Re: EU's Development aid to the Eritrean Government

  

The Eritrean government's lack of political will, its dictatorial leader with total control over people's lives and deliberate suffocation is what resulted thousands to flee their country.

 

Additional information on why Human Rights Concern – Eritrea (HRCE) thinks that the EU Development Aid should not be given to the Regime in Eritrea:

1. Use of Forced Labour

It could be said that the entire population is being used as forced labour, but especially the conscripts, many of whom are being forced to work in slave-like conditions in the government owned Construction Campaniles, including mining projects and various ministries.

On 20 November 2014, three plaintiffs (former conscripts) filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Nevsun Resources Ltd., a Vancouver-based international mining company whose primary operation is its Bisha mine in western Eritrea (“Bisha Mine”)

http://hrc-eritrea.org/nevsun-resources-ltd-press-release/#more-1643

The plaintiffs allege that they and other Eritreans were forced to work against their will on the construction of the mine, and that Nevsun’s Eritrean subsidiary BMSC and its contractors used forced labour, a modern form of slavery, paid $10 per month, for six days work up to 12 hours per day, in the construction of the Bisha mine from 2008 onwards. Mine construction work was performed at the Bisha mine and other mine sites by companies, including Segen, a main construction company owned by Eritrea’s ruling party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ).

2. Demolishing Citizens’ Houses

Since January 2015, the regime in Asmara, has demolished over 1,000 occupied newly-built and older houses, in good condition, of its citizens in Arbaete Asmara, Xelot, Daero Paulos, Adi Keyeh, and Dekemehare, and left thousands on the street homeless. The operation of demolishing citizens’ houses continues unabated. Those who lost their houses and their families were not given temporary shelter, and they are exposed to risks and danger. Why are they doing this? The claim that they were ‘illegally’ built surely doesn’t justify their destruction? Where was the government, and what was it doing, while the houses were being built? Is this the kind of government that can be trusted with development aid money? How petty and sinisterly malicious is this kind of action? There is no temporary shelter, no social security system, in Eritrea. These people are destitute now.

3) Expenditure on White Elephant Projects and Businesses to satisfy the self-aggrandisement of the President.

Under the pretext of strategic importance, while the entire nation was put on food rations, the government spent a record 50m USD between July 2011 and December 2012 (just in a span of 16 months) on Eritrean Airlines. The Airline lost all this money. Had this amount been used for the well being of the people of Eritrea, it would have had some positive impact and it could have contributed to stemming the exodus of the youth.

In 2011 the government gave the management of the Airline to Aviation Management Consultants (AMC), a company owned by Mr. Shakil Aftab Kashmirwala, a Pakistani national, an Honarary Council General of the State of Eritrea in Pakistan, http://consularcorpssindh.org/Allmembers.aspx , and who is  implicated by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea as one of the individuals that the Eritrean government deals with in illegal business.

The government dismantled the Eritrean Airline's Board of Directors and gave AMC unwarranted access to public funds that could have otherwise been used in other sectors.

Prior to this period, from 2003 to 2014 (excluding July 2011 to December 2012) the government spent around 33m USD on the Eritrean Airline that has never made a profit.

These losses should have been enough to deter the regime from squandering public funds. However, in 2012, the government signed an agreement with the People’s Republic of China for the purchase of three MA60 passenger aircraft worth 40m USD for a start-up airline, Massawa Airways.

In total, the government has spent and lost around 83m USD to establish an airline that is a luxury to a small country with many social, economic and other problems. It has also tried to spend another 40m USD for the purchase of small aircraft. The regime has spent around 130m USD just for Eritrean Airlines. Despite spending millions of USD, Eritrean Airlines has been banned by the European Commission from flying into countries in the European Union since December 2012.

Nobody knows how much more has been misspent on other white elephant projects in Eritrea.

Had there been democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights in Eritrea, would these projects be priorities while the majority of the population lives without electricity? While most Eritreans don’t have enough water?   Could the government not have spent these resources for the overall advancing of the human rights and democracy framework that would address the long-term development needs, on energy and other sectors? 

4) Stakes in Mining Projects

The government has so far paid around 300m USD to exercise its interest to purchase stakes in three mining companies. Although we are aware of the long-term advantages of these investments, for a government that boasts of “prioritizing resources”, these expenses are tremendous and at least the regime should have been engaged itself in the same endeavour to alleviate the social and economic problems of the country.

Moreover, the government has refused to disclose the revenues that it is getting from the mineral exports. The mining dealings and revenues are under direct control of party officials rather than government institutions.

The Eritrean National Bank and The Ministry of Mines and Energy have no official role to play in these financial dealings. The Eritrean National Mining Corporation (ENAMCO), the main stakeholder in the government’s stakes in mining, is a three-person company, which was set up by Isaias Afewerki a few years ago. Those three people are Hagos Gebrehiwot (the Head of Economic Affairs of PFDJ), Yemane Gebremeskel (Information Minister) and Berhane Habtemariam (the current Minister of Finance).

Would the EU allow the same things in the management of the aid?

Is the EU aware that the Head of ENAMCO and the Minister of Finance are one and the same person? In such an unorthodox modus operandi, how would the EU expect the aid to be managed?

5) Shelved Constitution

While the President of the State arrogantly said that the people-approved constitution was dead, funding a regime for human rights and democracy framework is perplexing. In fact, although the original constitution was never implemented, the Eritrean government has now announced that a new constitution will be drafted.  This is nothing more than a tactic to prolong its reign of oppression and stall the UN and other international communities who have expressed criticism of the regime. . The regime should have been held accountable for having shelved a constitution for close to two decades. 

How would the EU, whose pillars of foreign aid are based on democracy and respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, fund a regime whose pillars of existence are the exact opposite of these principles?