Page 172 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

THE WINTER OF ISLAM AND THE SPRING TO COME
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Afeworki, who assumed the posts of head of state and parliament
speaker, spurred the Eritrean opposition to take up arms. Fierce conflict
began between Eritrean troops and the opposition forces, particularly
in mountainous areas.
The severity of the oppression, particularly of Muslims, took on
terrible dimensions during the Afeworki period. Non-judicial deten-
tions and executions followed one after the other. Islamic schools were
closed down and mosques demolished. Arabic ceased to be the official
language, and hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes and
took shelter in Sudan. Anyone who criticized the Afeworki regime felt
its wrath.
Not only did Afeworki implement oppressive policies against his
own people, but he also acted hostilely towards neighboring countries.
He brought Eritrea to the brink of war with its neighbors Yemen and
Djibouti, and was also hostile to Sudan, another neighbor. He even
adopted the same attitude towards Ethiopia, which shared many of the
same political and strategic policies, and eventually occupied Ethiopian
soil. Until the ceasefire of June 18, 2000, the invasion of Ethiopia re-
sulted in hundreds of thousands of people losing their homes and land,
tens of thousands of deaths, and in thousands of people living at star-
vation levels due to an economic embargo.

The Latest Situation in Eritrea
The border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia that began in
1999 ended in a ceasefire a year later with the intervention of the
Organization of African Unity. However, despite the fact that both
sides were in terrible economic difficulties and their peoples were liv-
ing on the edge of starvation, it is astonishing that they still spent mil-
lions of dollars on arms. Essential infrastructure elements such as ports,
electric power stations and airports were utterly destroyed, millions of
people were forced to migrate, and damage totalling millions of dollars
was inflicted in the fighting. Up to a million dollars, desperately needed
by the people of the region, was squandered on weapons. In this way