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Matthew Vella
One of Eritrea’s main opposition parties, the Eritrean Liberation Front, has said in comments to MaltaToday that warnings it had sent to the Maltese Government and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the dangers awaiting the repatriated 220 Eritreans back in September 2002, were not taken note of, leading to the eventual consequences of torture and imprisonment detailed in a report by Amnesty International.
The Eritrean Liberation Front - Revolution Council (ELF-RC), led by Abdellah Idris, is also leading the Alliance of Eritrean National Force, created in 1999 to overthrow the government of President Isaiyas Aferworki.
ELF representative Seyoum Michael, who is based in Germany, told MaltaToday the organisation never received any response from the office of the UNHCR to the appeal made on behalf of the Eritrean refugees in Malta.
“There was no communication from their side. The office of the President of Malta was the only office that got back to us. Other ministries did not communicate whatsoever.”
On June 20, 2002, Michael wrote to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, as well as to the highest Maltese authorities and ministers, to protest the deportation of the Eritrean nationals, writing he was turning to the UNHCR after having exhausted all channels of communication with the Maltese authorities: “Fears that they - Eritrean refugees - might be deported and handed over to the merciless regime in Eritrea overwhelmed the detention camps…according to information we have, they went on hunger strike at the end of May to have their voices heard and to protest against the maltreatment they have been suffering and the tragic prospect of their deportation.”
Speaking to MaltaToday, Michael claimed the arguments used by the Refugee Commission and the Appeals Board to refused applications for asylum showed they had based their decisions on misinformation they were getting from the Eritrean government. “I sent the Maltese authorities over twenty-five pages of authentic information and analysis to depict the picture of life in Eritrea under the current dictatorship of the Popular Front for Democracy and Justice.
“They dismissed all the information I provided on the security and human rights situation in the country and repeated warnings I gave about the fate awaiting the refugees in the event of their deportation. It was not just inaction. The deportation was work done in full communication and co-operation with the tyrannical regime in Eritrea,” Michael said, who harshly criticised the 2002 deportation, accusing the Maltese government of “blunt collaboration with tyranny.”
The controversial deportation of the 220 Eritrean nationals has now been placed under inquiry and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg has appointed Magistrate Abigail Lofaro to conduct it.
But questions on the role of UNHCR throughout the entire saga leading to the deportation of the 220 Eritreans remain unanswered. MaltaToday asked the UN agency whether it had informed the Maltese government of the petitions it had received from the Eritrean Liberation Front on the particular dangers awaiting the repatriated Eritrean nationals.
UNHCR spokesperson Laura Boldrini refrained from answering any questions on the matter before the inquiry is concluded:
“As you are aware, a board of inquiry has been established in Malta to deal with the issue. The Board has already contacted UNHCR on this matter. In view of this we would like to invite you to wait for our contribution to the work of the board which will indirectly respond to your questions.”
Eritrea was officially born in 1993 after spending thirty years embroiled in a war for independence from Ethiopia. The new State was heralded by the ruling faction of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, today known as the Popular Front for Democracy and Justice. In 1998, a border conflict with Ethiopia plunged the nation into war once again, and plans for a Constitution and any form of democracy were postponed. Personal freedoms were curtailed, and military conscription became an arbitrary exercise drafting adults aged between 18 and 40 into the army.
From an appeal made by Eritrean asylum-seekers to apply for refugee status, seen by this newspaper, Amanuel Gebremichael Yonas and his wife Habte Tesfemicael Tsighe, two subscribed members of the Eritrean Liberation Front, had their application for refugee status refused by Malta’s Refugee Commission in June 2002.
Their appeal in front of the Appeals Board, presided by Prof Henry Frendo, lecturer in history at the University of Malta, claimed that torture and extra-judicial killings of political opponents and dissidents had been “characteristic of the way the ruling party has dealt with opposition organisations, including ELF,” a claim substantiated in numerous reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Refugee Commissioner Charles Buttigieg originally stated in his refusal that ELF membership could not be considered a “good enough reason to claim a well-founded fear of persecution,” despite refugees being defined by the Refugee Act as persons with well-founded fears of being persecuted for membership of particular social groups or political opinion.
In spite of quotes in the annual reports of Amnesty International and UNHCR, in which Eritrea was listed as a country where torture and other inhuman forms of punishment were clearly rampant, the Appeals Board did not revoke the Refugee Commission’s decision to deny refugee status.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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