by Sotal; May 8, 1998

related articles: Alitiena before the invasion;
historical paper by Souba Hais: "Some facts about the Irob"

While surfing through the Internet, I was reminded that May 6 was an anniversary of the Eritrean invasion of Ethiopian territories. It is not something to spend much time celebrating. After all this was the day when two sisterly countries became enemies. This was also the day that the hope to have one strong East African federation became an unattainable dream. This was the day that people who should be protecting one another directed guns at each other. No matter whose side one stands, this was a day of sorrow for both Ethiopians and Eritreans.

I am an Ethiopian and I am not overly ethnic minded person. What must be clear though is that this issue is not about ethnicity but about family. The anger and anguish that is portrayed when writing about the Irob people is because I am one of them and have all my family and friends there. Surely you would understand the pain of having an immediate family member in a concentration camp. Would you not understand the feeling of not ever seeing a land that your ancestors proudly called home for over a thousand-years? It is a feeling that one gets when hearing of a rape of a relative. It is things like an uncle being killed or cousin being taken away never to be seen again. I knew you would understand my feeling about Irob people.

Like all Irob people in Diaspora, my world simply crumbled around me on the day the Eritrean army occupied the Irob region. It was a feeling of powerlessness and utter confusion. It is also a lingering feeling that enough attention might not be given to Irob region. Many times when an official accidentally forgets Irob region from the list of occupied territories I simply lose it. It is not loosing trust in the Ethiopian people, but a whole year under Isayas can have a devastating affect.

It is more than understandable that time was needed to give peace a chance. Time was also needed to make sure a real preparation was made to defend against an enemy who has been preparing for this war for the past eight years. The patience and preparations paid off and I am willing to wait, but the disintegration of the Irob people is almost complete and nothing might be left to liberate except the land if we wait any longer.

It has been made abundantly clear that the Irob region was under Ethiopian administration during both Italian and British administration of Eritrea. During Eritrean union with Ethiopia, Irob region was under Tigray provincial administration, and not Eritrean. In short, Irob region was never administered under Eritrea. Another crucial question that needs to be asked is; why is Eritrean government committing atrocities against the Irob people if they indeed believed that they were Eritreans? Many foreign and local experts have written that the Irob region was always under the Ethiopian administration. Is it possible that the only person in the whole world who holds the truth about this issue is Mr. Isayas Afewerki? In order to come to the bottom of this confusion, I would like to propose the following two challenges to the Eritrean government:

1. If indeed the Eritrea government is treating the Irob people with dignity, and people like me are simply imagining things, let the International organizations accompanied by individual Irobs visit the Eritrean controlled Irob region and interview the people. Let us find the truth of what has been happening during the past year.

2. If the Eritrean government is so confident that the Irob people are Eritreans, let the Irob people vote on their feet. Remove the land mines, take off the shackles from their legs and let the people choose where they would like to go right now. Let us see if they would go to the Ethiopian controlled area, or remain in the hands of Eritrea. Once the Irob people have made the choice, abide by the will of the people and leave their land never to come back again.

Any fair minded Eritrean would agree that this is not such a difficult proposition to accept. If indeed the Irob people are Eritreans, and that I have been hypnotized by the Ethiopian propaganda, I am willing to finally learn the truth. As I have suspected all along, if the Irob people are Ethiopians and do not wish to be under Isayas for one more day than they have to, then the fare minded Eritrean people should remind their beloved leader to leave the Irob people alone.

Sotal