Egypt has every right to manage its borders, but using routine lethal force against unarmed migrants - and potential asylum seekers - would be a serious violation of the human rights. These individuals appeared to pose no threat to the lives of the border guards or anyone else. Attempted border crossings are not a capital offense. Egyptian authorities should bring an immediate end to the unlawful killings of migrants and asylum seekers near Egypt's Sinai border with Israel, Human Rights Watch said today. According to news reports, Egyptian border guards shot and killed four migrants on September 9, 2009, bringing to at least 12 the number killed since May as they tried to cross into Israel. General Muhammad Shousha, the governor of North Sinai, was quoted after the recent killings justifying the policy of shooting at the migrants as "necessary." ( Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch).
To All Anguished And Concerned Irobs Around The World:
IRROB.org regrets to inform you that the website had already decided to remove all the back-and-forth arguments within the Irob Diaspora took place via this website on the highly sensitive subject – “RECRUITMENT OF UNDERAGE CHILDREN IN WAR IS AGAINST HUMANITY AND A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW” -- that caused tremendous pain and uneasiness among all fellow Irobs who read it first on the Aiga Forum and then on this site here. There were many responses given and comments made on the article causing more distress and confusion within the Irob community. For this reason, the Irob Forum/Message Board and the Guest Book of this website had been disabled to deny all writers from adding more comments into the website and readers from accessing to the written-and-posted-materials as well.
IRROB.org appreciates that some concerned Irobs cognizant of the damage that had already been caused advised it to remove the posted materials and to stop posting more articles on the subject matter. Furthermore, most of the writers had also ignored and/or violated the policy of the website in various ways while posting their reactions by causing fury and rancor among each other and confusion within the general Irob community. There is no any reason or benefits for the community to continue openly argue on this website posting emotionally-charged reactions and using self-incriminating languages.
IRROB.org encourages the Irob Diaspora to seek other means to solve their differences on the alleged issue that might be affecting Irob underage youth instead of using a medium such as this one that cannot be controlled once written materials are disclosed on the Internet to the general global public. The use of modern media of teleconferences and e-mail communications are much preferable means to discuss and find some solution to such sensitive and private matters affecting communities such as Irob. IRROB.org apologizes for posting such untested sensitive subject matter that ended up angering many Irobs in Diaspora which was published with the intention that some Irobs would react and respond to the allegation politely and constructively. Certainly, IRROB.org does NOT have any tangible factuality except some unofficial rumors that had been hearing for a while about some misled Irob youth until the “The Paper” published on this website and later removed made it public, which no one can verify about its accuracy without seeing some sort of supporting evidential documents for the allegation.
IRROB.org is grateful however to all Irobs who reacted promptly -- though with deferring views on the paper – on behalf of Irob young people who might be endangered some how by ending up in some unwanted situations while trying to survive the economical and unresolved geo-political situations in the Irobland.
IRROB.org appeals to and challenges all Irobs at home and abroad to put pressure on the Ethiopian Federal Government and the local government of the Regional State of Tigray to look closely into the desperate and destitute situations and problems that the Irob young people are facing today: Irob youth are risking their youthful lives by emigrating to unknown foreign countries endangering their lives in deserts and seas and becoming victims of all sort of abuses and human rights violations in the process. The responsible authorities must find some economic, educational, and developmental solutions at their poorest and distressed woreda of Irob so that they can stay home and be safe and secure!
We know that human trafficking is becoming more dangerous and at times fatal. People are crossing and trying to cross dangerous Seas and Deserts probably some of them without any awareness of the fatality. In the middle of this process loss of young human lives is becoming common by human smugglers, dehydration and irresponsible security forces.
Let us at least our community members be aware of these tragedies. We can call, write a letter, send message with somebody going home and/or e-mail our people back home. Loss of young Human lives is the worst thing we can have; and I am praying to see something to keep these young people around their native country. The local churches, some local government officials and other community activists in Irob district need to play a good roll in announcing these tragedies to general people if we make them aware well. The coming radio program for Irobs is going to play a big roll too. Please let us continue to support it all as we did before.
As the calendar pages turn from one year to the next, we think of the blessings in our lives as well as our hopes and dreams for the future. We wish for our loved ones to be safe; we hope for a more peaceful and just planet.
Still, we know that not all families in our world are safe. This year, I learned about a terrible affliction facing children in developing nations and decided to respond aggressively.
I was shocked to learn that the deadliest killer of young children is not malaria or HIV/AIDS, but rather pneumonia. While this disease, which buries 2,000,000 children younger than five every year, can be prevented affordably and effectively—as it is in rich countries—our overseas aid programs are virtually ignoring it. I believe that no child, anywhere, should die of a preventable disease, and I find the world's lack of interest in these deaths to be outrageous.
My experience as a leader in the Save Darfur movement was rather instructive, and confirmed my belief that sufficiently informed, Americans will band together to press our government to address injustice. This fight, despite not being in the newspapers—perhaps because it is not in the newspapers—is just as important and just as urgent.
The new Best Shot Foundation is building a grassroots movement to raise funds and awareness in a remarkable program to save children's lives. It has a fabulous mission but needs help to be as successful as it should be. Based on the principle that people will respond when they understand how they can help, we’re developing innovative projects to help people learn about the burden of pneumonia and giving them an opportunity to make a real difference.
Paradoxically, because massive problems can seem so hard to cure, they can become the easiest to ignore. But with Best Shot's work, we will no longer ignore this preventable killer of children. Not one family, rich or poor, should have to suffer the unbearable heartbreak of losing a child to an easily preventable disease. We don’t have to live with the deaths of 5,500 children every day.
As you make your difficult choices about year-end charitable giving, I hope you will consider supporting generously the efforts of the Best Shot Foundation and helping to keep these children alive. I assure you that we will spend your money wisely and with respect for the commitment you are making to helping others.
You can make your tax-deductible donation quickly and safely at www.best-shot.org, or you can send a check to Best Shot Foundation/CFNCR, 700 13th Street, NW, Suite 220, Washington, D.C.
20005. I hope you can help.
With warm regards and hopes for a healthy and rewarding year ahead,
Notice On Behalf Of The Abducted And Disappeared Irobs
Global Irob Community is seeking Volunteers from the American Continent, European Continent, Asian Continent, African Continent, and Australian Continent to form a Committee that would investigate the condition and whereabout of those defenseless abducted and disappeared (80-100) Irob people during the Eritrean invasion and occupation of the Irobland (1998-2000) and to raise and address the issues of justice and human rights of these innocent victims with the International Community (such as the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the US State Department, and the Ethiopian Government as well as the International Red Cross and other human rights agencies), and to lobby and advocate for their cause anew.
IRROB.org has been requested to post and extend this Notice and Invitation to all Irobs and friends of Irob people around the world and to accommodate via its web site those interested to join the volunteer group to help establish an Ad Hoc Committee very soon. Those interested to join the Committee contact us by e-mail at: admin@irrob.org!
by J. Peter Pham, Ph.D. World Defense Review columnistPart 1 Part 2
Eritrea Should Break The Shackles On Irob Abductees And Let Them Free
I’m not sure if it is out of feeling personal responsibility, social justice or community pride, but I can not seem to stop asking the question; where are the more than 100 innocent Irob abductees, who were taken by the Eritrean government in 1998, 1999 and 2000, today? And who is speaking for them?
Even taking prisoners of war or enemy combatants would causes concern as to how they are being treated by those holding them. As the new UN Security Council resolution shows, the Eritrean government has been asked to provide information on the Djibouti combatants who are missing. One is forced to suspect that the main difference between the Irob innocent abductees and the Djibouti combatants is; that the Djibouti combatants have someone to speak on their behalf and the innocent Irob abductees do not. There can be no argument about how wrong, and even evil, it is to abduct and cause suffering to innocent people who have done no harm to anyone. Not one of the Irob abductees has ever been a member of any political party or involved in any military or civil defense. Their crime; belonging to a small community on the Ethiopian side of the border who refused to accept the Eritrean demand to change their citizenship. This makes me wonder how Eritrea can justify holding these people for so long without a single crime against them and how the world can sit blindly by and let this happen.
Four years ago, I sat down with a sister of one of these unfortunate abductees. She lives in Addis Ababa and is a catholic nun. She is so calm, sweet and so humble, even for a nun. I made the mistake of accidentally mentioning her brother as we were talking about her two nephews that he left behind and I have had a pleasure of meeting them earlier that week. She broke down and started sobbing, apologizing for crying. She said “I am so sorry, but I simply can never be strong enough whenever I think of my brother”. I owe it to her, and many others like her to speak on there behalf. I know many of these abductees and also have a third cousin abducted by the Eritrean government. His father who died mysteriously during the Eritrean occupation of the Irob region, helped to raise me after the death of my own father at a young age. As I was left without a father, not by any criminal government, but due to lack of a basic health, the son of this man who raised me has left his children orphans because of a criminal act of the Eritrean government.
The spouses and children of these abductees have waited for over ten (10) years, to hear news of their where about. After all these years, they still have hope, but their eyes are never dry. They wonder if their loved ones are alive and if they will eve see them again. I owe it to these families, and more importantly, to my uncle who deserves no less from me after what he has done for me. I owe it to all the orphans and widows who have neither power nor means no speak up against the Eritrean injustices. I am an American citizen living with all the rights and privileges; no shackles on my legs, fear in my mind and guns to my head. I owe it to my new adopted country that has bestowed upon me not only all the rights and privileges to speak up for my own rights, but a responsibility to speak out for other’s as well.
The Second General Conference on Irob Language was held at Dawhan Town from September 21-22, 2009 and was successfully concluded the great majority of the particpants voting for and adopting Saho as the official name for the Irob people's language. The Conference was attended by the president of the Regional State of Tigray, Ato Tsegay Berhe, and other high ranking officials as well as by His Excellency, Abune Tesfaselassie Medhin, Eparch of Adigrat Eparchy.
Dear Irob language study project committee members and Irobs around the globe.
Before proceeding with my brief commentary, I would like to insert some words about the brave men and women working relentlessly in the language study project committee. You are the shining heroes/heroines of our time. Your farsightedness and altruistic nature combined with courage, vision and dedication gives me a great comfort. Had it not been for your interception, within 25‐50 years the extinction of our language would have been eminent. Thanks for all the efforts you are making, the burden you are shouldering and the sacrifices you are paying to save our language, identity, culture, values, etc. I am so grateful to what you all are giving to the service of your people. Kudos to our braves!
In the years of the great droughts (1973-1975), the immense poverty of Northern Ethiopia was revealed to the world public for the first time. Massive international food aid saved about one million Ethiopians from starving to death. At that time, Caritas Switzerland in cooperation with the Catholic Church initiated an emergency aid campaign that intentionally relied on the people’s own capabilities. Humanitarian aid was coordinated with labour-intensive operations for the ecological soil conservation.
The last time I have seen this kind of heated dialogue around our common cause was during the Eritrean invasion of our beloved Irob land; an invasion that uprooted us and made us homeless. It is fitting therefore that we are once again so consumed by this seemingly simpler but equally existential issue of our people. Just as the physical destruction of our resources forced us to be physically homeless, disappearance or wrongly naming our language will cause an equally painful psychological and social impact of the future generation. Conducting dialogue and even debating about our cultural heritage, identity, name of our language, alphabet to use in our writings and our political aspiration can be part of our revival and renaissance. If and when we come together as a people with a clear road map of our journey, it will be impossible to ignore our aspirations. This is a message that we all would pass along to both our friends and foes alike. Allow me to introduce one more challenge that we Irobs might be forced to deal with soon; the idea of resettlement of Irob people out of our “unproductive land” into the land of “milk and honey”. This has become fashionable as both our religious and secular leaders have overly simplified the agenda as the Promised Land that needs to be grabbed as fast as possible. Stay tuned for my views on this and other Irob related issues. (To read the full text, Click Here!)
First of all, I would like to thank those who created this website. I'm very glad that I'm able to share my thoughts with you, Irobs, through this website. Without this website, I wouldn't be able to communicate with you and I wouldn't try to do so on other websites. (To read the full text, Click Here!)
"At the end of World War II a large of the world was confronted with the dramatic evidence about the cruelty the civilian population had experienced. Since the dramatic images of the bombing of the Hiroshima and the hopeless faces of the victims of the Nazi regime in the concentration camps are in the mind of many generations of human beings. Not surprisingly, the hope that these events would never occur again captured their imagination and led to two major developments in international law" (Ranter S. Abrams G., 1997, p.152). (To read the Article, click here!)
“If everyone took an eye, the whole world would be blind.”---M. Gandhi.
To understand your case, you need to contemplate upon similar historical or imaginary events. Intelligent people can formulate their issues and you have to imitate them in order to understand yourself and your case through such light. Because, all human beings' problems in the contemporary world are more or less the same; and through knowledge of self, you can understand others; and through realization of others' problem, also you can understand yourself. I can understand my neighbor more through myself than anybody else. Therefore, understanding each other in the light of morality, in the luminosity of fraternal eyes will be the only best solution of getting love instead of revenge. (To read the full Artilce, click here!
Ato Ghebray Hawku of Daya (Meda Tsebebo) said, “Today I am crazy, but tomorrow you will be all crazy people" (See: ILEA News Letter, ADDA: Abba Hagos Woldu & Asfaha Zigta, 1997)
THANK YOU, IROB COMMUNITY, TO HAVE THIS WEB SITE!
Dear fellow Irobs, I thank you for making a great effort and giving an extraordinary support to remain committed, just as we all are concerned, not to allow our culture to be eradicated and/or our identity to be lost. In the 21st century it is amazing that people kill each other to obtain a small peace of land, where people have been living by handout aid and forging relief. The problem created between the two nations is not by the general public but rather by some individuals who seemed to lack prudence and great historical responsibility for the future generations of the two nationalities. (Click Here to Read the Full Article.--->>)
by Abba Hagos Woldu
SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF ASSABOL DAM PROJECT "The present study is concerned with the sedimentation in the Assabol watershed in North Ethiopia and was conducted between July 2006 and July 2007. The main part of the evaluated data was acquired during the field study in summer 2006 in the watershed area (6 July to 9 September 2006).The aim of this study is to get a better understanding of the sedimentation processes in the watershed of the Assabol Flood Water Harvesting Scheme, especially with regards to the sediments filling the reservoir of this scheme. The Harvesting Scheme is initiated by the ADDA (Adigrat Diocesan Development Action) and the thesis should reveal practical information for this project. The thesis is written under the lead of Prof. Dr. H. Hurni from the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern." (Andres Strebel) Andres Strebel, Bern, May 2007
Dreams! Dreams! Dreams! "To dream is easy, but to turn a dream into a reality may often be beyond practical expectations. Nightmares,
however, may give birth to the dreams. How could the people living to the east of Adigrat on the steep slopes
of the Rift Valley be saved from repeated droughts and hunger? How could those people be provided with a
minimum of food security? How could the quality of their lives be improved? Their self-reliance was a remote
dream, an ambitious ideal, but too hazy to be seen as a practical short-term objective ..." (Kevin O'Mahonney, M.Afr.).
Thank you for visiting our web site!
We welcome you in the name of the people of Irob, as well as in the name of those of us who are concerned about their welfare. Once you read about the mission and goals of our nonprofit organization, and determine that it is a cause worthy of your support, we hope you will join us as a partner in our efforts to help a people in dire need of our assistance.
Here is the background of our organization:
The Irob Relief and Rehabilitation Operations Brotherhood (IRROB), Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2003 in Washington, DC to provide financial and material assistance primarily to the Irob people, those who live in the northeastern section of Ethiopia.
And here is why help – yours and ours – is so urgently needed:
The Irobs are the victims of persistent poverty caused not only by recurrent drought, but also by the man-made problems of war and displacement. They will be able to overcome their chronic socioeconomic conditions – and improve their lives – only through sustained relief, rehabilitative, educational, and developmental programs......and that is exactly why our nonprofit organization was founded: to provide those lifesaving programs!
We promise that you will find this web site both informative and educational, with many photographic scenes of the Irob area of Ethiopia, as well as links to other sites of interest other than Irob.
Once you learn about the horrible conditions that those living in Irob must endure...day after day...year after year... we hope that you will want to join us in our efforts to assist them.
How can you help.
To do so, you need only share with them just a small portion of your material blessings which, in return, will bring you much spiritual blessing and joy. To help please click "donate" on the menu which will lead you to a secure page, where you can use your credit card to make a donation online. Your contribution of any amount, of course, will be fully deductible (as allowed by the IRS) in the United States for tax purposes.
Another way to help our cause is to click on any button or banner of those variety of shopping stores online that are posted on and linked to our web site. Then you can shop online for the items or merchandise of interest to you...those things you would normally buy in stores. Doing so will not cost you a dime, but it will benefit our organization by generating desperately needed funds to carry out our projects for the Irob people. Thank you on behalf of all those whom we serve.
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
Dank dem Assabol-Staudamm im Norden Äthiopiens können .... aufbau des Assabol-Damms beginnen. 2008. wird der Staudamm eingeweiht werden. Ein ...
web.caritas.ch/media_features/fce/Wasser_Aethiopien.pdf
Report of Dawhan-Irob Conference 2008on Irob Language The conference ended well indeed. There have been four months of concrete studies and mobilization of Irobs in Ethiopia as well as in some parts of the world outside the country.
(Submitted by Abba Abraham Hailu Weldu and posted on September 30, 2008) More ...
A Written Language for the Irob People Is Under Development According to the electronic message recently reached IRROB.org, conferences addressing the issues of a written Irob language had been conducted in various places in Ethiopia this year. The conferences had focused mainly on what alphabets to use for the written language of Irob people and what name to give the language itself. According to the report received, at each location two-day-meetings were held to discuss and reach a consensus on the issues. (More...)
Gezategaru online voice discussion forum interview
with Dr Soori Dean of Mekelle Institute of Technology (MIT) Mekelle, Ethiopia. Dr Soori explained the successes and challenges of MIT. Interview (Source: Aiga)
Building knowledge - Ethiopia draws (video)thousands of students to new universities (Source: Deutsche Welle)
Tiny tribe (Irob) claim Ethiopian allegiance in border row with Eritrea
by Emmanuel Goujon – Mon Dec 22, 2008 - DOWHAN, Ethiopia (AFP) – Groups of children giggling as they walk home from school in the shadow of Mount Asimba and the timeless stillness of Ethiopia's northeastern highland convey a deceptive sense of peace.
ECOTOURISM POSSIBILITIES: Irobland Dr. Paul B. Henze - Irobland cannot not be transformed overnight from a degraded, isolated region into a flourishing one, but ecotourism development would open the way to further initiatives which could make the region an appealing destination for climbers, trekkers and ordinary visitors interested in experiencing a historic region and a mildly exotic traditional way of life. The greatest advantage would be for the Irob people themselves who would gain a source of pride along with opportunities for employment and a means of improving living conditions of future generations.
Ethiopia gets Microsoft software in Amharic US software giant Microsoft has launched Windows Vista in Amharic, the first operating system in the national language of Ethiopia, the official news agency said Saturday. (AFP via Yahoo! News - Feb 06 , 2010)
Beirut: 90 feared dead as Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes into ...
Jan 25, 2010 ...http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/7069269/Beirut-90-feared-dead-as-Ethiopian-Airlines-plane-crashes-into- ...www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/.../Beirut-90-feared-dead-as-Ethiopian-Airlines-plane-crashes-into-Mediterranean.html - 4 hours ago
Britain gives Ethiopia $6.4 million for child nutrition ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Britain will give Ethiopia $6.4 million (3.96 million pounds) to feed and treat 80,000 severely malnourished children across the huge Horn of Africa country, the U.N children's agency UNICEF said Monday. Reuters via Yahoo!Xtra News - Jan 25, 2006o
Ethiopia : Holland Car's Assembly Line to Evolve
Holland Car Plc is making preparations to take its car assembly process a step further by shifting to complete knockdown (CKD), where all the parts will be imported in pieces to be welded, painted and assembled in Ethiopia, it says. AllAfrica.com via Yahoo! News - Jan 19, 2010 3:37 AM
Climate change compounds Ethiopia's food crisis LOKE, Ethiopia (AFP) - Standing amidst a group of scrawny fellow Ethiopian farmers, Tuke Shika points to the scorching sun when asked why his food reserves have dwindled this year. AFP via Yahoo! Canada News - Nov 14, 2009 In Ethiopia disabled people get jobs, not hand-outs In the streets of the Ethiopian capital hundreds of disabled people beg, some from makeshift wheelchairs, the less fortunate dragging themselves on their hands from car to car. (Source: AFP via Yahoo! News - Nov 04, 2009)
Addis Ababa, September 23, 2009 (Addis Ababa) - A series of international meetings aimed at finding lasting solutions for the adverse effects of global warming were held on the premises of the UN headquarters in New York, USA. Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi and Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet co-chaired one of these meetings that confer mainly on alternative energy sources, water resource utilization, and environmental protection schemes. The discussion attracted leaders of 16 countries worldwide, according to the reporter of the Ethiopian Television and Radio Agency.
Ethiopia said on Wednesday its national electricity company has signed contracts with three Chinese firms to develop hydro-electric projects and made preliminary accords for wind power projects.
AFP via Yahoo! News - Sep 23, 2009
IIT-Delhi helping Ethiopia become tech-savvy Many students in Ethiopia are studying engineering and technology in virtual classrooms, some of their teachers seating in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, which is helping that country become tech-savvy. Calcutta News - Sep 13, 2009
Woman recounts humiliating experience in which bus driver told her, 'Kushit, in Ethiopia you didn't even have shoes and here you do, so why don’t you walk?'; Egged to investigate incident
Fighting Poverty: A Success Story! The recent visit by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General and Millennium Village Project (MVP) Co-founder to the Koraro MVP site... and what Jeffery Sachs said in regard to Koraro, a small village in Tigrai, that has been selected a s a study case on ways and means to fight poverty. Watch a Video Interview (Source: WIC via Aiga)
DISCLAIMER: All the ads, news reports, articles, and statements posted and views and opinions expressed on this Web Site are not and do not reflect the opinions or stand of IRROB.ORG. The advertisers, authors, sources or agencies of the ads, news or articles or statements are solely responsible for their contents and accuracy. IRROB.ORG is not responsible either for their contents or accuracy or inaccuracy. They are posted here smply for informative purposes
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