Eritrea: catch all

[davidbfpo]

Last month the BBC had a reporter in Eritrea, first to report on:

This week marks 25 years since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in a conflict which lasted three decades. Rights groups criticise the East African nation for its lack of democracy, media freedom and its policy of forced conscription, which can last for many years. But the Eritrean government has organised huge celebrations.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36358235

A less restrained, wider report:

The migration crisis in Europe has thrust Eritrea under the spotlight. Last year, more people fled to Europe from this small, secretive nation than from any other African country.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36469286

[AdamG]

Profile of former Bucknell professor Berhanu Nega, leader of Ethiopian dissident rebel group Ginbot 7
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/ma...army.html?_r=0

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to WoTR for this article on the UAE's expanding role in Eritrea:http://warontherocks.com/2016/09/wes...arab-emirates/

A "taster":

As part of the partnership agreement, the United Arab Emirates concluded a 30-year lease agreement for military use of the mothballed deep-water port at Assab and the nearby hard-surface Assab airfield, with a 3,500-meter runway capable of landing large transport aircraft including the huge C-17 Globemaster transports flown by the Emirati air force.

[davidbfpo]

Not sure what to make of this article, which starts with:

An Eritrean opposition group, Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) on Wednesday said that Yemen’s Houthi group have attacked the international Airport of Assab, a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea.

Link:http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article60311

[davidbfpo]

A book review:

Hopes were high in May 1991 when the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) captured the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and helped the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) overthrow Mengistu Haile Mariam, the Ethiopian military dictator. It was thought that the movement which had been fighting for decades for independence would usher in an era of peace, unity and equality for the Eritrean people, explains Professor Keith Somerville in this review of Martin Plaut’s ‘Understanding Eritrea. Inside Africa’s Most Repressive State’.

Link:http://talkinghumanities.blogs.sas.a...arrison-state/
What a description:

But it is hard to see what could be worse for Eritreans than the current situation.

[davidbfpo]

An interesting commentary on how the EU appears to be "bending" its rules and principles to provide aid to Eritrea, mainly to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.
Link:https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/20...curity-forces/

[CrowBat]

...a conflict looming since longer might go active: namely, multiple and usually inter-related tensions between Eritrea and various of its neighbours (except for Ethiopia, of course) are high again.

Since about a week, there are tensions to Sudan:

Sudan shuts border with Eritrea

Sudan declares popular mobilisation on border with Eritrea

Summary: the governor of Kassala State, one of two states declared by President Omar al-Bashir to be in a six-month state of emergency, approved a proposal by the Popular Defence Forces for the militia to set up a mobilsation committee in the state. The PDF is widely believed to be the military arm of the National Congress Party. This comes amid rising tensions including the deployment of other militiamen/Sudanese Defence Forces to the Eritrean border, as well as reports that Egypt has sent reinforcements to one of it's military bases in the region (apparently: Berbera, in Somaliland). Ethiopia has recently accused some Egyptian officials and the government of Eritrea of funding opposition groups.

Mind: UAE - which meanwhile operates one base in Egypt, too - has bases in Eritrea and Somaliland. Unsurprisingly, Egypt is aligning itself with Eritrea.