Zstei tsrui mai! Drinkable, clean water!

Zstei tsrui mai! Drinkable, clean water!

This sentence sums up my stay in Eritrea over the past three months. All of these trucks that drive around all over Eritrea to deliver water to the people. Empty water carriers and small and large plastic containers on the roads. All of these queues to buy kerosene to cook. This people who endure the most difficult challenges in life. I am very impressed by the population and the stability of the country despite the current state of war.

It is neither war nor peace, an endless standoff with hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both Eritrea and Ethiopia at the common border that stretches over 1000kilometers. Ethiopia has about 85 million inhabitants, while Eritrea has nearly 4 million. The country is yet the safest country in the Horn of Africa. Crime is minimal and the risk of getting into trouble is very small.

Merdie, Melkes, Merea: obituaries, mourning, funeral rites and weddings characterize the life of Eritreans very much. There is a normal life in this country too: Ertra, Eritrea or Eritreeea .. as it is called in swedish.I have attended at various art and photo exhibitions, book fair, etc. Theatrical performances and Eritrean films are shown at different theaters that were built during the Italian colonial period.

In the capital, Asmara, there are plenty of Art Deco buildings. The town looks a lot like a sleepy Italian town. I enjoyed being in the country and has therefore decided to move to Eritrea and settle and live there for a long time. The time feels right to return and be part and parcel of rebuilding the country. I've been in Sweden for over 22 years but never felt at home here. I feel much more at home among the chirping of birds, cats mewing, barking dogs, crowing roosters and echoes of horse-drawn carriages that run along the Asmara clean streets.

There are of course a lot of difficulties regarding the economic situation. Crowded buses and a shortage of certain foodstuff is common, but people's determination and strong will to cope with everyday life is overwhelming. The border conflict with Ethiopia and the recent Ethiopian attacks and provocation is a big concern for the population.

Eritrea's response has been very prudent and wise. I understand Eritrea's handling of the latest attack as a badge of maturity and evidence of not seeing a direct confrontation with Ethiopia as a good option.

My search for the jailed journalist Dawit Isaak's fate has not resulted in anything new, but nothing indicates that he should have died in prison, according to the sources that I had contact with.Dawit Isaak is not a big issue among the locals there. I've talked to a lot of people about him, even his relatives and nobody believes that the Swedish media campaign has benefited Isaak in any way. It is rather the opposite.

The eritrean leadership experience the whole thing as an anti-Eritrea position and feel singled out. It also refers to Western hypocrisy and says that the U.S. and Europe, historically, had a worse record of human rights. It emphasizes that one does not not have much to learn from this part of the world. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Egypt-Swedes who were expelled to torture in Egypt and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq are some of the West's hypocrisy, they say.

The Swedish handling of the case has been as clumsy as the Eritrean. I feel that some form of government change in Sweden could help Isaak fairly. There are a lot of conflicts rooted in cultural and ideological differences between Sweden and Eritrea right now.A friend of mine could not believe and understand that people are walking around with "Free Dawit Isaak" T-shirt in Sweden. "You must be kidding, white people go around in a T-shirt Which says free Dawit Isaak," she asked me. The MANDELANIZATION and ICONIZATION of a tragic human destiny in the west , has had an opposite and negative effect in Eritrea.

People ask themselves where Sweden was when Eritreans were bombed and murdered during the thirty Years liberation war against Ethiopia. Eritrea's motto "never kneel down against all odds" and its desire to stand on its own feet, has given good self-confidence to the whole nation and people. Eritrea challenges the world that wants to force the country to its knees.

The country refuses to obey any pressure to release political and conscience prisinors, and open up itself to foreigners. This mistrust of the outside world is understandable given its vulnerable geographical position and its history. Eritreans refuse to subjugate themselves to Western supremacy and arrogance. Dawit Isaak's case is also rightly considered as such by the regime in Asmara.

The president himself has said that he does not have a work permit for the mandate that he has, and performs but sees the mission as a lifetime commitment. He also claims that one does not believe in a general election for the sake of it because the right conditions are not present in the country at this moment. They believe that there needs to be a functioning economy, democratic institutions to defend human rights and educated population who can take responsibility for their rights and obligations without ending up in both ethnic and religious animosities.

The absence of all of this is blamed on the prevailing state of war stemming from the conflict with Ethiopia. The country's leadership sees itself therefore as the only guarantor of peace and stability in the country for a long time to come.
I passed by the building for Eritrea´s election commission in the center of Asmara, and wondered what its function was. It was shuttered and there was no one to talk to.

The recent gold discoveries in the country and the mobilized population in the form of military and national service, has helped the country's quick economic growth lately. Corruption still remains insignificant in the country.Eritrea had a GDP growth of 17% last year,which is, lo and behold, the highest in the world.

Dreams and visions are not missing but in the absence of understanding and support from the outside world, the country is forced to turn inward instead. What is the cause of this failure from the outside world despite the fact that Eritrea has been proven right and vindicated in the border conflict with Ethiopia and struggling to sustain self-sufficiency? Eritrea does not have powerful lobbies such as Israel has in the United States.

Eritrea is not willing to compromise its independence either.I can only assume from my own experience and my frame of references which include and cover my stay in the country over the past three months. I do not think that the Swedish debate on a 2% tax which exiled Eritreans voluntarily pay to the Eritrean government and the prosecutor's and legislators' initiative to ban it helps anyone, least of all Dawit Isaak. I just paid 33 558 crowns which is roughly 4000 dollars as a retroactive tax payment on my own free will.

The people who run Dawit Isaak´s -case here in Sweden, from journalists to MPs, lack a basic knowledge of Eritrean culture and history and its present situation. I am neither for the regime nor the opposition but for the country Eritrea and its population.Those who have been in Ertrea and seen the number of blind and disabled people in this small country, would never bring about this debate on an economic sanction and political punishment against the Eritrean people and government.

I consider that the 2% tax should be mandatory because the country uses the money correctly to the right purpose, among others to help orphans and elderly who have lost their children during the war. 2% tax should be deductible in the tax return for Eritreans in Sweden. It would be a form of self-help and a gesture of encouragement to a good development cooperation between the two countries.

No ethnic or religious conflict exists in the country thanks to the long conflict with Ethiopia that makes you stay together, against the great enemy. Western media and journalists have a negative attitude towards Eritrea and refuses to report on any positive development there at all.

They had once claimed that Eritrea had 2000 soldiers in Somalia, sent weapons on a flight to Al Shabaab and the country suffered a severe famine. All these rumours have proven, over time, to be false and Eritrea has been vindicated once again. A swedish journalist from DN-dagens nyheter , who has been to Eritrea, has once reported about "wanted Eritreans" after just seeing pictures of people who have died on a paper which is postured on bulletin boards around town. This is a normal way to provide information about funeral times and other details in the country.

Western journalists are clearly marked by ethnocentrism and assume that they have a monopoly on truth. There are of course socio-economic and political problems in Eritrea stemming mainly in the conflict with Ethiopia. These problems require an international commitment that respects the Boundary Commission's decision.

Eritrea's future still looks much brighter than I previously imagined. The people know their own good and I understand that the country's leadership, has a popular support which is pretty extraordinary, given the general circumstances there. The president is still seen as a symbol of the free Eritrea. He embodies the country's independence and many peoples´ desire for a life of dignity.

Eritrea is reminiscent of Cuba in many ways, and some compare the eritrean President with Fidel Castro. I find his relative popularity, after nearly 21 years in power, as a proof that there is a great need for a strong leader who cares about the country's liberation and independence. He is also easily accessible and visible in town dressed in khaki and sandals wearing a watch on the right arm.

I myself have run at him several times and his easy accessibility contributes to his unshaken position in today's Eritrea. The release of Dawit Isaak and other political / prisoners of conscience should be done as soon as possible. The issue now is not about whether these people should be prosecuted or not in order to face trial. It is rather a way of bringing an end to this tragic situation. Those who are alive to be given clemency and those who are dead to be granted a proper funeral in dignity. The time has come for a national reconciliation and amnesty. I shall move to Eritrea in early June.