Eritreans: Let their voices be heard

Group of young Eritreans in Tel Aviv

By Yodit Andemariam

This week we saw another episode of young Eritreans in trouble going through “living hell” on their quest for freedom. Being robbed of their dignity they held on to the only symbol of their hope - our flag.

We witnessed true patriotism and love for one another rallying for justice, freedom, and dignity, instead of the usual false, blind and stubborn pride; no more, no less. Each picture tells a heartbreaking story, but what is most astonishing is all this young faces and the age of the protesters.

It felt immoral to see young Eritreans spending their last penny to make their voices heard - each refugee paid 40 shekels for a bus ride to the Israeli Knesset - just to find out that across the world “including Eritrea” their demands for personal freedom, opportunity and human rights fall on deaf ears.

So, let their voices be heard:

Mulugeta from Eritrea: ”Today the Eritreans are celebrating Christmas, but this year it is marked by sadness”

Some protestors held signs that read, “We are damn proud to be black & African” while others carried the message: “Freedom yes, Prison no!”

Father Semereab an Eritrean Orthodox monk told Mondoweiss, “The Israeli government is a dictator government, they have no democracy here. There is no work, no visa, no green card.” Father Semereab has lived in Israel for the past three years. “In my nation when I heard of Israel I thought it was very nice,”.

“Israel, I am confused, you are the 1st who demands the world to recognize refugees”, a young Eritrean protester scribbled on a piece of paper.

On their march to the foreign embassies in Tel Aviv demonstrators chanted, “We are refugees” & “No more prison”

Some representatives of the refugees said, “In our desperation for help we call upon the ambassadors and diplomats in Israel. We know their countries are also dealing with the challenge of many refugees seeking political asylum and protection from persecution, war and genocide.”

The Eritrean Women’s Center supporting women and human rights in Tel Aviv on its Facebook site stated: “The Eritrean Womens’s Center supports the 200 refugees that are marching from Beersheva to Jerusalem in a peaceful protest. Together with them, we are against the new Knesset legislation that allows refugees to be imprisoned in the “open” center in the Negev desert. Together with them we also ask that our human rights as refugees are respected.”

Protestors also carried messages addressed to the Eritrean government, “No more national service slavery in Eritrea”, they read.

Forty Shekel for bus ride to Knesset

People like Father Semereab and 60,000 other asylum seekers are facing imprisonment orders and the end of a de facto Israeli policy to not deport would-be refugees. Many refugees have also received prison summons to show up at a desert detention facility when renewing identification cards over the past weeks, according to media reports.

The global Eritrean community is outraged by the treatment of young Eritreans, trapped between the Eritrean government’s inability to implement change and the refusal of countries like Israel to acknowledge their asylum seeker status.

On one hand, they face arrest and imprisonment for the crime of having entered Israel to seek asylum and on the other hand, they face retaliation back home for the crime of deserting the army or leaving Eritrea to seek stronger personal freedom.

Eritreans all over the world in chat rooms, facebook and other internet media showed their solidarity with the refugees and call on the Eritrean government to solve the underlying problems leading to the exodus of citizens and growing exile community.

Exodus 7:26: “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me”, in which God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt.