By Tesfahannes Beyene
Britain’s policy towards Eritrean
asylum seekers and Economic migrants is confused to say the least. The
answer is simple; there is no any coherent policy towards Eritreans as
many of those who claim to be Eritreans are in fact Ethiopians. The
strange thing is that Britain’s Home Office (the office of domestic
affairs) has never bothered to distinguish Eritreans from Ethiopians.
There are two groups of Ethiopians who are claiming to be Eritreans: the Amharic speaking from Central Ethiopia and the Tigrinya speaking (Tigreans) from Northern Ethiopia who live near the Eritrean border. But the Tigrina spoken in Ethiopia’s Tigrai region is different in accent from that spoken in modern Eritrea. Only native Eritreans can distinguish if any Tigrina speaker is from Eritrea or Ethiopia. Amharic speakers are clearly not Eritreans; Amharic is not spoken in any part of Eritrea. It does not exist in the Eritrean curriculum any more (as it did before 1991, during the Ethiopian occupation) and every Eritrean born after 91 speaks Tigrina one of the main languages in Eritrea.
The British Ambassador in Eritrea knows very well Amharic is no longer spoken in Eritrea. The Ambassador also knows the type of Tigrina spoken in Northern Ethiopia, so why are British Officials and the Home Office, classifying Amharic speaking Ethiopians and those from North Ethiopia classified as “Eritreans” and granting them asylum. It is for these reasons that many Ethiopians are exploiting the asylum situation to the maximum by memorizing Eritrean history, currency, geography, political situation and telling the world they want to avoid the National service when it has nothing to do with them. Some Ethiopians even claimed to be half Eritrean and half Ethiopian born in Campo Sudan or the Eritrean port city of Assab – it is all fiction as they are Ethiopians not Eritreans. readmore
There are two groups of Ethiopians who are claiming to be Eritreans: the Amharic speaking from Central Ethiopia and the Tigrinya speaking (Tigreans) from Northern Ethiopia who live near the Eritrean border. But the Tigrina spoken in Ethiopia’s Tigrai region is different in accent from that spoken in modern Eritrea. Only native Eritreans can distinguish if any Tigrina speaker is from Eritrea or Ethiopia. Amharic speakers are clearly not Eritreans; Amharic is not spoken in any part of Eritrea. It does not exist in the Eritrean curriculum any more (as it did before 1991, during the Ethiopian occupation) and every Eritrean born after 91 speaks Tigrina one of the main languages in Eritrea.
The British Ambassador in Eritrea knows very well Amharic is no longer spoken in Eritrea. The Ambassador also knows the type of Tigrina spoken in Northern Ethiopia, so why are British Officials and the Home Office, classifying Amharic speaking Ethiopians and those from North Ethiopia classified as “Eritreans” and granting them asylum. It is for these reasons that many Ethiopians are exploiting the asylum situation to the maximum by memorizing Eritrean history, currency, geography, political situation and telling the world they want to avoid the National service when it has nothing to do with them. Some Ethiopians even claimed to be half Eritrean and half Ethiopian born in Campo Sudan or the Eritrean port city of Assab – it is all fiction as they are Ethiopians not Eritreans. readmore
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