Terrorize or Leave - Norway's Migration Paradox

Oslo District Court decided Muslim extremist Mullah Krekar should be remanded in custody for eight weeks

Ethiopian asylum seeker children to leave, Norway increases aid 

Oslo citizens welcome high immigrant numbers 

Mind you three of these conflicting lead stories were published this month (March) by a Norwegian on-line magazine called www.theforeginer.com 

Mullah Krekar Norway's Spoiled Terrorist

Mullah Krekar, the controversial Islamist, who's been back and forth at court hearings due to his illegal and terrorist activities; has been a household name in that country ever since he founded a terrorist group called Ansar Al-Islam back in early 2000s.  Al though, Mullah Krekar a.k.a. Najmudin Farij Ahmed was naturalized citizen of Norway after he sought political asylum in Norway in 1991; he is biting the hands that feed him by masterminding and participating in various terrorists activities. Eventually the court revoked his Norwegian citizenship and decided to deport him back to Iraq in 2003; however Norway couldn't expel him to-date due to lack of assurance about his "safety" from Iraqi government so the generous, patient and politically correct Norwegian government is babysitting him and his family members at par excellence with tax-payers money. For instance he made death threat  to Conservative Norwegian Party Leader, Erna Solberg in  2010. 

ኖርዌይ, አሸብርአለዚያውጣ

Oslo District Court decided Muslim extremist Mullah Krekar should be remanded in custody for eight weeks

Ethiopian asylum seeker children to leave, Norway increases aid 

Oslo citizens welcome high immigrant numbers 

ልብ በሉ እነዚህ ሶስት የተቃርኖ  ይዘት ያላቸው የዜና እርዕሶች የታተሙት በዚህ ወር ማለትም በፈረንጆቹ ማርች በአንድ የኦን ላይን ጋዜጣ ላይ ነው። የመጀመሪያው የሚለው 

አሸባሪው ኢራቃዊ በኦስሎ ከተማ ቅስቀሳ በማድረግ ላይ 

ሙላህ ክርካር የተባለው እስላማዊ አክራሪ የኦስሎ ክፍለከተማ ፍርድቤት ለስምንት ሳምንታት በቁጥጥር  ስር እንዲቆይ ውሳኔ አስተላለፈ። ሁለተኛው ርዕስ ደግሞ የሚለው  ኖርዌይ ኢትዮጵያውያዊ የሆኑ ከ450 በላይ የሚሆኑ የጥገኝነት ጠያቂ ሰዎች ህጻናት ከአገሯ  እንዲወጡ  በመስማማት ለኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የምትሰጠውን እርዳታ ጨመረች። ሶስተኛው ደግሞ የሚለው የኦስሎ ከተማ ነዋሪዎች ወደ ሃገራቸው በከፍተኛ መንገድ እየጨመረ የመጣው የውጭ ሃገር ዜጎች ፍልሰት በጸጋ በመቀበል ላይ ናቸው። ከመጀመሪያው  ዜና ብንነሳ የ 55ዓመቱ የኢራቅ ኩርድ ብሄር ተወላጅ እና በሙሉ ስሙ የሚታወቀው ናጅሙዲን ፋራጅ አህመድ በ1991 ዓ᎐ም᎐ የፖለቲካ ጥገኝነት እንዲሰጠው ያቀረበው ጥያቄ በኖርዌይ መንግስት ተቀባይነት አግኝቶ የመኖሪያና የኖርዊጅያን ዜግነት ቢሰጠውም ያጎረሰውን እጅ በመንከስ  አገሪቱን በሽብር ለማጥቃት በተለያዩ መንገዶች በመንቀሳቀስ ላይ ቢገኝም የሃገሪቱ የውጭ ጉዳይ እና የስደተኞች መስሪያ ቤቶች ባለስልጣናት እንደ አራስ ህጻን እሹሩሩ ከማለት አልፈው ይህ ግለሰብ እና ቤተሰቦቹ በህይወታቸው ላይ ጉዳት እንዳይደርስባቸው በከፍተኛ ወጪ ጥበቃ እያደሩጉላቸው ይገኛል።

Is It Worthy to Be an Ethiopian?

RIP Alem Dechassa (1979-2012)

I've been thinking to write about this subject for sometime but for some unknown reasons my hands refused; it could be due to many saddening/humiliating/degrading  incidents happening like a series movie over the past few months. My heart still bleeds with sorrow, helplessness and anger every time I think of this young Ethiopian woman called Alem Dechassa who was dragged by her hair, beaten and forced in to a car by Lebanese thugs in front "her" unhelpful Consulate in Beirut, Lebanon. To add more insult to the sad news, "our" Consulate general announced that the defenseless mother of two sons, committed "suicide" using her bed sheet a few days after being forcibly checked into a mental hospital. Even though her suspicious death calls for more investigations;

SOS Norway, Kiss Goodbye to Geneva Convention 1951?

"The 1951 Convention protects refugees. It defines a refugee as a person who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail him or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution (see Article 1A(2))."

In contravention to the 1951 Geneva Convention; Norway, one of the founding signatories of this convention; is preparing to deport forcibly over 400 Ethiopian Political asylum seekers and their children as of March 15, 2012, to Ethiopia where they would most probably prosecuted by the ruling junta for their opposition political activism at the leadership and grass roots levels in Norway.       

It's ironic and very sad that such violations against desperate, helpless and voiceless Ethiopian political asylum seekers who were supposed to be protected by International Conventions; came from the descendants of Fridtjof Nansen; who had been the League of Nations’ high commissioner for refugees from 1921 until his death in 1930 and whose priceless ideals and values to the causes of refugees brought the birth of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Nansen International Office for Refugees was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of its efforts and its display of worldwide humanitarianism.

I wish I was born White

Yes, I wish was born white so I don't have to flee my 'home' country leaving behind my family, friends and everything I have to live in 'freedom' in a country where I wasn't welcome. Otherwise, I don't have any problem with my skin color; of course it often times asks for troubles and raises eyebrows at the doorsteps of fancy restaurants, bars and even just average food stores. I would discuss about skin color and its negative consequences sometime in the future. Tonight, I just want to provoke thoughts about the tales of the prisoners of two countries namely Sweden my 'host' country for 8yrs which's home is home to Johan Persson & Martin Schibbye and Ethiopia my 'homeland' and a prison for two of my Swedish colleagues.

Norway a Land - Plagued by Double Standard Politicians!!!

Norway and Ethiopia sign Memorandum of understanding on returnees

Ethiopia's tyrant dines & wines in Norway

The above sad and worrying news came a few days ago after Norwegian State Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Torgeir Larsen's recent business visit to Addis Ababa to get rid off Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers who've lived, worked and payed tax from 2yrs-10yrs in his country. I still couldn't believe why the country's politicians and immigration authorities are spending large amount of their times, money, sleepless nights and on a mission to expel and risk the lives of hard working Ethiopian asylum seekers by sending them back where Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and others are publishing disturbing reports about the regime's unprecedented gross human-rights violations, crackdown on the media and the dissent.

Neither White nor Green Christmas for Johan & Martin, it's all GREY!!!

White Christmas in the North but Heat Shock in the South

Notorious Kaliti Prison of Ethiopia

I read the above title on Swedish Radio's website this morning and I try to visualize how Martin Schibbye, Johan Persson, Eskindeer Nega,Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye, Saleh Idris Gama, Tesfalidet Tesfazgi and hundreds of other prisoners of conscience being held at the notorious Kaliti prison in Ethiopia, are going to celebrate (guess, celebrate is an overstatement) 2011's Christmas. Well, it can't and will never be white as Ethiopia doesn't have snow and it can't be Green Christmas either since they're all (over 250 people) cramped in one open, dirty, noisy, shack infested with fleas and rats covered with GRAY corrugated iron sheet.

"የማስተዳድረው ቆንስላ ሳይሆን የአስከሬን ማቆያ ነው" በሊባኖስ የኢትዮጵያ ቆንስል

''የማስተዳድረው ቆንስላ ሳይሆን የአስከሬን ማቆያ ነው" በሊባኖስ የኢትዮጵያ ቆንስል::

ይህንን ጽሁፍ በእንግሊዘኛ የራሴ በሆነች ብሎግ ላይ የጻፍኩት ከጥቂት ሳምንታት በፊት ቢሆንም ወደአማርኛ እንድተረጉመው ያነሳሳኝ በቅርቡ በፍትህ ጋዜጣ ላይ ""ኢትዮጵያዊ ዋጋው ስንት ነው?"" የሚለውን መጣጥፍ ካነበብኩ በኋላ ነው:: እኔ በበኩሌ የእኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ዋጋ ተንኮታክቶ ወርዶ በዚህ ዘመን ከሌላው የሰው ዘር አይደለም ከምንም አይነት ግዑዝ ነገር በታች እንደሆነ ይሰማኛል:: ኢትዮጵያዊ መሆን አይደለም ለምን እዛች አገር ተፈጠርኩ የሚያሰኝበት ጊዜ ላይ በእርግጠኝነት ደርሰናል:: ዛሬም በገልፍ እና በሜዲትራንያንን ባህሮች ወገኖቻችን የሻርክ ሲሳይ እየሆኑ ነው: ዛሬም ወገኖቻችን በሲናይ በረሀ በበድዊን ጎሳ አባላት ለባርነት ለእስራት ለድብደባ ለአስገድዶ መድፈር እንዲሁም በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ህይወታቸው ሳያልፍ እንደ እንሰሳ እየታረዱ የውስጥና የውጭ አካል ክፍሎቻቸው እየተወሰደ ሬሳቸው በየቦታው በመጣል ላይ ይገኛል: ዛሬም እኛም ሆን መሪዎቻችን ይሄ በሰው ልጅ ታሪክ ተሰርቶ የማያውቅ ግፍ በወገኖቻችን ላይ ሲፈጸም ሰምቶ እንዳልሰማ አይቶ እንዳላየ በመሆን ጭንቅላታችንን አሸዋ ውስጥ ቀብረናል:: ከዚህ በላይ ሞት ውርደት ከየት ሊመጣ:: ለዚህ እንደማስረጃነት ደግሞ ሩቅ መሄድ አያሻም: ቦሌ አለማቀፍ አውሮፕላን ማረፊያ በየቀኑ

The 50thousand Invisible of Sweden

There's an estimated 50-100 thousand undocumented asylum seeker in Sweden who've no rights to live, work, health care & social services and to accommodations. And there're about more than 5-6 thousand of these people who locked up in various detention centers across the country to be sent back where their lives would be endangered. Kahled Khodeda - an Iraqi asylum seeker of a minority religious groups- was one of hundreds victims of unjust deportations to loose his life this year in Iraq regardless of his plea to be protected here in Sweden but to no avail. The Swedish migration board doesn't take responsibility for such killings after it deported its subjects to dangerous places like Iraq. Many of the undocumented asylum seekers live under despicable conditions, in the 6th richest country of the world in 2011, with the help of selfless and generous friends/family members who have little to share while those institutions with huge resources & dishonest commitments spend obscene amount of time, energy and money either on senseless symposiums or overseas travels in the name of these human beings or in worst case scenario hand over those under their custody to the police. There's a few exceptions among these morally corrupt institutions which stands out tall namely  RS Haninge & Medicine du Monde Sweden which saved and continue to save many lives and at the forefront to defend the rights of the INVISIBLE of Sweden. There's no ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT, isn't true? Have a nice holiday and always remember at some point we were/are/will REFUGEES even in our home countries. 

The dilemma of the Ethiopian asylum seekers’ community

The dilemma of the Ethiopian asylum seekers’ community

''Silent Diplomacy is Frustrating'' - Linnea Schibbye, Martin's Wife.

This's the price many journalists and their loved ones have to pay in dictatorial countries like Ethiopia. Johan & Martin committed no crime but dared to be a voice to the voiceless; otherwise they would have chased celebrities and then live a very luxurious life with their families. We Ethiopians owe Martin & Johan for sharing our pain and being punished by one of horn Africa's ruthless tyrants for the crimes they didn't commit. As you all know, Ethiopian dictator intensifies his crackdown on Ethiopian press with the guise of its recently enacted infamous ''anti-terrorism" law to muzzle critical journalists/bloggers which includes Eskinder Nega, Reyoot Alemu, Woubshet Taye and the duo Swedes Martin Schibbye & Johan Persson.

Meles, is your Daughter part of the ''Somalia Picnic''?

Somalia: Militants Vow to Defeat Ethiopian Incursion: Somalia's Islamist Shebab rebels warned Ethiopia on Sunday they would "break the necks" of their troops inside Somalia, a day after several hundred soldiers crossed into the war-torn country.

Semehal-Meles Zenawi's daughter

Ethiopians are experiencing tremendous human rights, prosperity, freedom of expression, stability, employment opportunities, bumper harvest and the like ever since you came to power and accepted with humiliation the ''new breeds of democratic African leaders'' a buzz word which was coined to you and your counterparts in Eritrea, Uganda and Rwanda by the then American president Bill Clinton back then in 90s. We're deeply indebted for these extra-ordinary jobs executed by you and your hard-working, selfless, devoted and patriot colleagues who continue to work around the clock to make sure we eat three meals/day, express ourselves in various manners and outlets, organize ourselves, criticize our government regardless of its perfect nature, and above all not only protect us but also send our brothers/sisters on picnic to help our neighbors who are in trouble and requested for support- as the saying goes A neighbor in need, A neighbor indeed. Our troops jubilantly came back after they received hospitable welcome by our friendly Somali neighbors and successfully accomplished their picnic in Somalia as it shows in the above clip. However, there're rumors by the likes of allafrica.com, cnn.com, bbc.com etc that

I'm running a Morgue, Ethiopia's Ambassador to Lebanon!!!

RIP sisters,

Unfortunately, you're one of the over thousands of Ethiopian victims of such barbaric killings by oil-rich citizens of middle-eastern countries. These crimes have been going on for decades and they seem to increase as neither supplying countries like Ethiopia nor the petrol-rich Arab nations couldn't care less about the lives and security of people like you. How many million poor & desperate girls/women should die before the world say ENOUGH to these countries by taking tough measures to stop the killings, sexual & physical abuses, exploitation of our sisters and daughters? It seems like our sisters/daughters are the most disposable creatures in this world and organized criminals at Addis Ababa are reaping millions of $$$ profits out of these desperate girls/women. The killings & ''suicides'' of our sisters came just a day after an ''Ethiopian Ambassador'' in Lebanon told CNN that ''I'm no longer running an Embassy, I'm running a morgue''. Ethiopia is a land many surprises, here we go, it assigns an undertaker as an ''Ambassador'', please quite your job and apply for some job which fits your merits; right now you don't qualify for this noble job. How much we can take to be disgraced and laughing stock to the world? Surprisingly, his master at Arat Kilo palace pledged to work with the Saudi business partners to boost modern slavery, after having a regular health check up last August in Saudi-Arabia. The atrocities against Shewaye Mollah by Muammer Qaddafi's daughter and these latest reports , expose the true colors of those allegations of the housemaids committing ''suicides'' in the middle east countries. Sadly, girls like these ones will keep on fleeing to their death row as they have neither hope nor opportunities nor good governance nor justice back home. This is a choice between lesser evil.

Kuwaiti held after Ethiopian maid beaten to death

Breaking News: Ethiopia's ''Mohammed Bouazizi'' died yesterday

Ethiopia's '' Bouazizi''
set himself on fire on 11/11/11

His name is Yenesew Gebre, 29, Ethiopian elementary school teacher at a small village called Waka in Southern region of the country. He was fired and then imprisoned along with over 90 residents of the village last month by local officials for demanding the rule of law, good governance, and other human rights issues. He was released after the court couldn't find evidence against him while it kept the rest of the protesters including the elderly under police custody. Yenesew immolated himself on 11-11-11 in front of the local administration office in protest against the rulings of the court which still keep the rest of the prisoners. Unfortunately Yenesew died yesterday afternoon at a local hospital, called Terecha. Residents of Waka told VOA Amharic service yesterday that

Blame it on the UK, Ethiopia Charges Opposition Figures, Reporter With Terrorism!

Ethiopia Charges Opposition Figures, Reporter With Terrorism

Meles Zenawi already gave the verdict a month ago at his rubber-stamp Parliament; his kangaroo court is nothing but a circus to portray his legitimacy and the prevalence of the rule of law which is otherwise. These people have no shame, otherwise how on earth Ethiopia's best known sluggish judicial system all of sudden charge its ''defendants'' at speed of light. This shows the desperation of Zenawi & co to intimidate the remaining independent journalists, opposition members and above all he is signaling to the duo Swedes that he can do whatever he wants to do. Obviously, this's a preemptive tactic to contain the ever increasing pressure from inside and outside, which in some ways might buy him time but will never spare him from the fate of his fellow dictators. Thanks to Anti-Terrorism Law of England, which our country copied it ''word for word'', three prominent journalists including more than half a dozen opposition leaders and members are now behind bars. Neither English journalists nor opposition figures stopped functioning or the UK government has secret court hearings and prisons for offenders of its ''Anti-Terrorism'' law. The Arab Spring freed Libyans, Tunisians &  Egyptians from decades old shackles and now it's time for Horn Africa's

Adius humanity, Africans' lives worth nothing

Refugees face organ theft in the Sinai

CNN's Fred Pleitgen investigates human organ trafficking in Egypt's Sinai

Bedouin smugglers involved in people trafficking are also believed to be stealing organs from Eritrean refugees who are unable to pay their demands for large amounts of cash to take them into Israel

I thought I saw the worst but this CNN clip proved me wrong. I still couldn't believe how human beings do such barbaric and inhumane things to others. It doesn't get worse than this, it seems like Africans' lives are the cheapest and the most disposable on the whole planet. Most of these victims are refugees who are fleeing from Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Sudan where extrajudicial killings & imprisonments, torture, rape, famine, diseases, corruption, lack of freedom of speech, expression and religion as well as the rule of law are rampant. Unfortunately, a few make their dreams come true while others are end up like this or are being tortured, raped, exploited, imprisoned and killed by Libyan and Egyptian gangs on daily basis. The few ''lucky ones'' who made it to Israel have no guarantee of protection; instead the Egyptian & Israeli authorities are still deporting them back to hell on earth. I still don't understand what kind of crimes we, Africans do/did, to be treated like sub humans by our owns as well as the rest of human race. US led NATO and some of its allies waged war to protect Libyan civilians from Gaddafi's killing machines while they ignored sub-Saharan Africans to be butchered by their Libyan allies or drowned in thousands on Mediterranean sea. I read a story about an Ethiopian dad's plea to save his daughter's life at Yemeni hospital after he lost his wife along hundreds of Ethiopian, Somalian & Sudanese refugees on a capsized boat while on board to the gulf of Aden. The indifference and the silence towards such tragic incidents are so shocking and it feels like this has become so ''normal'' to the wider public and African life worth nothing.

''One becomes a vegetable'' Martin Schibbye

''One becomes a vegetable'' Martin Schibbye- this is how the Swedish Journalist described his, his colleague Johan Persson and other Ethiopian prisoners' daily life- to his wife during her brief recent visit at Kaliti (the worst prison in the world) when she went to attend the Meles Zenawi's kangaroo court hearing last week. Well, that's the whole idea of Zenawi's brutal regime's prisons. Thanks Linnea Schibbye Steiner for sharing what your beloved husband and many other inmates have been through in my country where organized criminals are terrorizing the whole nation under psydo-democracy, sham election and kangaroo courts. This's not something new to us; he did this hundreds times over the last 20years; a case in point: Meles & his clones made sure Ethiopia's renown surgeon Prof. Asrat Woldyes to vegetate in their prison until he was sick fatally, they imprisoned opposition and civil society leaders, journalists, ordinary citizens, teachers, farmers etc just to satisfy his sadistic and megalomaniac misdemeanor. What makes Zenawi's brutality different from the rest of his partners in crimes including his predecessor-Mengistu Hailemariam-is that his viciousness as well as using kangaroo courts and cooked up evidences as guises to torture, humiliate, degrade and kill slowly his victims psychologically and physically by dragging the court hearings for ever with his remote control. He always plays safe especially with cause celebére (not to mention his exceptional killing sprees) to deceive about his legitimacy and the prevalence of independent judiciary which is otherwise. This's what Meles & co. are doing to millions of Ethiopians on daily basis with impunity and ironically the world is parading him at single senseless meetings and conferences as a reward.

If it was Zimbabwe...

This's so typical predictable and laughable behavior of TPLF, it's always the police who is their witness to corroborate the ''cooked up charges''. Meles Zenawi & his stooges used their self-serving kangaroo court to deceive the world about the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law which are otherwise. They've such a short memory and gullible arrogance that they apply the same trick over and over thinking the rest of the world would believe what they're saying/doing at face value. How on earth journalists with camera train guerrilla fighters? It doesn't matter how many times they make a fool of themselves; otherwise they charged leaders of opposition parties and civil societies, peaceful demonstrators including journalists with treason and genocide after they themselves rigged the 2005 election and then in its aftermath killed over 200 people. A year or two later they accused Ethiopian pop star Teddy Afro with ''hit & run'' charge by placing a corpse on a road  he was driving home after arriving in Addis from a foreign tour. There're hundreds of such similar politically motivated cases unfortunately Johan Persson & Martin Schibbye are

Land-grabbing vs Ethiopian Journalists - Conspiracy of Silence or Conflict of Interests?

''Instead of asking per Diem, journalists have been bargaining with urban mayors to grab plots of land. Some of the journalists have grabbed massive plots of lands in different towns. Some of them gained not one or two plots of land; they grabbed eight to nine plots.” (ERTA reporter, personal communication, 14 July 2010). (Birhanu Olana, 482, 2010)*

This is an excerpt that I read on Facebook group (which I created for Ex-ETV journalists)  from a recently published research findings about new corrupt trends of Ethiopian journalists especially those who work for the government media. I'm still in shock and in disbelief (who wouldn't unless s/he is involved in such practices) that  was actually an account  from an Ethiopian TV (where I served myself as reporter/producer from 2000-2004) reporter. One plot of land, usually 200m2, would sell for 60,000 birr (about USD 5,000) on average. This means that a journalist who has grabbed nine plots of land could sell them for 540,000 birr (about USD 45,000) (Birhanu O., 482, 2010) which is unprecedented  fortune for any ordinary Ethiopian journalist.

Even though the findings revealed the wide-spread of corruption practices among Ethiopian journalists of both private and government owned media institutions, according to the researchers- an ex ETV employee, Birhanu Olana (who's doing his PhD at University of Sydney, Australia) and his reviewer Terje S. Skjerdal (a Norwegian media researcher)- those who work for the government media were/are not only involved in land-grabbing practices but also use systematic methods to cover it up. Another research which was conducted

The most Untouchables of the Horn of Africa

Many freedom and democracy loving people across the globe regardless of their- racial, religious, political, geographical creeds- cheered and applauded the courage, determination and sacrifices paid by revolutionaries of the Arab countries to make dictatorship a history even though it's too early to judge how event will turn out to be in due time. What's most striking and astonishing though is that peoples of these countries are much more better off socially, economically, politically than their counterparts in the horn of Africa namely The Sudan, Eritrea & my home country- Ethiopia. Regimes of all these 3 countries came by sword and run their respective countries with iron fist ever since they held power more than 2 decades ago. Genocide; human rights abuses; famine; disease; tortures; modern day slavery; extrajudicial killings and imprisonments, lack of the rule of law and freedom of expression are the hallmark of the trio nations and yet their power is as intact as before thanks to backings which are attached in different forms and shapes from China to USA from Russia to Quatar. What Gaddafi, Ben Ali and Mubarak did combined to their people is less than a quarter of what Al-Basher or Afewerki or Meles are doing each alone. Al-Bashir has been in killing spree ever since he held power, Afewerki take hostage of his ''liberated people'' after 30yrs of bloody war and Zenawi