For Returnees, Eritrea Is Worth Fighting For

When Saba Gebremedhin and her husband, Baraki Tesfai, returned here from California in 1993, they hoped to help develop Africa’s newest nation, the land of their birth. They gave up the fast pace of Los Angeles for the tranquillity, rugged beauty and relative underdevelopment of this capital.

They dabbled in various business ventures before setting up Cosmos, a trading and contracting company that provided satellite television access, and Mask, a trendy fast-food restaurant and bar. They worked around-the-clock, channeling their energies into carving a comfortable life for their three sons, all U.S. citizens.

When the war erupted in 1998 between this nation and its southern neighbor, Ethiopia, and scores of Eritreans who have foreign passports fled the country, Saba and her family stayed put. Even intense fighting over the past three weeks, as Ethiopian troops invaded deep into Eritrea and toward Asmara, has not forced them out.

“If you pack up and go back just because of conflict, then there was no purpose of you coming in the first place,” said Saba, a naturalized U.S. citizen with a master’s degree in molecular biology from Berkeley. “We have decided to stay until we’re practically driven out.”

The family hopes that it won’t come to that. Saba and Baraki are among scores of Eritreans with foreign passports who have decided to stick out the war and help their country win it. In a market rife with prospects for new investment, many own businesses and have provided financial and material aid to the war effort. Others have volunteered for military service and have even gone to the front.

The prospect of facing more battles remains real, despite Ethiopia’s declaration Wednesday that it had achieved its goals and the war was over. Ethiopian troops remain not only in disputed border areas that they retook but also in undisputed Eritrean territory. Eritrea has insisted that the war will not end until Ethiopian troops pull back.

Talks in Algiers, aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the two-year war that initially began as a dispute over a poorly demarcated 620-mile common border, resumed Friday after a break to give both countries time to consider a cease-fire proposal.

But the progress toward peace was threatened as Ethiopia accused Eritrean forces of shelling a border town six miles inside its territory. Two civilians reportedly were killed. So far, efforts to persuade delegates from Ethiopia and Eritrea to meet face to face have failed.

Several Eritrean Americans who consider Asmara their home said this week that nothing will chase them out.

The majority of the 110 Americans who were evacuated when the most recent bout of fighting erupted May 12 were of Eritrean descent, according to remaining members of that small community and Western diplomats. Before the war began in 1998, Eritreans with foreign passports numbered between 300 and 400.

“Most of the people who left were concerned about their children,” said Saba, who lived 19 years in California and acknowledged that she would depart only if the conflict started to jeopardize the safety of her children.

“I did not come back from the States to be evacuated,” said Woldu Yoseph, a 42-year-old real estate and mortgage broker who relocated from Los Angeles to this nation of 3.5 million people in 1994. “I have faith in the government. I have faith in the people who are defending the country. Nothing is going to happen to us.”

Woldu, who holds an MBA in international business from the University of Missouri, said that his company has contributed thousands of dollars in financial and material aid to the war effort and that he has been happy to do so. He recently bought a government bond worth $6,000.

“I couldn’t help but help a government that is clean, uncorrupt, focused and really means the best for the nation,” said Woldu, who rents properties primarily to Eritrea’s expatriate community and also owns an office center and a carpet shop. “We repeatedly contribute in cash and kind. You will not find a single business or individual who hasn’t.”

Eritrean government spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel said the contributions of the returnees’ community have had “a tremendous impact.” Eritreans living overseas also have given thousands of dollars.

“The country has come through an enormous struggle against all odds after 30 years,” said Menghis Samuel, 39, who returned to Eritrea from Columbus, Ohio, in 1996 after 17 years in the U.S. “We’re not about to give up on it now. It was a hard-won independence, so we can’t let it go so easily.”

Menghis, a former research engineer for the communications giant AT&T; and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, now runs his own information technology company here in the capital. Twenty of his 39 employees have been drafted for national service and could eventually end up at the front.

“If I am called, I would do it,” Menghis said. Two of his sisters and a cousin are at the front. Nearly one in 10 people in this nation, which gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year rebellion, are in the military.

Merid Aseffa was keen to fulfill his duty. The University of North Texas management graduate returned to Eritrea in 1995, opened Asmara’s first bakery and pastry shop, and now owns a supermarket.

Last year he volunteered for military service. Many of his non-Eritrean friends questioned his decision, but Merid was undeterred.

“I felt that doing national service was a small way of giving back to the country,” said Merid, who has a 1-year-old son named Brook and holds a British passport. “I even volunteered to fight at the front. I don’t see myself as anything but full Eritrean.”

Merid, who was born in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and spent three years in Eritrea as a youth, agrees with his government’s position on the war--that it was necessary, despite the costs, to protect Eritrea’s sovereignty. And even if Ethiopian forces managed to conquer Asmara--which Merid doubts would happen--he would still remain in Eritrea and continue the fight.

“As far as I can see, there is nothing that can force me to leave Eritrea,” Merid said. “I am building my future with the country.”