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The Day of Reckoning
It will have been a year on June 23rd since the UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea (COIE) presented its first report on the human rights situation in the country. The report documented personal testimonies from hundreds of victims and witnesses of a range of human rights violations committed by the Eritrean government “on a…
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Zerom The Liberator
Now that the endless “silver jubilee celebrations in Eritrea are over, and the epic trip of the torch that remained the only featured star on PFDJ’s media for about five months is over, I felt of sharing the following chapter, “The Liberator”, from my latest book “Miriam Was Here”. Consider it my way of expressing the human and…
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Rebirth of Eritrea: Beyond the Oppressed Mind
On 24 May Eritrea turned 25–a quarter of a century–a Silver Jubilee! I salute and honour all those patriots (from every walk of life) who paid dearly for the dignity of having our own nation, this in and of itself is a cause for celebration. Equally, this is a milestone and opportunity where we pause…
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Tigrinya Speakers’ Anguish: Shallowing Their Mother-Tongue
An Eritrean devoted eleven pages and over 7,000 words on a 2010 article that appeared on Asmarino. The author bemoans the lack of diaspora born Eritreans’ mastery of their “mother tongue”. He cites wads of embarrassing anecdotes to support what he called diaspora crisis in the mother tongue. The article gets into trouble from its onset…
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Defining The Eritrean Catalyst For Democratic Change
In my previous article ‘Eritrea: The Missing Element for A Democratic Change”, I concluded that the forces of change in the Diaspora are the most compatible element for catalysing prompt change in Eritrea and ensuring desirable outcomes. In fact, the catalyst role is the only viable option for the forces of change in the Diaspora.…
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Strained State Of Eritrean Opposition In Ethiopia
The only Eritrean opposition umbrella has been at a standstill for almost three years. Relentless attempts to move ahead with its preparatory activities to convene its second congress has failed leaving it in a critical situation. The Eritrean National Council For Democratic Change (ENCDC) was established in November 2011 in Hawassa. However, since its formation…
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Eritrea: The Missing Element for A Democratic Change
The main proposition of this article is that change in Eritrea is inevitable. However, that does not imply it will occur within the timeframe that the Eritrean opposition professes claiming the regime is at the verge of collapsing. Moreover, change does not imply an automatic transition to a democratic system. The recent events of the…
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A Response To Tesfabirhan Regarding Radio Blina
I would first like to appreciate Tesfabirhan Weldegabir, the writer of the article entitled “De-politicizing a program is politics: A case of Radio Blina”. The article was posted on May 4th, 2016 on awate.com. I would like to commend the writer for his efforts to strengthen the opposition cause and for recognizing the current neglect…
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From Mutual Coexistence to Mutual Suspicion
From Mutual Coexistence to Mutual Suspicion: Perceptions, Realities and Confusions of the Eritrean Societies under EPLF/PFDJ Governance There is no question that the Eritrean independence was the result of the disproportionately heavy price and ultimate sacrifices paid by its citizens. So much blood and tears had been shed and so many lives had been sacrificed…
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Constitutional Reform And Reconciliation
Introduction:The major division of thoughts in philosophy is the relationship between “being” and “thinking” and the definition of what the world is consisting of – in primary instance. Materialism claims that, in the first instance – the world is just “a matter in motion” and our mind, awareness, and thoughts are secondary property of matter.…
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Europe Targets Eritrea’s Natural Resources
Europe’s recent rapprochement with the government of Eritrea was the outcome of an elaborate politico-diplomatic campaign spearheaded by the EU. In an earlier posting, the writer stipulated that the push by Brussels for normalizing relations was driven by Europe’s political and economic agendas on Eritrea. He further argued that the political agenda is one which…
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I Beg to Differ
There is a common trend in the discourse of Diaspora Eritreans that any activity or activism that operates inclusively amounts to acquiescing to or supporting the status quo in our homeland. I intend to argue that this is a misguided notion. I haven’t written publicly on any topic outside my field of expertise (biology) since…
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Eritrean Apathy: No Boletika Zone
This edition of Negarit was first published on July 21, 2008. Since then, so many Eritrean associations have been created; most of them peddle the “No Boletika Zone” position in the face of the rampant injustice that Eritreans are facing. These associations have played a major role in creating the political apathy that has inflicted many…
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De-Politicising A Program is Politics: A Case of Radio Blina
Introduction: Between May 7 and 8, 2016, Eritrean Blen Diaspora will gather in Lausanne, Switzerland for a two-day conference organized by Radio Blina. That is probably a milestone on preserving their endangered language and culture that is exposed to constant exodus and political segregation. The event was initially proposed by Radio Blina listeners to extend their helping…
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Europe’s Cynical Designs On Eritrea: Political Agenda
An article that this writer posted at Awate in March had pondered the question of what may have been the real reason(s) that impelled the EU to re-engage the Eritrean government and provide it with a sizeable aid package early this year. To be sure, EU’s official statements of the time had claimed that the…
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Nsu nHna, nHna nsu: We Are One And The Same
Several studies conducted on dictatorships of the last century indicate that there is a method to how dictators stay in power and how they ultimately fall[i]. Dictators stay in power by keeping the balance of what Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman call, “the dictatorship equilibrium[ii].” In some of these studies the most common types of…
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Eritrean Days And Dates
Someone who goes by the name warrior has put it in a rather vivid way: “Even Jesus’ birthday is a controversy among biblical scholars as they argue viciously that his true birthday is not on December 25.” Luckily, we know exactly on what day the Eritrean war of independence ended. It was May 24, 1991.…
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Our National Hypnosis: April 27 vs May 24
Let’s start with a pop quiz. An easy one, I promise. So easy, most Eritreans –children to adults– know the answer to this question, without even thinking. Without thinking, eh? Usually, that doesn’t lead to enlightened conclusions; which is partly what this post is about, the unintended consequences of going with the flow. I guess…
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Awate 2020 Project Launch
The Ad-Hoc Task Force (ATF) for the Awate2020 project* is glad to announce a Paltalk session for Saturday, April 23, 2016, at 8pm Berlin Time, and 2pm, North American West Coast**. We cordially invite all friends and supporters of awate.com to attend the session. The session will be held at the Awate2020 room and we will try to…
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Eritrean Victims And An Illusive Justice
On April 14, Eritreans in the UK started a weekend of activities as Commemorating Eritrean prisoners of conscience. Many Eritreans attended the morning and evening sessions of events and Mesfin Hagos was one of the attendants. Minor chaos ensued when a person publicly accused Mesfin as a perpetrator of the arrests and disappearances of Eritreans…
