| KIDANE – THE STORY OF A REFUGEE |
| An Eritrean Refugee shares his story with school children in Malta |
The Jesuits Refugees Services (JRS) have deviced a strategy to introduce the Maltese public with the recent flood of refugees in the island nation. A booklet prepared by an Eritrean refugee in Malta itself has been distributed to all the elementary schools, for the children to read. Maltese artists and editors contributeted to give the script its final shape.
To read about it, click here
| ARE THE DAYS OF HUMAN TRAFICKING COMING TO AN END? |
| ISRAEL DETAINS BEDOUIN TRAFICKER |
| EUROPE LEADS THE CAMPAIGN |
BEDUIN CHARGED WITH REFUGEE ABDUCTION AND EXTORTION IN SINAI
Monday, March 26, 2012
‘The indictment is a “positive step forward for police and a positive recognition of the problem, but added that “the next step is to recognize them as victims and give them the treatment they need through state health and welfare services.” For more about the story, click here
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PASSES RESOLUTION ON HUMAN TRAFICKING IN SINAI
Thursday, March 22, 2012
WHAT ARE THE AFRICAN UNION, IGAD, ARAB LEAGUE DOING ABOUT IT?
Human traficking, is a phenomenon flourishing in all parts of the world, from South Asia, to Latin America, East Europe to Europe and North America. Billions of dollars are extorted, human parts are harvested and traded, slaves are marketed, costless human labour is provided. Of course, the busines prosper according to the demand and offer conditions. There are the commissioners, the profiteers, and the emissaries. The European parliament resolution issued on March 16 in Brusselles focuses mainly on the Afro-Arab- Middle East cases: victims are Eritreans, Ethiopians, Somalis, South Sudanese, Sudanese, (and who knows who else) migrants and refuge claimants. The phenomenon is involving the Sudanese refugee camps, Egyptian passes through the desert, the Sinai Peninsula oases, the Egyptian-Israeli borders. Similar phenomena are being witnessed in the Libya-Egypt, Libya-Tunisia borders and corridors, and Yemen. It is a widely decried crime against the most basic human values, against any social behavior and religious principles. Unfortunately, the African coasts have witnessed for centuries Arab predatory incursions, slavery trade, and lack of any human compassion towards black Africans. While slavery was outlawed for centuries in the rest of the world, in many parts of the Middle East it is still flourishing and accepted. Of course, most of the times Africans are the defenseless victims. Where are the AU, IGAD, COMESSA, Arab League, expected to be the champions of human and African dignity? No one can force Egypt to live up to its commitments, to defend the powerless migrants, to bring to the law these remorseless traffickers and their commissioners? What about the superpowers, the preachers from the world forums: does just one article on a newspaper or a documentary on a TV channel enough to placate the pangs of the conscience? So far it is only poorly subsidized non profit organizations who have managed to move the European Union into action. Of course, this resolution is toothless: no reward and no challenge is attached with its compliance or lack of it. Yet, it is the first official and comprehensive resolution. And what is more interesting is that the Parliament of 22 European nations are pleading with Egypt to protect SOLOMON, a defenseless, powerless, escapees from his captors, practically roaming, or worse holed up, somewhere in the desert. This is indeed a case where ‘THE INDIVIDUAL ERITREAN COUNTS’. I wish the other above mentioned organizations would show same level of attention, compassion, and would be willing to strike a deal with Egypt, Israel, the Beduins, etc.!!!!!!!!!!! Even if only on the paper. One day, sooner rather than later, isuch resolutions would provoke a qualitative jump . . .
The scourge and infamy, in fact, will be lifted only when human consciences in the Middle East, African Governments, Beduin leaders, Israeli Authorities will be awakened. When mass media, universities, schools, courts of justice, preachers in mosques and churches, people in authority, celebrities, etc. will join resources to denounce in unison this shameful and inhuman crime, when trafickers will be persued by the law, and when profitters from such a shame will be made pay for it.
Christians and Jews are about to celebrate the Pascha or Passover (the crossing of the Red Sea) that marked the proclamation of freedom, of reclaimed human and spiritual dignity and equality with other human beings.) Thousands in the inhospitable land of Sinai, but also in many other parts of the world, even outside the Middle East, are still suffering different forms of humiliating and degrading forms of slavery. May this year’s Easter – Passover be a call for all of us to wake up and shoulder our responsibilities towards these unfortunate victims. It could have been any of us, or of our dear ones.
ABBA MUSSIE ZERAI NOMINATED FOR UNHCR PRIZE
UNHCR-Italy submitted Abba Mussie’s name for the most ambitious recognitin by the New York based Organization. When Father was informed, he sent the following reply to the Organizaton:
Dear All,
I would like to thank UNHCR- Italy for nominating me for the Nansen Prize. The motivation is an encouragement to my ministry in favour of refugees in the Horn of Africa. Grateful for the confidence and moral support that the UNHCR – Italy operators are showing me, to all of them I express my thanks. In case that my name is selected among the winners of this award, it is my intention to start a foundation to provide scholarships to Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia, which will enable them to complete their university or technical studies that will open to them a brighter future.
Abba Mussie is an Eritrean R.C. Priest that started and still runs the HABESHIA Agency for Cooperation and Development. It supports schools and other projects in refugees camps in Ethiopia and Sudan to help the beneficiaries ptomote their educatinal and human background while waiting for their paper process. Likewise, he also does pastoral ministry among the Eritrean Communities in Switzerland. But his main activity is advocacy for the plight of Eritrean, Ethiopian, Sudanese and Somaly refugies in North Africa and the Middle East. Among the achievements of Abba Mussie is the tragic moment when he received a call in the middle of the night from a dingy boat in danger of sinking in the Mediterranean. Fatther immediately allerted the Italian Navy of the situation and gave them the coordinates of the position of the boat. The Italian Navy launched immediately a SOS message to the ships in the area. Unfortunately, no ship responded to the appeal, but quite a few passed by without offering any help. Only 9 people survived the tragedy driven by the waves to the Lybian shores, from where they had departed few days earlier. One of the nine, in fact, died of exhaustion, almost immediately on the beach before they could get help by the Lybian Navy. The others were taken directly to the prisons, and some to the hospital. Abba Mussie was able to reach them in prison and there collect their testimony incriminating a Nato helcopter ship and a ship that hovered over them, took pictures, threw a few bottled bottle of water and loaves of bread, and abandoned them to their fate. When reported in the Italian papers, NATO denied its complicity in the death of the 64 people in the boat for abandoning the wreckage to its fate. They firmly and repeatedly stated that none of their ships was in the vicinity of the boat at the time. Two years later a Swiss TV station did a painstaking research, by tracing the survivors, collecting testimonies from Abba Mussie, the Italian Navy, demanding information from Nato about the routes of its ships and their schedules. And finally confronted the NATO high brass about its response to the SOS appeal. Confronted with the documentation provided by the journalist, the spokeperson finally admitted that indeed a NATO ship was 22 miles away from the dingy boat but they did not act on the appeal. I hope that the chapter does not close with the simple acknowledgement, but that justice can is allowed to run its full course. The blood of those African victims demands justice and dignity as much as any other life.
But Abba Mussie advocacy mission responds also to calls from the hidden dunes of the Sinai desert by desperate captives of the reckless bedouins. He echo the cry for help from refugees in Lybia, Tunisia, Djibouti, yemen, Syria. He bridges and connects them with the highest ranks of the UNHCR officials in Egypt, Italy, New york, he pleads for them with Ambassadors of Egypt at the Vatican, with Italian Ministers, the Vatican Curia, the Council of Churches in Geneva, the Europear Court, the European Union, GOs, NGOs,. Any place, any time, anyone who can be of any kind of help, and he can reach, he will try.
How effective is his mission? Well, if nothng else he has alerted the whole world, starting from the UNHCR of the human traficking and organ cropping for profit in the Sudan refugee camps, the Sinai Peninsula, etc. He has tracked down the responsibility beyond the material bedouin executioner to Government officials or the mafia web in various countries. Which is not a small achievement. But, once more, like most of the uncomfortable witnesses, like John the Baptist, his is a voice in the desert, that the wind takes away before it even reaches to the ears of those who could do something more efficients to solve the problem. A voice however who want relent until justice to the homeless refugee is done, peace is achieved, and his ministry will be redundant.
Myths, facts and suggestions: Asylum seekers in Israel
TO READ THE ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING
“They themselves say that they are coming to work”
“The residents of South Tel Aviv and Eilat are suffering”
“Israel doesn’t need to help all the poor people in the world”
“There is a limit to the number of refugees you can take”
“We’ll build a fence to prevent their entry”
“We’ll build a huge prison, and when it’s established we won’t let them work”
“So what do you suggest?”
“They are men and women, children, young people and old people who seek a place where they can live in peace,” the Pope declared from the window of his study, where he had led those gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus. The Holy Father referred to his message for the world day, which he dedicated to the theme of migrants and evangelization. “Migrants,” he stated, “are not only recipients but also protagonists of the proclamation of the Gospel in the contemporary world.”
Arish – We have received important news from Hamdy Al-Azazy, the extraordinary Egyptian human rights defender, President of the New Generation Foundation for Human Rights, who has prevented many humanitarian tragedies in Northern Sinai.
180 Eritreans Released from the Sinai Slavery, Detained in Israeli’s Prisons
“As I told you,” says the activist, “my work in the North Sinai Governorate (in collaboration with some important groups of Bedouin activists) continues unabated. Through this work, this week traffickers released 180 Eritrean refugees on the border with Israel. They are now in the Jewish state”. EveryOne Group has received confirmation of the transfer of refugees from the Israeli authorities. The refugees, however, are being held in custody, according to the new anti – immigration laws recently approved by the Knesset. The Ma’an news agency has reported the incident.
EveryOne Group has sent an appeal to the UNHCR and the Israeli institutions asking for the 180 refugees (persecuted in their homeland and the victims of trafficking, torture and episodes of rape in the Sinai) to be treated according to the international charters on human rights and the Geneva Convention on Refugees.
Hamdy Al-Azazy has been able to secure the release of 8 Eritrean and Ethiopian girls from Rumana Prison, as well as a supply of food and medicine for the 48 refugees still being detained in the detention centre. Unfortunately the activist has also sent us news of the discovery of the corpse of a young Eritrean woman who was shot through the head near the Israeli border. In Northern Sinai, border guards have arrested 45 sub-Saharan migrants, of whom we have no further news.
Taken from http://www.tolerance.ca/Article.aspx?ID=128733&L=en
| ጸሎት ነኅዋትና ኤርትራውያን |
ካብ: ሃብተአብ ተኪኤ (Habteab Tekie)
“ብዙኅ ብኽያትን ዋይዋይታን ኮነ፡፡ ራሔል ብደቃ በኸየት፡፡
ስለ ዘየለዉ ከአ፡ ምእባድ አበየት” (ወንጌል ማቴዎስ ምዕ. 2, 18)።
ኦእግዚአብሔር ፈጣሪ፡ ኵነታትናን ስሚዕትናን እውን ከምዚ ናይ
ራሔል እዩ እሞ፡
ብፍላይ ምእንትቶም አብ ደብረ ሲና (ግብጺ) ዚሕረዱን ዚቕተሉን
ዘሎዉ አኅዋትና አኃትናን ክንልምነካ እኒሆ አብ ቅድሜኻ ቀሪብና፡፡
ንጹሕ ደሞም አብ ቅድሜኻ ከም ዘእወየ ንአምን ኢና፡፡
አውያቶም ሰሚዕካ ከአ፡ “ንዑ ናባይ”፣ “ምሳይ ይኅሸኩም”፣ ቢልካ
ናብ ሕቝፍካ ከምዝጸዋዕካዮም ንአምን ኢና፡፡
ስደት ግብጺ፡ ጐ.ኢ.ክ. ወድኻ እውን ፈቲኑዎ እዩ፡፡
ሽዑ፡ ሞት ደመኛ ሄሮድስ ምስ አረጋጽካ ንዓዱ ንናዝሬት ኪምለስ
ፈቐድካሉ፡፡
አኅዋትናን አኃትናን እውን፡ ካብ ሐደ ደመኛ ኪሀድሙ እንኪብሉ
እዮም አብ ምድሪ ግብጺ ፋሕ ኢሎም ዘሎዉ እሞ፡
ነቶም ዝሞቱ ዘለዓለማዊ ዕረፍቲ ክትህቦም፣ ነቶም ብሕይወቶም
ዘሎዉ፡ ንዓዶም ተመሊሶም ብሰላም ምእንቲ ኪነብሩ፡ ንብዓል ደሞም
ኡፍ ክትብለሎም፣ ንቤተሰቦም ከተጸናንዖም፣ ንሀገርና ከአ ጠልን
በረከትን ከተውርደላ፣ … ብጐይታና ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ፍቑር ወድኻ
ብትሕትና ንልምነካ፡፡ አሜን፡፡
አስተውዕል→ ነፍሲወከፍና ሐደ “አቡነ ዘበሰማያት…” የብጽሕ፡፡
– – || – –
When People of the Promise were persecuted and chased away from Yemen, the country they turned to was Eritrea. There they were welocomed, allowed to settle, build their own Synagogue, which not even the Marxist Leninist Dergue dared to close down or confiscate. In Eritrea the Jew community thrived. With a fraction of a $165 million investment in clean and committed diplomacy, the very sources of all these migrants, asylum seekers and refugees could be dried up.
TO OUR READERS: MERRY CHRISTMAS !
by Fr. Vittorio Boria
CHRISTMAS, THE DAY GOD IN JESUS, STARTED WALKING IN HIS OWN BODY OUR HUMAN HISTORY.
The Son of God was welcomed into the world, away from his mother’s home. She had to follow orders by an occupying power that forced her to abandon her home and give birth to her “firstborn child” in a manger, because there was not room for her in the guest house. Although Angels sang for Him in the skies, only poor shepherds welcomed him. Priests and learned personalities on Jerusalem, consulted, had the answer ready: “he was to be born in Bethlehem”. Stragers came from afar to pay him homage, but the cream of Jerusalem did not even try, perhaps afraid the ire of King Herod.
When Herod found that the wisemen had fooled him, he sent soldiers to kill Baby Jesus, and in order not to miss him, the babies below 2 years of age in Bethlehem and its surroundings were all sentenced to death. Again, no one in Jerusalem stood up for the Child of Mary nor for the innocents Bethlehemite babies.
By Don Futterman
An estimated 50,000 African refugees, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, have snuck into Israel through Sinai over the past five years. They tend to concentrate in areas such as south Tel Aviv, taking jobs away from the poorest of Israelis, and increasing public disorder. Their arrival has changed the complexion of entire neighborhoods and given locals the feeling they have been invaded, leading Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai to demand that the prime minister save his city.
Israel’s “war on work infiltrators”
“Infiltrators” is the government and media’s name for the African refugees crossing the Egyptian border into Israel. ”Survivors” is more accurate, but no matter; we’re going to war.
“How will the program for the war on work infiltrators be funded?” read the subhead in today’s Yediot Aharonot story. “The war on work infiltrators is being stepped up…” the opening sentence began.
The war on work infiltrators. This is what “the newspaper of the nation” calls the government’s program to deter refugees, mainly from Eritrea and Sudan, from crossing the Egyptian border into Israel. (In Yediot’s English-language website, ynet, they’re referred to as “illegal refugees.” Nice.) At the bottom of the story, there’s a photo of a woman with a little boy, and it’s captioned, “Female infiltrator and her son on the Egyptian border.”