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.
.