Ethiopians who oppose Meles Zenawi’s ethnic {www:apartheid} tyranny persistently ask the U.S. and European governments to stop financing the regime, while forgetting that we in the Diaspora send over a billion dollars in hard currency to Ethiopia per year in a form of {www:remittance}. This amount is greater than what the Woyanne junta receives from its Western backers. In 2008, Dr Alemayehu G. Mariam wrote:
It was an eye-opening revelation to learn that Ethiopian Americans contributed a cool $1.2 billion to the Ethiopian economy this past year. That is “only second to the amount generated by Ethiopia’s exports.” Last week Elias Loha, Manager of Reserve Management and Foreign Exchange Market of Ethiopian National Bank, fretting over “a cut in vital remittances from Ethiopians in the United States” told Reuters: “We are concerned and worried that as a result of the financial crisis… some of the Ethiopians may loose their jobs and as a result they may stop sending money to help their families back home.” Could that be a backhanded way of giving us teeny-weeny credit for the much vaunted {www:stratospheric} “10 percent a year economic growth” Zenawi gasbags about? [full text]
Isn’t about time that we ask ourselves what we can do instead of begging the US and EU to help us?
37 thoughts on “Remittance fuels Ethiopia’s apartheid dictatorship”
It is a catch 22 situation. What is the alternative left or the diaspora to do?
If they know how to engage themselves into this line, it could be a good source of income for those opposition groups who have an account in the US as well as in Addis.
I agree with what kitcho says. Unless we find a better way to prevent weyane from putting its hands on our money, we can’t stop sending money through the National Bank to help our families. I for one would like to see a better alternative.
Yes indeed, it’s the right time to do the right thing to end Meles Zenawi’s tyranny!
We r sending for our families not for for Woyagne! If u have a better idea without causing any harm to our poor families back home
We got to start financing the portion of the money to any Ethiopian liberation movement,and also we got to stop sending too much money. If our family can survive with $200.00 every month there is no point to send more than that. We are sending this money for the well being of our family not for the advancement of Woyanne.
I have been funding my young sister to attend a private college in D/Markos and sending my mother a couple of hundred dollars every other month to supplement her income.I know this will indirectly help the woyane regime but I don’t see the alternative for different reasons.
This is the only thing in my life here in the US that makes me high.
We should discourage Ethiopian doing business with woyane and the rich diaspora who is investing big money in partnership with woyane.
We should also be more generous in helping the opposition financially.
ali,
i have been advocating about this for last three years.finally, al is talk about it too.we do not need west to solve ethiopian problems.we can and must stop finacing the war machines ourselves.
The money we send is different from the money given by EU and US to TPLF. at least our money is not serving the Woyena Junta to buy weapon. Is there any option to send our money to Ethiopia? We in the option comps are just full of ambition. We just suggest without any alternatives.
You’re are lossing it my friend.
ER – You are a shame to the Ethiopian Opposition. I had rather have TPLF forever rather than an idiot like you to take over leadership in Ethiopia. And I do well oppose the ethnic policies of the TPLF but I do not want an idiot like you in the opposition. You just make all of us look stupid – grow up dude! Or why do not you just shut up!!!
It is not advisable to send cash money. It is better to send money in kind,item,material etc. In other words let us only send goods. It will minimize the harm.
Besides, the oral opposition at home should ask where the money has gone. Almost two-third of the money donated by donor states goes to the regimes tresor and partially distributed among loyalists to the black Apartheid state of Ethiopia.
The ONLY solution is to set up an Anti Apartheid resistance council(AARC)and expose daily problems surrounding economic,political and social affairs of the national state of Ethiopia.
The remittance money is exactly what Meles uses to finance his defense budget. He keeps the hard currency that the diaspora remits, uses it to equip his forces, and prints birr for the remittance recipient.
there is an alternative…if some one has a business in addis (say a gas station) and one abroad then the can transfer money in clandestine fasion in such a way that they keep the $$$ out side of woyane’s banks and abroad and pay out beneficiaries in birr from their addis business. hence the relative is supported and the dollar is kept out of woyane’s mafia bosses reach…. If there is a will there is a way really!!!
I never sent dollar to ethiopia. I give the money ($) here in US and it will be given to my relatives in birr. No $ for TPLF.
my brother is afraid of attending opposition meetings saying woyane will retaliate and he attended dictators rally after the fake election win,saying that it was order by his school principal who is hard core woyane.he teaches in addis and always complain that woyane doesn’t pay them enough and i have to subsidize him every month.
from today on words I will stop my subsidy
until he becomes a man and stop to do what woyane is telling him to do.
he has to be clear where he want to be:me(and my money)or woyane.
I think this is one of the very basic ways of fighting woyane but I also believe it is a catch 22 for many people.
You can’t ask people to stop sending money to their family, for many immigrants that may be the only reason they justify living outside their country.
The solution I sugguest to solve this paradox is to use an informal Hawala(money transfer) system like the Somalis do. Avoid the formal way such as sending money via Western Union, Moneygram and all banking systems. As much as possible use people who you trust instead of formal institutions.
In addition, opposition parties such as Ginbot 7, OLF, ONLF, Andinet should be able to very dicretley arrange informal money transfer systems in order to minimize the portion that goes to the coffer of the national bank. Let the hard currency stay inside the “black” market and disrupt the formal money market. Giving press releases and interviews on VOA will not move the woyanes an inch, only concorted actions will do the trick.
If you want to win your enemy you have to act smarter than them not talk louder than them. This is one suggestion I have for organized parties. They can use people/busineses they trust back home to ran an informal hawala and these people may even need to penetrate the woyane system (even become a member or marry a tigre to win the trust of the woyenes if they have to). No pain-no gain.
Thanks Elias for flagging this issue this is a very noble idea and the opposition and other pariots have to discretly follow up on this issue and try to drain the foreign currency reserve of the woyanes. Remember, woyanes are bussiness mafias first and polticians next, draining their coffer will expedite their demise.
The money we all send to our families help Woyane’s owned businesses and colleges going, but what is the alternative?
thanks
Look at the comment below and giggle from ear to ear. lying is forbidden. I don’t want to say it but I know where you are from.
legese says:
my brother is afraid of attending opposition meetings saying woyane will retaliate and he attended dictators rally after the fake election win,saying that it was order by his school principal who is hard core woyane.he teaches in addis and always complain that woyane doesn’t pay them enough and i have to subsidize him every month.
from today on words I will stop my subsidy
until he becomes a man and stop to do what woyane is telling him to do.
he has to be clear where he want to be:me(and my money)or woyane.
Ante endet new yezeketkew, to my surprise you have so many followers, or you are using user names to comment too?
Any ways if I don’t send money I am letting my parents suffer, which I will not do.
I will send money and send it legally.
@Batu [#12}, bear in mind goods could also be taxed, after all the money you will send is taxed the rest goes to your beloved family.
What # 17 says makes a lot of sense to me. As you suggested. the opposition groups should go into action by setting up a Hawala system in North America and Europe using the hard currency to mount a strong opposition and depriving the Zenawi gang from getting their hands on the remittance money and at the same time helping the families with Ethiopian birr. Now it is up to the opposition group to go into action.
Thank you Elias for bringing up this issue and thank you #17 for suggesting an alternative solution to help out our people.
Wow! I never ever expected such a foolish idea may arise from an Ethiopian who spent so many years in the West. Not only our remitances, but even the UN and US strict sanctions didn’t harm the ruling juntas around the world except that they increase the misery to the poor. Elias – you helped me to conclude that you are not indeed qualified to be called a journalist. TPLF cadres are hundred times wiser than you. After destroying the Ethiopian Unity through tribal federalism they are now asking us to celebrate a flag day. They seem growing up and I think it is time for Elias to grow up.
God bless Ethipia
kewle
i really feel the dilemma here; we don’t want to support weyane but we want to help our families. what is suggested by sanja @#14 seems to be the only way; keep the dollar in the US and let somebody trustworthy also with a business both here and in the US give the money back home. keeping the $ where it is, is the only way out! because if you are thinking of sending the $ cash as it is into the black market..guess what.. most of them running the big stuff in the black market are weyanes! even the government deals with them when in need; that is why there is a love hate relationship between them all the time. they florish and trade as much as they want.. and all of a sudden they close them up when they don’t like the trend.. Weyane runs one big drama back home.. so bottom line.. the best way if it was possible was to arrange people who have businesses both at the source and destination. in that case no $ of ours will ever go to Ethiopia. that should affect weyane’s as they are forex junkies!
Elias has raised a good point. unfortunately, there appears to be no solution to the problem.
We have a duty and an obligation to support our families and whoever needs our help back home. There is no argument on this point.
The question is how can we help them without directly or indirectly helping Woyane?
Some have suggested we should send needed items and not cash. While others have suggested we use other means to bring in the money in to the country.
My friend, lets not forget that money is fungible (የዚህን ለዚያ). That is, Woyane will spend the money it receives from other sources for feeding the people and keeping them healthy to buy arms to help it stay in power as long as the money or anything needed by our people to survive (woyane’s obligation as a government) is sent in to the country by us.
It is a catch 22
I don‘t think Woyanes care how the money gets to Ethiopia, as long as it gets there. Once the money gets to Ethiopia, our families have no choice other than spend their money on Woyane owned businesses and Woyane owned schools. As long as Ethiopians have little money to spend, it keeps the economy going and more money for Melese and Co. to loot. But what choice Ethiopians have?
The guy called “ERisDambass” is a funny creature. This creature says that he opposes the ethnic policies of the TPLF and in the same breath he lashes out at Elias because Elias wants us to stop sponsoring Ethiopia’s apartheid dictatorship. A funny creature indeed!
I am guilty as charged but will send money!
Instead of asking more money from America and other western countries we Ethiopians in diaspora can support Ethiopia with out begging foreign countries by sending more money to our families and invest our money in Ethiopia
Berhanu @ i like your line of thinking that exactly what TPLF/EPLF did to the DERGU.so we should do the same to this tribal Woyane cancer deny them this foreign currency in order to neutralize them from oppressing and dividing our country Ethiopia.people we have Moore power than we think. so let us find ways supporting our family in one hand and withholding the actual Dollars/euros from this Cancer Woyane.
thanks..
yes one more thing there may be some Woyanes receiving Dollars/Euros in europe and US so be careful who you benefiting even wen you send money to your family. find out who is who before you part with your dollars.
LoL. Hey Elias Kifle, if you’re looking for a reason NOT to send money to your poor family members, you don’t have to use such a stupid excuse…
I witnessed the developement in Ethiopia with my own eyes like roads , condos in towns, schools including( the 22 univerisities),health facilities including( hospitals )and most of all the three-hydro-electric power plants.Where is the money comes from to do this projects?One of it is, the remittance and the otherS are loan and aid from forign sources.This is the fact that no one can deny it including you Elias.But i believe there should be more work to be done regarding political issues.Like freedom of speech and free and fair elections.Free all political prisnors.
I think we have talked about this topic several times already. What we need now, and I mean now, is action. Talking about action, our first step should be uniting ourselves for the common goal, overthrowing Woyane thugs. Sidelining our differences, let us work on our common issue. The many movements and civil societies must be brought together, if we are honest to remove these Woyane thugs, calling themselves “government.” Unless we, all Ethiopians of different ethnicity, come together, criminal tribal junta will continue to suck the blood of our people.
Thanks Ethiopian Review for your historic contributions to the future of our people and country!
Batu,#12, May be you are right, instead of sending money back home it could be a good idea, like what you said, to send our support to our respective families in kind. I presume, you mean sending them food and clothing from abroad..(Teff and sinde…..), am i going crazy or what?? Does anyone get what he had to say?
Diaspora remittance propelled by unparallel wealth creation by Ethiopians living outside of the country is the number one hard currency flow to Woyanne. Such action was unthinkable by any of the previous governments, since there were no credible Diaspora population and its subsequent wealth creation.
By some estimate the collective asset of the Diaspora eclipses all Woyane holdings personal or otherwise. However, it is equally appalling such wealth is used as lethal weapon to subjugate the people of Ethiopia and possibly dismember the nation itself.
Afer Belu !!
Tessema
The TPLF/Woyane leaders has perfected them self not only in explotation of the country resource but exploating the assitance given from over sea.
They have controll of the national bank and where the money is sent for desprate family memebers.
Instaed of TPLF/WOYANE taking care of the health care,education,retirement and unemplyment insurace family memmbers are covering the cost.
TPLF/WOYANE not only robbibg the national treasure it has robbed Ethiopians mind set not to ask for their right.