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Zmeselo
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Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Zmeselo » 09 Jan 2019, 06:35


Zmeselo
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Zmeselo » 09 Jan 2019, 07:17



Ethiopia-Eritrea border boom as peace takes hold

9 January 2019


People come to Adigrat to stock up on all sorts of items (Courtesy: GIRMAY GERBA)

The reopening of the border between former enemies Ethiopia and Eritrea has dramatically changed the towns near the frontier, writes the BBC's Emmanuel Igunza.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46794296

The sun had just risen but the market in Adigrat was already coming alive when I went to visit.

Dozens of makeshift stalls lined the street where a group of women traders were sifting chickpeas.

In another place an elderly man was removing chickens from cages and placing them outside his shop.



You can buy almost anything at the market: spices, building materials, fridges and washing machines.

The market in this Ethiopian town, just 38km (24 miles) south of the border, has been transformed since the border opened four months ago after a peace deal ended the "state of war" between the two nations.

Many Eritreans now cross over to see what they can buy.

'We love peace'

Mebrhit Gebrehans, a middle-aged woman with a big smile, is one of the traders whose business is booming.

She was busy opening a sack full of fresh spices and was calling over potential customers when I met her.

"What we fear is war. We love peace. When the Eritreans come to this market, I welcome them with a smiling face. They buy spices, honey, grains and even biscuits. And we buy different clothes from them," she said.

"When the border reopened, we were worried there would be shortages of some things, but there hasn't been. Everything is normal," she added.

Just down the road, there was a section of shops selling plastic wares, from brightly coloured water tanks to jerry cans to plastic sandals.


The Ethiopia-Eritrea war destroyed a lot of infrastructure close to the border

Shop owner Haile Bisrat told me cheerfully that treating his Eritrean brothers well was not only about cementing peace. It also made good financial sense.

"We get to make a little more profit than before as the market is in a better state.

"When the border first reopened, as many as 2,000 Eritreans were coming every week. The numbers have gone down a little, but that's perhaps because they've bought everything they wanted."

Adigrat was full of cars and lorries with Eritrean registration numbers.



Many of the lorries we saw were carrying building materials like cement and construction cables. But small cars were also carrying huge loads of goods like mattresses, cereals and washing machines.

At the local bus station, touts were shouting the name of the Eritrean capital, Asmara, hoping to draw in Eritrean customers.

Beyene Tewelde was one of them. He had travelled hundreds of kilometres to shop here.

"I came to buy what I need. So I've got shoes, containers and spices.

"The prices are very fair. Before the reopening of the border, I used to buy everything in Asmara. But from where I live, Adi Qeyih, it's better to come to Adigrat than Asmara."


Adigrat is easier to get to than Asmara for some Eritreans

The reopening of some of the border crossings, including one earlier this week, is part of the peace deal signed last July by Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The agreement has also seen diplomatic ties renewed and phone links between the two countries restored after being cut off for nearly two decades.

The war, fought over the exact location of the common border, began in May 1998 and left tens of thousands of people dead.

It ended in 2000 with the signing of the Algiers agreement.

But peace was never fully restored as previous Ethiopian administrations under the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his successor Hailemariam Desalegn refused to fully implement a ruling by a border commission established in terms the agreement.


Relatives and friends have reunited since the restoration of diplomatic relations (GETTY IMAGES)

But last July, Prime Minister Abiy and President Isaias agreed to end the conflict and usher in what they called a "new era of peace" that has seen relations between the two countries and other neighbouring states thrive.

Zalambessa, just south of the border, was on the frontline and badly hit by the conflict.

Rebuilding homes

"Everything in this town was ruined," 50-year-old Kifle Kebede told me as he stared into the dusty field in front of him.

Even now, the signs of the damage are visible. Collapsed and abandoned buildings dot the small town. Some bear the signs of being shelled while others have bullet holes on their walls.

"It wouldn't be a lie if I told you that Zalambessa really looked like a field with just piles of stones. All you could see were rocks and dirt," Mr Kifle added

But life seems to be returning to normal following last moth's withdrawal of troops from disputed territories.



Families like Mr Kifle's, which had fled the conflict, have started to return to their homes.

When I met him, he was busy supervising the finishing touches in his project to rebuild his family home, which was destroyed at the height of the conflict.

He sensed a perfect business opportunity.

"Zalambessa is the last town before Eritrea and our Eritrean brothers are now coming and going every day. We might do our own business from the house or rent it out.

"Before, renovating a house in a town where not a single vehicle spent the night just wasn't worth it. Now is the time," Mr Kifle said enthusiastically.


There is a hope that factories like this one in Zalambessa can be rebuilt

Before last September, it was impossible to use the road linking Eritrea and Ethiopia that went through Zalambessa as it was completely closed off.

Huge boulders were across the road blocking access to the border area, but now lots of Eritrean cars are passing through.

There has been a dampener in recent weeks with moves that have brought confusion and uncertainty over the future of the open border crossings.

In a surprise decision, officials said those passing through the border should have prior authorisation from their respective countries.

Neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea have given a clear indication why the control measures were put in place but they are unlikely to snuff out the sense of optimism in the border towns.

Weyane.is.dead
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Weyane.is.dead » 09 Jan 2019, 08:15

This will make our "eritrean" brother adwa aass happy
Zmeselo wrote:
09 Jan 2019, 06:35

eden
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by eden » 09 Jan 2019, 08:44

Best news of the year!!!

Hopefully, part of broad reform coming. I'll be #1 supporter if we're going in this direction. Way to Go!!!

Misraq
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Misraq » 09 Jan 2019, 10:43

eden wrote:
09 Jan 2019, 08:44
Best news of the year!!!

Hopefully, part of broad reform coming. I'll be #1 supporter if we're going in this direction. Way to Go!!!
We?
lowlanderu, you have no shame when you say "we" :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Weyane.is.dead
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Weyane.is.dead » 09 Jan 2019, 14:19

Brother jimmy you know how chigarams behave. One minute theyre tigrayan next theyre eritrean and then Ethiopian. It gets funnier when they claim to be from the lowlands qiqiqiqi :mrgreen:
Misraq wrote:
09 Jan 2019, 10:43
eden wrote:
09 Jan 2019, 08:44
Best news of the year!!!

Hopefully, part of broad reform coming. I'll be #1 supporter if we're going in this direction. Way to Go!!!
We?
lowlanderu, you have no shame when you say "we" :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Weyane.is.dead
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Weyane.is.dead » 09 Jan 2019, 16:28

Brother awash
What do you think of this great initiative. Are you happy some are getting released? I know you will be very happy with this news. This couldnt have been accomplished without your hard effort. As an Eritrean I expected you to be over the moon like all of us here. What's your take brother hamasienay wedi may felega :mrgreen:

eden
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by eden » 09 Jan 2019, 18:17

zmeselo,

rahel and estifanos tweets are misleading us, including you. those released are not political prisoners and journalists. this's so sad. these were criminals in human trafficing.

Zmeselo
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Zmeselo » 09 Jan 2019, 19:32

Eden, I said it's ongoing. The others' turn, will come.

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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Follower » 09 Jan 2019, 19:48

eden wrote:
09 Jan 2019, 18:17
zmeselo,

rahel and estifanos tweets are misleading us, including you. those released are not political prisoners and journalists. this's so sad. these were criminals in human trafficing.

Lol ,i thought you agames were reporting every prisoner is a political prisioner in Eritrea,now when the gov realsed them you started cassifying them as poltical and criminal ones?btw the human trafficers are part of the mission the so called journalits, human rights activists were involved in,thats to destroy Eritrea.

AbebeB
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by AbebeB » 09 Jan 2019, 19:58

Those who knows fact on the ground might help us to get reality.

eden
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by eden » 18 Apr 2019, 21:08

Zmeselo wrote:
09 Jan 2019, 19:32
Eden, I said it's ongoing. The others' turn, will come.
what gives you hope?

Zmeselo
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Zmeselo » 18 Apr 2019, 21:30

I am an optimist, by nature. For me, the bottle is always half- full.

Awash
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Awash » 19 Apr 2019, 02:24

Optimist? Lol You're a slave of a savage tyrant; a stooge and useful idiot to a tyrannical regime. What a moron.
16 ዓመታት ኣብ ማእሰርቲ - ኣስቴር ዮውሃንስ

18 ኤፕረል 2019
https://www.bbc.com/tigrinya/news-47972 ... Jh5vltO0Oo

Zmeselo
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Zmeselo » 19 Apr 2019, 02:43

Whose mind is he occupying? Mine or yours? Sheyani! chemlaQ! Tereguabi! homôsexual!

Awash
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Awash » 19 Apr 2019, 03:56

Mushmush,
I'm rejecting the tyrant, you moron. "Resist the devil and he shall flee from thee". You're enabling the Agame junta by letting him occupy your damned soul. Idiot.

eden
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by eden » 19 Apr 2019, 07:12

Zmeselo wrote:
18 Apr 2019, 21:30
I am an optimist, by nature. For me, the bottle is always half- full.
But then your optimistic nature seems to apply to hgdef only. You give them the benefit of the doubt but not to Eritreans outside hgdef. Your 130060 posts are proof. Am I wrong?

Zmeselo
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Zmeselo » 19 Apr 2019, 08:00

And I betya, my posts are about Eritrea for the most part.

Yours' & asswash's, are about PIA.

You see the difference? You don't give a hoot, about Eritrea or Eritreans. Infact, you'd love us all exterminated. We became a monkey wrench, on your long term plans to rule Ethiopia & the Region for centuries to come. Had you defeated us in 1998-2000 war, you'd be the undisputed rulers of the HoA today.
Last edited by Zmeselo on 19 Apr 2019, 08:50, edited 1 time in total.

Awash
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Awash » 19 Apr 2019, 08:50

Deqi medhin berad,
My posts have been about the Eritrean people,
victims of the Agame tyrants. Whw was the last time you posted about the people? Savages.

Zmeselo
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Re: Without fanfare, prisoner release ongoing in Eritrea.

Post by Zmeselo » 19 Apr 2019, 08:56

Yeah, to make use of their suffering and pain to put the blame on the wrong people; so as to hammer those same people with that accusation to death.

We know the game crocodiles play, eko.


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