Except Djibouti that did not make an explicit appeal to the United Nations General Assembly with respect to Eritrean sanctions, Ethiopia and Somalia reiterated calls for the lifting of sanctions.
On their part, Eritrea dedicated its entire address to the sanctions with categorical demands that they have from the word go been unjustified and thus be lifted by the Security Council without delay.
Foreign Minister Osman Saleh did not mince words about the unjust nature of the sanctions and the adverse effects that it had on Eritrea’s progress and development.
In light of these important and positive developments, it is only appropriate and timely that the Security Council now seriously considers lifting the sanctions imposed on Eritrea.
Incidentally, all four nations in the Horn of Africa region sent their respective foreign ministers to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly which ends today in New York. Below are relevant portions of their respective addresses.
Eritrea’s Foreign Minister Osman Saleh
After announcing the July 2018 peace deal, he continued: Let me now revert to a perplexing injustice that has afflicted my country for almost a decade. I am referring to the unwarranted sanctions that were imposed on Eritrea in December 2009 and 2011 respectively.
With positive winds of peace flowing in our region, several UNSC member States are these days calling for the immediate lifting of the deplorable sanctions. The diplomatic discourse is not however fully coherent.
As it happens, some countries are looking for procedural and other pretexts and preconditions. The apparent aim is to move the goalpost and maintain the illegal sanctions on Eritrea.
He traced the genesis of the sanctions principally accusing the United States governments of being behind it and its maintenance over the years.
As I stressed earlier, the people of Eritrea have not committed a crime or transgression that impels them to seek clemency. As such, they are not only calling for the immediate rescinding of the sanctions but they are also asking, and deserve, amends for the damages incurred and opportunities forfeited, he concluded.