Friday, June 26, 2015

Philip Hammond warns Ethiopia over treatment of Briton on death row | World news | The Guardian

Placards demand the immediate release of UK citizen Andargachew Tsige, also sometimes spelled Tsege, who was given a death sentence in his absence.

The treatment of a Briton on death row in Ethiopia is threatening to undermine the country’s relationship with the UK, the foreign secretary has warned.

In an unusually blunt statement, Philip Hammond has called for rapid progress in the case of Andargachew Tsige, who is being held in solitary confinement in an unknown location in Ethiopia.

The foreign secretary’s comments, released a year after Tsige was abducted while transiting through Yemen, is a clear sign of official disapproval of the approach taken by the regime in Addis Abbaba. The Foreign Office is escalating the case beyond confidential diplomatic exchanges.

Andy Tsige pictured with his family. Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Andy Tsige pictured with his family. Photograph: Yemi Hailemariam/Family
On Wednesday, Hammond spoke to the Ethiopian foreign minister, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, about the case on the phone. His statement said: “I am deeply concerned that, a year after he was first detained, British national Andargachew Tsige remains in solitary confinement in Ethiopia without a legal process to challenge his detention.

“I am also concerned for his welfare and disappointed that our repeated requests for regular consular access have not been granted, despite promises made.

“I spoke to foreign minister Tedros and made clear that Ethiopia’s failure to grant our repeated and basic requests is not acceptable. I informed Dr Tedros that the lack of progress risks undermining the UK’s much valued bilateral relationship with Ethiopia.

“I asked Dr Tedros once again to permit immediate regular consular access and for our concerns regarding Mr Tsige’s welfare to be addressed. I have also asked that the Ethiopian authorities facilitate a visit by Mr Tsige’s family. Foreign Office officials will continue to provide consular support both to Mr Tsige and to his family during this difficult time.”
Tsige’s partner, Yemi Hailemariam, also a British national, lives in London with their three children. She has spoken to him only once by phone since his abduction.
“He’s in prison but we have no idea where he is being held,” she told the Guardian last month. “He said he was okay, but I’m sure the call was being listened to. He had been in Dubai and was flying on to Eritrea when the plane stopped over in Yemen. He hadn’t even been through immigration. We think Yemeni security took him and handed him over to the Ethiopians.


Yemi Hailemariam outside the Foreign Commonwealth Office in April
Pinterest
 Yemi Hailemariam outside the Foreign Commonwealth Office in April Photograph: Alamy


“They say there was an extradition agreement, but it was so quick there was no time for any semblance of a legal hearing. Yemen and Ethiopia had close relations then. The [Ethiopian] government have put him on television three times in heavily edited interviews, saying he was revealing secrets.
“He has been kept under artificial light 24 hours a day and no one [other than the UK ambassador] has had access to him.”
Tsige, 60 – known as Andy – had previously been secretary general of Ginbot 7, a political opposition party that called for democracy, free elections and civil rights. He first came to the UK in 1979.
The Ethiopian government has accused him of being a terrorist. In 2009, he was tried with others in his absence and sentenced to death. The latest reports suggest that his health is deteriorating. 
His lawyer, Ben Cooper, of Doughty Street Chambers, said: “We welcome the Foreign Secretary condemning the illegality of Andy Tsige’s detention, confirming the fact of his solitary confinement and demanding consular visits. But we have a simple ask: please request Andy Tsige’s return home to his family in London. Mr Tsige was kidnapped by Ethiopia at an international airport and the only remedy for kidnap is release. Why has Mr Hammond not yet asked Ethiopia to release Andy so he can return home to England?”
Juan Méndez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, has written to the Ethiopian and UK governments saying he is investigating Tsige’s treatment. 

Who is Andargachew Tsige?

Andargachew, or Andy, Tsige fled Addis Abbaba in the 1970s following threats against his life from the military regime, the Derg, which then controlled Ethiopia.
A student activist, he had attracted the attention of the authorities. His younger brother was killed by the security forces. Tsige escaped into the mountains to join opposition groups.
In 1979, after falling out with fellow rebels, he sought asylum in the UK. He studied at the University of Greenwich and obtained full UK citizenship. 
Tsige returned to Ethiopia after the Derg was overthrown but moved back to the UK in the early 1990s where he became active in opposition politics. 
In 2005, he returned to Addis Abbaba again. He took part in that year’s election and was briefly imprisoned. after being freed, he founded a new political movement, Ginbot 7, from his exile in London.
The organisation was alleged by the Ethiopian government to have launched a failed coup in 2009. Tsige was condemned to death in his absence.
In June 2014, he had flown to the Gulf to give lectures. An unexpected change to his return route saw him fly back via Yemen where he changed planes. At Sana’a airport, he was arrested by guards and put on a plane to Ethiopia on the grounds that there was an extradition agreement between the two countries.
Supporters say that had he been born white and in the UK, the Foreign Office would have taken a more forceful line in campaigning for his release from death row in east Africa.
His partner, Yemisrach Hailemariam, and their three children live in London. She has campaigned actively for his freedom. 
In February a delegation of MPs, led by Jeremy Corbyn, his local member, was scheduled to visit Ethiopia in an attempt to secure his release. The trip was abandoned following a meeting with the Ethiopian ambassador.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Why Is This Tiny African Country The Second-Biggest Source Of Migrants Crossing The Mediterranean - BuzzFeed News













Why Is This Tiny African Country The Second-Biggest Source Of Migrants Crossing The Mediterranean?

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The East African country is one of the most oppressive in the world, and yet it rarely makes headlines.




This year has seen a surge in migrants from the Middle East and Africa trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe — and dying when their boats capsize. EU ministers are meeting this week for the latest round of talks on the crisis.

This year has seen a surge in migrants from the Middle East and Africa trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe — and dying when their boats capsize. EU ministers are meeting this week for the latest round of talks on the crisis.
Migrants wait to disembark from an Iceland Coast Guard vessel at a harbor in southern Italy on May 6 after being rescued at sea. Antonio Calanni / AP

Many migrants are fleeing well-known conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan. Others hail from west Africa and are seeking better economic fortunes. But one of the largest groups comes from Eritrea — a tiny east African country that rarely makes the news.

Many migrants are fleeing well-known conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan. Others hail from west Africa and are seeking better economic fortunes. But one of the largest groups comes from Eritrea — a tiny east African country that rarely makes the news.
Google Maps

Eritreans are the second-largest group of migrants crossing the Mediterranean so far this year and last year, according to the U.N.’s refugee agency.



Syrians account for a third of the 90,000 migrants who made the crossing during the first five months of this year — but Eritreans account for over a 10th. They also accounted for almost a fifth of those making the crossing last year.
In Italy, the most popular landing country for the migrants crossing the Mediterranean, Eritreans are the biggest group arriving, according to the International Organization for Migration. The number of Eritrean refugees arriving in the U.K. doubled last year to become the highest total from any single country, the BBC reported.
But, if there’s no big war going on in Eritrea, why does everyone want to leave?

Eritrea, which hasn’t held elections in two decades, is one of the world’s most oppressive countries. It uses torture, forced disappearances, mass surveillance, and indefinite military service to control its citizens, the U.N. said in a report last week.

Eritrea, which hasn’t held elections in two decades, is one of the world's most oppressive countries. It uses torture, forced disappearances, mass surveillance, and indefinite military service to control its citizens, the U.N. said in a report last week.
Eritrean refugees in Israel protest against their government outside their embassy in Tel Aviv on May 11. Baz Ratner / Reuters

The main reason Eritreans flee is because of the potentially endless military service that starts when people finish studying, human rights activists and Eritrean asylum-seekers told BuzzFeed News.



Robel, an 18-year-old asylum seeker who left Eritrea last year and is now in the British city of Bristol, told BuzzFeed News he fled as soon as he finished school to avoid the draft. “It’s too hard to live in Eritrea because there are a lot of things they can do to you,” he said in a phone interview last month. “You can be in the military service for unlimited years, or in prison, and you don’t have a chance to raise your voice, to change the president.”
Thomas, a 32-year-old Eritrean who fled in 2013 and now lives near Gothenburg, Sweden, told BuzzFeed News that he fled after spending 14 years in forced military service, during which he was forced to work as a border guard and paid just over $40 a month (this blog post from The Economist from last year put the typical monthly salary even lower, at $30 or less).
Both Thomas and Robel asked us not to use their full names as they still have relatives in Eritrea.

Eritrea gained independence from its far bigger neighbor Ethiopia after a 30-year warthat ended in the early 1990s. President Isaias Afewerki has been at the helm ever since.

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Eritrea gained independence from its far bigger neighbor Ethiopia after a 30-year war that ended in the early 1990s. President Isaias Afewerki has been at the helm ever since.
President Afwerki addresses the U.N. General Assembly in 2011. Chip East / Reuters

Eritrea says extended military service has been necessary because of threats from Ethiopia, the BBC has reported. The two neighbors fought another war in the late 1990s, and Ethiopia later rejected a border set by an international commission.



Yohanna Teklu, a spokesperson for the Eritrean embassy in London, told BuzzFeed News that the national service had been extended “for [a] much longer time than anticipated” because of Ethiopia’s actions, and was due to be returned to its originally planned length of 18 months this summer.
Teklu also said those leaving the country were not fleeing repression but simply hoped to find better-paid jobs in Europe, like economic migrants from many other parts of Africa.

Many Eritreans had been going to Israel. But Israel has in recent years started pressuring asylum-seekers to leave and even deporting them, The Guardian has reported, forcing escapees to try to reach Europe instead.

Many Eritreans had been going to Israel. But Israel has in recent years started pressuring asylum-seekers to leave and even deporting them, The Guardian has reported, forcing escapees to try to reach Europe instead.
African migrants protest against Israel’s detention policies in February 2014. Baz Ratner / Reuters
Despite Eritrea’s isolation, many people there are switched on about how unusual their situation is due to a growing diaspora that keeps relatives back home informed, said Gaim Kibreab, an expert on forced migration in Eritrea at London South Bank University. This awareness makes people increasingly likely to flee, he said.
“It’s a literate population, and also everyone has a brother or sister or something overseas,” Kibreab told BuzzFeed News. “People know what’s going on.”

Genzebe DIBABA wins Women's 5000m IAAF Diamond League Athletics - Oslo 2015

Knesset rejects inquiry into Ethiopian's claims of discrimination - Israel News, Ynetnews



Despite on-going protests by Ethiopian-Israelis, proposals by MKs Livni, Khenin rejected as hypocritical; Activist: 'Elected officials disconnected from reality.'
Moran Azulay, Omri Ephraim
Published: 06.24.15, 20:12 / Israel News
Two proposals to create a parliamentary commission of inquiry to examine allegations of discrimination, racism and violence against Israel's Ethiopian community were rejected in a Knesset meeting Wednesday, despite a continuing protest movement that erupted nearly two months ago after a video surfaced documenting a violent encounter between a police officer and an Ethiopian soldier in uniform.









The proposals were submitted by former justice minister Tzipi Livni and MK Dov Khenin of the Joint Arab List. The first was defeated in a 48-46 vote, the second in a 48-44 vote.







Tzipi Livni speaks in the Knesset.

Tzipi Livni speaks in the Knesset.






Yaiyo Avraham, an activist in the Ethiopian community, told Ynet that, "The Knesset's decision proves once again the disconnect between elected officials and reality. The decision means that discrimination and institutional racism against Ethiopians will continue."





Before the votes, Livni addressed the Knesset saying, "Whoever votes no will become a participant in discrimination. It's time the Ethiopian community stopped being invisible citizens. More than trying to find failures and lay blame, it (the proposal) is an attempt to find solutions."







Protesting in Tel Aviv on Monday. (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Protesting in Tel Aviv on Monday. (Photo: Motti Kimchi)






Those voting against the proposals accused both Livni and Khenin of hypocrisy, saying that Khenin would rather see Ethiopians in Ethiopia and that Livni did nothing to change the situation during her time as justice minister.





Hundreds of Israeli Ethiopians returned to the streets of Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon to continue their protest against discrimination after the attorney-general decided not to prosecute a police officer documented beating an Ethiopian soldier.





Clashes broke out at the protest at Rabin Square and dozens were arrested. Thousands attended the first protest organized by the movement in Tel Aviv several weeks ago, when full-blown riots wounded dozens.