British Eritrean Communities Press Statement on 21 November 2021 #NoMore rally in London
We are deeply concerned by Biden Administration’s attempt to cover-up TPLF crimes and their concerted effort to impose the terrorist group in the Horn of Africa. We strongly deplore the paid lobbyist instigated unjust sanctions against the people of Eritrea and call on USA government to rescind them.
British Eritreans are deeply alarmed by the actions taken by Biden Administration, EU and UK to reverse and undermine the Peace Agreement signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia in July 2018 that ushered new era of ensuring peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. Despite the people of the Horn of Africa and their governments’ resolutely trying to make peace and stability in their region a realty, the anti-peace elements in the region and their handlers in Europe and USA are working relentlessly to dash the hope of peace, prosperity and friendship in the Horn of Africa. The imposed punitive sanctions against Eritrea by USA in November 2021 and the earlier sanction by EU is one of those impediments that have been placed to frustrate the efforts for peace and cooperation in the Horn of Africa.
In their frenzy to save the TPLF from their inevitable demise, the Biden Administration and EU are causing more and more humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, plunging the Horn of Africa into a war zone and fermenting a conducive environment for man-made misery in the already fragile Horn of Africa.
British Eritreans have been calling UK government and EU to respect the right of the people of Horn of Africa to live in peace, to restrain TPLF’s belligerency and to support the people of Horn of Africa to address the root causes of war, famine and humanitarian crisis. Not only had USA and Europe chose to strangle Eritrea by means of sanctions, but also they supported the corrupt, war-mongering, ethnocentric TPLF led Ethiopian government with economic, military and finance. Successive US administration and European Union chose to turn a blind eye when TPLF led Ethiopian government continued to occupy sovereign Eritrean territory in violation to the Algiers Treaty, a final and binding international arbitration, international law and several Security Council resolutions. In gross travesty of justice, the rich and powerful nations conspired to impose sanctions against the victim Eritrea that was emerging from devastating war that was imposed on it. The punitive sanctions that was imposed on Eritrea under false pretext had caused immeasurable misery to Eritrean people, heavy burden and economic hardship to Eritrean society for more than twenty years and strangulated the promising economy of Eritrea.
Again under the pretext of “undermined the stability and integrity of the Ethiopian state”, the USA imposed a set of punitive sanctions against Eritrea on 12 November 2021, which has been the victim of TPLF atrocities, targeting Eritrean economy that have started healing from precious sanctions. When USA stated that Eritrea is undermining the stability and integrity of Ethiopian state, it is arrogating to itself the sovereign right of Ethiopia, which led and force Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to describe it as actions of interference and to emphasised that “the prerogative to put forth such complaint lies with the Government of Ethiopia and not any other country” and “the Government of Ethiopia doesn’t believe that the State of Eritrea is an impediment to sustainable peace in Ethiopia.”
British Eritreans therefore deplores these punitive sanctions that have imposed on Eritrea by Biden Administration and EU against Eritrea. We are also alarmed that the sanctions are maliciously designed to cripple Eritrean economy, degrade Eritrea’s ability to fulfil Eritrean aspiration of resolving social and economic needs. Leaving aside the specious argument put forward by the authors of these punitive measure, if left unchecked, they are going to produce influx of more refugees, worsened humanitarian crisis and fertile ground for terrorism.
Appeasing terrorists can only lead to more crimes by those terror groups. We demand those who committed heinous crime against humanity, involved in terrorist act, and are killing, looting and destroying farmer’s crop to starve them to justice. We call USA, EU and UK who have interest in peace and stability of the Horn of Africa freeze the billions of dollars that have been siphoned and snatched from poor people of Ethiopia by TPLF and been used now to recruit lobbyists in EU and USA to cover their crime.
We call on Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UK government to support the Peace Agreement between Eritrean and Ethiopia signed in Asmara and Riyadh in 2018 and stand shoulder to shoulder with Ethiopian and Eritrean governments in their effort to bring peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.
We are deeply concerned by Biden Administration’s attempt to cover-up TPLF crimes and their concerted effort to impose the terrorist group in the Horn of Africa. We strongly deplore the paid lobbyist instigated unjust sanctions against the people of Eritrea and call on USA government to rescind them.
