EDITOR’S NOTE: The military phase of Woyanne’s campaign to topple Isaias Afwerki has started. Woyanne is being assisted by some Eritrean intelligence officers who want to remove Isaias and normalize relations with the Eritrean regime in Ethiopia that is led by Meles and Bereket.
(Reuters) — “We’ve carried out further attacks on targets inside Eritrea. This time it’s in the north section around Badme,” a senior Ethiopian government Woyanne regime official told Reuters on Saturday.
“We were once again successful. This strike was part of our plan to take proportional measures that included the attacks in Eritrea’s southeast.”
Ethiopia Woyanne announced on Thursday its troops raided three military bases in Eritrea which it said were used by Ethiopian rebels, several weeks after accusing the Eritrean government of planning to kidnap Western tourists.
The official did not give details about who the troops targeted, but said Ethiopia’s government Woyanne would make a more detailed announcement later in the day.
WASHINGTON DC — Ethiopian women from various ages and background met for a conference in Washington DC from March 9 to March 11, 2012. The conference participants came from various States of America as well as from Canada and Europe. The theme of the conference was “Empowering Ethiopian Women and Advancing Their Rights.” The three-day conference discussed issues that are pertinent to inter-generational Ethiopian women at home and in the Diaspora. The first session was open to the general public and started its program with a one-minute silent prayer for the late Congressman Donald Payne. Two prominent speakers, Dr. Tsehay BerhaneSelassie and Ms. Anuradha Mital, presented their papers via Skype from Ireland and California respectively.
The Taitu Cultural Center performed two short plays about two courageous Ethiopian women, Empress Taitu Bitul and Shewareged Gedle. During this session, the International Ethiopian Women Conference honored Judge Birtukan Midekssa, former prisoner of conscience. Ato Shambel Belayneh and Woizero Maritu Legesse also performed for the audience.
On March 10th and 11th the conference was open only to women. During this session several issues that have direct impact on women were discussed including,
1. the current socio-economic status of Ethiopian women;
2. employment opportunities to women with particular emphasis on the complexities of migration of Ethiopian women to Middle East Arab countries; and
3. violence against women as well as health issues afflicting women.
On March 10, 2012, Dr. Melaku Tegegn from Kampala presented a paper via video that provided an analysis of the socio-economic impact of poverty from the Ethiopian women perspective. Other authors who sent their respective papers for presentations were Ms Sosesna Demissie, Ms Sihin Teferra from Ethiopia, and Dr. Hirut Haile, from Malaysia.
Shewaye Molla, the former Ethiopian domestic worker at Kaddafi’s family house and who suffered horrible abuse by her employer, gave interview via satellite. A letter sent by Ato Dawit, who works for an international organization, who also firsthand visited and witnessed the conditions of Ethiopian women in Middle East Arab countries was read. The letter described the vivid atrocities being committed on Ethiopian women and the lack of support from international organizations. In the context of the letter read, the importance of civil societies and the media in promoting women’s causes were discussed.
On March 11th, the focus of the conference was on issues that Ethiopian women in the Diaspora are facing. Live testimonies by Ethiopian immigrants to the USA were part of the presentation.
Furthermore, presenters reviewed past experiences of Ethiopian women’s organizations and the challenges they had faced.
In the last session, the participants discussed the way forward. Participants agreed to create a new strong women’s organization that will address the issues discussed at the conference.
The conference was well attended by diverse groups of Ethiopian women.
A number of young Ethiopian women who attended signed up to join the organization that will be formed soon. The organizers are delighted to report that the first International Ethiopian Women Conference in the Diaspora completed its mission with resounding Success. For example, the following e-mail was sent by one of the young Ethiopian women participant.
…The exposure I had to such educated, experienced women in life’s trials and black women but more so African women had an enormous impact on my life in the past 2 days. To be in the midst of such powerful individuals has given me more confidence in understanding my purpose in life. You all have encouraged me beyond words can express. To know and witness the realness of such individuals has given me confidence for hope to make a difference first in the lives of my peers, second the lives of my country, and third the world because I am now more powerful with the information you’ve carved in me in the past 2 days…
This news is so shocking it is hard to believe. If it is true, it must be stopped at any cost. This is a wholesale enslavement of Ethiopian women, particularly those from the Amhara and Oromo ethnic groups.
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA (Saudi Gazette) – Ethiopia is facilitating procedures to send 45,000 maids to the Kingdom every month, an informed source at the Ethiopian Embassy in Saudi Arabia has said.
Ethiopian housemaids have been high in demand after the Kingdom stopped recruiting housemaids from four countries, including Kenya, because the Kingdom has been unable to reach a satisfactory agreement with these countries, Asharq Al-Awsat reported Wednesday.
Noor Adeen Masfa, Vice Consul for Economic Affairs in Jeddah, said his department and committees from the Ethiopian Ministry of Labor met several times to facilitate the travel of housemaids to the Kingdom after they are properly trained in Ethiopia.
“We decided to finish procedures of 1,500 housemaids due to the increasing demand for Ethiopian housemaids by Saudi families. Ethiopian housemaids are trained well on Saudi customs and traditions, besides the percentage of runaways is low,” he said.
Unavailability of sufficient flights from Addis Ababa has also caused the delay in the travel of a large number of housemaids.
Some Saudi families have complained that their Ethiopian housemaids left their households after coming to the Kingdom to work illegally because they get lucrative offers from private companies and brokers. Masfa said this matter was studied and discussed. Deterring penalties will be put on housemaids who do that, he said.
“Some Saudi families employ housemaids illegally and pay them SR2,000 a month. That’s why many housemaids run away,” he added.
Masfa said the Ministry of Labor in Ethiopia is considering to put conditions in the contracts to allow housemaids use a cell phone and talk to their families and the consulate in the Kingdom.
“Saudi recruitment offices have welcomed this idea,” he said.
Concerned Ethiopians in the Washington DC Metro Area gathered in front of the Embassy of Lebanon Thursday to mourn Alem Dechasa, the Ethiopian girl who died after she was attacked and abducted outside the Ethiopian embassy in Beirut early this week. We also expressed our outrage over the killing of Alem and presented our demand to the Government of Lebanon to bring the individuals who committed the crime to justice.
During the silent protest, First Secretary of the Lebanese embassy, Mr Toni Frangie, came out to speak to us.
Ato Tekle Sahlemariam, who spoke on our behalf, expressed his gratitude to Mr Frangie for his willingness to hear our concern and communicated to him that Ethiopians are seeking justice for the crime against Alem.
Mr Frangie expressed his sadness about the death of Alem and assured us that full investigation is underway. From his demeanor, one can tell that he appeared to be genuinely moved by our grief.
All of us left the embassy feeling better because of Mr Frangie’s assurance that Alem will get justice.
The ultimate justice is of course to eliminate the Woyanne junta that is the primary cause of Alem’s tragic death and the suffering of millions of other Ethiopians. The Woyanne ambassador was watching and doing nothing when Alem was dragged to her death. Probably because he is one of those individuals who are profiting from the human trafficking of Ethiopian women and she is one of his victims.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopian Woyanne forces entered Eritrea on Thursday and carried out what a regime spokesman described as “a successful attack” against military posts.
Shimeles Kemal said Ethiopia Woyanne launched the attack because Eritrea was training “subversive groups” that carried out attacks inside Ethiopia.
Ethiopia Woyanne and Eritrea fought a border war from 1998 to 2000. Tensions have reignited between the countries in recent months.
No details about the military operations or any damage or casualties were immediately released.
The “Eritrea government has continued launching attacks at Ethiopia through its proxy groups. The attacks had continued. And the recent attacks against European tourists is one of the reasons for the retaliation,” Shimeles said.
Militants attacked European tourists from five nations traveling in Ethiopia’s arid north in January. Five tourists were killed and two were kidnapped. The two kidnapped German tourists have since been released.
Ethiopia Woyanne blamed gunmen from Eritrea for the attack.
The attacks Thursday by Ethiopian Woyanne forces took place about 10 miles (16 kilometers) inside Eritrea’s territory in areas called Gelakalay and Gimbina, Kemal said. The Ethiopian Woyanne forces have returned to Ethiopia, he said.
“Today’s measures do not constitute a direct military confrontation between the two countries. The Ethiopian Woyanne defense force has entered into Eritrea and launched a successful attack against military posts that have been used to organize, finance and train the subversive groups,” Shimeles said.
Shimeles said it was unlikely that Eritrea would retaliate because it is “not in a position to launch a counter attack.”
The border war between the two countries killed about 80,000 people. Recent signs have pointed to growing tension in the region.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Woyanne junta leader Meles Zenawi told his parliament in April that his government would actively support Eritrean opposition groups to help topple that country’s regime.
What happened to our sister Alem Dechasa is a crime against all Ethiopian women. The horror and humiliation she suffered is unacceptable to any decent human being. To express our outrage over the crime committed against Alem and mourn her death, concerned Ethiopians in the Washington DC area will gather in front of the Lebanon embassy tomorrow, Thursday, at 11 AM.
Thursday March 15 at 11:00 AM
Place. Embassy of Lebannon
Address: 2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
Thursday March 15 at 1:00 PM
Ethiopian Embassy: 3506 International Dr., NW Washington, D.C. 20008
Silent protest
Please wear dark clothes.
Organized by Concerned Ethiopians in the Washington DC Area.
During the silent protest, First Secretary of the Lebanese embassy, Mr Toni Frangie, came out to speak to us.