Background:
Eritrea was in a state of war when Kees traveled to it in 1999. The Eritrean–Ethiopian War took place from May 1998 to June 2000. The war resulted in an Ethiopian military victory.
Side A:
Cornelis “Kees” Hulsman and Martin are discussing the demographics of Eritrea. According to Martin, Eritrea is 6 times bigger than the Netherlands and has a population of 3.5 million. There are probably around 500,000 Eritreans living in Sudan as the result of the civil war. He said that the infrastructure in the country is primitive, and that in both the cities and in the villages some daily routines are done in much the same way as they were 100 years ago. Eritreans love dancing and in August there is a special festival, where all ethnicities in the country come together.
Then, Martin was asked about the different tribes in Eritrea. In Eritrea there are many tribes.One of them is called Kunama. The Kunama have a traditional dance which is basically 10 men stamping with small clangs on their feet. Then there’s the Afar. They are famous for their dangerous tricks with swords on their heads. The Afar live in the volcanic desert of Eritrea where they dig salt. The Afar feel less connected to Eritrean nationalism: they are more independent and do what they want. The Afar are semi-autonomous and they don’t respect the borders. The Rashaida are nomads but the Eritrean government is trying to make them settle down in houses. Then there are the Tigre and the Tigrinya. Tigrinya tribe is from the Christian highland and the Tigrinya were the leaders of the Eritrean Liberation Front.
After this discussion, Martin explained to Kees the role of the president in Eritrea. Martin said that everyone in Eritrea stands with the president. You can even meet him in the streets without bodyguards. Once we went out to a nightclub and the president was there too. He was drinking beer and dancing until 6 in the morning. TheEritrean president is a man of the people and he also lives in a working-class district and he just drives a Volkswagen. He even worked the first few years without a salary. Even the ex-soldiers worked without a salary the first two years after the liberation. Of course, then the situation escalated, and the ex-soldiers occupied the airport and important roads. Their demand was that the president himself should come and talk to them. The president talked to the ex-soldiers and the case was settled, however, two days later, the most prominent members of this attempted coup were arrested.
Martin was then asked about freedom of speech in Eritrea. He said that people can express their opinions to a certain extent, meaning that Eritrea has a highly developed intelligence network and that Eritreans spy on each other. He claimed that if you would walk with a protest sign against the president, you will not make it even two meters. The people will hit you because they love their president. Martin explained that they love him because Eritrea became more developed under the presidency of Isaias Afwerki.
The conversation then changed to Eritrea-Ethiopian relations and the Eritrea-Ethiopian war. Ethiopia may have, according to Martin, a population of 40 million, but they don’t have any soldiers. Eritrea has a population of 3 million which means they have an army of 3 million. Hulsman reacted by saying that he doubts this statement, and that in his opinion, the number of 3 million is exaggeration. Martin, however, claims he is certain about it. Martin stated that even the women fight on the frontlines and that children run away from home to attend military training camps. According to several sources more then 1000 people died in the battle of Badme, and Hulsman asked Martin about this subject. Martin claimed that only a couple of thousand people died in this battle. One of the most important aspects of this war is, according to Martin the port city of Assab. This city is important because Ethiopia has no port. This is considered by many experts one of the main reasons for the war. According to Martin though, the conflict is no longer about the port, it is now about revenge. Martin claims that the Ethiopians use first-world war tactics, meaning 200 kilometers of trenches on three different fronts. The Ethiopians will just attack from an open space, and the Eritreans will gun all the Ethiopians down with machine guns. He said the casualties are high among the Ethiopians because they use those first-world war tactics. He described it as first-world military fighting against a guerrilla army.
Martin also questions the number of casualties. He said that he believes 95 percent of what the Eritreans say, and that he does not trust the Ethiopians. One example was that an Ethiopian journalist had claimed that Ethiopians seized control over the town of Zalambasa, so Martin visited the town himself but there were no traces of war and the Eritreans were still in control.
Side B:
Hulsman and Martin are discussing travel to Eritrea. Kees. Since Eritrea is in state of war, Hulsman had some concerns about whenever it is safe to travel there. He had also concerns about how to leave Eritrea in case Eritrean authorities shut down the airport. Martin said that Hulsman shouldn’t have any concerns at all. He said that there are always flights between Asmara and Djibouti with Inshallah Airlines. One of the other pieces of advice Martin gave to Hulsman, was that he should enjoy his visit and view it as a vacation. Martin said that he should go for walks on the boulevard in Asmara. Involving the security situation, Martin said that he always felt very safe in Eritrea, and that he was happy to be on the Eritrean side on the frontlines.
The strength of the Eritrean air defense and anti-aircraft guns was discussed after this.The focus was on an incident which happened above Asmara. There was helicopter that came over a certain part of the city, and the Eritreans initially believed it to be an Eritrean helicopter. A little later, the helicopter dropped its bombs and it turned out to be an Ethiopian helicopter. To Hulsman, this incident proves that their air defense is bad. Martin, however, said that he is not familiar with this incident. He went on to explain that during the first bombardments, the Eritrean air defense was indeed poor. He referred to an incident where the Eritrean air defense spotted Ethiopian airplanes on the radar 200 kilometers away from Asmara. The air defense tried to notify the anti-aircraft units on the ground, but the response was to call back when the airplanes are 100 kilometers away. When they called again by 100 kilometers, the answer was the same: call back when the airplanes are 50 kilometers away. In the end, the people responsible for the anti-aircraft guns were playing cards. This will not happen again because there are no pilots anymore in Ethiopia. The only pilots that they have are mercenaries from eastern Europe.
The last topic discussed was about religion, jihad, and the role of the ELF and the EPLF in Eritrea. According to Martin the Jihadi group present in Eritrea is a splinter group of the Eritrean Liberation Front. He said that this issue has always has been considered as a Muslim-Christian conflict but in reality, it was just a fight over who would control Eritrea. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front won the fight, and the Eritrean Liberation Front had to flee to Sudan. The main difference between those two groups are that the Eritrean Liberation Front only wanted to liberate Eritrea, but the Eritrean People's Liberation Front wanted also a social revolution. In the end the Eritrean Liberation Front made a deal with the Ethiopian government, but the Eritrean People's Liberation Front refused. However, the Eritrean Islamic Jihad has no support from the Eritrean citizens.
Eritrea is 50 percent Muslim and 50 percent Christian. The Muslim-Christian relations are, according to Martin, perfect in Eritrea. Both the Christian and the Muslims feasts are in Eritrea national holidays. He also said that the Christian community is very diverse in Eritrea which means that you can find Anglican churches, Coptic churches and of course the Eritrean church. Martin claims that inter-religious marriages take place in Eritrea. Even between Muslim women and Christian men which is forbidden according to sharia law.
Hulsman’s journey to Eritrea is about to start. He is in the airplane from Cairo to Asmara. The majority of the people inside the airplane are Eritrean men. Kees first impressions of Asmara was that it looks dry, only little pieces of green. It is clearly cultivated. He also states that his initial impressions are that it is just a built-up country. It is very brown. It is very different from Europe; little greenery, but it is not just a desert.
Conclusion:
The Dutch journalist by the name of Martin was very subjective and therefore the information he provided about Eritrea can be considered as objective fact. He keeps referring to how strong Eritrea is and to how great president Isaias Afwerki is. First, Eritrea lost the war. Secondly, in 2018 president Isaias Afwerki is in general considered to be a controversial president.
