On October 10, 2021, whilst lending his support to H.Res 445, Congressman Brad Sherman argued for violent action, stating, “…The American navy could interrupt Eritrea’s commerce on the high seas at any time and it would be just to do so as long as Eritrea blockades humanitarian aid to the people of Tigray…”
Again, on December 02, 2021, he repeats his appalling comments about Eritrea.
The Congressman alleges, without any shred of evidence, that ‘’Eritrea has closed its ports to food aid”. Yet, in the same statement, he enquires why Eritrea has not been requested so far to allow food aid through its ports; adding that a formal request must be sent to Eritrea in order to elicit ‘’a negative response” that would be useful for the record and to justify the nefarious acts he has in mind.
The Congressman’s convoluted rationale for illicit, US Navy forceful action, against Eritrea, is because it is not susceptible to economic pressures since it is not “a US-aid recipient country”.
To set the record straight, Eritrea has never blocked humanitarian aid nor has it become a hindrance to the flow of humanitarian aid into Ethiopia. The supply routes in operation have nothing to do with Eritrea. But more pointedly and as a matter of conviction, Eritrea firmly upholds the fundamental principle on the obligation of all States to ensure the provision and facilitation of humanitarian aid to needy populations in times of natural or man-made calamities and irrespective of the prevailing political/conflict situations.
In this regard, the Congressman should be reminded that the Eritrean Government had offered in 2000, at the height of the border war, its ports of Massawa and Assab for humanitarian use destined to Ethiopia under appropriate supervision when an estimated 14 million Ethiopians were on the brink of starvation. The scheme could not be implemented because the TPLF-dominated Ethiopian regime callously rejected the proposal.
The Congressman also denigrates Eritrea veering further into aspects of the conflict in northern Ethiopia on which he is either ill-informed or intentionally misinterprets to advance a malicious agenda.
In the event, the Eritrean Embassy to the US expresses its indignation and deplores the vilification of the country and the illicit coercive measures that the Congressman irresponsibly advocates.
Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea