The Isolated Regime of the Pariah State of Eritrea

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The Isolated Regime of the Pariah State of Eritrea

Tsehaye  Debalkew, Washington  D.C., April, 8, 2015

The friendless regime of Isaias Afwerki today stands in stark comparison with its neighbors It is the regime's malign meddling in its neighbors' affairs, not its ruinous domestic record, that has incurred most countries' opprobrium.

Asmara stands accused of backing the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamist militants of al-Shabaab in Somalia, supporting insurgent groups in Djibouti, Uganda and Sudan, and giving safe haven to Ethiopian terrorist groups

Isaias Afwerki is a piece of work, as Americans say. Cables sent from the US embassy in Eritrea's capital, Asmara, described the country Isaias has run with an iron fist since referendum as a basket case:

"Young Eritreans are fleeing their country in droves, the economy is in a death spiral, Eritrea's prisons are overflowing, and the country's unhinged dictator remains cruel".

The  UN monitoring group on Somalia and Eritrea concluded that Eritrea, serves as a platform for foreign armed groups that represent a grave and increasingly urgent threat to peace and security in the Horn and East Africa region.

Asmara's continuing relationship with al-Shabaab appears designed to legitimize and embolden the group rather than to curb its extremist orientation or encourage its participation in a political process since this is not the intention of the seclude state of Eritrea.


Moreover, Eritrean involvement in Somalia reflects a broader pattern of intelligence and special operations activity, including training, financial and logistical support to armed opposition groups in Djibouti, Ethiopia, the Sudan."

The report added that, Eritrea's support for groups such as al-Shabaab is indisputably symptomatic, of the systematic subversion of the government of Eritrea and party institutions by a relatively small number of political, military and intelligence officials, who instead choose to conduct the affairs of state via informal and often illicit mechanisms, including people smuggling, arms trafficking, money-laundering and extortion.

"Such irregular financial practices, combined with direct financial contributions from ruling party supporters and some foreign states … help to explain how a country as poor as Eritrea manages to sustain support for a variety of armed opposition groups across the region.

 From 2011 onwards, Eritrea's newly emerging mining sector – especially gold –has become the country's principal source of hard currency .in addition to tax money it illegally and forcibly levy Eritreans abroad irrespective of their citizenship

.An African Union summit has recently effected a new round of UN sanctions on Eritrea, agreed by the security council in December, that included new constraints on international mining companies.

Recent reports suggest its al-Shabaab allies in Somalia, under pressure from Kenyan and Ethiopian forces in the south, are shifting their operations northwards into semi-autonomous Puntland while mounting terror attacks in Nairobi and seeking links with like-minded elements in Yemen, Sudan and South Sudan which is yet a proof that Eritrea is fuelling a spreading regional war.

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