Has anything changed??
Written by: Ali Orre
Since the day this government was established, had its own interest
at heart and not of the people, thus started bullying and terrorizing the intellectuals and the media.
Has anything changed? Since the dawn of impendence, the Eritrean state has been in a steady decline. The country's people suffer from chronic shortages of drinking water, electricity, fuel, and basic consumer goods. Adult Eritreans are forced to serve in the military or the national service for indefinite time periods, which forces thousands to flee the country every month and join the diaspora. has really anything changed ?
The government introduced a diaspora tax for all Eritreans living abroad, which stood at 2 percent of their annual income no matter how it was acquired; either through work or social welfare benefits. The diaspora tax was applied to people of Eritrean origin who had been naturalized by their host nations but were still considered as nationals by the Eritrean government and were thus supposed to pay. The purpose of the tax was to foster the reconstruction of the war-devastated country. Regular payment of the levy was a precondition of access to consular and other government services. However, the fund was paid out to enrich the cronies of the ruling party.
They government is involved in illegal activities such as smuggling and human trafficking. It severely curtailed all private business activities, and the economy has been monopolized by the party and the military, both of whom use national service conscripts as unpaid laborers in their commercial enterprises.
Day after day, the administration keeps building more and more prisons and less schools. To the point where classrooms are crammed. Nevertheless, spaces and budgets are allotted for prisons and purchase of weapons that slowly dried the coffers of the state became a police state.
The nation is in such debilitated state that, the leaders are ready to auction it to the highest and the strongest bidder under the guise of “The reconciliation between Ethiopia and Eretria”.
Since china is enjoying commercial relations with Africa as recently as in Senegal as Perhaps the U.S. has come to the realize that it is time to make a new alliance as Djibouti, located in the vicinity of Ethiopia and Eritrea, has allowed China to build a military base on its territory. So, given the geopolitical developments in the Red Sea and the Chinese presence in Africa; the United Arab Emirates and America sees its interest in improving relations with Eritrea.
Driven by petro dollar, the UAE is building bases far beyond its borders
The UAE has won Berbera and Eritrea’s Asaab base by agreement, but elsewhere it applies force. In July 2015 it defied doubters, including the Saudis, by capturing Aden, once the British Empire’s busiest port.
After the wartime Allies expelled Eritrea's Italian colonial rulers in 1941, Britain took control of the region and eventually was assigned it as a ( League of Nations) UN trust territory. In 1952, the ( League of nation) UN decided to federate Eritrea to Ethiopia, hoping to reconcile Ethiopian claims of sovereignty and Eritrean aspirations for independence. A decade later, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie dissolved the federation and annexed Eritrea, triggering a thirty year armed struggle in Eritrea. Is this a repeat of another 30-year war ?
However, just some of the problems that lie ahead. There is no guarantee that the whole edifice won’t collapse, as the complex details of the relationship are worked out. There are many issues that have to be resolved before relations between the two countries can be returned to normal. Therefore, let stick to the plan of total breakaway and complete sovereignty of Eritrea.