An improved relationship between Sweden and Eritrea is the only way forward.

Sweden could play a positive role in the Horn of Africa by implementing  a holistic  and a dialogue based approach with all parties involved. A new relationship with the regime in Eritrea is demanded  if the imprisoned Swedish citizen Dawit Isaak is to be released.

Dawit Isaak turned 50 recently, was it  another day of uncertainty and appalling conditions in the cell? No body  really knows if the journalist and the imprisoned Swedish citizen Dawit Isaak is still alive. I ponder a lot  on how his health might be right now - if he still is alive. He has, after all, spent over 25 % of his life in prison.

All imprisonment is destructive to the individual, and in view of the prevailing conditions in Eritrean prisons, I can not imagine how Dawit's physical and mental health has deteriorated. It is seldom  that the regime executes well-known  political prisoners of conscience, but terrible conditions in prisons impair usually prisoners health. The public can not find out where the prisoners are or how they cope, and these  detainees are never  brought to justice.

Media campaigns and silent  diplomacy have  failed, and it is therefore time to change strategy. Debaters in Sweden lack knowledge of Eritrea, and this has impacted the case negatively. The issue has been hijacked by the cultural elite, and Eritreans in Sweden feel marginalized and excluded in the debate about their  country and their  fellow countryman.

Although a peace agreement has been signed  between Eritrea and neighboring Ethiopia, it  is still a very tense situation in Eritrea. The country  strongly  feels threatened by Ethiopia, which has  much more population. All adult Eritreans are  armed and forced into military or national service for an unlimited period of time.

Approximately 200 Eritreans are fleeing the country every day and almost 8000 of them have come to Sweden this year alone. We need a new approach towards the country to find a comprehensive solution. I am against economic sanctions as some advocate, as they affect the long-suffering population more than the government.

Eritrea is one of the few countries in the world that has not held a  national general elections since independence, which  Eritrea gained in 1993 after a  thirty-year  war of liberation against Ethiopia that came to an end  in 1991. Eritrea does not even have a parliament right now. An Arab Spring is not likely to be on the road. Silence and migration  seem to be the Eritrean way of   resistance against the regime at the moment.

Eritrea does not care about its  reputation, unlike neighboring Ethiopia where the Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson were detained for over a year. It is easier to put pressure on countries that are dependent on Western aid, which Eritrea is not.

The issue of Dawit Isaak should be broadened and put into a  perspective, with an eye for the geo-political and humanitarian aspects. The conflict with Ethiopia overshadows everything else in the Eritrean society. The new Swedish government must take this into consideration. The constant power and water outages, socio-economic and political stagnation combined with a lack of confidence in the future is about to erode Eritrea.

 I am very concerned about the country's current  development. Our dream of a free and an independent Eritrea is turning into a nightmare. Sweden could play a positive role in the Horn of Africa if the government implements  a holistic approach and a dialogue-based relationship with all parties.

I propose the following measures which I believe could  help Dawit Isaak to come home to Gothenburg within the next two years. This is not a quick fix but a long-term project:

- Foreign minister  Margot Wallström (S) visits Eritrea as soon as possible ,with among others, Dawit Isaak's daughter Bethlehem and meet the President of Eritrea.

 - Sweden  opens  an embassy in Asmara.

- The 2 % tax  that we exiled  Eritreans pay, for the  needy and relatives of victims of war in Eritrea, should  be deductible in the tax return in Sweden.

- Afro-Swedes in general and Swedish Eritreans in particular ought to mobilized,  so that they engage in Dawit Isaak's case. The regime listens more to these people than the African Union, European Union, United Nations and the United States.

 - Sweden should also work  to resolve the border dispute between Eritrea and neighboring Ethiopia, which refuses to respect the verdict of the International Boundary Commission.

- Sweden should act  for the  lifting of United Nations`  sanctions against Eritrea.

- The bilateral relationship  between Sweden and Eritrea needs to be strengthened further  more by Swedish participation and commitment to tackle the major socio-economic problems that Eritrea is facing.

 There is no guarantee that these measures would lead to Dawit Isaak's release. But I believe that improved relations between Sweden and Eritrea is the only way forward. Anything else means lost time and wasted resources.