Asmara Eritrea - June 2nd 2007

 

Last day in Asmara. I decide to make a firm walk from Biet Georghis to the center of Asmara and then to the Martyrs Cemetery on the other side of town. I take the number one bus and get out at the zoo, on the road to Massawa. From there I start my walk, leaving the main road every once and a while, to enjoy the beautiful nature just outside Asmara.

Part of the route to the center is the railroad track that runs from Biet Georghis to the railway station. From here I walk back to the center of Asmara, and then to the other side of the city to visit the graves of those who gave their lives to defend their country in the recent attempts to restore Ethiopian colonialism.

I came to witness and to participate in the celebration of Eritrea's 16th Independence Day, which is - as always - a unique feast, based on unique historical events. Because independence was not given to the Eritrean people, but won in a 30 years war with a lot of sacrifices, just because the arrangement of federating them to Ethiopia (in 1952) suited US interests better.

And still the US is continuing to impose its immorral will onto the Eritrean people, siding with Woyane, and thereby neglecting the EEBC's final and binding ruling *), leaving the border issue still unsolved. I hope the US government will once be corrected for its selfish international policy, that resulted in so much unnecessary bloodshed all over the world (In God we trust). 

The afternoon is for the goodbyes to the family, to make some last pictures, before I will pack my bags, check the exit documents (apart from your ticket and your passport, you will need the currency and electronics declaration form), and leave to the airport. Cabin luggage will have to ready the security check of the European airports (so I store all liquids in my suitcase to prevent that they will be confiscated in Frankfurt)

A quick goodbye to Mebrat and Brikti at the fence around the terminals. Passport & ticket check at the entrance. I pass the usual set of counters, to check in for my flight, to fill a (second) currency declaration form, an exit form, pay my 20 dollar airport tax, and to pass the customs counter. The exit form is checked with my passport The cabin luggage and the passengers are thoroughly checked for arms and explosives.

Up one stairs to end up in a waiting room decorated with white marble, surrounded by souvenir shops and a small bar where drinks and snacks are sold. Just before the boarding starts, an airport official returns me to the customs counter. They cannot match the passengers list with the exit forms. Mine is missing. At least they think so. Together we check the exit forms. After some time I identify one as mine, and I return to the gate, where boarding has started.

I finished my mission, which was having a good time, shaking off stress, getting some color on my white skin, and confirming my awareness that we have no reason to complain as (relatively) wealthy citizens of the 'developed' world.

A mission that also involves this illustrated testimony, that should answer a question asked so often to me by e-mail "can you say something about the attitude of the Eritrean people towards foreign visitors?" The answer is that Eritrea is a country with a kind and hospitable population, free of crime, with interesting traditions, a combination of virtues that will not by found in any other country in Africa or probably in the rest of the world.

The adventure is completed by Eritrea's nature (mountains and rugged plateau's, Filfil, the Red Sea coast and islands, Denkalia), a favorable climate, architecture, archaeological and historical places, a railway, and a modern tourist infrastructure (airport, roads & transport, hotels & restaurants).

We walk the last 200 meters on the platform of Asmara International Airport, to the Lufthansa Airbus A330. Goodbye Eritrea, we will meet again in November 2007, when it will be winter, a good time for hiking and exploring Eritrea on foot. 

 

Lagetto Night Club - Fenkil Street Asmara Eritrea.

Water reservoir - Road to Massawa Asmara Eritrea.

Martyr's graveyard - Asmara Eritrea.

Monument for those who gave their lives for a free Eritrea.
Corea Housing Complex & Hospital - Asmara Eritrea.

Today's Investment (Warsay Yekealo Campaign), Tomorrow's Prosperity!
Illuminated and decorated facade - Asmara Eritrea.

Asmara Restaurant (near central post office) - Asmara Eritrea.

Mebrat's nieces and nephews - Asmara Eritrea.

Miriam and Selam - Asmara Eritrea.

Mebrak and Selam - Cathedral Snack Bar
Harnet Avenue Asmara Eritrea.

Alana - Asmara Eritrea.

 

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*) December 12, 2000 Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement in Algiers, after a 2 1/2-year border war.

Article 4, sub article 15 reads as follows: “The parties agree that the delimitation and demarcation of the Commission shall be final and binding. Each party shall respect the border so determined as well as territorial integrity and sovereignty of the other party”.

On April 13th 2002 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague published the conclusions of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission.

In September 2003 Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, formally informed the Security Council that Ethiopia rejected the decisions of the International Boundary Commission (arbitration of the International Court in the Hague). He declared the proposed 1 000 km international border drafted by the commission as "null and void".

This disrespect of Ethiopia for the decisions of the Court of Justice in The Hague has practically halted the peace process. Still the UN needs to live up to its responsibility of ensuring the implementation of the final and binding resolution of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's ruling on border delimitation.