First of all I have not read the article reviewed by Samuel. Judging from the excerpts he used for his critical review on Bariagaer’s article, I can’t but wonder why Eritrea run by hoodlums with no regard to the rule of law is put on the same level like Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia or even Islamic Sudan whose citizens are all over Europe including in Israel as refugees. These are lands where students go to school, mothers celebrate their children’s wedding, the comprador business men compete to the best of their ability, where passport costs no pound of flesh, the press is allowed to operate freely, where guns are at the hand of professional soldiers and paid militia and where the nations are not in constant armed confrontation with their neighbors and beyond. To Brush Eritrea’s massive refuge problem as simply global phenomenon and worst as imitation ‘monkey see monkey do’ is intellectual prostitution of the highest order. Are we to deny that when hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslims refugees ready to repatriate from the Sudan to Eritrea was left to rot when agencies were willing to assist them return home after the so called ‘independence’ of Eritrea. The nature of the petit bourgeoisie and semi-literate leadership in Eritrea is such that it thrives on control, no one inside is permitted to leave and those outside to stay put where they are. This has been the practice of EPLF from day one. Imitation if it all exists in this sad episode of refuge flight is the author’s dishonesty and deliberate avoidance of the issue facing Eritrea today. It could also be an attempt to mimic western scholars who view things from non compassionate angle. This reminds me of one gullible Young PFDJ interviewed in Al Jazera’s Stream Program years ago who put all the blame on the young whose insatiable appetite to own iPods and iPhones readily available in Euro-America drove them to the desperate act of escaping the country. Neither pull factor nor imitation is involved in the saga of Refugees particularly that of Eritrea. Let those who defend the regime such as Sophia et al. do so. We don’t. How could one lose sight of the fact that Eritrea is an abnormal country led by deranged and corrupt individuals? Indeed, it is mind boggling not to be able see and pass unequivocal judgment on this issue.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:09:23 +0000
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