Thanks to the Eritrean Forum for Democracy the profile of its members is raised in the United Kingdom. Its members are getting invited to seminars, work shops and informal discussions on Eritrea and they started to make their voice heard but only to a small extent.

Some of the meetings and engagement were as follows.

• Briefing organised by Horn of Africa group at Chatham House titled, “Ethiopia and Eritrea: Allergic to Persuasion”   by  Sally Healy  and Martin Plaut

• A one day Seminar on 20 April 2007 at Chatham House.  Eritrea’s Economic Survival. It included topics such as 1. The Historical framework 2.A mobilized nation – benefits and burdens 3.The contemporary state 4.Eritrea in the global economy.  Among the grim picture of present day Eritrea we learned that Eritrea is one of the heavily indebted countries in Africa. One of the highest debts per capita.  In both seminars members of the EFD have done a lot of contributions and interventions.

• Dr. Legam Yohannes was invited to give his assessment on the failed opposition political parties meetings that took place in Addis Ababa and his recommendations on the way forward.

• Meeting with Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun, UN secretary General, representative in Africa. Participants were mostly concerned about why the UN failed to put enough pressure on PM Meles Zenawi for refusing to accept the decision of the boundary commission without any precondition.

• Public talk on Eritrea by EDP (Eritrean Democratic Party) and ELF-RC (Eritrean Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council) in London.  June 24, 2007.

• We got an invitation to attend the forthcoming exhibition on Asmara sponsored by World Monument Fund in Britain titled. Rediscovering the Miami of Africa. Asmara Africa’s Secret Modernist City at RIBA, July 3^rd to August 18^th 2007.

More debate on the aim and objectives of the Forum:

EFD held two meetings that streamlined the aims and objectives of the forum.  Moving on to action was slow and difficult mainly because new comers tend to raise issues covered in the previous meetings. But the most crucial point was that some members wanted the forum to strictly limit itself to debates and other forms of awareness building exercise on democracy. This was overwhelming opposed for the obvious reasons that as some members argued, “the Forum is not to operating in a vacuum it is working within a specific historical context where the people are subjected to arbitrary imprisonment, where freedom of expression is abolished and the labour power of the most productive members of society aged 18-40 is squandered in a coerced manual work and where religious persecution reached its highest level. It is operating in this moment in time where the no-war and no-peace scenario is bringing poverty never seen in the history of Eritrea and unprecedented mistrust and suspicion among the people.

The forum is an initiative for change by persuasion and campaign. It is to put pressure on the Government to listen to the voices of the people. To expose policies that perpetuates the suffering of the people and the pressure and exposure to change them. However, it does not advocate change by violence nor glorifies violence.

One member said, “To limit ourselves to debate without action is a luxury we can not afford.”

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After heated discussion it was overwhelming defeated but it made the debate long and painful. The whole motive is to work in unity for change, to get organised. Organized a lot can be achieved. It is of fundamental importance to finds new ways, new approach to meet the challenges we face as a people.  What is needed is a firm collective belief that by working together the Diaspora can make a difference.
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In the heated debate there was an appeal not to focus on the secondary contradiction among the people such as Ethnicity, religion, region, and about the land being given to people with the Dollar etc.  This can be addressed better when democratic government is installed.

Final adoption of the aims and objectives and the time to move on: 

The final meeting took place in June 17, 2007. It started with one minute silence to commemorate the day of martyrdom. In this meeting the aims and objectives was approved and the organisational structure presented.  Two people played a pivotal role in this endeavour (mission).  One is the spin doctor Berhane Gebrenegus whose power of persuasion was amazing. He must half knocked at every door in London as to be able to bring new faces to the meeting and he was persistent to see the final adoption of the aims and objectives of the Forum before he returned back to USA.  The second is the chairman Suleiman Adem. He showed an excellent skill in managing all the meetings. He is firm and decisive. He had the extraordinary ability in summarizing both in Arabic and Tigrinya. During the last meeting he gave the audience overview of the present situation in Eritrea in order to kick-start the campaign for change. It would have been difficult to organize many meeting in a short time had it not been Berhane Woldegabriel who arranged the venues of all the meetings. He deserves a lot of thanks

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Campaign Strategy:
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Once the campaign for change was adapted, the next thing in the discussion was what strategy would make the campaign effective and realistic? After exhaustive discussions a consensus was reached to base any campaign on research and studies followed by possible conferences, talks and article writings. 
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There are many issues for campaign: 1. Demobilization to trim the number of the army. 2. The Warsai/Yekealo Development project.  3. Respect the time limit of the National Service which was originally intended to be one year and six months. 4. Reopen the University of Asmara. 5. Charge all prisoners or release them. 6. Implement the constitution. 6. Respect the rule of law and human rights etc. 7. Eradicate poverty. In fact the issue of poverty eradication and food relief for those who are suffering malnutrition particularly children could be on of the main campaign agenda.
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It is very important to study the underlying causes of poverty. More often than not poverty in Africa is man made. Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun said, “Africa is ‘blessed’ with incompetent leaders”, who are grossly mismanaging the society and the economy.  The World Monuments Fund in Britain which is sponsoring the exhibition of Asmara wrote, “… Edward Denison, Guang Yu Ren and Naizgy Gebemedhin, have been working for many years with Eritrea’s Cultural Assets Rehabilitation Project and the World Bank to raise the profile of this remarkable city internationally and safeguard its architectural heritage in conjunction with Government of Eritrea’s effort to encourage the development of one of the world’s poorest countries.  It is not without reason that after 16 years of independence Eritrean has remained to be one of the poorest in the world
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One Eritrean-American who is an ardent supporter of PFDJ went to Eritrea to celebrate the 16^th. Anniversary of independence said, “I went to Massawa and I was shocked to find it a ghost town. No movement at all. I drove to Gahtelai and I took the new road via Solomuna and Serejeka to Asmara. The new road is of high standard but there was no cars using it. It was mostly enjoyed by camels and monkeys. This shows that the project is not people-centric. There is no economic benefit to the members of Warsai Yekealo or their families. They are forced to look to the outside world to improve their economic and social status. Today in Eritrea there are two distinct groups. Those who get money from relatives abroad who are relatively better off, and those who are destitute.
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In addition the Research must be extended to cover the problems faced by the new Eritrean asylum seekers and refugees. The issue is a humanitarian issue because Asylum Seekers and refugees suffer from social isolation, poor economic condition, separation from family and the most awful is lack of the English Language. Besides literature on Asylum Seekers and refugees are still very scant.  This is an area where the Diaspora can manage easily.
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During the public meeting by EDP and ELF-RC the main speaker Woldeyesus Amar covered extensively the poverty in Eritrea which is confirmed by International agency. Malnutrition of children is prevalent. There is no Eritrean Relief Association in UK today except an idle office with an idle staff that can appeal to the international community.
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Woldeyesus Amar surprised me when he advocated strengthening the Civil Societies. To recognize these facts and advocate for their advancement is unusual, a paradigm shift, in the thinking of Eritrean politicians. This understanding is profoundly significant because Civil Society organisations are the pillars of democracy. However in the Diaspora, communities are mostly based on religion, ethnicity, region etc. have polluted public debate and left the once booming civil societies in Europe disorientated, confused and weak. It succumbed to the culture of exclusion, fragmentation and has become helplessness.

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The International Dimension:
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Our voice is not limited to the internal situation we are also concerned with foreign relations impacting the life of the people. The inhuman handling of asylum seekers by the Government of Libya and Malta in contravention of the Geneva Convention on Human rights is also our concern.  As members of the International community of Nations we have the right to advocate for the right of Eritrean Asylum seekers to jobs, to education and access to services in the country they adopted.
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The Ethiopian Dimension

In the area of foreign policy the immediate issue is the question, “Why is the boundary decision not implemented and what can the EFD do about it?
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Although PM Meles Zenawi is guilty of refusing to accept the boundary commission decision without precondition, how come the UN refused to put pressure to bear on him?

How did he manipulate to rally the International community to his side and succeed to get billions of dollars in development aid?

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Interestingly a lot of informal discussion took place on this issue. The consensus was that although the blame was squarely on PM Meles, President Isaias is partly to blame. He was not cooperative and at times unapproachable by mediators. He failed to conceive any constructive initiative, new ideas, except to host and support Ethiopian groups bend on overthrowing the Ethiopian Government. This is a destructive engagement that pre-empts any good will for rapprochement.  The conclusion was that both Meles and Isaias wanted the no-war and no-peace scenario because it served their interest very well. Both wanted to keep their respective population in suspense while they consolidate their power to deal with their internal problems.

Since the end of the war Meles was preparing for the 2005 all out election. The opposition political parties were looking for weapons to attack him. The Eritrean card particularly the Badme issue was significant. It was believed that to accept the decision and give up Badme would cost him a lot of votes.

His critics were not only from the various Ethiopian political parties and liberation movements but also from his own comrades, the Gebru Asrat and Seye Abraha camp.  

The Deki Alula website, that campaigns for the release of Seye Abraha, over played the Eritrean card, accusing Meles from stopping the Army’s advancement deep into uncontested territories in Eritrea because he is Eritrean. By using the Eritrean card they tried to be more Ethiopians than the rest of the Ethiopian people. The Anti-Meles Tigrean failed to understand that they can not win the sympathy of the Amharas by using the Eritrean card. There are far more fundamental reasons why the Amhars are hostile to Tigreans seeing in power.   Gebru Asrat and co. will learn of the reasons if only they takes some time to open the pages of Ethiopian history. Ethiopian is formed into a strong feudal Empire by the Amhara Emperor Menelik 11 (1889- 1913) by invading the surrounding people particularly the Oromos. The feudal system subjected the rest of the nationalities to extreme repression.

In late 60^th Ethiopian University Students stared to debate and bring to the attention of the university student population the grinding poverty and exploitation the Ethiopian people are subjected through out their long history.  Taking advantage of the academic freedom prevailed at that time the students were able to learn revolutionary ideas, ideas that stimulated them to look for a fundamental change in the Ethiopian Society. They were able to put the issues of the oppressed nationalities centre stage. That was the moments in time in Ethiopian history were the Ethiopian students genuinely were concerned about the entire Ethiopian people and not about Empire, power and control.  And that was the moment in time when the seeds of cooperation between the Ethiopian and Eritrean revolutionaries based on the principle of justice, liberation and democracy was sown. This cooperation was critical to end the feudal oppressive system and bring the present Government to rule Ethiopia. 

The anti-Meles Tigray camp believed that without their support Eritreans could not have won the war against the large army of the Dergue. This may be true.  It may also be true that the TPLF could not have entered Addis Ababa without the support of the EPLF.  It is better if the anti-Meles camp calls a spade a spade and stop being the macho police man in the region. Credit should not go to TPLF alone but to all those combined forces that fought to end the repressive feudal system such as the OLF, ONLF, SLF (Sidama Liberation Front) the EPRP and also the Hailesellasie University Students who articulated and widely promoted the ideologies by which liberation fronts were led.

The truth on the ground is that the Amhara ruling elite does not want to see in power any oppressed nationalities other than them. The Amhara elite mostly the remains of Hailesellasie and the fascist military rulers (The Dergue) is nostalgic of the past and still are fantasizing the Grandeur of Amhara and Pax-Amharica.

However, in spite of all the problems, the mission to get rid of the oppressive feudal system which kept the people of Ethiopia in perpetual famine and underdevelopments is achieved. Today we are learning that the process of democratization of society that has experienced oppression over a long period of time and internalized it is long and painful.  Democratising the mind is more difficult than any armed struggle.  It is true democracy is not yet achieved in Ethiopia but there is an opening to take advantage of.

To be continued ...