The Case Against Freselam Mussie

Freselam Mussie holding the TPLF flag in Tigray region of Ethiopia. According to Freselam, he left Eritrea after he was briefly detained by police for showing support for the Ethiopian dictatorship, which occupies sovereign Eritrean territories, and supports armed terrorists groups against Eritrea. In his bizarre Facebook rants, the struggling musician lashed out against certain Eritrean ethnic groups, the Government and boasted about his region as being superior to other regions in Eritrea. Currently, Freselam is being paraded across Tigray as the second coming of Jesus by the TPLF regime, which is desperate to distract the public from the numerous and embarrassing high profile Ethiopian Air Force defections to Eritrea.


The Case Against Freselam Mussie

By: Mekete Berhane

Earlier this year, Freselam Mussie, the young Eritrean musician, fled from Eritrea, and ran into the open and accepting arms of Ethiopia. In a six part interview he gave to Radio Wegahta, Freselam publicly condemned and aired his grievances against the Eritrean government, which he claimed was the reason he defected. To the dismay of many Eritreans, Freselam explained in the interview that he merely left “one home, for another home” as in Eritrea and Ethiopia were the same.

Eritrean youth fleeing from their homeland is not a recent phenomenon, and in the past few years, Eritreans have seen some of their country’s biggest celebrities flee. The list of celebrities includes Yohannes “Wedi Tikabo”, and Tesfalem “Korchach” Arefaine.

The reason that the youth are fleeing is a complex issue that has to be looked at from several different angles, including but not limited to the following: the favorable immigration policies towards Eritrean asylum seekers in many Western countries; the creation of major refugee camps right across Eritrea’s border in Ethiopia’s Tigray region; the Eritrean diaspora who are willing to finance the smuggling of their Eritrean relatives into Western countries;  and the desire the Eritrean youth have for greater economic opportunities to better their lives and those of their family in Eritrea. Again, it is to be reiterated that every situation is different for everyone, these are just what I consider to be the major areas impacting the draining of Eritrea’s youth.

It is clear that until there is a major changes in the national and international policies in place that are enticing the Eritrean youth to flee, they will continue to flee. This being said, most Eritreans don’t hold it against those youth that do leave the country. The majority of the Eritreans realizes that they are simply trying to better their lives, not for the alleged political reasons the major western media outlets tell us that they’re fleeing for.

By virtue of their celebrity status, when Eritrean athletes, musicians, actors and other artists flee, it’s used by the West as a political tool to indict the Eritrean government. Now, I believe that it’s okay for people to have their opinions on the Eritrean government and the way they conduct themselves. It only becomes problematic when outsiders try to influence this conversation for their own political gain.

The issue with Freselam Mussie’s public defection and condemnation of the Eritrean government, is that there are unresolved, major political and geographical issues between the two neighboring countries that have hampered the peace process. I would also go on to argue that the main obstructer of peace in this scenario is the Ethiopian government. However, the main issue is rooted in the bitter Eritrea-Ethiopia Border War wherein both sides sustained heavy casualties. As of today, fifteen years after both countries agreed to enter arbitration, under the Algiers Agree of 2000, to settle the boundary dispute, Ethiopia has refused to comply with the findings of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission and withdraw from the occupied territory that was found to be legally Eritrea’s.

Given the political situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia, there hasn’t been legitimate peace and healing between the two countries. Freselam Mussie is an Eritrean and therefore has a right to have his own independent beliefs about the Eritrean government, but being an Eritrean who is old enough to remember the stress, horrors and grievances of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border War, to condemn the Eritrean government in the territory of the Ethiopian antagonist, feels treacherous and tasteless. One must also factor in the population size of Eritrea compared to our Ethiopian neighbor; one would be hard-pressed to find a family in Eritrea that hadn’t sacrificed at least one immediate family member in the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border War.

I want to reiterate this point: Even if I don’ agree with all of his views, I don’t have an issue with Freselam Mussie having his quarrels with the Eritrean government. What I take issue with, is his public airing of grievances in the territory of Eritrea’s political and physical antagonist, Ethiopia. By publicly declaring his negative thoughts, attitudes and feelings toward the Eritrean government, he’s allowing himself to be used as a political tool against the Eritrean government and the Eritrean people by the Ethiopian regime.

Furthermore, Freselam’s action on his social media accounts in the past few weeks show that he is willing to go to any lows to stab the Eritrean government and people in the back. A few weeks ago, the TPLF (Woyane) musician, Abebe Araya posted a photo with Freselam Mussie on his Facebook account “welcoming” Freselam Mussie to his people, as if the Eritrean and Ethiopian are one. A viral video on YouTube shows Freselam Mussie not waving the Ethiopian flag, but waving the TPLF (Woyane) flag at a live concert. Another recent post on Freselam’s Facebook page indicated that he performed live at the TPLF 40th Anniversary Concert in Mekelle, Tigray. These actions are unsettling to many Eritreans, such as myself, as we feel that they undermine Eritrea’s hard-earned credibility as an independent nation.

Freselam’s recent activities and engagements shows a level of immaturity that is disgraceful to his family and the Eritrean people as a whole. I hope that this young and talented artist wises up and stops selling himself as a political tool to the Ethiopian regime.

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