The People From Nowhere

Forced To Live Nowhere
(part of Footsteps In The Dark series)

(Eritrea's Human Rights Record Turns Out Thousands Of Refugees)

Slavery...

Abuse...

Rape...

The list of what an Eritrean refugee has to look forward to is tragic at best. Many of these victims of government indifference have no way of seeking justice. They often find themselves trapped between fences (literally) as the world argues about who should help them. All the while they did not choose to be there. This was not their way of taking the easy way out of an already hellish situation back home. For many Eritrean refugees their story begins with human trafficking, kidnapping, and/or a handful of other methods of exploitation. 

On the Sinai peninsula between Africa and the Middle East the story of the Eritrean refugee plays out every day. Bedouin criminal gangs traffic Eritrean hostages across the Sinai in hopes of extorting cash payments from impoverished families back in Eritrea. When the families obviously cannot pay the extortion the rate asked does not come down. Instead the victims are tortured, some to the point of death. Those who survive are sold to other Bedouins to be used as slaves. Other survivors are at times told to run... to head toward Israel and get out of the Bedouins' sight. 

For the runners the wretched fate that has been handed to them has only just begun. A life that many could never imagine has just gotten worse. And yet for these refugees the journey to a better life in their eyes has just begun. 

At the border with Israel the Eritrean refugees are greeted with barbed wire, landmines, and border guards on either side of the fence. If the hot sand and lack of water don't kill them the possibility always lingers just beneath their feet and in the hands of the guards both in front and behind them. This long stretch of wire is the Eritrean refugees' version of limbo. 

For these refugees their part in an over forty year history of Eritrean refugees has only just begun. For the Eritrean refugees who aren't taken to the Sinai and never have the hope of entering Israel there is another version of limbo. 

In camps just over the border in the Sudan the Eritrean refugees attempt to hide from human traffickers who would send them north into Egypt. At Kilo 26 Camp some 12,500 Eritrean refugees wait till the day they can return home. These refugees are among the 130,000+ Eritrean refugees in camps all across the border with Sudan. All of them are subjected to over the border raids, kidnapping, and human trafficking. And yet around 22,000 Eritrean refugees have crossed the border since November of 2003.

Life in camps in Sudan is difficult, if not impossible at times, for the Eritrean refugees. They are reliant upon UN and other foreign aid in a country where human rights abuses are already common. When they attempt to make themselves more self reliant in the Sudan they open themselves up to new threats of exploitation and attack. For most the dream of returning home is the only thing they have keeping them alive. And yet for over a decade now they have been living as the people from nowhere with nowhere to go. 

So for us in the West the question should have already arisen as to why and how this many refugees could be fleeing a tiny country such as Eritrea in the first place.

The protracted hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea have created running battles in which innocent civilians are made intentional "collateral damage". Fighting between the two sides often ends up becoming so bitterly entrenched that any member of the opposite state is considered fair game for war weary soldiers. Battlefields spill over into villages and urban areas. Rape and summary executions were all to common when open hostilities existed. Now the uneasy peace still sees militant acts between factions of the two sides. War is never to far from reality along the border between the two states. 

Then when you add the horrific human rights record of the Eritrean state itself to the matter the reality of becoming a refugee is almost all the Eritrean people have left. Eritrean men and boys often "disappear" never to be heard from or seen alive again. Women and girls are subject to rape by government forces and police. This is then complicated by unjust taxation and extortion by government officials. 

For the Eritrean refugees clinging to the wire along the border with Israel there is only the hope of life beyond the oppression they have come to know back home. This longing for freedom is so embedded in human nature that the Eritrean people would risk death to just get a peek at it. And yet if caught staring upon its beauty, these Eritrean people face prison in Egypt and Israel alike. 

These are the people from nowhere...

These are the people with nowhere left to run.

Source Documents

(Note note all sources are listed)

IBT

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/455019/20130409/eritrean-sinai-refugees-egypt-sudan.htm

Amnesty International 

http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/egypt-sudan-kidnap-and-trafficking-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-must-be-stop

UNHCR 

http://www.unhcr.org/46cc4a974.html

Sometimes We Are All Nothing But Fleas

Trapped By Our Own Limitations
(Part of the Battle Cry series)

During an experiment on the behavior of animals a scientist once found that the common flea could be tricked into living its miserable life starving to death. Keep in mind that the common flea is as persistent a pest that even two fleas left untreated can reproduce into thousands of fleas withing weeks. With any source of food the flea can live on with the hope of finding a suitable meal. In this aspect the flea is driven by food more than anything else. Food is what keeps the little fleas hopping.

The experiment was simple really. It was so simple that it almost doesn't seem real. But it worked, and it worked so well that all the fleas died while food was just on the other side of the glass.

Placing a dozen fleas in a glass jar the scientist shut the lid and watched the fleas hop like crazy. For some time after shutting the lid the scientist could hear the constant pop of the bugs hitting the tin lid. Pop, pop, pop... the little fleas would not stop till they were free. Pop, pop, pop... or so it would seem.

All at once, as if in unison the fleas stopped. Somewhat surprised, the scientist looked inside to see if the bugs had all died. For it seemed odd that the ever persistent flea would ever stop trying to escape. And yet the scientist was in for a treat.

Hopping just below the level of the lid the fleas continued to jump. Like sad clowns performing the role nature had cast for them, the fleas jumped with no hope of ever being free again. Yet despite the realization that they could not be free the fleas jumped straight up and down. Tiring themselves out without reward.

Taking the lid off, the scientist fully expected his little pest to jump to freedom. A gust of fresh air pacified the fleas for a moment. It almost seemed as though they were thinking about what had just happened. It was almost as though they could sense that their little world had dramatically changed.

So what happened next? Was the scientist just inviting these little pest to infest his work station?

One by one the fleas hopped up and down once again. Without the lid the fleas could easily jump to freedom. Without the lid their prison was now unlocked. The barrier that had prevented their escape was clearly gone. And once again their chance to find food was readily made available to the little pests. So what happened now that the lid was gone?

Not one flea jumped any higher than they had before the lid was removed. Instead the fleas continued to jump up and down in the apparent safety of their jar. It appeared now that the little pests had learned to accept the limitations the lid had imposed upon them. It appeared that even without the presence of the lid the fleas would remain within its confines.

In many ways we as a society have become like the fleas of this study. In many aspects of our lives we have come to accept the limitations imposed upon us by obstacles that either do or do not exist. Some of these "lids" in our lives are very real indeed. For example we know that law keeps us from doing things we might otherwise want to do. Other "lids" however only exist in our minds.

For months now I have asked for those who read this blog to step out of their comfort zone... or jar, if you will. And yet time and time again I am presented with the question "what can I really do?" The question is presented in many ways. It is asked with a sense of defeat before the person asking it ever really begins to fight. It is asked with the idea that our lives are lived within the confines others impose upon us. And yet when we stop to think about it these limitations are more often than not brought upon us by our own fear.

The flea fears hitting their little bodies against the tin lid overhead. This is what keeps them locked inside the jar even when the lid is gone. For us the fear that limits us can arise from many things. When it comes to Alder's Ledge it seems that the fear that stops many from sharing these post arises from the fear of breaking with conformity.

Despite our modern notion of the beauty of the individual our society still prizes above most other qualities the ability to fit in to the crowd. Sure, sharing these post can make you look big hearted, but it also makes you appear far to serious.... perhaps preaching. And with the frequency of these post pushing the share button could even make you appear annoying on FaceBook, Twitter, or any other social media site.

This is where stepping outside the comfort of your jar comes in. This is where the sense of morality that keeps people reading these posts should trump the fear of stepping on a soapbox. But it seems far to many of us are still stuck in our jars.

As the Hanuka continues and Christmas approaches I would like to take this opportunity again to ask Alder's Ledge's readers to step outside their jars. It is a custom for many to give to charity during this season. And for most the act of giving these donations is an act meant to be done in silence. Yet we here at Alder's Ledge would like to invite our readers to share on their social media sites and with their friends the fact that you have donated. And in doing this we would ask that you invite them to do the same.

Alder's Ledge has decided to give a gift to World Vision. This is a charity that is helping Syrian refugees and Congolese refugees as genocide ravages their homelands. You can find the links for this below.

In closing we would like to ask all who read this to take time this holiday season to step out of your comfort zone and help those in need. Take a stand with Alder's Ledge and help those who are suffering most during this holiday season.



World Vision Emergency Relief

Syria
http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?section=10339&item=2035030

Congo
http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?section=10339&item=2449385

Video For the Congo Relief Effort

Gigi Ibrahim, A Hero

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From PBS, Frontline.
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Racist on the Right, Idiots on the Left.

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Failure of American Politics in the Middle East.
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Everyday we here in the United States wake to another day of freedom and liberty. We have never tasted the bitterness of true tyranny or the oppression under which the rest of the world lives. Even in our comrade nations across the pond there is a certain level of repression carried out by the so called Democracies. Yet when the Middle East erupts with the blood of its youth we stand on the sidelines waiting to see where this fight ends.
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In Libya the nation's youth are fighting for their lives to topple the tyrant they grew up with. This man they are fighting, Moammar Gadhafi, has ruled them with an iron fist since the very day they took their first breath. They have had their freedoms stripped from the moment they opened their eyes for the first time. And now they are fighting tooth and nail to defeat the barbarian government that has oppressed them for decades.
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The world we have called for far to long the "Islamic World" is awash in blood. For the first time this blood is being spilt in the name of liberty. It is a fight that gave birth to the very nation in which you live. It is a fight that we once took up against the tyranny of Great Britain. A fight we cherish in our own history. But when it comes to the freedoms of the Muslim we suddenly change our views.
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Amongst the right wing in our society you will easily find the racist undertone that fuels their scepticism of the protesters in Libya, Morocco, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, and Iran. The right seems to fear the rise of a free and self governing Muslim nation. And this fear always arises from their fear of Islam itself.
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Yes, it is true that a sect of Islam has fed the flames of hatred for the West. But it is also true that we ourselves helped to stoke those same flames. We exploited the Middle East once we found something we coveted more than freedom itself. We have propped up governments that were inherently corrupt so as to retain access to the oil upon which they sat. This is a fact the leftist like to fall upon. And it is historically correct.
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However, the left fails to act when liberty is being so diligently pursued. They too seem to fail to realize that these are people who do not want an American backed government. These are people who are sick and tired of outside hands working their own self determination and national fate. These are also people who are dieing to get free of governments who are trying to oppress them with their own religion. These are people who want to be free. They want their countries back.
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Today I listened to a radio host claim that we should be against these uprisings because they will "lead to the Muslim Brotherhood" taking power of all North Africa. He claimed that these are the same people who we "fought crusades against to kick out of Europe". And that is when he went on to claim that "radical Islam" was alive and well during the Moorish "occupation" of Spain and is still alive and well in Libya today.
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This is the sort of racist banter that should not be tolerated. It is the same sort of racist banter that contributes to our failure to uphold the pursuit of liberty where ever and whenever it arises around the world. The view that these coming elections in the Middle East will be a "one time thing" are fueled by this narrow view of the people doing the voting.
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In Iran the Green Movement took to the streets in protest of a rigged election. They fought for the toppling of a tyrant and even bleed in the streets while their oppressors took to bunkers. The United States did nothing during the 2009 uprising. Now the Green Movement is beginning to show up once more. They are ready to bleed for their cause once again. And once again they are ready to push for the fall of a tyrant.
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These brave Iran youth show just why these coming elections will not be a "one time thing". If the militant tyrants take power again through rigged elections... the youth of the Middle East are ready to fight. They are true patriots ready to die if need be for the cause of liberty.
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So why the American resistance to their fight for freedom?
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Democrats in this country have a long history of not supporting anything they can not control. If their hands can't be in the mix then they suddenly loose interest. And these "radicals" can not be controlled. They can not be made to follow talking points or an approved template handed down to them from Washington. That is why Obama will not support them without first pointing out how he wants them to behave.
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Republicans on the other hand have found themselves completely incapable of backing any Muslim uprising. If the word "Muslim" shows up than the Republicans instantly loose interest. Their racist views of the Middle East show up every time the Republicans talk about Islam or Muslims. They just can't seem to distinguish between the hijackers and the common man when it comes to Muslims.
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This was all too clear when Egypt took to the streets to end the rule of a dictator. The youth of Egypt turned the Capitol's square into a stage for their protest. And when the tyrant pushed back... they turned that square into a battle field. They did not want an election in which the hardliners would be present. They did not want a rise of radical Islam. They simply wanted to take their country back.
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When peace failed... I know, hard for a Democrat to believe... they took up any form of weapon they could find. Rocks, stones, concrete... anything that could be thrown was hurled at their armed assailants. That square was for a moment turned into Hell on Earth as David and Goliath went to battle once more. Yet the American media and American politicians failed to see this as an opportunity to defend freedom. We missed the bus so to speak.
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In Libya we are seeing that same fight. However this time Goliath has hired mercenaries to wipe little David of the map. Gun ship helicopters have begun firing upon helpless protesters. And yet the spirit of freedom fights on. The very soul of liberty itself is still taking to the streets to strike at the heels of the tyrant whenever and where ever they can. Yet America remains paralyzed with indifference.
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In the words of Rage Against the Machine, these are people who are trying to "take the power back". So why do we straddle the fence?
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Many of the politicians who have been in power long enough in this country recall what happened when we got involved in Iran a couple decades ago. We backed the wrong side and we lost big. The people in power there today got there because we tried to serve our own self interest. We tried to manipulate the government of another country so as to prevent a government we did not like from coming to power. And what happened was just the opposite. That is why we don't help those seeking freedom in the Middle East today.
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For Republicans the people seeking to free themselves from oppression are simply "ingrates" who are "prone to violence" and simply "can't grasp true democracy". For the Democrats these are the backwater children of the world who are just throwing another tantrum. For both parties it is just another episode that shows why we can't help Arabs.
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For 24 yearold Gigi Ibrahim, an Egyptian woman, this fight shows just why the Arab World is ready for freedom. It is a fight that her twitter account has documented. It is a struggle that she has been helping gain ground since day one. For her and her comrades... they are down for the struggle no matter how long it takes. If another dictator comes to power than she and her fellow revolutionaries will take to the streets once again. They will fight... they will bleed... and if need be, they will die for the freedom we here in America live with every day.
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So to finish this up, I believe that the politicians here in America are doing nothing on behalf of the oppressed Arab world because they fear that they are next. They fear that this spirit of an angry populus will spread. They want to retain power in much the same way as the Middle Eastern dictators. The only differance... next year we vote. The oppressed in the Middle East are fighting for the that right.
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Source Documents for this Post.
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Voice Of America
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Gadhafi-Loses-Support-of-Libyan-Officials-Denies-Fleeing-116643889.html
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Altmuslimah
http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/b/4171/
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PBS, Frontline
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/frontline_02-21.html

Waiting For the Hammer to Drop

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Iran Ready For Revolution Once Again...
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Obama ready to let the enemy slaughter its youth once again.
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Not to long ago the world sat back and watched as the "great leader" stood by and allowed a golden opportunity to fade into history. We watched as the beautiful face of Iran's youth was gunned down without provocation. Her bloody face still haunts us as the Islamic Hell of Iran begins its march into revolution once again.
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The jackbooted leaders of Iran are gearing up for the slaughter to come. They have already begun attacks on "public enemies". If the Green Revolution does come out in force once again we will surely see the snipers come back to Tehran. And like in Egypt, this time around we will most definitely stop seeing what is going on inside Iran... the fascist will most definitely shut down the Internet and all connections to the outside world.
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In the rest of the Middle East we have seen what a handful of tyrants are willing to do to retain power. Letting loose their thugs, targeting the "ring leaders", and forcing out protesters with extreme force... these are the hallmarks of the Middle East dictators. The demands of the protesters will surely only make these hallmarks increase in measure and become more intense in how they are applied.
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So how will the West respond?
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It was obvious during the peak of the Egyptian uprising that Obama's White House had no clue what to do. The obvious decision would have been to jump on the bandwagon and support the protesters... people who were seeking actual democracy. Instead Obama straddled the fence just long enough to see how the uprising would end. This is why the Middle East views us as weak.
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Egypt has now made it rather clear how Obama will respond to Iran... he wont. Like the last uprising in 2009 Obama will fail to even say anything till the dead are piling up. He will once again fail to see that these are people who want their countries back. He will once again fail to see that these are people who are sick and tired of oppression through religion and politics mingling to no end.
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Iran's pro-government puppets have already begun to demand the executions of opposition leaders such as Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. They chanted during their last rally for the deaths of these two leaders by name. And yet Obama's White House remains silent despite these clear attacks on common liberties and inalienable human rights.
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During Obama's meeting with the press this week he said, "What has been different is the Iranian government’s response which has been to shoot people, beat people and arrest people."
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He should have also added that his White House doesn't plan to do anything about all those shootings, beatings, rapes, and unlawful arrest. But that would have gone against his messianic image.
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So to end this I just have one message for Obama.
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We don't need the friends we currently have in the Middle East. We need the friends that will come from backing these protest. We need a democratic Middle East in which the freedoms of the individuals are put above the so called right of government to rule. We need to honor the deaths of brave people like Neda Soltani by backing the movement she died for... the right of the peoples of these countries to determine their own nations fate and not be oppressed by the religious views of a select few.
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Source Documents for this Post.
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Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Irans-Opposition-Stays-Afloat-Despite-Heavy-Crackdowns-116440504.html
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Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-oped-0218-iran-20110218,0,278099.story
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ISN
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/ISN-Insights/Detail?lng=en&id=126945&contextid734=126945&contextid735=126944&tabid=126944
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Payvand
http://www.payvand.com/news/11/feb/1173.html
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