31 January Sudan’s military campaign against “illegal immigrants”:A psychological warfare against Eritrean refugees
Amsterdam 31/01/08 Our Rf:No:- 031/UN/SU108 For the attention of: H.E. Ban Ki-moon Secretary General of the United Nations New York, 10017 United States of America Tel: + 1 212 963 5012, Fax: + 1 2112 963 2155/ 963 7055 E-mail: sg@un.org Sudan’s military campaign against “illegal immigrants”: A psychological warfare against Eritrean refugees
Khartoum issued a formal statement on 28 January 2008 indicating its intentions to embark on the expulsion of refugees from neighboring countries under the guise of “removing illegal immigrants from Sudanese soil”.
In an apparent act of anticipation to see through the forcible repatriation of unwilling Eritrean refugees from the Sudan, Asmara was quick to echo the words of the Sudanese government through its state-controlled media on the very same day.
The official statement by Sudan comes as a follow up of a quadripartite cooperation agreement on military and security affairs reached by Sudan, Eritrea, Libya and Chad. The agreement has evidently served the purposed of quenching Asmara’s evil conspiracy theory as Eritrean security forces continue to infiltrate Sudanese territories to kidnap targeted people under the pretext of a mutual Eritrean-Sudanese security agreement. Confirmed reports already indicate that Berhane Gebremedhin and Amanuel Fissehaye, both members of the Eritrean air force department - registered with the UN High Commission for Refugees in Khartoum - have been kidnapped and forcibly returned to Eritrea during an Eritrean-Sudanese joint military sweep spearheaded by Asmara’s security apparatus.
The proposed military sweep will mainly target “ex-fighters and military service absconders”. At a department meeting on a previous occasion, the commander of the Eritrean Air Force, Major General Teklai Habtesellasie had been heard gloating about Asmara’s capabilities of tracking down “absconders” even as far out as western nations and “returning them back home” as the regime pleases. An estimated 50 Air Force members, ex-fighters and the military service Legal Eritrean Refugees are said to be targeted in the latest campaign in the Sudan.
Refugees abducted from Malta and Libya in recent years and returned to Eritrea against their will are known to be languishing in detention camps under the most precarious environment.
In stating the obvious, the ERDC strongly appeals to the African Union, European Union, League of Arab States, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and all other advocates of human rights to condemn these atrocities against Eritrean refugees and prevent further Eritrean-Sudanese military sweep campaigns by imposing appropriate pressure on both parties.
Eritrean Research & Documentation Centre Amsterdam Holland
Eritrean Research & Documentation Center Stortemelk 117, 2401BW, Alphen Aan Den Rijn Tel: +31 172782443/ +31 643894302/ secveritrea@yahoo.com secveritrea@hotmail.com Netherland