BY HAFTU GEBREZGABIHER
Ethiopians living in Kenya and Malawi, under the coordination of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopa’s Embassy in Kenya, held an online discussion on the second round of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its tenth anniversary.
Opening the forum, the Director General of the Ethiopian Diaspora Agency, Selamwit Dawit, thanked the Diaspora for its support to the country and said the support should be strengthened considering the current situation in the country.
The Director General added that following the first round of filling, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has accumulated unprecedented wealth from the Diaspora.
She called on Ethiopians living in the African countries where there are many international organizations, to work together for the benefit of their country through strong public diplomacy.
Meles Alem, Special Envoy and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Kenya to Kenya, on his part thanked Ethiopians living in Kenya and Malawi for their support of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Prof. Yilma Sileshi, a member of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Negotiating Group, gave a presentation on technical issues related to the dam, and participants responded to related questions.
Participating Diaspora members also expressed their readiness to support the construction of the dam, which is a matter of survival, and to carry out the necessary public diplomacy.
Meanwhile, as part of the increased engagements, the Ethiopian Embassy in Nairobi is set to repatriate 500 of our citizens who were in the Dadab refugee camp and wished to return voluntarily. The embassy issued a travel document on the spot and they will return home in the coming weeks.
More than 4,000 people have applied for voluntary repatriation at the Dadab refugee camp, and the embassy will issue a travel document in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), according to the Embassy sources.
On the same line, a grand rally in South Africa has been called on June 14, 2021, in support of the Ethiopian government’s efforts to counter the interference in the country’s internal affairs and to thank the countries that have sided with Ethiopia so far.
The committee announced on June 11, 2021 stated that the demonstration will take place in Pretoria, South Africa on Monday under the motto; “African Solution to Africa’s Problem” in various ways to oppose the pressure on Ethiopia and to stop the intervention in our internal affairs.
According to the Ethiopian Embassy in South Africa Ethiopians with different views will stand together on national issues and will reaffirm their readiness to make any sacrifice as it is the responsibility of this generation to protect the sovereignty and integrity of Ethiopia.
They called on the United States and the European Union to stop interfering in the protests, and thanked the South African government and people for their support to the Ethiopian government and people.
The committee noted that precautionary measures would be taken to protect South Africa’s Covid-19 prevention protocols.
Furthermore, the organizing committee called on members of the religious community, the community leaders and the media to join the protest.
