Editorial
The International Community Must Finally Shoulder its Role
https://shabait.com/2025/03/22/the-inte ... -its-role/
Mar 22, 2025
Earlier this week, Osman Saleh, Eritrea’s Foreign Minister, delivered a briefing to diplomats and UN officials in Asmara, addressing the recent flood of misinformation and false accusations being peddled against Eritrea. He categorically rejected false claims of Eritrean troops presence in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, reaffirming that the EDF units have been fully redeployed within the country’s internationally recognized borders since November 2022. He also dismissed attempts to scapegoat Eritrea for Ethiopia’s ongoing internal crises, clarifying that Eritrea views the Pretoria Agreement as an internal Ethiopian matter and has no intention of intervening in the ongoing power struggle in Tigray. Additionally, he criticized Ethiopia’s dangerous rhetoric regarding access to the Red Sea.
Beyond setting the record straight, the briefing highlighted a broader issue: the international community’s historical role in exacerbating regional instability rather than promoting peace. Instead of upholding justice and international law, global powers have repeatedly undermined Eritrea’s sovereignty and emboldened aggression in the region. As tensions now escalate across the Horn of Africa, the international community must finally do what it has long failed to – stand up for justice, condemn violations of international law, and take a firm, principled stance against aggression.
Denying and ignoring Eritrea’s right to self-determination
The international community’s harmful actions toward Eritrea, have deep historical roots. After World War II, the Eritrean people’s aspirations for independence were sacrificed for geopolitical interests. Following Italian colonization and a period under British administration, Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia against the wishes of its people. This decision was driven by Western strategic interests, as articulated by John Foster Dulles, in a September 1952 speech to the UN Security Council:
As Ethiopia systematically dismantled the federation and forcibly annexed Eritrea, the international community remained utterly silent, failing to condemn these blatant violations of Eritrean rights and international law. Over decades, the international community ignored Eritreans’ calls for self-determination, forcing the country to endure Africa’s longest war without international support or intervention. In fact, not once throughout nearly a half-century until 1991 did Eritrea, the scene of Africa’s longest war and victim of some of the grossest violations of human rights, figure on the agenda of the UN. In the forward of the Proceedings of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of People, convened in 1980, it was declared:From the point of justice, the opinions of the Eritrean people must receive consideration. Nevertheless, the strategic interest of the United States in the Red Sea basin and considerations of security and world peace make it necessary that the country be linked with our ally, Ethiopia.
Similarly, the following year, a decade before Eritrea would eventually gain independence, the International Commission of Jurists stated that:No important struggle – be it in terms of military intensity or in terms of political impact – is so poorly known, indeed ignored, as is that which the Eritrean people have been engaged in for 20 years.
Following Eritrea’s formal admission into the UN in 1993, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki addressed the General Assembly, reflecting on the years of neglect:Of all the people who, since the Second World War, have been the victims of Great Power rivalries and ambitions, perhaps the one with the greatest claim for consideration is the people of Eritrea. Nevertheless, no nation has yet been willing to raise the issue of the rights of these people in the United Nations. The truth is that the ‘Eritrean question’ is a source of embarrassment both to the UN itself and to almost all ‘interested parties’.
Continued hostility and double standards[The years of] deafening silence, pained our people. It also gave a free hand to the aggressors, thereby prolonging our suffering and increasing the sacrifices we had to make. But, it neither shook our resolve nor undermined our belief in the justness of our cause and the inevitability of our victory. As an Eritrean proverb says: ‘The rod of truth may become thinner, but it cannot be broken.’ Indeed, justice has finally prevailed. This is a source of hope and happiness not only for the Eritrean people, but for all those who cherish justice and peace.
Eritrea’s struggle did not end with independence. From 1998 to 2000, it faced a war of aggression designed to overthrow the government, reverse its independence, and seize large swathes of its territory, including along the Red Sea, by force. Despite the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s “final and binding” rulings, the international community allowed Ethiopia to maintain for almost a decade, its illegal military occupation of Eritrean lands and launch repeated large-scale military attacks. In fact, rather than condemning Ethiopia’s violations, Western powers rewarded the aggressors instead. Ethiopia, under the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), received substantial foreign aid, mostly in budgetary and other fungible forms, and debt forgiveness while being positioned as a Western ally.
Compounding matters, at the behest of Western powers and their regional proxy, a series of punishing sanctions were imposed on Eritrea, despite the lack of any solid evidence for the claims and allegations raised. These measures not only hampered Eritrea’s nation building efforts and the potential for regional cooperation, they also emboldened hostile actors. Even after the original justifications for the sanctions were debunked, they remained in place for years, reflecting a broader agenda of containment and control rather than genuine concern for peace and stability.
Beyond political interference, Eritrea has also been the target of relentless and coordinated media campaigns designed to vilify and demonize the country while obscuring the real sources of conflict and instability in the region.
The time for a principled stance is now
Today, sabre-rattling and rising tensions surrounding the Red Sea pose a serious threat to regional stability. Now is the time for the international community to begin to rectify its long history of failure. Rather than issuing hollow and toothless statements or maintaining a false “both sides” narrative, the international community must firmly and unequivocally condemn those violating international law, fueling tensions, and threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of others.
Justice and peace, demand nothing less.
___________
ርእሰ ዓንቀጽ - “ኣህጉራዊ ማሕበረሰብ ሕጂስ ሓላፍነቱ ክስከም ግቡእ እዩ”
ኣብ ፈለማ’ዚ ሰሙን’ዚ፡ ሚኒስተር ጉዳያት ወጻኢ ኤርትራ ዑስማን ሳልሕ፡ ኣብ ኣስመራ ንዝርከቡ ዲፕሎማሰኛታትን ወከልቲ ሕቡራት ሃገራትን፡ ኣንጻር ኤርትራ ዝጋዋሕ ዘሎ መጋገዪ ሓበሬታን ናይ ሓሶት ክሲታትን ብዝምልከት መብርሂ ሂቡ። ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ኣብ መሬት ክልል ትግራይ ናይ ኢትዮጵያ ከምዘሎ ኣምሲልካ ዝንዛሕ ሓሶት መሰረት ከምዘይብሉ ብምግላጽ ድማ፡ ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ ካብ ሕዳር2022 ጀሚሩ፡ ናብ ውሽጢ’ቲ ፍሉጥ ኣህጉራዊ ዶቡ ከምዝሰሓበ ኣነጺሩ። ንኤርትራ በጃ ውሽጣዊ ቅልውላዋት ኢትዮጵያ ናይ ምግባር ፈተነ ከምዘሎ ጠቒሱ ድማ፡ ውዕል ፕሪቶርያ ዘቤታዊ ጉዳይ ኢትዮጵያ ምዃኑ፡ ኤርትራ ኣብ ውሽጢ ትግራይ ኣብ ዝተኸስተ ናይ ስልጣን ቊርቊስ ኢዳ ከተእቱ ድልየት ከምዘይብላ ኣረዲኡ። ብተወሳኺ፡ ንሓደገኛ ብህሎታት ኢትዮጵያ ብዛዕባ ምርካብ በሪ ናብ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ነቒፉ።
እቲ መብርሂ ነቲ ዘሎ ኩነታት ብቐጥታ ኣብ ርእሲ ምቕራብ፡ ብዙሓት ጉዳያት ዘጒልሐ እዩ ነይሩ። ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ሰላም ከተባብዕ እናተገብኦ ኣብዚ ዞባ ዘይርጉእነት ኣብ ምጉሃር ዝነበሮ ታሪኻዊ ግደ፣ ሓይልታት ዓለምና ፍትሒን ኣህጉራዊ ሕጊን ክኽበር ኣብ ክንዲ ምጽዋዕ፡ ልኡላውነት ኤርትራ ኣብ ምግሃስን ወራራት ኣብ ምትብባዕን ዝጸንሖም ተራ ብምንጻር ድማ፡ ኣብ ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ፡ ወጥሪ ኣብ ዝዓርገሉ ዘሎ እዋን፡ ኣህጉራዊ ማሕበረሰብ ኣብ ጎድኒ’ቲ ንነዊሕ እዋን ዝፈሸለሉ ጉዳይ ፍትሒ ደው ክብል፡ ግህሰት ኣህጉራዊ ሕጊ ብምዂናን ጸረ-ወራር ጽኑዕን መትከላውን መርገጺ ክሕዝ ሓላፍነቱ ምዃኑ ኣስሚሩሉ።
መሰል ርእሰ-ውሳነ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ምንፋግን ዕሽሽ ምባልን
ሃስያ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ነዊሕ ታሪኻዊ ሰረት ዘለዎ እዩ። ድሕሪ ካልኣይ ኲናት ዓለም፡ መሰል ርእሰ-ውሳነ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንግሎባዊ ረብሓታት ተባሂሉ ገንሸል መስዋእቲ ኮይኑ እዩ። ኤርትራ ድሕሪ ብመግዛእቲ ጣልያንን ምምሕዳር ብሪጣንያን፡ ብዘይ ድሌት ህዝባ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ብፈደረሽን ከምእትቚረን ተገይሩ። ሓላፊ ክፍሊ ጉዳያት ወጻኢ ኣመሪካ ዝነበረ ጆን ፎስተር ዳላስ ኣብ መስከረም 1952 ኣብ ባይቶ ጸጥታ ሕቡራት ሃገራት ዝበሎ፡ እቲ ውሳነ ብስትራተጂያዊ ረብሓ ምዕራባውያን ዝተደረኸ ምንባሩ ዘነጽር እዩ፦
ኣብ ዝቐጸለ ግዜ እውን፡ ኢትዮጵያ ደይ-መደይ ኢላ ንፈደረሽን እናፍረሰቶን ንኤርትራ ብሓይሊ እናለሓቐታን፡ ኩሉ መሰላት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እናተጋህሰን ኣህጉራዊ ሕጊ እናተጣሕሰን እንከሎ፡ ማሕበረ-ሰብ ዓለም ኣጽቂጡ እዩ ዝዕዘብ ነይሩ። ንዓሰርተታት ዓመታት፡ ንሕቶ መሰል ርእሰ-ውሳነ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዕሽሽ ስለዝበሎ ከኣ፡ ኤርትራ በይና ብዘይ ዝኾነ ኣህጉራዊ ምትእትታውን ደገፍን፡ ኣብ ኣፍሪቃ እቲ ዝነውሐ ኲናት ከተካይድ ተቐሲባ። እዚ ብዘይ ዋላ ሓደ ለውጢ ክሳብ 1991 - ንፍርቂ ዘመን ዝቐጸለ ኩሉ- መዳያዊ ወጽዓን ግህሰትን’ዚ፡ ኣብ ሰነድ1980 ናይ ኣህጉራዊ ሊግ ንመሰልን ሓርነትን ህዝብታት ብኸምዚ ዝስዕብ ሰፊሩ ይርከብ፦ብዓይኒ ፍትሒ፡ ርእይቶ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ግምት ክኣቱ ነይሩዎ። እንተኾነ፡ ንስለ ስትራተጂያዊ ረብሓ ሕ.መ.ኣመሪካ ኣብ ማያት ቀይሕ ባሕሪን ዓለማዊ ሰላምን ጸጥታን፡ እታ ሃገር ምስ’ታ በዓልቲ ቃል-ኪዳንና ዝኾነት ኢትዮጵያ ክትቊረን ግድን ገይሩዎ ኣሎ።
ሓደ ዓመት ድሕሪ’ዚ ማለት ኤርትራ ናጽነታ ቅድሚ ምጉንጻፋ ዓሰርተ ዓመት፡ ኮሚሽን ኣህጉራዊ ክኢላታት ሕጊ ኣብ ዝዘርግሖ መግለጺ፦ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ብወተሃደራዊ ይኹን ብፖለቲካዊ መዳይ ዝግባእ ኣፍልጦ ተነፊግዎ ን20 ዓመታት በይኑ ጸኒዑ ተቓሊሱ እዩ።
ኤርትራ ኣብ1991 ወግዓዊት ኣባል ው.ሕ.ሃ. ምስ ኮነት፡ ፕረዚደንት ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ፡ ኣብ ሓፈሻዊ ባይቶ ናይቲ ውድብ፡ ነቲ ዝነበረ ዕሽሽታ ኣመልኪቱ መደረ ኣስሚዑ ነይሩ፡-ካብ ኩሎም እቶም ግዳያት ሓያላን ካልኣይ ኲናት ዓለም ዝኾኑ ህዝብታት፡ እቲ ቅቡልን ክስማዕ ዝግብኦን ሕቶ ዝነበሮ ህዝቢ - ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እዩ። ይኹን እምበር፡ ኣብቲ ኣህጉራዊ ውድብ ነዚ ኣርእስቲ’ዚ ከተልዕሎ እትደሊ ሃገር ኣይነበረትን። እቲ ምኽንያት ድማ፡ እቲ ሕቶ ነቲ ውድብ ንባዕሉን ንኻልኦት ተመሳሳሊ ጸገም ዝነበሮም ወገናትን ምንጪ ዘይምርግጋእ ከይከውን ስለዝተባህለ’ዩ።
ዘየቋርጽ ተጻብኦታትን ድርብ መዐየሪታትንእቲ ናይ ስቓትን ጸማም እዝኒን ዓመታት፡ ንስቓይ ህዝብና ኣናዊሑዎ እዩ። ኢድ ወረርቲ ናጻ ብምግዳፍ ከኣ ጸገማትና ክናዋሕን መስዋእትና ክበዝሕን ዓቢ ግደ ኣበርኪቱ። እንተኾነ፡ ንእምነትና ኣብ ፍትሒ ኮነ ኣብ ተዓዋትነት ጉዳይና ኣየጒደሎን። ከምቲ ምስላ ኤርትራ፡ ‘በትሪ ሓቂስ ትቐጥን እምበር ኣይትስበርን’ ዝብሎ ከኣ መወዳእታኡ ፍትሒ ተዓዊቱ። እዚ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ንኹሎም ደለይቲ ፍትሒን ሰላምን ምንጪ ተፋስን ሓጐስን እዩ።
ኤርትራ ዘካየደቶ ገድሊ፡ ምስ ምጉንጻፍ ናጽነት ኣየኽተመን። እኳ ድኣ ድሕሪ ናጽነታ፡ ካብ 1998 ክሳብ2000፡ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ምዕላው ዝዕላማኡ ተጻብኦን ኲናትን ገጢሙዋ። ካብ ግዝኣታ እንተላይ ካብ ገማግም ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ገዚፍ መሬት ብሓይሊ ንምምንዛዕ ተሃቂኑ። ብዘይካ’ዚ፡ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም፡ ኢትዮጵያ ኮሚሽን ዶብ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ንዘሕለፎ “ናይ መወዳእታን ቀያዲን” ብይን ጥሒሳ፡ ንኣስታት ክልተ ዕቑድ ዝኣክል ብዘይሕጋዊ ወተሃደራዊ ጐበጣ መሬት ኤርትራ ክትሕዝን ብተደጋጋሚ ሰፊሕ ወተሃደራዊ መጥቃዕቲታት ክትከፍትን ፈቒዱላ እዩ። ሓይልታት ምዕራብ ድማ፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ነቲ ኢትዮጵያ ትፍጽሞ ዝነበረት ጥሕሰታት ሕጊ ምዂናን፡ ነቲ ንሳ ተካይዶ ዝነበረት ተጻብኦን ምትንዃላትን ይድግፉ ነይሮም። ኣብ ከምዚ ዓይነት ኩነት፡ ኢትዮጵያ ኣብ ትሕቲ ወያነ (TPLF) ከም መሓዛ ምዕራብ ተወሲዳ፡ ኣዝዩ ብዙሕ ባጀታውን ዓይነታውን ናይ ወጻኢ ደገፍ ተቐቢላን ዕዳኣ ተሰሪዙላን እዩ።
እቲ ዝበኣሰ፡ ብትእዛዝ ሓይልታት ምዕራብን ዞባውያን ልኡኻቶምን፡ ብዘይ ጭቡጥ መርትዖ ናይቲ ዝቐርብ ዝነበረ ጠቐነን ክስታትን፡ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኤርትራ ሓደገኛን ቀጻዕን እገዳታት ምትግባሩ እዩ። እዚ ተጻባኢ ስጕምትታት’ዚ፡ ነቲ ኤርትራ ተካይዶ ዝነበረት ሃገር ናይ ምህናጽ ጻዕርን ዞባዊ ዝምድናታት ናይ ምዕዛዝ ተበግሶን ዓንቂጽዎ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ተጻባኢ ተግባራት እውን ከምዝስዕርር ገይሩ እዩ። ዝቐረበ ክሲታት ሓሶት ምዃኑ ድሕሪ ምቅልዑ እውን እንተኾነ፡ እገዳታት ንሓያለ ዓመታት ክጸንዕ ምውሳኑ፡ ንኤርትራ ናይ ምድራትን ናይ ምቁጽጻርን ዓቢ ኣጀንዳ ዘንጸባርቕ ደኣ’ምበር፡ ንሓቀኛ ሰላምን ርግኣትን ዝዓለመ ከምዘይነበረ ግሁድ ይገብሮ።
ክንዮ ፖለቲካዊ ጣልቃ ምእታው፡ ኤርትራ ግዳይ ዘየቋርጽን ዝተወሃሃደን ናይ ሚድያ ዘመተ ክትከውን ተፈሪዳ እያ። እዚ ከኣ፡ ነቲ ኣብ’ዚ ዞባ ዘሎ ቀንዲ ምንጪ ናይ ግርጭትን ዘይርግኣትን ኣጸልሚትካ፡ ንኤርትራ ንምክፋእን ንምስይጣንን ዝተዓለሰ ውዲት እዩ።
መትከላዊ መርገጺ ዝውሰደሉ ግዜ ሕጂ’ዩ
ሎሚ፡ ንቀይሕ ባሕሪ ከቢቡዎ ዝርከብ ቅልጽምካ ናይ ምርኣይ ሓፍ-ሓፍን ብኡ መጠን ዝንህር ዘሎ ወጥርታትን፡ ንዞባዊ ርግኣት ሓደገኛ ስግኣት ፈጢሩሉ ይርከብ። ስለዚ፡ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም፡ መትከላዊ መርገጺ ወሲዱ፡ ነቲ ነዊሕ ዝታሪኹ ፍሽለት ክእርም ዝጅምረሉ ግዜ ሕጂ እዩ። በዚ ምኽንያት’ዚ፡ ኣብ ክንዲ ሓቅነትን ጭብጥን ዘይብሉ መግለጺታት ምውጻእ፡ ወይ’ውን “ንክልቲኡ ወገን” ማዕረ ዝርኢ ቀልዓለማዊ መርገጺ ምሓዝ፡ ማሕበረሰብ ዓለም፡ ነቶም ኣህጉራዊ ሕጊ ዝጥሕሱ ዘለዉ፡ ነቶም ስግኣታት ዘጐሃህሩ ዘለዉ፡ ከምኡ’ውን ነቶም ኣብ ልኡላውነትን መሬታዊ ሓድነትን ካልኦት ሃገራት ስግኣት ዝፈጥሩ ዘለዉ ወገናት፡ ብዝሓየለን ብዘየወላውልን መገዲ ክኹንኖም ይግባእ።
እቲ ምንታይ፡ ፍትሕን ሰላምን ክንዮ’ዚ ዝጠልቦ ነገር ስለዘየልቦ።
Asmara!
