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The Maltese Ministry of Home Affairs has wrongly accused a London-based movement, presumably, our organisation, Eritreans for Human and Democratic Rights - UK (EHDR-UK), that we are making unsubstantiated claims with regards to the fate of Eritreans who were recently deported from Malta. The spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs said the main interest of this London-based movement is to create unrest in Eritrea. (Herman Grech The Times of Malta, October 12, 2002) EHDR-UK finds the above statement impudent and fictitious. EHDR-UK is an organisation that works to promote the human and democratic rights of all Eritreans inside and outside Eritrea as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948. We are committed to solicit and mobilise support deemed necessary for the promotion and institutionalisation of a humane culture of peace and democracy in Eritrea. We document and report past and ongoing violations of rights of Eritreans as protected by law and the international human rights charters. As the Maltese government disregarded the basic human rights of our Eritrean brethrens and deported them forcefully, indeed we objected. As the Maltese government aggressively dragged and pepper-sprayed the defenceless Eritreans, we did object. In short, we feel that the government of Malta misjudged the whole event and ended the hopes of freedom-seeking Eritreans unreasonably. The unruly leadership in Eritrea is known for its totalitarian running in the region and many renowned organisations have condemned it explicitly in the past. European Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Journalists sans Frontiers are some of the international organisations that have gone on record to criticise the Eritrean government for failing to respect the rights of its citizens. We would like to draw your attention to EUs 1.2.4 Parliamentary resolution on Eritrea. Reference: Presidency statement on behalf of the European Union on Eritrea: Bull. 10-2001, point 1.6.13 Adopted on 7 February. Parliament condemned the human rights violations in Eritrea, in particular the crackdown on students in August 2001, as well as the arrest of 11 dissidents and the shutting-down of the independent press in September 2001. It called for the release of all political prisoners in general and the 11 public figures in particular, and for the ban on an independent press and on political parties to be lifted. It deplored the postponement sine die of the first-ever parliamentary elections scheduled for December 2001, and called for a new date for elections to be set as soon as possible under international scrutiny. It called on the Council and the EU Member States to take a coordinated stance with regard to relations with Eritrea, to monitor closely the political situation in the country and to make the continuation of EU development cooperation conditional upon substantial progress being achieved in the areas of human rights and democratisation, particularly as regards freedom of speech, press and assembly, and the holding of democratic elections. Clearly, EU is addressing the problems the Eritrean people to which they are unfairly subjected. This organisation is the same one that Malta has applied to join in the future. We would have expected the Maltese government to follow the path EU has already set instead of coming to the defence of the Eritrean regime, which is clearly on the wrong side of the fence, and its own slip up in deporting defenceless Eritrean citizens. Similar to what EU and other institutions are doing, our organisation is addressing the unrest the Eritrean leadership has created in Eritrea and not seeking to create unrest in Eritrea, as stated by the spokesman for the Maltese Home Affairs. EHDR-UK can categorically establish that the Eritrean leadership has literally turned against its own citizens and impoverished the country by plunging it into successive wars. And the situation is still worsening. The current situation in Eritrea is so serious that another major problem is emerging at this very moment. The country, as it is being broadcast in major media outlets, is on the verge of going to war with another neighbouring country, the Sudan. African Union is deeply concerned over recent disturbing developments in the relations between Sudan and Eritrea. Three of the neighbouring countries, namely, the Sudan, Yemen and Ethiopia, are holding a meeting on matters of mutual concerns with regards to Eritrea. We are contending that lack of stability in Eritrea and the plight of its citizens should have been obvious to the Maltese officials. The honourable spokesman, in order to justify his governments inappropriate action, went economical with the truth and chose to reproduce Eritrean version of the story - that those deported are in good hands. The officials in Eritrea cannot be expected to state that the deportees are being detained and are being mistreated. Although obscure, we find the spokesmans statement obvious because the Maltese government seems to find it hard to admit that it jeopardised the lives of innocent Eritreans by deporting them hastily. EHDR-UK is of the belief that the refugees cannot be blamed for not asking for political asylum in time. In the past we have argued that the refugees have been confused, misinformed and misrepresented. We can easily assume the level of confusion and miscommunication that existed between the refugees and Maltese officials was high, and that in turn led to unnecessary technicality to be omitted. And apparently, those technicalities led to this tragic incident. We believe technicalities are secondary when it comes saving peoples lives. We abhor the action that was taken on the Eritrean brethrens and we do not accept the explanation given by the spokesperson of the Home Affairs as appropriate. We urge the spokesperson to retract the unfounded accusation levelled against EHDR-UK. EHDR-UK
Tuesday, 16 October 2002 |
