Saturday, November 22, 2014

We have no asylum-seekers in Ethiopia: Eritrea's U.N. Ambassador

Unaccompanied Eritrean refugee children in Ethiopia
Eritrea’s top diplomat to the United Nations says the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has committed a “conceptual mistake” in a report, which stated that in the past 37 days more than 6,000 Eritreans had claimed asylum in neighboring Ethiopia.

The U.N. refugee agency said Eritrea’s renewed conscription drive was to blame for the sharp increase in the number of youths fleeing the country.

But Eritrea's U.N. ambassador, Girma Asmerom, dismissed the report as a calculated effort to undermine the government by creating disaffection among its population. He said Eritrean citizens migrate just like other nationals, which he said is a global phenomenon.
“The U.N. has to do its bit of homework, because there are no asylum-seekers in Ethiopia,” said Asmerom. “We do not understand why they are

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Influx of Migrants from Ethiopia to Yemen increased dramatically

"In September - the most recent month for which statistics have been released - the Nairobi-based Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS) reported 12,768 arrivals - predominantly from Ethiopia. It was more than double the figure for September 2013 and represented the single largest monthly influx on record."
SANAA, 20 November 2014 (IRIN) - Yemen's security crisis is leading to a rapid expansion in the people smuggling trade, with thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa desperate to use the country as a gateway to Saudi Arabia.
On 21 September, Houthi rebels - a Zaydi Shiite Muslim group based in the north of the country - seized control of the capital Sana'a after a battle with the army and Sunni Islamists.

Three cabinet overhauls in less than two months and ongoing clashes in many regions have thrown the country into a state of limbo. The UN Security Council and the US also recently complicated matters by imposing sanctions on former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and two senior Houthi military commanders.

While most Yemenis bemoan the chaos, for people smugglers opportunity knocks. Thousands more African migrants seeking to reach Saudi Arabia

The Late Ethiopian Literary Gaint Hailu Gemoraw 'Why I Write? The Basic Motive of My Literary Work'

Hailu Gebereyohannes alias known as in his pen-name Hailu Gemoraw, a renown Ethiopian Poet; Writer; philosopher has passed away at the age of 71 here in Sweden on November 9, 2014. He spent almost of half of his life in exile; first he went to China on scholarship but he was evicted due to research proposal "how anarchism is affecting China's literature". He then sought asylum in Norway but he went to Sweden to finish his Doctoral Studies about China. Norway denied Gemoraw his residency and work permit for being away from the country for more than two years. As a result he was forced to seek asylum in Sweden where he suffered and finally died. It's an honor for me to brought up reading his books and it's very sad that his literary and humanistic contributions have never been recognized or valued. Thank you Gemoraw for opening up my eyes to literature world. I hope, your caring and clean soul finally will rest in peace after such a long long and long suffering. 
As the old "Gibbon's" saying goes " …Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion; the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world by whom they were forgotten ", the innocent Ethiopians have been isolated for several centuries from the rest of the world, just to face the brutals of harsh & bitter poverty at the expense of their rich natural resources & the source of world original history.  Due to Her "Geo-political" position situated at the most sensitive zone of the globe, Ethiopia has suffered an immense mass of suppression by outside forces. As a conscious Ethiopian, that is wounded & bleeded from the early age of my Younghood, I don't have any available means to protect my Country from such horrible atrocities except that crying on behalf of Ethiopia and its suffering people.
The whole motive of my writings is based on trying to express their (i.e.Ethiopia & Her people) agony in a literary form. Therefore, the Amharic Poem below is embodied with an actual text that express the soul of my motive – "….to cry aloud the bitter conditions of their miserable life & express their deepest agony on their behalf, — to the whole world in general and to the conscious class of Our People (Ethiopians) in particular as well!!. Their non-stop brutal problems are still missing them now too!!! Thus, my cry through my "PEN" will continue too!! Thank You All!!!
Source: Debteraw

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

እውቁ ገጣሚ፤ጽሃፊ፤ባለቅኔ፤ ገሞራው ከአርባ ዓመት ስደት በኋላ ዐረፈ

... እንደ ኪሩብ ሁሉ - ክንፍ አካል ቢኖረኝ፣
መች እጠበስ ነበር - በዚህ ዓለም በቃኝ፣
ስላጣሁ ብቻ ነው - መሸሻ መድረሻ
በዚች በሽት ዓለም - የኖርኩ እንደውሻ ...፣"
"... በሥጋዬ ብቻ ውጪ - ሀገር እስካለሁ፣
እወቁልኝ በርግጥ - አልኖርኩም ሞቻለሁ! ...
ኃይሉ (ገሞራው)

በኢትዮጵያ የሥነ-ጽሑፍ ታዋቂ የነበረው ደራሲ፣ ገጣሚና ባለቅኔ ኃይሉ ገብረዮሐንስ (ገሞራው) እሁድ ጥቅምት 30 ቀን 2007 .. (ኖቨምበር 92014) በስደት በሚኖርባት ስዊድን ዋና ከተማ ስቶክሆልም በ71 ዓመቱ ከዚህ ዓለም ተለየ። ሥርዓተ ቀብሩ በስዊድን እንደሚፈፀም ታወቀ። 
ከጥንት ጀምሮ ስናየው የኖርነው፡
ሲነድ ሲቃጠል የሚስቅ እሳት ነው። 
ይህንን ስንኝ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ያነበብኩት ስምንት ወይም ዘጠኝ ቢሆነኝ ነው። ኃይሉ ገሞራው  መጽሃፎች የቤታችን መጽሃፍት መደርደሪያ ካጣበቡት መካከል በቅድሚያ ይጠቀሳሉ።  የረከተ መርገም ረቂቅ እንደወረደ፡ በገሞራው ወይም በሌላ አርታኢ በቀይ ብርዕእርማቶች፡ ከገጽ እስከ ገጽ ተገጥጠውበት ነበር። የኃይሉ ገሞራው መጽሃፍት፡  አማርኛ ስነጽሁፍ ጋር አስተዋውቀኛል ብል ማጋነን አይሆንም። ከዘመናት በኋላ እዚህ፡ ስዊድን በስደት በ2004 ዓም የኢትዮጵያ  አዲስ ዓመት አከባበር ላይ ፡  ርቀት፡ ይህን እውቅ ደራሲ ለማየት ችያለሁ። እንዳለመታደል ሆኖ፡ተቀራርበን ለማውጋት አልቻልንም። ባለበት የጤንነት ችግር ምክንያት ዝግጅቱ ሳይፈጸም ወደ ቤቱ ሄደ፡ ከዛ በኋላም ለመገናኘት እድሉ አልተፈጠረም። የኛ ነገር በጅ የያዙት ወርቅ ሆነና እንጂ፡ የኃይሉ ገሞራውን ለትውልድ የሚተላለ፡ ወደር የሌለው ትምህርት እና እድሜ የጠገበ የስነጽሁፍ ክህሎት በተለያየ መንገድ ማቆየት በቻልን ነበር። ምን ዋጋ አለው፡ ጅብ ከሄደ ሆነ ነገሩ። ጋሽ ኃይሉ በምድር ለሰባት አስርት ዓመታት በቆየህባቸው ጊዚያት ደስታን የተነፈገችው ንጽሁ ነፍስህ በሰላም ትረፍ።(የጸሃፊው ማስታወሻ)
በአዲስ አበባ እስጢፋኖስ ቤተክርስቲያን አካባቢ በኢትዮጵያ አቆጣጠር በ1935 .. ከእናቱ ከወ/ሮ አመለወርቅ ሀብተወልድ እና ከአባቱ ከመሪጌታ ገብረዮሐንስ ተሰማ የተወለደው ደራሲ፣ ገጣሚና ባለቅኔ ኃይሉ ገብረዮሐንስ (ገሞራው) ትምህርቱን የጀመረው

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Nearly 40,000 Eritreans risked their lives to reach Europe by boat only this year: UNHCR

GENEVA, November 14 (UNHCR) The UN refugee agency on Friday said the number of asylum-seekers in Europe from Eritrea over the first 10 months of this year has risen threefold compared to the same period in 2013. In Ethiopia and Sudan, neighboring Eritrea, the number of Eritrean refugees has also increased sharply.
"So far this year, nearly 37,000 Eritreans have sought refuge in Europe, compared to almost 13,000 during the same period last year. Most asylum requests have been lodged in Sweden, Germany and Switzerland, with the vast majority of the Eritreans having arrived by boat across the Mediterranean," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva.
"Our office in Italy reports that 22 per cent of the people arriving by boat are Eritrean, a total of nearly 34,000 people this year. This makes Eritreans the second