[Ai] Asmarino Independent

Update on the Famine Crisis in Eritrea: the Landless and Beggars

As the result of the land expropriation, endless national service programs, crop expropriation  and restrictions of trade of food and other items  as well as the result of the impact of last crop season’s drought, the Eritrean population has been subjected to famine and hunger. Since my last report the prices for grain has almost remained constant because the government has to some degree loosened the control over the movement and trading of specific crop items such as sorghum in the past months while still tight control is being imposed on other food items such oil, wheat, wheat flour, sugar, etc. The implication is the prices for some items such as sugar, oil, pasta has increased by 30 to 40% since my last report. But even so prices have been extremely high for such a long time that for the population of Eritrea with no income sources the main problem at this time is more of lack of affordability. Even the rations that were supplied through the so called “fair price shops” have been slashed or are being distributed occasionally – for example, oil is only being distributed occasionally. The crisis of supply of energy is unresolved yet. Thus the situation is so severe and with every passing day it is getting extremely difficult for people to cope bye. And it is further anticipated that the availability of food crops will be reduced and prices will further rise up because the government has again tightened the control over the trade of food crops and other items as per the 28^th of April, 2009.  

Read more...

Burying the Hatchet!

Ethiopian, Historical and Political 

After a decade of confusions, politics of the Horn are showing signs of recovery. In the world of Obama, where CHANGE is proving to be the most powerful engine to recovery, a promising Ethiopian-hand is emerging to verify its role in molding the trends of resolving the crisis of one of the global hot- spots, i.e., the Horn of Africa.

Leaving to history-books, the regrettable war of mismanagement (1998-2000) and its impacts, Ethiopian government has a new idea about the futurity of deportees.

Read more...

EPP’s Woldeyesus Ammar attacks Isayas’s military adventures.

 All past actions and reactions of Isayas Afwerki have proven beyond doubt - to all sensible Eritreans and to the world at large - the sheer irrationality of the man. His associations and diplomatic relations cannot be expected to have any logic, and one should forget about any immediate or long-term benefits from such associations to the people Isayas is supposed to be leading. For sure, the Eritrean petty dictator obtains financial benefits from globally ostracized regimes and organizations that help him fund his security apparatus as well as his aggressive and meaningless adventures in the region. In short, by his irrational associations with this and that rogue regime and terrorist outfits, Isayas may hope to ´bully´ and thus draw the attention of Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, he sometimes feels his misdeeds serve him well – e.g. look at the recent 122 million euro grant from the Europeans with the illusive hope of keeping open "a window" for dialogue with Isayas lest the man and his regime do worse than what they are doing. But isayas cannot do worse to Eritrea and its neighborly peoples. We feel the sane world should stop living in illusion and, instead, make pressure bear on Isayas and cut short his lunacy.  Read more...

Eritrea: Repression Creating Human Rights Crisis

 

(London, April 16, 2009) – Eritrea’s extensive detention and torture of its citizens and its policy of prolonged military conscription are creating a human rights crisis and prompting increasing numbers of Eritreans to flee the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 95-page report, “Service for Life: State Repression and Indefinite Conscription in Eritrea,” documents serious human rights violations by the Eritrean government, including arbitrary arrest, torture, appalling detention conditions, forced labor, and severe restrictions on freedom of movement, expression, and worship. It also analyzes the difficult situation faced by Eritreans who succeed in escaping to other countries such as Libya, Sudan, Egypt, and Italy.

Read more...

Eritrean President: No trial for Swedish journalist

 The Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak, who has been imprisoned since 2001, will not be released and will not get a trial.

This states the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, in an interview with freelance reporter Donald Boström, broadcasted in TV4.

“We will not have any trial and we will not release him. We now how to handle him and others like him”, says the President.

Afwerki believes that the pressure put on his country, together with all opposition against the regime, is part of a conspiracy against Eritrea, lead by the US intelligence agency CIA.

Read more...

ERITREA’S DANGEROUS ‘IRAN AND AL-SHABAAB CONNECTIONS’

ERITREA remains chokingly gripped with the misfortunes of tyranny, hunger and despair. It was no wonder, therefore, that President Isayas Afewerki has been noticeably busy trying to divert attention away from the hot issues of human rights, democracy and famine. Nothing could be more diversionary than Isayas’s perceived actions in the service of Iranian and Al-Shabaab’s designs to undermine President Obama’s policies toward the Horn of Africa.

In a statement, the interim Somali government last week accused the Eritrean authorities of sending two plane-loads of weapons to Somalia in violation of UN arms embargo on that war-ravaged country. The Somali government alleged that two planes from Eritrea landed at an Al-Shababa controlled airstrip in Lower Shebelle Region in Southern Somalia on April 28 and May 1. Voice of America says the accusation is a repeat of events in 2007, when the United Nations said Eritrea was secretly sending arms and missiles to Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab.  

Read more...

Sub-Sahara, Chalice merger to fund Eritrea project

Sub-Sahara's Zara project has an estimated 1 million ounces of gold in the west of the Red Sea state, where international prospectors expect large precious gold and base metal finds.

"The proposed merger will combine Chalice's strong cash position of over 10 million (Australian dollars) with Sub-Sahara's 69 percent interest in the high grade Zara Gold Joint Venture in Eritrea, East Africa," the companies said.

Read more...

Announcement to Our Audience

We would like to apologize to our readers and contributing writers for the few days of service interruption in our website.  

The problem has been a technical one, caused by numerous denial of service attacks coordinated by those who feel threatened by the service that Asmarino provides in enlightening and emboldening our people to rise up against the brutal rule of the Isaias regime. They have been hoping that Asmarino wouldn’t come back, and the fact that it has returned with more tools in its arsenal than before has alarmed them and, consequently, they are doing everything they can to shut it up. And this is not the first time this has happened, and every time they have been doing that, we have come out more determined than ever to carry out our mission – a mission that will not end until we see the last days of the Isaias regime. 

Read more...