By Martin Plaut

‘It was extraordinary. Two thousand in the hall. Another two thousand outside, who couldn’t get in.’ Eritreans gathered in Addis Ababa on 27th January from across the world, Bereket Kahsai, a senior member of Brigade N’Hamedu UK explained.

‘They came from the USA, Canada, across Europe and even Australia, and of course many came from Ethiopia, where we have around 250,000 Eritreans living.’

Bereket spoke quietly as he sat opposite me, sipping his tea and still looking tired from the journey that had taken them as far as the Afar region – tantalisingly just 70 kilometres from their Eritrean homeland.

The Brigade N’Hamedu conference, held in the Ethiopian museum exhibition centre, had been months in the planning. Around Christmas they had held discussions with a senior Ethiopian Minister, although Bereket was coy about naming him. ‘We ironed out the permissions, which he asked for in writing’.

‘We need them, they need us,’ he said, pointing out that the honeymoon between Prime Minister Abiy and President Isaias is now well and truly over. But Bereket insists that there was no funding from the Ethiopian government: ‘people who came paid for the trip themselves.’

To get so many Eritreans from so far afield, as well as from across Ethiopia, was no easy task. ‘Addis is full of the Eritrean regime’s agents,’ Bereket explains. ‘We had to take security seriously. Some people argued that we shouldn’t go, but we were determined to show we will not be intimidated.’

The conference was a demonstration of strength, as much as anything else. Brigade N’Hamedu’s programme and message are well known, both to its supporters and the regime. Beyene Gerezgher, who is the Brigade’s public face is a witty, compelling speaker.

‘He communicates by social media – posting about 20 hours a week. Sometimes he and I will talk for 2 hours at a time’ Bereket tells me.

He claims the coverage and organisational ability of the Brigade has shaken the Eritrean regime. ‘They now attack us openly – try to claim that we are puppets of Abiy. Or the Americans. Or that we are really Tigrayan. They are worried.’

The claim about being Tigrayan explains some of the thinking behind the trip to the Afar region. The Brigade had held discussions with the Eritrean Afar National Congress in Canada to set it up.

They met the Afar in Semera, just 70 kilometres from Eritrea itself. ‘We have a common enemy in Isaias. The Afar have had a terrible time under the regime,’ says Bereket. ‘We reached an understanding with them – a pact – not a formal agreement.’

And what about the future?

Bereket is clear. This will come from inside Eritrea itself. ‘We all have undergone National Service. We know our people. We know the army.’ He claims that the Brigade’s links inside Eritrea are strong, even inside the military, and that an uprising will come.

In the meantime, there are hundreds of thousands of Eritreans to support with aid and encouragement. Many are in Ethiopia, and the Brigade will open an office there shortly.

‘More Eritreans crossing the border every day,’ says Bereket. ‘We have Eritrean NGO’s and we must send them our help.’ This is something the Brigade’s ‘working together’ teams are doing. ‘Moreover, we have started issuing membership ID cards to our members in Ethiopia and have been involved in securing the release of Eritrean bona fide refugees from Ethiopian detention.’

It is a huge task, but Bereket is determined. ‘We are not going anywhere. We won’t relax. We will keep up the momentum.’