play by the rules of the game.  In Eritrea, as in the rest of Africa, the players are Europe, the US, and Japan.   These nations, but particularly the EU, fund Africa's development projects including regional organizations like COMESSA and IGAD, which have all-African names.

Eritrea joined the Lome IV Convention in 1993; the Cotonou Partnership in 2000. Each of these agreements had explicit calls for measurable political reforms.  Whether it is USAID, or WFP or EU, each one has its goals and timetables. (The Cotonou Partnership describes itself as an �agreement based on respect for human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and good governance.� )

In 2000, after the end of the war, Eritrea was to receive almost 300 million Euros from the World Bank, in a project known as Emergency Reconstruction Programme, a development plan jointly financed by Italy, France, Denmark, and the European Union.    This plan was announced with great fanfare in a visit to Eritrea by the EU Commissioner and the plan�s centerpiece was the demobilization of Warsay-Yekaalo.

We all know what happened in 2001 and 2002.  We remember the expulsion of the Italian/EU ambassador to Eritrea (a major financier of the 300 million); the deteriorating relationship with Denmark (another backer.)  We know about the refusal to implement the Eritrean constitution (then taken as a given by the EU); the postponement of the scheduled elections and arrest of journalists (rejection of democratic principles); the arrest without charge of scores of people (no rule of law or human rights) and the indefinite postponement of the demobilization program.

No matter how often it is asserted, the opposition or any other "enemy" didn�t do any of the above.  The government of Eritrea is responsible for all these miscalculations.   And as a result of its miscalculations, the Eritrean people are suffering.      

What was the role of the opposition?  The role and the duty of the opposition is to refuse to join the conspiracy of silence and lies and to refuse to be false witnesses.  It has a duty to tell the truth.   Yes, journalists, government officials, the elderly and ordinary citizens are arrested.  No, they haven�t been charged with anything.  No, there is no democratic principle in Eritrea because the government refuses to grant political space to dissent.  No, Eritreans have no rights of free expression.   The government tries to shift the blame on the "defeatists" because it has no habit of admitting error; the PFDJ supporters blame the opposition partly because they have been misled by the government, partly because they want someone, besides the government, to blame  and partly because they have convinced themselves it is the patriotic thing to do.

How To Help Eritreans In Bringing Bread & Democracy

The PFDJ has demonstrated that it will take any measure, however extreme, to preserve its chokehold on power.   Even as it knew that its unwise decisions would result in the denial of development aid to the Eritrean people; even though it was repeatedly warned by many that the policies it was pursuing would result in denying Eritreans desperately needed development aid, it chose the well-being of the party over that of the people.  Its recklessness is not limited to denying the people development aid; even when it comes to humanitarian aid, which is largely administered by NGO�s, the PFDJ has chosen what is in its best financial interest over what is needed by the people. Its policy of �we will do it ourselves� used to win admiration from the world; however, to pursue this policy without ensuring it has the resources to �do it ourselves��as it did with the expulsion of demining experts and expulsion of NGO�s�continues to place our people at risk.

But it is not enough to criticize; we must present alternatives.  The forces for democracy and change must treat the drought facing Eritrea as an emergency and must propose solutions that help our people.  Some are already exploring options.  In the meantime, we wish to draw the attention of our readers to an excellent proposal submitted by �Sotai,� which is  available at http://www.eritrea1.org/home/articles/120902s.htm

As the writer states: �Our people do not judge us by our speeches but by our concrete actions. The democracy we preach cannot be practiced over a population decimated by famine and ravaged by wars. We need to struggle hard to do what we can to save our people from the scourge of famine and Isayas' dictatorship with dedication and wisdom that match it.�   The writer then proposes, �the establishment of a National Eritrean Relief Association. This is a double-edged sword: it helps address the famine our urgent problem and on the other hand helps the many democratic organizations to work together for a common good. If we can't work at this level, the people will be benefiting nothing from us.  The forums, civic societies and human rights organizations must initiate a joint relief effort as soon as possible.�  

We accept the invitation and pledge to do our part to make this noble endeavor for Bread and Democracy a success.