Eritrean Americans should not be ashamed to speak up and stand up for their rights as Eritrean Americans just like all other immigrant American communities. That is why it has become imperative to expose the dirty deeds of policy makers who are bought by money on the biggest shopping plaza in Washington D.C otherwise known as Capitol Hill. Stealing large chunks of the Ethiopian people's money as well as money coming from large NGOs that supply the regime in Addis with endless financial gains, the stories being fabricated and told are not what real facts are on the ground.

Just a week ago before the young armature writer for News week Jason McLure, who by the way has never been to Eritrea like most other writers, decided to submit his article "Waiting for war" to one of the biggest news magazines in the world (Newsweek), I met with an Eritrean who came from that very same camp after several years of misery and false hope given by those who lured him away from his family and nation. He had served in the Eritrean Military and was physically and mentally damaged from the war and especially his long stay at this hell known as Shimelba camp. After getting information about this camp and also discussing it with others who know a lot about this makeshift camp I learned that it was created at the expense of millions of dollars, of which most of the money would be pocketed by the brutal regime in Addis. There are stories of a few Eritreans that have committed suicide as a result of regret for living their country and living under a tyranny by uneducated TPLF soldiers who would force them to revolt against the Eritrean nation. Even the religion card was played here where most of the refugees thought they would benefit by changing their religion to dodge military service.

The failure of the highest institution in Eritrea the Orthodox Synods that was recruiting and masterminding an overthrow of the Eritrean govt. under the leadership of Abune Antonios. It gave the many brainwashed youngsters fake hope to flee military service and go to this living hell known as Shimelba. Add to it the fact that UNMEE soldiers were human trafficking youths, as well as the undeniable fact that some soldiers were tired of being in the trenches for a long time and were easily deceived, you have the making of a makeshift camp not too far away from the Eritrean border.

The use of propaganda to make it seem like there are 15,000 Eritreans at this camp is a failed attempt at confusing the large majority of Eritreans. As a matter of fact more than 75% of the population is from Tigrai. It made more sense for them to settle in the camp and get the small rations of food for free than work and get the same amount in their little villages. The small numbers of Kunama who are pastoralists were also used for numbers. By the way the Kunama population of Eritrea is over 200,000 and with small refugee numbers in Sudan & Ethiopia that lived near the border area of Eritrea, Shimelba was an easy place to settle for free food rations.

The fact remains that Eritrea is a nation that will develop at it's own pace and as a result of many successful results and also standing up for it's belief, it has been targeted by the west with the regime in Addis as well as Eritrean sellouts in the forefront to destabilize and psychologically disrupt it. The complex covert operations and the behind-the-scenes manipulation of Eritrean events are not going to bear fruit and the United States needs to change it's policies. As Eritrean American It is my duty and the duty of every other Eritrean American to speak up and help stop the madness that our very State department lead by Condi Rice and Jandai Frazer are cooking up against a nation that is just trying to come out of dependency unlike the regime in Addis that will do anything at the expense of people's lives in the whole horn of Africa, to cling on to power.

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