I have learned so much from you, and have been inspired by how you persevere in the current difficult conditions – which have left many of you feeling you had no other choice but to flee your country – and maintain hope for a better future. I share your hope, and urge the government to implement the political and economic reforms that would unlock the magnificent potential that exists here.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/usembassyasmara/
I will complete my assignment and return to the United States tomorrow. It has been an honor and the highlight of my career to serve as Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Asmara. I so enjoyed my two-and-a-half years here. The best part was meeting and getting to know you, the Eritrean people. Thank you for welcoming me so warmly to this wonderful country and sharing with me your rich culture and history, especially your justifiable pride in achieving independence in 1993. I have learned so much from you, and have been inspired by how you persevere in the current difficult conditions – which have left many of you feeling you had no other choice but to flee your country – and maintain hope for a better future. I share your hope, and urge the government to implement the political and economic reforms that would unlock the magnificent potential that exists here.
I want to tell each of you, whether you live here in Eritrea or abroad, that despite the false narratives constructed and disseminated to deny your lived reality, I and many, many others around the world know the truth of your suffering, your courage, and your quiet dignity. We acknowledge your sacrifice and struggle. As I prepare to depart Asmara, I feel deeply humbled and grateful. You, the Eritrean people, will always be in my thoughts and prayers. May God bless you, your families, and the beautiful, proud country of Eritrea!
መልእኽቲ ስንብታ ካብ ፈጻሚ ጉዳይ ዎከር:
መደብ ስርሐይ ወዲአ ጽባሕ ናብ ኣሜሪካ ክምለስ እየ። ኣብ ኤምባሲ ኣሜሪካ ኣብ ኣስመራ ከም ላዕለዋይ ሓላፊ ኮይነ ምግልጋለይ ንሞያይ ክብርን ድምቀትን ኮይኑኒ ኣሎ። ኣብዘን ክልተ ዓመትን ፈረቓን ዘሕለፍክወን ዝበለጸ ወገኑ፡ ምስ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ምርኻብን ምልላይን ኢዩ ነይሩ። ናብ’ዛ እትድነቕ ሃገር ኣዝዩ ምዉቕ ኣቀባብላ ዝገበርኩምለይን: ሃብታም ባህልኹምን ታሪኽኩምን ስለዘካፈልኩምንን፡ ብፍላይ ኣብ 1993 ብዝረኸብክሞ ናጽነት ብቑዕ ዝኾነ ሓበንኩምን አመስግነኩም፡ ። ካባኻትኩም ብዙሕ ተማሂረ፡ ብኸመይ ነቲ ዘሎ ህሉው ኣጸጋሚ ኩነታት ትሓልፍዎ ተመሲጠ ፡ እቲ’ኳ ንብዙሓት ካባኻትኩም ንብሩህ መጻኢ ንምንዳይ እንትርፎ ካብ ሃገኩም ምውጻእ ካልእ ምርጫ ዘይገደፈልኩም ኩነታት። ተስፋኹም እካፈልን፡ መንግስቲ ድማ ነቲ ኣብ’ዚ ዘሎ መስተንክር ዓቕሚ ዝኸፍት ፖለቲካውን ቁጠባውን ጽገናታት ከተግብር እምሕጸን።
ንነፍሲ ወከፍኩም ክነግረኩም ዝደሊ፡ ኣብ ኤርትራ እትነብሩ ኹኑ ኣብ ወጻኢ፡ ዋላ’ኳ እቲ እትነብርዎ ክውንነት ንምኽሓድ ዝተሃንጸን ዝቕጽልን ሓቅነት ዘይብሉ ትረኻታት እንተሃለወ፡ ኣነን ብዙሓት ብዙሓት ካልኦትን ኣብ መላእ ዓለም፡ ሓቅነት መከራኹም፡ ትብዓትኩም፡ ከምኡ’ውን ህዱእ ክብርኽምን ንፈልጥ ኢና። መስዋእትኹምን ቃልስኹምን ንፈልጦ ኢና። ካብ ኣስመራ ክነቅል ኣብ ዝዳለወሉ ዘለኹ እዋን፡ ዓሙቝ ትሕትናን ምስጋናን እስምዓኒ። ንስኻትኩም፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ወትሩ ኣብ ሓሳበይን ጸሎተይን ክትህልዉ ኢኹም። እግዚኣብሄር ንዓኻትኩምን፡ ንስድራኹምን፡ ነታ ምጭውቲን ኩርዕትን ሃገር ኤርትራ ይባርኽኩም!
رسالة وداع القائم بالأعمال ووكر
سأكمل مهمتي وأعود إلى الولايات المتحدة غدًا. لقد كان شرفًا وأهم ما يميز مسيرتي المهنية أن أعمل كرئيسة للبعثة في سفارة الولايات المتحدة في أسمرة. لقد استمتعت للغاية بعامين ونصف هنا. أفضل جزء كان الالتقاء والتعرف عليك، أيها الشعب الإريتري. أشكرك على الترحيب بي بحرارة في هذا البلد الرائع ومشاركتي ثقافتك وتاريخك الثريين، ولا سيما اعتزازك المبرر بتحقيق الاستقلال في عام ١٩٩٣. لقد تعلمت الكثير منك ، واستلهمت من الطريقة المثابرة في الحاضر الظروف الصعبة - التي جعلت الكثير منكم يشعر بأنه ليس أمامك خيار آخر سوى الفرار من بلدك - والحفاظ على الأمل في مستقبل أفضل. أشارككم الأمل، وأحث الحكومة على تنفيذ الإصلاحات السياسية والاقتصادية التي من شأنها إطلاق الإمكانات الرائعة الموجودة هنا
أريد أن أقول لكل واحد منكم، سواء كنت تعيش هنا في إريتريا أو في الخارج، أنه على الرغم من الروايات الكاذبة التي تم إنشاؤها ونشرها لإنكار واقعك الذي تعيشه، فأنا وكثيرون آخرون حول العالم يعرفون حقيقة معاناتكم وشجاعتكم، وهدوء كرامتك. نعترف بتضحيتك ونضالك. بينما أستعد لمغادرة أسمرة، أشعر بالتواضع العميق والامتنان أنتم، أيها الشعب الإريتري، ستكونون دائمًا في أفكاري وصلواتي. بارك الله فيكم وعائلاتكم وبلد إريتريا الجميل الفخور
The majority of Eritreans won’t miss US ambassador Steve walker to Eritrea. He will always be seen as Foreign agent who tried to commit a regime change in Eritrea by scapegoating Eritrea and Meeting with the Eritrean opposition.
I am against unlimited national service, incarceration of politician and non violent prisoner. And I had relatives who imprisoned for limited time and now freed. I like majority of Eritreans we might be critical about the lack of human rights and freedom in Eritrea but we support our country against any foreign interference and attacks ether by the Us through sanctions and people like Walker or TPLF who attacked my country.
Changes in Eritrea can only come from inside by constitution, limited national service and release of prisoners but the United States that has the biggest prison population in the world with African American beeing the majority population in prison, beeing used for forced labour where they work up to 10 hours a day and get between 30 cents up to 2$ a hour or no money. This United States is not in position to lecture Eritreans about human rights. The US has killed millions of people in its endless war overseas in Iraq 1,5 million people including 500.000 children through the war and sanctions, in 2006/7 Reuters journalist and civilians were shot down by Apache helicopters of us Air Force, in Iraq and Afghanistan the Us troops have done mass rapes, gang rapes and made porno graphic video with Iraqi woman. The pentagon has up to 2.000 pictures of sexual violence in Iraq commited by the US troops.
We Eritreans we don’t want any lecture or interference by the US. We can resolve our issues on ourself. The Us was never supportive for Eritrea but allowed Ethiopia to annex Eritrea in the 1960s and killed our vision for an independent and democratic Eritrea from their own….
I suspect you are writing from somewhere in the West, probably the US.
If you believe a democrat change in Eritrea is possible, why are you not fighting for it from within the country?
You know perfectly well you wouldn’t last a day in Eritrea before you are imprisoned, tortured and even worse.
Ambassador Walker, as a human being, has the right to speak out for his fellow human beings. And that is exactly what he has done. If only we have more diplomats like him in Asmara the world would be better informed of the suffering of the Eritrean people.
Instead, we have Western diplomats in Asmara who think national service is ok because everyone is in it as if enslaving an entire nation is right or even advocate there is no religious persecution in Eritrea when tens of thousands have been imprisoned for their faith for many years. These diplomats have no ethics and do not serve the values of the countries they are meant to represent let alone speak out for justice as human beings.
Ambassador Walker is an honourable and ethical man. He spoke the truth. For that the Eritrean people will be forever grateful. He spoke out in our hour of need while other diplomats in Asmara looked the other way or even worse tried to make excuses for the inhumane atrocities being committed by the regime in Asmara.
On behalf of the majority of the Eritrean people, I thank Ambassador Walker from the bottom of my heart.
I wish the things were true what u said.
But considering that United States is backer of the world most brutal autocratic Regimes of the world for decades Saudi Arabia Qatar UAE Bahrain Kuwait Jordania Pakistan Turkey Egypt Azerbaijan and Colombia countries where woman where there are no free elections, countries with the highest jailed journalists, countries where journalist are killed like Khashoggi by the Saudi government and Shireen by the Israeli government.
Countries were woman were not allowed to drive cars, countries were Opposition politicians were beheaded, countries that supported 911 in 2001 in New York like Saudi Arabia where 15/19 Hijackers came from financed by the Saudi embassy in us, countries that to modern slavery with 100.000s up to millions of labourers like Saudi Arabia does and Qatar did for the construction of the World Cup stadium. I don’t believe the US cares about human rights.
The US only uses Human rights against countries that are non pro west like Eritrea Iran Syria Venezuela Cuba Russia and China while the US has been backing dictators like Sisi Al Saudi Al Thani Erdogan Manuel Noriega the Narco Dictator of Panama and many others