Eritrean Ambassador, H.E. Mr Girma Asmeron, presents his credentials to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, 2007.

© EC

With criticism against Eritrea surfacing in various media across Europe over the last few months, The Courier gives the floor to Girma Asmeron, the country’s Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg. We seek his response, but also to find out more about the general situation in his country. We began with a question about the lack of image suffered by Eritrea.

Ambassador: Suffering is a very elastic word, but there is deliberate distortion from different circles, for whatever motive, against Eritrea. But the reality in Eritrea is extremely different from what is being propagated and portrayed in some quarters.

Before discussing some of these allegations, could you tell us about the current country-wide situation, especially in these times of global economic crisis?

Eritrea is blessed with having come late into this world – we are only 18 years old. We have tried to avoid every single mistake that has been made by developing countries, notably by African countries. Eritrea is very clear about where it wants to go. First and foremost, the foreign aid dependency syndrome has to be cut. That does not mean we do not want foreign aid, but ownership must be ours. Our natural resources also must benefit the country – it must be a win-win situation for both investors and for us.

The other dimension we want in Eritrea is in terms of capacity building. Eritrea is extremely rich. We have gold; we have 1,200 kilometres of coastline with a sustainable capacity of fishing 80,000 metric tonnes per year, out of which only 10,000 metric tonnes are currently caught. We have marble and granite. We are only four million people, and the equitable distribution of wealth is properly handled. But no matter how much gold we have, the investor is not going to come unless our infrastructure such roads, ports, electricity, telecommuncations, etc., is developed. We are expanding additional ports. We used to have two airports, now we have four. We have two major ports; we are connecting them via major highways. Instead of three days, it now takes only seven hours to link them. So we are laying down infrastructure before inviting investors to come.

How do you reply to the criticism from some international associations who make the following allegations: young people who don’t want to go into the army (national service) are harshly punished; illegal Eritrean migrants sent back from Egypt are sometimes imprisoned; the government interferes in religious affairs. They give as examples the removal of Patriarch Antonios and the situation of the Pentecostal-like group of the Mulu-Wengel. 

These are three very good questions. There are distortions here. First in terms of the national service, we copied it from the Swiss, the Belgians, the Israelis and other countries. As a small nation, we consciously decided there is no need for a professional army which is very expensive. Moreover, national service increases the opportunity for better cohesion among the different ethnic groups. Unfortunately, a war erupted. Ethiopia tried to invade Eritrea. The youth was mobilised. Ethiopia has a population of 80 million, we’re only 4 million. It is a nation-building process to protect your own country. Look, the Americans invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. They said that was for national security reasons. Conscription in Eritrea is for a period of one year and six months. In the military structure, there are military disciplinary actions. But punishments do not go beyond normality. Therefore the national service is the right of obligation for Eritreans.

As for the second point you raised about the exodus of Eritrean youth; that is again a distortion of reality. There is now a big business in human trafficking. The NGOs are the ones who write affidavits saying there are human rights violations, and so a particular guy has to be given refugee status. This is a job creation exercise for them. The fact of the matter is that Eritreans returning to their country are not detained or sent to jail.
 
About religious groups, Eritrea is 50% Christian and 50% Muslim. They lived in harmony for centuries. Given this cohesion and unity, we have zero tolerance for extremism. Extremism is not only from Islam fundamentalists; it also comes from Christians. There is not only al-Qaeda. I have the right to protect my cohesion, my harmony. We restrict the number of Madrasas opened in Eritrea; we also have to restrict the activities of Christian fundamentalists. 

As for Patriarch Antonios, the Eritrean Orthodox church has a Synod which is the most democratic institution. It replaced its own Patriarch by another Patriarch. He has never been detained; he can never be detained. None of the Patriarchs have been deposed as a result of government intervention.

Could you summarise the geopolitics of Eritrea?

Eritrea is the most stable country in the whole of Africa. Look at Ethiopia, where religious cleansing and ethnic cleansing happen everyday. The regime in power in Ethiopia is from a specific ethnic group which makes up only five per cent of the population. So the entire region is volatile. In Somalia there is tension between the Afars and the Issas. You know about Kenya, what has transpired in the election. It was a volatile situation that included ethnic cleansing. Almost 600,000 people were displaced. Almost 1,500 people were killed. In Sudan there is a South and North and Darfur issue. Eritrea is for peace and stability in the region. Eritrea believes in a strong region. It is a trading block. Unless you have peace and stability, the trading block is not going to function.                                   

The international geopolitics is this – this is diplomacy 101 (a basic principle of diplomacy): there are no permanent friends, but permanent interests. That is the basic theory of every nation. Be it small or big, it has a role to play for peace and stability in this global village. We feel we can play a constructive role, and we have been playing a constructive role; and that is the way forward.

Suggested weblinks