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Ethiopians
unwanted in Ethiopia, hard to believe but true!
Gebriye
Tesfaye
No,
this time, the scandal is not about the border issue. But it is
about something no less than that. It is about the discrimination
of Ethiopians by own government.
First,
I would like to make clear that I am not writing my comments
representing a political party or with a sole purpose of being
against the government
of Ethiopia. What initiated me to do this is my personal bitter
experience in Germany and based on that I would like to say
something about the discrimination the government of Ethiopia is
committing against its own citizens. And I hope I wont get
misunderstood for the release of these comments at the time when
we all are celebrating our millennium. I have in no way the
intention to bring about a damping mood to this important event.
On the contrary, I found it necessary to tell the government and
its sycophants that things are not as good as they propagate under
the cover of the millennium celebration. As a concerned Ethiopian,
I believe, I also have the personal obligation to witness and
expose the government orchestrated lies, at least from the country
where I am living.
The
news about the discriminatory practices by Ethiopian Airlines
on
Ethiopian passengers at the Bahir Dar airport (www.ethiopiafirst.com/news/monthly/2007/Mar1-30-2007.html)
(www.theethiopianamerican.com/read.php?article=1&module=law)
was offending and embarrassing enough. Unfortunately, however, I
have to add a big piece on it. This time it is not a certain
company practicing discrimination, but the Ethiopian government
itself.
Before
telling you more about the secret and dark deeds of this
government, let me draw your attention to some points on how
Ethiopians in Germany are currently being fooled with empty
promises “to join hands with the government for a better
Ethiopia”:
I
have read the news at WIC (www.waltainfo.com/EnNews/2007/Jul/31Jul07/33578.htm)
about the workshop entitled “Millenium Development Goals and the
Contribution of Ethiopians Educated in Germany” and the speech
of the German ambassador to Ethiopia, Dr. Claas Knoop in relation
to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly his view
and recommendation on Ethiopians who are educated in Germany to do
their level best to assist their country meet the Millennium
development Goals, etc.. The ambassador advised the Association of
Ethiopians in Germany: “if the association is interested in
working with in the [Ethiopian]
government system, …the government has successful MDG-related
policies”, and so on.
I
have also followed the interview with Mr. Kassahun Ayele,
Ethiopian ambassador to Germany at “Ethiopians Forum for
Political Civility” (www.aigaforum.com/EthiopiansforumforPoliticalcivility/civility.htm).
One would think at the first impression, what a positive and
pleasing interview!. One would really feel as if Ethiopians and
Germans of Ethiopian origin are being more than motivated to
support their country, especially those educated seem to be
urgently needed, according to Mr. Kassahun.
The
reality, however, is the other way round. Both the Ethiopian
ambassador to Germany and the German ambassador to Ethiopia should
either be naïve, just doing the job for the sake of money and
they lack sufficient information on important issues pertaining to
both countries and have no insight into cooperation networks with
the numerous organisations in both countries, or they are simply
fooling us. Let me tell the ambassadors, particularly the
Ethiopian that his assertion in relation to gaining closer
relationship and cooperation with educated Ethiopians in Germany
is nothing but hypocritical. That is, his explanations were not
reflecting the true situation of Ethiopians in Germany and he was
simply showing his office at its best. Do the ambassadors know
Ethiopians are being discriminated by their own Ethiopian
government, the government claiming to transform the country into
a lower-middle-income country in 20 years by also calling home and
reintegrating educated Diaspora Ethiopians in the development
process? What is the answer going to be? Who knows, perhaps they
might tell us they are innocent and knew nothing about it. Or,
perhaps they might tell us unconscionably, they were of course
part and parcel of the secret agreement between the Ethiopian
government and German organisation, knew about the discrimination
already and stand for it, because, this is the way it should be.
Here
is the disgusting story:
I
do not know how things look like in other countries, but I can
tell you what is going on in Germany right now. As you may already
know, a number of German organisations are present in Ethiopia, as
direct investors, consulting firms, NGOs, etc. The DED-German
Development Service and the GTZ (German international enterprise
for technical cooperation) are counted among the most famous ones.
The DED and the GTZ are partners of the government of Ethiopia
under the so called capacity building program and they, among
other things, hire qualified people to work in Ethiopia.
I
believe, cooperation with these organisations is welcome, but we
must strongly denounce it, if it happens by discriminating
Ethiopians and through disgraceful secret agreements.
What
really happened: a number of Ethiopians (no TPLF/EPRDF, no KINIGIT)
asked the DED several times as to why job applications of
professional Ethiopians and Germans of Ethiopian origin have
always been rejected for since years and are still being rejected.
To our utter astonishment, the answer we got from the responsible
person, Mrs. Ratke was an extremely embarrassing one:
“your
government wants us to exclude you from the choice, even if you
posses a German degree or whatever qualification. We are told to
send only native Germans”.
All
we thought was, this can not be true! To us the value of Ethiopian
professionals is by far higher than that of those from a foreign
country. It is us Ethiopians who can speak the language and
communicate with our farmers and students better and more
effectively. It is us educated in Europe who know both the
Ethiopian and European cultures. In short, it is us, not the
foreigners, who posses the important human capital for the
development of our homeland. Why should we be discriminated and
our contribution to the development of our country underestimated?
After the devastating experience and hoping to get a some how
satisfactory answer, some Ethiopians including MBAs and PhDs went
to the German Labour Office and asked the responsible person to
seek clarification from the DED’s Frau Ratke on why Ethiopians
are not welcome to work in their country Ethiopia. He got the same
humiliating answer from her
:
“I
am very sorry, but I have to tell you that their government wants
us to send them only native Germans and the irony is that, the
Ethiopian government could not still get the people it demanded.
The vacancies are still out there in our website and almost no
native German is interested in these jobs. Most applications we
get are from Ethiopian professionals and I regret to say that we
have to reject them. I can’t help it, sorry! ”.
Totally
disappointed and perplexed, the man from the labour office tried
to inform the German ambassador to Ethiopia immediately about the
bizarre action being taken in the name of German Development
service. Of course, as some one who has almost nothing to do with
issues related to Ethiopia, he knew nothing about the speech of
his ambassador I mentioned above. He made a direct call to the
German embassy in Addis Ababa a couple of times, but nobody could
answer, though the line was functioning.
In
the case of the bigger partner of the Ethiopian government, the
GTZ, things are done differently and a bit smarter. But in the
end, the same thing is happening to Ethiopians educated in
Germany. After doing the same inquiries at the GTZ, the person in
charge for job exports to Ethiopia, Mrs. Schneider insisted, as
opposed to the DED, there is no discrimination against Ethiopians.
The fact is, however, job applications of Ethiopians and Germans
of Ethiopian origin are being rejected by the GTZ as well. We
believe, here too, the government of Ethiopia is behind it.
We
are shocked! We are extremely humiliated and dashed to the ground
by our government!
This
is not a fictitious story and I advise everybody having doubt on
this to contact Mrs. Ratke personally and convince himself. Just
make a call or write her.
Here
is the full address:
Deutscher
Entwicklungsdienst
Frau Ratke
Tulpenfeld
7
53113 Bonn
Germany
Tel.:
0049 (0) 228 - 24 34 -255
http://www.ded.de
The
answer you will get will be disastrous. Educated Ethiopians are
simply unwanted in Ethiopia.
For
those of you who would like to contact the GTZ, the address is as
follows:
Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH
Frau Monika Schneider
Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg
1-5
65760 Eschborn
Germany
Tel.: +49 61 96 79-3322
Fax: +49 61 96 79-803322
e-mail: monika.scheider@gtz.de
http://www.gtz.de
In
the name of all those affected by the embarrassing discriminatory
action taken by the Ethiopian government against its own
professionals and educated citizens, I hereby pose my request to
the Ethiopian government and his minister for capacity building,
Tefera Walwa:
why
did you make this shameful secret agreement to exclude Ethiopians
and German citizens of Ethiopian origin living in Germany from
participating in their country’s development? How long are you
going to depend on foreign aid whereas your educated people are
longing for the opportunity to work in and for their country? What
is the reason that made you neglect your own people?
A
German colleague asked me recently, whether time has not come
after so many years of work and higher education in Germany to go
back home and help my country? I had to tell him the above story
and I got, at least from him, some explanation on the problem:
“I
could imagine that your government doesn’t want to have you back
home, because, as professionals and educated people, you are a
potential danger to it and it would be safer for them to keep you
offshore”.
From
the Ethiopian minister for “capacity building”(how
paradoxical), however, I don’t expect to get an adequate answer.
I rather urge him to stop this scandal immediately and let the
educated Ethiopians get an appropriate place at home.
I
also urge every Ethiopian in the USA, Europe, Australia, etc. to
examine the hidden activities of the Ethiopian government in
his/her country of stay. Unmask and denounce them.
I
wish to all of us a joyous and peaceful millennium celebration.
Sincerely
Gebriye
Tesfaye
gebriye@web.de
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