I passed my viva today, with editorial corrections and PhD recommended for Research Excellence award. What a journey this has been! Self-funded (for the most part), Covid-19, 2 children in the process and working. 5 yrs of military-operation-like planning and self-discipline. 1/3
@IvorIdea
@piersmorgan
@lilyallen
Mention of the Commonwealth as exmaple of Britain's outwardness is a wrapped imperial nostalgia. Please spare us from historical obliviousness. Britain is turning into an insulated, inward looking country with an overbloated image of self in the international society of states.
It is official. I am very excited to be joining a dream team of critical migration scholars and be working on a project that's very close to my heart.
Thanks to the many friends and colleagues (you know who you're) who've supported me a lot.
If you have very supportive supervisors like I do, you can have a walking supervision. I had mine by the pond today. I'm blessed to have supervisors who understand and accept my situation/limitations.
@adrianfavell
@roxanabarbulesc
@SSPLeeds
#PhDLife
Yesterday I did a talk in my school as part of the SSP Annual PGR conference. I discussed findings from my PhD, focusing on why Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers want to seek asylum in the UK.
News of the day: I'm now eligible to vote in the UK. Yes, it's news because this will be the first time in my life I'll be going to a polling station & casting my vote. Thank you my adopted home (UK).
Today, Leeds said, and with strong terms, 'The ghost of Adi Halo does not represnt us and we reclaim our Eritrean soul'
And words of solidarity from our Sudanese comrade.
#Yiakl
oppression,
#Yiakl
one man rule and justice to the Eritrean people.
To meet the £18,600 requirement for family reunion visa, my wife took a year off, worked two shifts in a care home which continued until she joined university. That was tough, but she made it.
With the new proposals, I wouldn't have been able to join my family here.
Please sign
Merry Christmas from the Home Office 🤡 Sign/share this petition! Many families are already struggling to afford the expensive visas & now £38.7K is just too much as a minimum income to live in the
#UK
@MigrantVoiceUK
@stand_for_all
@MigrantDemos
And to my wonderful supervisors,
@adrianfavell
and
@roxanabarbulesc
, I'll be forever indebted to you. And to the many friends, colleagues and family members, THANK YOU!
Very thankful of my wonderful examiners,
@FiddianQasmiyeh
and Ipek Demir for the engaging and stimulating discussion. Yes, they made me 'run for my money' but in a very supportive and reassuring atmosphere.
Watching this, I am sick to the stomach! More than ever we are reminded to save Eritrea's soul. So wicked is Isaias that he continues to mock the death of our people.
#NotmyRepresentative
: Sophia T/mariam is a despicable liar who makes a living out of Eritreans' misery. She's
#DIA
's propaganda foot soldier in z West & constantly lies in order 2 paint a nonexistent reality in Eritrea. It's sad 2 see Eritrea represented by this unqualified persn
When I asked Sophia about her new appointment to the UN she said "Totally overwhelmed... But up to the challenge. Very proud and honored to represent ERITREA... Grateful to PIA for his confidence in me.."
#Eritrea
Today I met a young Eritrean refugee who used to work for Morrisons. When he applied for his Indefinite Leave to Remain, he was told by his recruitment agency that he cannot work while he awaits a decision on his application, forcing him into destitution.
CC
@ukhomeoffice
Team
#YiaklLeeds
organized an impressive event yesterday, commemorating Eritrea's independence & reflected on z sorry state of affairs z country is in.
A fly-past helicopter towing, "Eritrean Troops Out of Tigray" banner also hovered over the city of Leeds for 30 minutes.
Such racialised & hierarchised notion of the human worth, seen in how we identify with & show empathy 2 those forced to flee their homes, is outrageously in plain sight now. Solidarity to all refugees regardless of the colour of their skin & countries of origin.
#PeaceInTheWorld
The measure of a healthy society is having the sanctity of the family respected.
#PFDJ
has turned the
#Eritrean
family into a frighteningly cold & dejected sight.
First day of "Europe's Peripheral and Racial (B)orders" at
#SussexUni
had treated us with a series of fascinating work-in-progress presentations and a panel of expert discussions.
I am excited to present my work tomorrow.
The miseducation of children of Eritrean ancestry in the West is a worrying reality. Nothing wrong with teaching children to know, connect with and love their country of origin, but what puppeteers of the Eritrean regime such as this dude, are doing is hate & empty jingoism.
Look at the faces of thousands of young
#European
-
#Eritrean
citizens who attend the annual Eritrean
#Festival
in Scandinavia enjoying themselves and how can anyone misrepresent this Peaceful, hopeful gathering, making positive contribution to life in
#Europe
.
#Eritrea
Brothers and sisters in
#Ethiopia
and
#Eritrea
, please there is an alternative to war, violence, febrile nationalism, and power fetishism; and that's having the moral and political courage to imagine a better possibility for a peaceful future. Let's all say
#NotoWar
.
Doesn’t matter whether you justify it as “self-defense,” “retaliation,” or any other reason, I am just asking my
#Eritrea
’n,
#Ethiopia
’n, colleagues from
#Tigray
… can journalists, activists or others linked with civil society blow the trumpets of war at this age and time?
Some thoughts on the anti-human bill:
1) 1)This so-called
#IllegalMigrationBill
is inhumane and racist idea that dehumanises people seeking asylum. We shouldn’t normalise the language of ‘illegal migration’ in this vile policy for seeking asylum is a human right enshrined in
Sudan, Italy & UK's
#NCA
should be sued for trafficking & condemning an innocent person to psychological terror. He's bn made to waste 3 yrs of his time &
#compensation
is z least he is owed. They made a person, an experimenting case for z agenda of remote-controlling refugees
History repeats itself.
@_AfricanUnion
owes an apology to the people of Eritrea. Hailing H/Slase, who used the OAU to deny Eritreans their independence, as a liberator is a gross injustice to Eritreans and many Ethiopians.
@LisaTewolde
If you want use your brain, national service in Switzerland is not an indefinite servitude. It is a universal national service where people complete military training & r registered as reserves. U can't equate Eri indefinite NS with that of Switzerland.
This by any means is not
#Eritrea
/n (My people's)! culture.
So called
#PFDJ
festivals are events that cultivate hate, discrimination & nonstop warmongering against other people & which sadly is a lifeline of the sadist authoritarian regime.
#NotOnMyName
#Save
the next generation!
My heart, my conscience, my political rage and my hope have grown numb that I no more feel any pain. A society is doomed to perpetual docility and submissiveness the moment it loses its courage, moral and civic responsibility.
While the world is fixated on Afghanistan, let those advocating for the people of Tigray not take your eyes off the genocidal war in Tigray. Remember how
#Isaias
purged many in Eritrea in the wake of 9/11.
@RahelWeldeab
Your views and political stands are no less than that of a pathetic liar. I bet people're asking you to stop playing righteous sanctimony and worry about saving your credibility & integrity. Wake up my friend.
For two years, 2010-12, Khartoum was my second home. I lived in Diem, Sehafa Zelet & Girief; & have only beautiful memories of the people of Khartoum. It pains me to see that it's now turned into a battlefield.
My thoughts are with the people of Sudan and the abandoned refugees.
The hypocrisy of Eritrean regime supporters is beyond limit. Why is it that someone flees Eritrea, seeks asylum in another country and dances with his/her tormentors?
DIA's unassailable (& dangerous) lust for political grandiosity in z HoA has led him to becoming a wilful clown of Ethipia's PM. He turned his own country into a depopulated desert & is acting a jubilant fruit picker. He's an utter failure of a leader and a
#freerider
FACTS
*Dressing up Isaias Afwerki of
#Eritrea
a dying dictator as a doll is not leadership.
*In his own country, he dismantled or never built a University, power plants or large farms, institutions he visits in
#Ethiopia
*Instead, he created youth concentration camp called Sawa
What a fantastic day this has been today! Each of the tributaries in this map represents rich repertoire of knowledge, culture, human filiality and ways of being. Leeds has shown today it is a truly global village, and one that I am proud to call home.
Thank you
@Retasleeds
.
Please share contact us on 07309843694 and my great friend
@HyabYohannes
will assess how we can help. Together we will get through this.
Over on Facebook there's a new community support page for Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers. Support with Universal Credit, ILR applications and health advice in different Eritrean languages. Contact
@ashiehy1181
for more info or go to
@CohenOnAfrica
That is a very cheap politics. How on earth is Isaias a leading peace mediator? What purpose does it serve you to praise and appease a known dictator?
"It is practically impossible to distinguish between the exploitation of refugees by traffickers and the UK Government’s coercion to transport them to Rwanda."
Part 2 of our conversation with
@HyabYohannes
on the "use of intermediaries as decolonisaton"
Uplifting community event today where we launched, f2f, our report on migrant-led response to COVID-19. The report highlights the intersection between the hostile environment, COVID-19 and response by migrant communities in the light of structural challenges.
We held our 1st face-to-face event since March 2020
Launching our migrant-led Covid-19 response report with the different communities that contributed to it
We have hard copies for anyone who wants one
Thank you Free2BMe for hosting us & everyone who came for food, music & joy
A long thread on my recent visit to
#Calais
:
Next Weds (24th ) marks 32nd anniversary of Eritrea’s independence. As Eritreans commemorate this historic day in our country’s history, it is important to remind ourselves of the sorry state of affairs that has befallen our people.
DIA's upcoming in interview with "multiple media outlets"-including Dmtsi Hafash, EriTV, Hadas Ertra, Eritrea Profile, PFDJ's twitter warriors...etc is worsening my new hangover.
We need to separate Eritrea (as a country) from the brutal regime that has made you refugees. Ignorant flag waving/dancing doesn’t make one a true patriot. Standing for justice does. The best way to do justice to 24th May is to use it as a day of reflection and resistance.
A few reflections on the UK-Rwanda MoU to outsource asylum processing
1/8, it is evidence of the continued racialised securitisation of migration and its streamlining with development partnership and/or aid.
Isaias's policies over the past 29 yrs have weakened Eritrea so badly that those of Ethiopians still suffering from collective colonial hallucination are emboldened to openly call for militarily defencesless, politically unintelligible Eritrea. And poor
@hawelti
crying Al Jazeera
Really looking forward to taking part in our
#IntegrationFestival
tomorrow. I'll be joining the Eritrean corner (& yes, there will be dancing). Want to know more about Eritrean community in Leeds? Come see us in
#MillenniumSquare
.
#YorkshireMyHome
Yorkshire Integration Festival 2022 will be held on Saturday 24 September in Millennium Square, Leeds. Join us for our free family and community celebration from 10am - 6pm. Full details on our website:
#YIF2022
#YorkshireAndHumber
#Integration
Come and join us for this seminar on 'Decolonising epistemological and methodological perspectives in Migration Studies: Language, translation and transcription'.
When: Wed 23rd March 2022 (2-4pm UK time).
Where: Virtual
Register:
AMEN to this!! New IOM leader vows to be "inclusive" of us in her work. As a refugee, I say, no but thank you. IOM is a tool of global colonialiy and should be dismantled. You are not repressing the displaced, you're are containerising them.
As the first woman elected to lead
@UNmigration
, I am committed to being an inclusive leader for all 100 million displaced people worldwide. Our solutions will be more innovative & effective when everyone has a seat at the table.
With their usual vindictiveness & vengeance, Eritrean diaspora regime supporters wrongly thought they have won the moral high-ground about the debates for change in Eritrea. Today, we say to them,
#EnoghisEnough
& we reclaim the space. Our
#YiAkl
tide is enmeshing their lies.
"Brokering Britain, Educating Citizens: Exploring ESOL and Citizenship" is finally out & I had z honor of co-authoring z chapter; "Steps to Sesettlement for Refugees: A Case Study" that situates z S2S in
@Retasleeds
in a Freirean experiential learning. 50% off until Sept'19.
Eritreans and friends of Eritrea in and around Bristol, here is an important event to discuss about Eritrea and its human righst situation, conflict and (im)mobility.
PFDJ gave PM Abiy Ahmed their explicit blessing to represent Eritrea & he seems to be enjoying it. How was Eritrea represnted in this? And why is it that Ethiopia takes the lead in matters that involve Eritrean lands? Did you get his permision to tweet this Mr Minister Tweeter?
Eritrea-Ethiopia Railway Project floated in discussions in Rome between Italian & Ethiopian PMs is part & parcel of potential sectors of cooperation between the 3 countries explored in previous meetings. Implementation will depend on feasibility study/concurrence of the parties.
Dictators know fully well that their stay in power depends on where it is the power of information or the power of politics that wins. DIA's main plan, as we know was to stifle free (& critical) thinking & indoctrinate a country by filtering information.
There's only one thing that has saved regime in
#Eritrea
until now, no Internet. Absence of information.
We need to do our part & inform everyone we know there on what's being said.
It's way past due Isaias's picture went from "Missing" on a milk box to a "Wanted" poster.
Are refugees simply ferried by "intermediaries' into unknown asylum destinations? Or do they retool the "use of intermediaries" to reclaim agency and resist neo-imperial carceralies? And can we think this form of "use of intermediaries" by refugees as decolonisation practice?
‘USE OF INTERMEDIARIES’ AS DECOLONISATION
@thyemane
and
@HyabYohannes
in conversation.
“In this piece we revisit the use of ‘use of intermediaries’ as an example of agency, and deliberately re-appropriate the term.”👇🏾
@cdessalegn
I am an Eritrean, and I don't f'''ng support your bloody war on the people of Tigray. How the hell do you know the Eritrean people support your shelling of civilians, looting, ethnic profiling and killing? Eritrea and its people are more than your puppet Isaias.
#ጋቢ እና #ቡና diplomacy employed by an enthusiast trainee of Robert Greene's
#TheArtofSeduction
and
#48LawsofPower
to tame his unrivalled Highness who has long been hypnotized by his relentless pursuit of relevance.
18 years ago today, the nascent press environment in Eritrea and the freedom of expression (and thought) that accompanied it were cynically crashed by a political dwarf who only thinks of his ambitions to power.
#YiAkl
to the politics of deciet.
Africa should not allow
@AbiyAhmedAli
of Ethiopia & his mentor-in-chief, Isaias of Eritrea to use the guise of 'sovereignty' as a carte blanche to commit savagery in Tigray. And Eritreans jumping, unreflectively I should add, to the idiotic bandwagon of
#NoMoreism
, pls reflect.
@HeranTigray
Thank you, Heran. You're absolutely right, there're many Eritreans who don't subscribe to the hateful propaganda of Isaias & the `ንሕና ንሱ፡ ንሱ ንሕና` cult. May love win & ሩባ መረብ be the connector/bridge, not a wall of division and hate.
Here we discuss High School in Sawa in light of PFDJ's policy of effecting Foucauldian 'governmentality' that aims to instil, in our youth, docility, fear and political impotence. That, for PFDJ, is to break the soul from the body where you have a tellable body in a docile soul.
Our new report, 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Structural Vulnerabilities, Resilience and Migrant Communities-led responses to COVID-19 in West Yorkshire', is out today.
🗣️Launch report day🗣️
We are proud to share our latest report
✨Between a Rock & a Hard Place: Structural Vulnerabilities, Resilience & Migrant Communities-led responses to COVID-19 in West Yorkshire✨
Report available here
#resilienceincovid19
🧵
#YiAkl
-the fight between the power of guns and politics vs the power of the people; and surely but slowly the power of the people prevails.
#YiAkl
-the fight between the power of secrecy/intimidation vs the power of information/ideas.
Intercepted in the Med. Sea, tortured in Libya and deported to Rwanda and being caged in a refugee camp. This is what EU's newfound policy of
#chaindeporation
is all about.
#MigrationDiplomacy
Our conversation (in Tigrigna) about the experience of Eritrean refugees in transit countries. We discuss about the challenges, coping mechanisms and different actors involved.
Lack of institutionilized and transparent international relations leads to erratic foreing policy positions. No principle, just impulses. We're so used to this that it doesn't really surprise us what PFDJ does. Surely, Eritrea deserves better &
#away
with zs incompetent junta.
With the help of an interpreter, a Home Office [UK] caseworker asks an Eritrean asylum seeker:
Caseworker: Do you have any [mental] health issues?
Interpreter: Are you mad?
Excerpts from the experiences of one of my research participants.
Really? What peace are people talking about? For a political detente with Eritrea's megalomaniac dictator and unleashing some centrifugal forces in Ethiopia's domestic politics (with regional ramifications)?
Five Eritrean players disappear from team hotel. Worrying to note that the chairpeson of CECAFA saying they have decided to "beef-up security around their hotel & the team so that we end the tournament on a good note." CECAFA can't (and shouldn't) work to cage people in the hotel
You're at it again. This spurious claim by the Eritrean regime re
#strategicDepopulation
. How about we talk about the
#unsearchable
cars that roar freely through the spider webs of checkpoints in Eri and transport people to Sudan,
@hawelti
?
Eritrea's Chief of Staff is an embarrassment. Why is it even mentioned that z girls outperformed their male counterparts in a shooting-accuracy practice? Man, wake up from your obsolete misognist sleep that has inhibited your ability to learn about many things.
Happy Easter to all celebrating today. Happy Easter Eritreans in z diaspora። we may be 1000s of miles away from our country but in our bodies and souls, we carry our culture, food, identity & rituals. ዕጣን`ሎ፡ ስዋ`ሎ፡ ድሎት`ሎ፡ ናውቲ ቡን`ሎ፡ መግቢ`ሎ.
#ሰላምንዓድና
Stimulating talk by
@CollyerMC
on the construction of
#HostileEnvironment
as as the art of securitizing migration & projecting state toughness in securing the public from the imagined bogeyman.
@ArroucheKheira
@CDB_77
@alison_phipps
@HyabYohannes
@Right_to_Remain
The kind of (institutionally) orchestrated policy of pushing asylum seeker into destitution. They may not be physically deported to Eritrea (and that's important) but their experiences as refused asylum seekers mean they're institutionally deported.
#YiAkl
-the fight between the trenched/isolated/cornered regime that lives in denial and the progressive political tsunami with people at its heart.
#YiAkl
-the fight for a free political market place in Eritrea.
'Tigray Under Siege: BBC Africa Eye Documentary'
Words can't describe how I'm feeling right now!! What kind of cruelty and moral depravity must someone possess to enact this on fellow humans?
What kind of smile & confidence do u see in z eyes of z girl on z phone? What & how do u know of what z young man (yes he beams with smile & confidence) thinks of Sawa? Have u done ur militrary service & worked 4 free 4 yrs? I hate to make this personal but I know why u left EIT.
If we don’t use all guaylas as sites of revolutionary ideas for freedom, justice and liberty in our country, we’re doomed to perpetual exile and rightlessness.
- How Many of Your Soldiers Got killed in
#Tigray
War?
- Are you a PRESIDENT FOR LIFE? Do you have a Succession Plan?
Dictator Isaias of
#Eritrea
was asked in Media Briefing In
#Kenya
.
He FAILED to Answer ALL Questions. But, decided to Lecture Journalists!!!! 🙄
#Ethiopia
"(Re)-imagining peace in Ethio-Eritrea relations: Focus on Tigray & Eritrea"
Please join us next Tues. 11th July, 3-5 UK time, for a conversation with Dr
@beoneofus
and myself.
ኣድላዪ እንተኾይኑ ውን ትግርኛን ኣምሓርኛን ክንጥቀም ንኽእል`ና።