Eritrea - Ministry of Information

As individuals we seek freedom and privacy, because that is what we need to exercise our wishes. It has never been replaceable. By the same token, groups, communities and societies always demand liberty. That is why societies all over the world fight many battles not just to survive but to lay a peaceful foundation for the generations that succeed them and keep the nation’s independence.

To walk in the streets peacefully and stay out as late as it can be, to remain at home and sleep well without any worries of what might happen during that night or the next morning was just a dream to Eritreans 26 years back. Freedom to the freedom fighters and the people of Eritrea was priceless. Every family shared same pain and memory, which is why now even a little kids know the value of freedom and the history behind it. May 24, is a huge day for Eritreans to remember, unite and celebrate.

Fruit of our Perseverance

The late Samuel Mahaffy once wrote that “the effort to invisibilise countries like Eritrea grows from an international strategy to main power and control over others. It perpetuates hegemonic discourse, which is of course is not really discourse at all”. He lived long enough to see the misrepresentation of Eritrea. Historian Michel Rolph Trouillot in his book “Silencing the Past” writes about how narratives are created and how entire histories of peoples can be distorted. He said “the production of historical narratives involves the uneven contribution of competing groups and individuals who have unequal access to the means for such production”. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the prevailing narratives on Eritrea. The pain and suffering during the armed struggle for independence, and the assaults on Eritrea’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were not just a result of Ethiopia’s barbaric acts, but because of the international community’s deliberate silencing of Eritrea.

The Declaration issued on behalf of the European Union, on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the final and binding delimitation (and demarcation) decisions of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission of 13 April 2002, is conspicuous for the fundamental legal issues that it circumvents rather than a positive initiative it may have intended to spell out.

It’s Friday evening, a windy and chilly night is about to come and probably with some rain in parts of Asmara. The centre of the capital city becomes busy with residents enjoying the first hours of the weekend. Cafes, bars, restaurants fill up by the hour. The expat community, PFDJ officials, ministers, representatives of civil society groups, invited guests are also ready to enjoy the upcoming weekend by attending the celebration of Europe Day at Casa Degli Italiani.