Petition to EU in Support of Distressed Eritrean Refugees

The petition below, proposed by the pro-democracy networking known as the Eritrean National Democratic Forces (ENDF) that includes as members individuals/national figures as well as the South Africa-based Eritrean Movement for Democratic and Human Rights (EMDHR) and the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), urges every Eritrean opposed to the repressive regime in Asmara to sign it before the end of December 2013 for timely forwarding to the European Union as herein stated.

 

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H.E. Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Union Commission,

H.E. Lady C. Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Affairs;

H.E. Mr. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament

CC. To Heads of State & Government of 27 EU Member Countries

 

Honourable Mr. Barroso, Lady Ashton, and Mr. Schulz,

This petition addressed to you and, through you, to all EU Member States from us Eritreans listed below, is a call for your most immediate and urgent action to help Eritreans in great need until their inevitable voluntary return to their home country   Eritrea once free from the oppressive policies of the tyrannical regime in power.

 

Eritreans are currently under great distress and in need of urgent attention from the international community to actively support Eritrean non-state actors struggling for democratic change.

 

However, today’s petition is of limited scope and aims to draw your urgent attention to recent caseloads of Eritrean refugees who are mostly young and who were deprived from acquiring appropriate education and professional skills in their own country.

 

To say the obvious, the ongoing societal breakdown in Eritrea is caused by the extremely flawed policies of the repressive and paranoid regime that knows nothing but senseless military adventures. To mention only one example, a so-called national service that was started to last only for 18 months for participants has become a concentration camp where the youth are kept in for indefinite periods and under inhumane harsh conditions for over 18 years now. In addition to the regime’s other gross human rights and political abuses, the endless national service has so far been one of the main causes of hopelessness and frustration leading to mass exodus of the people out of the country. Up to 3000 are estimated to be fleeing their country every month at great risks to their lives and safety. Many die because of the shoot-to-kill policy at the borders; others languish in refugee camps for years without end, and others have fallen victims to human traffickers. Up to 10,000 have been taken hostage for ransoms and, probably for organ harvesting in the Sinai of whom about 3,000 died or ‘disappeared’. The Lampedusa tragedy of 3 October 2013 that caused the loss of over 350 Eritrean lives; the May 2011 drowning of over 330 Eritreans in the Mediterranean Sea during the Libyan war, and countless other fatal incidents in the Mediterranean have claimed thousands of Eritrean lives.

 

Dear Madams/Sirs,

This petition submits to your most immediate attention and action the following two projects:

 

First,

We petition the EU and its Member States to:

Save lives by granting refuge to Eritreans currently stranded in Libya, in Egyptian prisons and in detention camps in Israel. In the meantime, expedite family reunion by Eritreans holding refugee status in EU member countries for their relatives already registered by UNHCR as asylum seekers.

 

Second, 

We earnestly request the EU to initiate and lead the launching of a project that can include academic education and vocational training for young refugees in Eastern Sudan, Yemen and Northern Ethiopia. Part of the funding may come from EU resources. However, we demand that technical assistance grants suspended by several countries from reaching the Eritrean regime, because of its gross human rights violations, be re-channeled for financing this vital package programme.  

 

Respectfully yours,

 

Name of petitioner                                               Place of residence