PICS: Eritrea dares to dream of change while Ethiopia makes peace

Tanks and crushed trucks destroyed in the Eritrean War for the Independence of Ethiopia pile up on the outskirts of Asmara, which testifies to. a long and bloody history of conflict.

But the animosity symbolized by the cemetery tank is swept away

A new era of friendly relations has sprung up between the countries, whose leaders declared a surprise ending to two decades of conflict on July 9.

"War? Old fashioned!" A veteran turned public official told AFP journalists who last week visited this notoriously airtight country, which dismantled its private media in 2001 and seldom gives access to foreign journalists.

"At this moment, especially young people, they will not accept

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The frantic pace of rapprochement allowed the resumption of flights between Asmara and Addis Ababa and the emotionally filled visits of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

And for a generation of Eritreans whose life was shaped by the afraid of their government in the face of the Ethiopian aggression, there is a glimmer of hope that diplomatic frenzy can also lead to change at home.

"We have lost so much of Friends

A quiet city of sidewalk cafes and picturesque villas, Asmara of Eritrea was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site last year for its Italian colonial modernist architecture. a wing-shaped service station and an art-deco cinema that currently shows the Tour de France

People are sitting in a café in the Eritrean capital Asmara. (Maheder Haileselbadie Tadese / AFP)

But if Ethiopia has experienced in recent years an economic boom and an explosion of construction, Asmara has slowly collapsed, with little signs of development

"Asmara is old now. "The asphalt is rough," said an elderly resident gesticulating on a cracked sidewalk.

Asked what the peace will mean, he again pointed the way and said, "It will be smooth! "

But the biggest question for many is whether there will be a change to a mandatory national service program that includes a period of military training before recruits get into the receptionist function

The duty time is supposed to be 18 months, but it is indefinite since the border war with Ethiopia, and it is forbidden for recruits to travel without permission.

L & rsquo; Eritrea says the system promotes national unity at the time of slavery and hundreds of thousands of Eritreans have fled their country, saying that they feared persecution or related retribution on the program.

"We lost so many friends and family members," said Feven Ghbru, a 20-year-old art student.

A dozen of his friends and relatives left "to avoid"

"Maybe if everything changes, they will stop talking about going to Europe."

Biniam Tikue, 29, finishes his national service by teaching "We can not go to another country, if we want to show our art, we have to send it," she said.

The government defended compulsory service and other repressive policies restricting the freedom of Expression and political opposition as being crucial to counter the perceived threat of Ethiopia. Yared Yemane, 29, who serves his national service as a football player

"But maybe to be that if we were at peace, nobody would want it, so maybe it would change. "

& # 39; The same people!

Eritrea was once a province of Ethiopia until Isaias led a decades-long rebellion that saw Asmara parting as a result

The two countries were returning to war years later, when a border dispute erupted into a two-year conflict that killed about 80,000 people.

A peace treaty put an end to the fighting, but Ethiopia ignored the delimitation of the UN border and occupied territory that had been attributed to it. Eritrea in 2002.

After the war, Isaias imprisoned many opponents of the regime.

Faced with what was presented as an Ethiopian provocation, some Eritreans considered the policy of their government as necessary

"We paid with a lot of our friends, but that's fine," said David Gebremichael, a veteran who lost four of his seven brothers in the war of independence. [19659002] He now works for the Popular Front for Democracy and Justice

"(He) was for our freedom – and for the border."

Abiy promised to finally accept the decision of the United Nations border, but neither party has so far mentioned troop withdrawal. And Isaias spoke little about potential changes at home.

But last week, these obstacles and others were far from the minds.

In hotels and restaurants, foreigners welcomed Ethiopian visitors who arrived on the flight resumed with cries. welcome.

"We are the same people!" some cried.