The Red Sea Afar people have inhabited the coastline of the Red Sea in Eritrea for centuries. They share a historical and cultural identity with their co-ethnics in Djibouti and Ethiopia. Through their established traditional institutions, the Afar people historically exercised political and social authority over the coastal territories. The population resides in a historically significant, strategically located territory that is vital to global trade and possesses abundant physical and underground resources.
Eritrea achieved its hard-won independence from Ethiopia with full UN membership on 25, May 1993. The independence struggle was initiated by Eritrean Liberation Front and completed by Eritrean People Liberation Front((EPLF), later reorganized as the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). Even during the liberation era, warning signs of authoritarian tendencies were evident, including grave incidents such as the 1988 killings of Afar civilians in As-Ela village. After Independence, once a Popular movement gradually turned into an authoritarian regime that betrayed the dream of Eritreans.
Shortly after independence, the regime instructed its military and security forces to impose punitive measures on those resisting disarmament and the restructuring of Eritrea’s political boundaries from nine to six provinces, all without meaningful consultation or consent. Following these instructions, government troops swept through villages: they killed and maimed civilians, conducted arbitrary arrests, abducted religious and traditional leaders, bombarded fishermen in the Red Sea, forcibly evicted villagers and destroyed livelihoods in the coastal areas, targeting our people solely because of their ethnic background. These human rights violations sparked widespread resentment. In 1994 and 1995, the Red Sea Afar people resisted and fought against regime forces in various parts of Afar Land.
Subsequently, a group of elders and a youth established the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization, an armed resistance advocating self-determination, including the option to secede from Eritrea, if necessary. Over the past three decades, the Red Sea Afar resistance has manifested in various forms, experiencing both strengths and weaknesses, but the objectives remain the same: Justice and recognition of their rights in a nation where all people share the same basic right, live together in peace and harmony, and allow their diverse cultures to develop freely.
After years of silent cries and relentless struggle against the regime, hope was born for the Red Sea Afar People in terms of shading lights on their plight. In 2015, a groundbreaking report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea was released. The 484 pages report detailed gross human rights violations the regime perpetrated against its own people. The report implicated the regime forces in ethnic cleansing against Afar and Kunama communities. The Afar people have been subjected to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, forcible eviction, ethnic persecution, and land grabbing. The commission
confirmed the Eritrean officials have committed crimes against humanity against Afar population since 1991.
RSAMC herby presents its vision for defeating the brutal dictatorship in Eritrea and replacing it with a constitutional, democratic, and just System.
Martin Plaut 