…To do what it takes… whatever it takes… however long it takes…

…To do what it takes… whatever it takes… however long it takes…

Self-sacrifice enables us to sacrifice other people without blushing.

George Bernard Shaw

What is happening in Israel to Eritrean refugees is heart breaking, not just because of the racism and xenophobia that fellow Eritreans are faced with, but because in looking at what is going on there one soon realises how in the long ran, global politics is really played in the lives of those at the bottom of the pile… Eritreans only ever seem to hit the radar when we are either floating up a rough sea far away from home… dead!.... or when an unimaginable fate has already been sealed for us and the world is looking to deal us it, with as little noise as possible… we have no one advocating our case between chatastrophies, we have no government safeguarding our welfare and we have nothing but our lives to bargain with… each hapless refugee stands on his/ her own scrawny legs continually choosing between death and worse death…

The insult of this injury is that the world still carried on: are these refugees or migrant workers? Are these infiltrators or cancerous whatevers? Learned men in suits are actually sitting across tables discussing this and what everyone keeps missing is the fact that these are young people who haven’t been given a smidgen of a chance to make something of the life that God has given them. They were all born into an era of dark history that continues to spout venom that only allows them two choices: to die a slave or to die an unwanted scum of the earth… what happens in between is simply a course in an unstoppable tide that batters them to near death every time they beat the odds to barely survive.

Some make it alive across the border, where their peers who haven’t made the decision to flee too, are ordered to shoot at anyone crossing. But they are then in the hands of those who decide whether they would exploit them in Libya or in Sinai… often deciding just how closely to death they are going to push them before delivering them at destinations where others will either name them illegal migrants or illegal infiltrators…

Would the entities responsible for safeguarding the welfare of the people of Eritrea, please identify themselves?

The responses of the regime in Eritrea to the Lampedusa disaster and to the on-going human trafficking catastrophes are fully demonstrative of the lack of commitment to address the cause of this mass exile of Eritreans. The regime for a long time denied there even being a concerning trend (the Ambassador to the UK is still in denial if his interview last month is anything to go by)… it took several boatfuls of Eritreans to tragically perish for its diaspora supporters to be given permission to act human (with limits)… but there isn’t a single official acknowledgement of the phenomena that continues to leave the rest of the world aghast inside the country…. When the UN implicated the regime in the human trafficking scandal,  A letter to the UN was procured. In it the ‘president’ says something to the effect of: ‘I want someone else to investigate this thing that people are saying is probably happening to Eritreans.  But although I am not going to say at this point, I am not likely to accept any of the available conventional approaches of investigation like: Independent human rights organisations, the UN itself etc because ‘independent’ like a piece of string is an unknown quantity in my books’.

As far as the regime in Eritrea is concerned there are only two types of Eritreans 100% slaves and 2% slaves, the rest could turn up dead or barely alive with organs missing anywhere in the world and the regime couldn’t care less… and if we so much as  inconvenience the government by making it impossible to deny our existence the government will blame our existence outside its prescribed pigeonholes for us on everyone else.

So who cares about us Eritreans?

… the international community seems to be having a lot of difficulties understanding Eritreans… we have become a collection of contradictions: peaceful, peace loving people who threaten to wield machetes at each other given the slightest excuse… hardworking committed people who spend hours discussing our cause but barely action a number of the pledges we make… passionate fighters for the cause of justice but quick to turn a blind eye to an abject injustice right before our eyes… a flexible people that are willing to accommodate everyone else and yet so rigid when it comes to accommodating the other Eritrean who is saying all the same things in a slightly different order… an extremely persevering people who are able to tolerate all forms of hardship but can’t be so much as inconvenienced to put up with the slightest criticism… it is like our shadows have taken lives of their own and we don’t know which is what anymore… all this contradiction is leaving the international community to be ever so uncertain of what is really in the interest of Eritreans… understanding us has become a task harder than pinning a cloud… and hence often the easier task becomes paying us lip service and not getting involved in advocating for us one way or the other instead choosing to spend precious resources in areas where there is fewer options and a lesser minefield to negotiate considering the said options…end result… the International community that wants to care resorts to not care!

Who does this leave then?

Us! ..right? God help us and the nation that relays on us!!

My friends in Tel Aviv (and it really was nice to see the young people who have bought me so many cups of mint teas in all the pictures) did us all a service by showing the world that we are more than what the world has us down for… we are not the doormats nor are we the disorganised imps who can’t mobilise anyone…here was an entire community of young people giving up their jobs and other commitments to do what it takes to make sure that they are no longer trodden on… the steaks are sky high and committing to do what it takes, whatever that is, and however long it takes, is what is making the difference there… the world is fascinated and the UNHCR was left with no option but to agree to a clear call from the very people that they fobbed off and ignored for so long. I have a feeling that things won’t be the same in Tel Aviv again…I can’t wait to go back!

Committing to do what it takes whatever it takes and for however long it takes… is what is missing in our struggle against dictatorship in Eritrea…

committing to do what is convenient isn’t going to get us where we want to get to…fitting things into the little time we have left from all the other priorities isn’t going to get us anywhere either… and committing to do things only for as long as the mood to do it sustains is often taking us the three steps back after we have taken two steps forward following our ‘uplifting’ conferences and seminars… that always end in a cloud of ‘patriotic zeal!’ and always finish with the same remark biAwet tezazimu…

The task is: defeating the most brutal dictator, NO LESS!

…And it is going to take everything we have and more to effect… no half-hearted coaxing… no ‘gele neger nigber… demonstration alo elomo…’  and particularly no ‘ we will come if you tone your anti pfdj rhetoric nonsense’… will result in toppling pfdj… we are not here to convert pfdj supporters into nice people and hope we can tolerate them on our online discussions.  We are here to strip the dictator in Eritrea off, of any support (including moral support), legitimacy or power accorded to it advertently or otherwise and that is what we should focus on. The focus should not be setting up clubs where ‘like-minded’ people come together to do something to tick on their list of things one does to make one feel good about self!

I say:  If it doesn’t diminish pfdj’s hold on my people then I won’t do it (if it is there to make my group and/or organisation look ‘good’) !

When we care about our refugees we show the world,  who doesn’t…pfdj!….

When we develop coherent plans for ways forward towards a better Eritrea, we show the world who can’t… pfdj!

When we put our best foot forward as a people we fully demonstrate who is unfit to represent such inspirational people…all together now… p bloody ef deee jeyyyyyyyy (you do know how much I hate pfdj, don’t you? Well I do! I hate pfdj!)

… whatever it takes?...

When he runs out of worthier people to annoy SaleH Younis invades my inbox annoying me about my approaches to activism… (ok ok usually I get myself in a spot venting my frustration about things not working)… his latest assault on my tormented soul was… about this ‘principle’ I have about not asking people to do something that I am not prepared to myself… it’s usually centred around my problems with people who set themselves and their precious kids in a comfy western home and then ‘advocate’ for removing pfdj through violent means… I still find it difficult to ask someone to go take a measure I am not prepared to take myself…Saleh contends otherwise… he feels that is what is holding us from moving forward

…the conversation was long and went on until silly o’clock my time and then carried on where it left of until silly o’clock his time… one of us admitted HE was on PES and the other one lost the debate… or did she collapse half way through a sentence sprinkled with adjectives that shouldn’t be repeated in public?

I learnt a lot… I now think we should ask (demand even) that each of us gives this whatever it takes in their capacity… it should no longer be good enough to sit and wait for someone to do something because there really is no one out there… and it is certainly not good enough to say ‘anequa ab walaHade yelekun gin nezi sirAt yiqawemo eye…’ if you don’t mean to do anything… if you really don’t mean to do anything do us all a favour and don't say anything…

The next question (the only question for me now) is… what will it take?

selam