NGOs for Political Lobbying? By Biniam Yohannes

NGOs like the Irish VITA (former RTI) and Finn Church Aid are exempt from the general rules that govern the presence of NGOs in Eritrea. Both NGOs are active in Eritrea, ten years after most of their counterparts were kicked out of the country. This begs the question: How are these NGOs able to charm one of the most hostile governments in the world? Or could it be the other way round? Yemane Gebremeskel, the minister for information of Eritrea, has been invited to the European Parliament on 28 November 2016 for an event organized by an Irish member of the European Parliament, who cooperates with VITA. Could it be that VITA has to placate the Eritrean regime’s leadership by serving as a diplomatic lobby in Ireland and the EU in return for being allowed to stay?

Eritrea is a country that emerged out of the tatters of war and the effects of prolonged and repetitive droughts in 1991. The country is found sandwiched between the Sahara desert in the west and the Arabian desert in the east across the Red Sea. This means that it is mostly arid and semi-arid and needs serious and sustained food and development aid to progress towards self-reliance. The economy was in total failure due to a 30-year war of independence and repetitive droughts, and the country desperately needed help in order to stand on its feet. However, the government, which was set up as successor of the EPLF, the party that won the struggle for Eritrean independence from Ethiopia harshly, rejects the reality and has always been suspicious of NGOs.

Since 1992, the Eritrean government started imposing restrictions against NGOs. Its first act was to shut down operations for an SOS children’s village in the capital, Asmara, which was converted into the offices of the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare. SOS administration was charged with being corrupt and therefore deserved to be shut down, according to the government. Restrictions on other NGOs continued to escalate and many left the country in the late 1990s. By early 1999, when the government wanted to force NGOs to work with government projects as a prerequisite, more than a dozen international NGOs, including OXFAM, had to leave the country. 

Brian Hayes MEP

The limitations continued to tighten in the years that followed until in June 1, 2005 the government released a proclamation (Proclamation 145/2005), banning UN agencies from channeling funding through NGOs. International NGOs needed to deposit 2 million USD, and local NGOs needed to deposit 1 million USD to be allowed to operate. A month after the proclamation, two thirds of all the NGOs in the country had ceased operations and only 13 of the 37 that had been operating remained. In 2006 six Italian aid NGOs were expelled and their equipment and supplies were confiscated. Another three international NGOs were expelled and one local NGO stopped operations in the same year. 

Only government-owned NGOs, which are effective tools for the ruling party’s political dominance, are allowed to operate in Eritrea. The Eritrean government has been suspicious of NGOs and has viewed them as tools of foreign domination and covers for western spy agencies. Government media preaches about the evils of western NGOs whose only purpose would be to weaken the self-reliance of developing nations, to serve as corrupt sources of income for their western employees and as Trojan horses for western spy agencies. 

A report by Freedom House defines the relationship between the Eritrean governments and NGOs as follows: “A 2005 law requires NGOs to pay taxes on imported materials, submit project reports every three months, renew their licenses annually, and meet government-established target levels of financial resources. The six remaining international NGOs that had been working in Eritrea were forced to leave in 2011. The government placed strict controls on UN operations in the country, preventing staff from leaving the capital.” It turns out that there are exceptions to this rule. 

Presumably, the Eritrean government knows exactly which NGOs are ‘Trojan horses’ for western spy agencies and which are not. In this case, NGOs like the Irish VITA (former RTI) and Finn Church Aid are exempt from the general rules that govern the behavior of NGOs. Both NGOs are active in Eritrea, ten years after most of their counterparts were kicked out of the country. This begs the question: How are these NGOs able to charm one of the most hostile governments in the world? Or could it be the other way around? 

When VITA invites an EU diplomat to Eritrea and when that diplomat invites the criminal regime to a conference at the EU, it seems that the Eritrean government has somehow used VITA as a lobby group, far from the NGOs stated mission of helping poor Eritrean farmers improve their livelihoods. For a government that sees all NGOs as puppets of spy agencies, it would not be surprising if it also tried to use some of the international NGOs as its own puppets. Could it be that VITA needs to operate in Eritrea and Ethiopia to survive as an NGO by securing funds from its donors? If so, in order to be able to operate in Eritrea and secure its own existence, VITA has to placate the Eritrean regime’s leadership and in exchange serve as diplomatic lobby in Ireland and the EU, or so it seems. 

Yemane Gebremeskel, Eritrean Minister of Information, Former Director of the office of the President

The Eritrean government is one of the most repressive regimes in the world. A UN inquiry commission report on June this year has accused the government of committing crimes against humanity. The inquiry commission suggested to the Security Council that the Eritrean government be referred to the ICC and that the AU take accountability mechanisms to address the issue. The report says that Eritrean officials have committed crimes against humanity since 1991, including enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, other inhumane acts, persecution, rape and murder. 

In March 2016, Irish MEP Brian Hayes had posted on his Facebook page, saying, “In Parliament this week I spoke about the situation in Eritrea. People are fleeing Eritrea due to its oppressive regime.” In May 2016, Irish MEP Brian Hayes visited the Horn of Africa country of Eritrea accompanied by John Wikleam, a British veteran banker, who is also married to an Eritrean woman, currently CEO of an Irish NGO known as VITA. Foreigners are almost never allowed to travel around the country beyond the capital, but Brian Hayes and John Wikleam were allowed to visit a small town 50kms north of the capital. 

Some months later the Irish MEP Brian Hayes invites Eritrean minister of Information, former Director of the Office of the President, Yemane Gebremeskel, one of the top advisers to Eritrea’s dictator Isaias Afwerki, to speak at an event on November 28, 2016. Brian Hayes is hosting the conference on Eritrea – Opportunity for Development Innovation. The European Commission's Directorate-General for International cooperation and Development will speak at the event. The UN Resident Co-ordinator for Eritrea Christine Umutoni will also speak at the event.

It seems that VITA has given Isaias Afwerki the pleasure of acquiring his own diplomatic Trojan horse. Far from its mission of helping poor farmers improve their livelihoods, it is actually endangering their lives. By playing the role of a lobby group and enabling one of the top advisers of the criminal regime to appear at a conference at the EU, it is helping the regime gain diplomatic ground that will allow it to continue to commit more crimes against its own people.

 Biniam Yohannes