In Eritrea, the Peace Dividend Is Same As The War Dividend: Migrants

Whether Eritrea is in a state of war, in a state of no-war-no-peace, or in a state of peace, it appears to have one export: migrants.  Consider:

• Eighty-eight (88) days after Eritrean politicians went to Addis Abeba and told us humble Abiy Ahmed is our leader; 
• Seventy-six days (86) after President Isaias Afwerki told us “we didn’t lose, there was no loss, we recovered all our property”; 
• Seventy-five (75) days after President Isaias Afwerfki and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed the “Peace & Friendship Agreement”; 
• Seventy (70) days after President Isaias Afwerki, in Addis Abeba, told us that “anybody who says the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia are two peoples is someone who doesn’t know the truth”; 
• Sixty-six (66) days after Ethiopian Airlines landed in Asmara for the first time in 20 years; 
• Sixty (60) days after Eritrea and Ethiopia signed their “Peace & Friendship Agreement”–again–at Abu Dhabi and got a necklace for it; 
• Fifty six (56) days after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told Ethiopians that the Eritrea-Ethiopia border is a “minor issue”; 
• Fifty three (53) days after the governments of Somalia and Eritrea reconciled; 
• Forty-nine (49) days after Eritrean Airlines started its flight to Ethiopia; 
• Forty-seven (47) days after Government of Eritrea started hosting a series of Ethiopian-Government & Ethiopian opposition reconciliation meetings; 
• Eighteen (18) days after the Eritrean ports opened up for Ethiopian ships; 
• Eleven (11) days after Eritrea and Ethiopia opened their joint border; 
• Six (6) days after signing (again!) the Eritrea-Ethiopia Peace & Friendship Agreement in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 
• One (1) day before the Tigray Chamber of Commerce took a 20-car envoy of Land Rovers, Range Rovers and Game Overs to Asmara; 

Eritreans–including families and children–are leaving Eritrea. Why? Because, in all that time, they haven’t seen a single reform to make them hopeful. The arrested remain in jail. The disappeared remain unaccounted for. The conscription remains indefinite. There is rule by law, not rule of law. There is no constitution. There is no free press.