Eritrea Renews Call for Inquiry into the Trafficking of Its Citizens

Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

It has been many years since human trafficking has, as an organized international crime, morphed into big business. In recent times, this organized crime has assumed dimensions and tentacles that transcend its “normal” facade of Mafia enterprise. And these days, it is disconcerting to see the architects of this scheme unleash intensive propaganda and misinformation campaigns and appear to be shedding crocodile tears to cover up their crime. Their duplicitous attempt to impugn the people and Government of Eritrea, whom they targeted as their main prey, is not new or surprising. But it underscored their bankruptcy.

Before this organized international crime began to assume an ugly shape through various sophisticated means, the Government of Eritrea had exerted resolute and relentless efforts through direct communication with concerned States to deter and roll back the phenomenon and to ensure justice.

That the Eritrean Government made incessant appeals and de marches to Libya to this end for years before the fall of Kaddafi regime is indeed a matter of record. Unfortunately, the efforts failed to bear tangible results.

The communications with Egypt during the period of President Mubarak as well as the letter of President Isaias Afwerki to Mohammed Mursi when he came to power, as well as the response that the letter sent, are recent testimonies corroborated by available documentation.

Likewise, the close cooperation that Eritrea cultivated with security agencies in the Sudan on the matter, in spite of external machinations conducted to impede its effectiveness, are vivid examples of the collective efforts exerted to combat and eradicate the crime.

The memorandum that Eritrea’s President sent to the UN Secretary General on the subject is another instance of GOE’s efforts. Again, this is in the public domain and available in the archives of the organization.

Furthermore, the Government of Eritrea has gone beyond expressing its concerns and appeals through diplomatic acts to understand the dynamics, and collect actionable evidence of, the operational modalities and details of the crime. As a result it has compiled and documented incontrovertible and indisputable evidence on the poignant affair. Indeed, the primary reason why it requested, on the basis of evidences that it has compiled, the UN Secretary General to establish an independent, impartial and transparent mechanism to investigate the crime was in order to bring to justice the culprits of human trafficking. Eritrea’s actions were not thus prompted by short-term and meaningless propaganda stints.

The principal objective of this organized crime is to prevent Eritrea and its people from defending their sovereignty by dispersing and debilitating their human resources. Economically, the intended objective is to frustrate Eritrea’s development drive, and to induce devastation and poverty by weakening its human capital. But when all these destructive attempts failed, the perpetrators of the scheme changed tack to accuse Eritrea – to shut its mouth and close its eyes, so to speak – through an intensive media campaign.

In this context, the people and Government of Eritrea will not be party to meaningless machinations aimed at covering up the crime and impeding the administration of justice. The loss of life, deprivation and lost opportunities meted out to the victims of human trafficking is too abhorrent to merit elaboration. In the event, the Government of Eritrea calls on the UN Security Council (notwithstanding the fact of the involvement of some of its members in the crime) to investigate the matter and ensure justice through independent and transparent legal modalities. The Government of Eritrea will be ready to submit its evidences once a credible process is launched.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara
24 July 2015

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