It is to be recalled that the United States government ordered the closure of the Eritrean consulate in the city of Oakland, California. Subsequently, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer gave a warning to the ruling party in Eritrea (the PFDJ) to stop its affiliations with terrorist organizations such as the Somalian Islamic Court Union (ICU) as elaborated in her interview with the Voice of America (VOA) (Gollust, 2007).  Before the U.S. government issued the warning, it probably knew that the PFDJ regime is stubborn and almost-deaf to its summons.  

Recently, the PFDJ regime has executed its game of diplomacy and international relations with the U.S. in order to reveal that it is still a toddler after a decade-and-half exercise on foreign policy. Following the U.S. warning to designate Eritrea as a state sponsor of terrorism, two independent outbursts occurred: the advent of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a long hidden military general identified by the U.S. and the U.N. as an al Qaeda suspect (Kimball, 2007), and the accusation of Eritrea by the U.S. Senate for its military aid to Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels (Gamage, 2007).

According to Ms Frazer, Eritrea does not appear to be very far from meeting the criteria for state sponsors of terrorism; as explained in her own words, the evidence of Eritrea’s involvement with international terrorists is “fairly convincing” (Gollust, 2007). She suggested that it is in the best interest of the Eritrean regime to change its behavior. In a reverse of fortune, the PFDJ is not only failing to improve its behaviors but also assuming more radical duties suggesting that it does not care whether the U.S. designates Eritrea or not. But, what are the consequences of being listed as state sponsor of terrorism? Do the sanctions only affect the system in power? Are there any bystander victims? Shall we vote for or against the designation of Eritrea with the five terrorism-linked countries? What do we expect afterwards?

The U.S. Secretary of State had initially designated seven countries as state sponsors of terrorism following the violation of specified sections in the Export Administration Act, the Export Control Act, and the Foreign Assistance Act. However, two-of the-seven countries, Iraq and Libya, were dropped from the list after appealing improvements by the Libyan government and the change of the dictatorial regime in Iraq. The remaining five and their respective years of designation are: Syria (1979), Cuba (1982), Iran (1984), North Korea (1988), and the Sudan (1993).

All the five countries continue to directly or indirectly violate the relevant laws, and have allowed themselves to be breeding grounds for international terrorists. For example, Syria, the first country to be designated, continues to harbor the Lebanese Hizballah, HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other notorious groups. Despite some counterterrorism efforts made by the Syrian government in the hope of convincing the U.S. and the international community to withdraw its name from the list, it still remains on the terrorism list for almost three decades suffering from isolation, financial and military sanctions. As a result, the people of Syria are being victims of the prolonged sanctions.

Cuba has been designated to the terrorism list for its ‘guilty by association’ stand as it continues to collaborate with North Korea and Iran. Moreover, its lack of cooperation with the U.S. to surrender runaways and its potential activities in bioterrorism maintained the country in the list.

The people of all the five countries have been severely affected as a result of the unlawful activities of their respective governments. The infamous stand of the governments provokes the U.S. to directly reduce or terminate any financial aid it provides, and as a holder of the veto power, to oppose the approval of loans by international financial organizations including the World Bank. Moreover, the identification of a country as a state sponsor of terrorism significantly concerns foreign investors as confirmed using web-based survey.

Therefore, the developmental activities, including education, agriculture and health sectors, of such countries can be hindered and the living standards of their ordinary citizens deteriorate. Thus, the citizens can be exposed to multiple hardships extending from disrespect and humiliation by their governments to the lack of medical and financial adequacy.

In light of the aforementioned consequences and in the face of the deteriorating U.S.-Eritrea relations, it is tempting to speculate that the fate of ordinary Eritreans will not be anything different from the hard life of the citizens of the designated countries. The probability is very remote that the PFDJ officials will be partakers of the immediate throbbing pain induced by the sanctions. In my opinion, the suffering of the Eritrean people may be doubled as they used to say due to ‘dergi and derki’ to indicate the privation caused by the unjust system in power and the dry season.

Although the PFDJ’s unlicensed gamble, Isaias’s professional oration and the U.S. Secretary of State evaluation will ultimately decide the fate of Eritrea in this regard; we, the Eritreans in the diaspora, need to be excessively careful if we are going to vote/sign a petition for the designation of our country. We need to thoroughly consider the possible effect of the designation to our fellow citizens living inside the country and to those who travel using the Eritrean passport. The scale and impact of the sanctions is extremely wide. It may be perceived as ‘the butterfly effect’ causing tornado over a period of time.

Reference:

Gamage D. U.S. Senate Investigation Reveals Eritrea Providing Military Aid to Sri Lanka Tamil Tiger Rebels. US National Correspondent Asian Tribune. Friday 2007-08-31. Published online at <www.Asiantribune.com>

Gollust D. US to Close Eritrean Consulate Amid Diplomatic Dispute. 2007-17-08. Published online at <www.newsvoa.com>

Kimball J. Militant Somali Islamist at Eritrea talks. Published online at <www.reuters.com>

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