By Samson Seifu,
It is to be
recalled that Norway (the previous Red-Green coalition government) and the
repressive regime in Ethiopia (which is in power for over 25 years) signed a
five years bounded memorandum of understanding in January, 2012 with the aim of
forcefully repatriating the Ethiopian asylum seekers in Norway. This agreement has been met and contested with
fierce protests from a number of angles such as among others:
1. The
asylum seekers themselves through their association called ‘’Ethiopian Asylum
Seekers Association in Norway’’;
2.
The
Ethiopian Community in Norway;
3.
The
Task Force against Forced Repatriation of Ethiopian Asylum Seekers in Norway;
4.
A
court case initiative by Professor Girum Zeleke against the Norwegian
government both in Oslo, Norway and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
in Strasbourg, France;
5.
The
Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers (NOAS);
6.
The
Norwegian Centre against Racism (Antirasistisk Senter)
7.
Association
of January 12;
8.
Amnesty
International, Norway;
9.
Norway
based Ethiopian oppositions’ support organizations and
10. Ethiopians all over the world.
These protest voices played a very instrumental role
in preventing the implementation of the infamous forced repatriation of the
Ethiopian Asylum Seekers to one of the world’s worst repressive regime. As a result of all these efforts, up to the
present time no meaningful implementation of the agreement has been effected.
However; what has become an eye brows raising matter once
again is the recent appearance of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice,
Mr. Joran Kallmyr, in one of the country’s TV, Radio and internet broadcasting
agency called NRK where the minster pinpointed his successful working visit (9
February 2016) in Ethiopia in connection with the reinstating of the already
signed agreement which has been ineffective so far. As a result of the mutual
communique between the two, it has been mentioned that the two sides agreed to
begin the forced repatriation.
Honoring Dictatorship and Repression
The new incumbent
conservative government which is a coalition of the two far right parties of
the blue party (Høyre) & the progressive party (FrP) as its foreign policy considers
Ethiopia its focus country for aid-recipient, contrary to its previous promises
to focus on the regime’s basic human-rights violations. The prime minister’s party, i.e. the blue
party’s representative in 2013 had promised his party's commitment to challenge
the human rights abuses of the regime in Ethiopia in a public debate with the
then incumbent government’s representative where he criticized the unjust
practices of the then government when it comes to Ethiopia. But what is being
observed and practiced is the opposite of what has been promised that is
rewarding the human-rights abuses of the TPLF regime in Ethiopia once again by
the new government.
The political Situation in Ethiopia
The TPLF regime
after having claimed a 100% victory in the 2015 country-wide parliamentary
election, which is an embarrassing improvement from the previous parliamentary
election in 2010 where the TPLF regime claimed a 99.6% victory, has completely
controlled the country. The regime among a number of other evil doings has:
1.
Opened
fire and killed peacefully demonstrating people,
2.
Incarcerated
journalists, bloggers, political activists and religious activists on bogus accusations,
3.
Closed
down all critical free-presses,
4.
Prevented
the different opposition political organizations from holding public meetings
and peaceful demonstrations,
5.
Stifled
political opportunities to the people,
The opposition
seems to have lost all hopes for a fair political playground and completely
abandoned the so called peaceful and legal opposition and opted for other means
of struggles like armed resistance.
The Role of the Ethiopian Diaspora in Norway
The TPLF regime
is getting it extremely difficult to pursue its diaspora politics to what it
calls ‘’the silent majority diaspora Ethiopian community’’ due to a strong
political opposition from the Ethiopian diaspora. Especially in Norway, it has
almost been impossible to conduct any fundraising event by the regime’s
operatives thanks to the fierce resistance waged by the Ethiopians residing in
Norway in which the Ethiopian asylum seekers are a part and parcel.
The regime’s
operatives living in Norway tried two failed fundraising activities in 2013
both in Oslo and Stavanger for the so called ‘’Nile renaissance dam project’’.
The task force set up by the ‘’Democratic Change in
Ethiopia Support Organization, Norway (DCESON) mobilized Ethiopians and
successfully thwarted the planned fundraising events in Oslo and Stavanger (20
and 28 April 2013 respectively).
TPLF agents were furious to retaliate the failed
fundraising events for ‘’the Grand Millennium Dam Project on the Blue Nile
River’’ they planned to organize in Stavanger and Oslo in April 20 and 28, 2013
respectively. This time they planned to sabotage the fundraising event
organized by the opposition support organizations in Norway to support the
armed resistance against the regime in Ethiopia.
The TPLF agents bluffed the
Nordberg Church administration by threatening to stage a huge protest
demonstration at the church compound if the fundraising event is allowed to be
conducted as planned. They also fabricated a false story to a daily newspaper
called Vårt Land in order to get it published just a day before the event day
with the news of the cancellation of the fundraising event as confirmed by the
administrator of the Nordberg church, Olav Lende. The TPLF agents’ website
known as ‘’www.abesha.no’’
published the cancellation of the fundraising event stating and siting the
story covered on Vårt Land internet newspaper (http://www.vl.no/troogkirke/leide-menighetshus-for-a-samle-inn-penger-til-krig/). It
was the TPLF agents who tipped off the misleading information to the news
outlet Vårt Land Avis in the first place.
The Task Force in anticipation of the possible attempt to
sabotage and thwart the fundraising event by the TPLF agents and operatives in
Norway had a second plan (Plan-B) which had been kept secret until the event
day i.e. 28 September 2013. The fundraising event was successfully conducted
without any disruption at a venue envisaged as per Plan-B at Galgeberg Meeting
Hall.
The successful accomplishment of the fundraising event
was broadcasted to the Ethiopian People both at home and in Diaspora by ESAT
Radio and Television both in headlines and full reportage. The famous anti-Government
Paltalk media ECADEF and Zehabesha.com have also posted about the fundraising
event on their websites.
The TPLF agents and their handful
of supporters in Norway did not have the political will and the moral courage
to come to the arrangement venue and protest out in public and hinder the
fundraising event that was successfully conducted as per ‘’plan B’’ the way
DCESON successfully disrupted at theirs planned fundraising events for the
Grand Millennium Dam Project.
Norway needs to reconsider its policy of cooperation
with the repressive regime
The regime in
Ethiopia employs all forms of brutal means in order to cling on to power. The ‘’forced
repatriation of Ethiopian asylum seekers’’ is one of the means to silence the
Ethiopians’ opposition to the miseries being committed by the repressive
regime. These asylum seekers are very
active in exposing the regime’s atrocities to the Norwegian public in
particular and the world community in general thereby playing a pivotal role by
becoming a voice for the voiceless Ethiopians at home who are suffering in the
hands of their brutal rulers.
The Norwegian
government has a moral responsibility and an obligation of respecting the international
human rights law of not putting the lives of Ethiopian asylum seekers into
danger by forcefully surrendering them to a regime which is very well known for
its brutal deeds against its opponents in the last 25 years.
