Dear

I live in your constituency and first, I would like to wish you a happy New Year and hope 2010 will be a year of success for you.

I am writing to draw your attention to the disturbing development in the Horn of Africa and in particular the sanctions imposed against my country of origin, Eritrea, on December 23, 2009 by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

I am astonished to find out that the British Government is one of the main proponents of the Sanctions against the state of Eritrea and the only country to call publicly for the sanctions to be imposed few months ago.

The main basis of the sanctions against Eritrean is the accusation that it has been providing support to Somali insurgents who are fighting against the Temporary Federal Government in Somalia which was installed by foreign authorities as well as its alleged failure to solve the border dispute with Djibouti.

It is very easy to verify that these accusations levelled against Eritrea are feeble and certainly do not warrant the heavy handed sanction. There has not been any sound evidence supplied by anyone to show that Eritrea has been providing any military or financial assistance to any group in the Somali war.

The Horn of Africa has been one of the worst trouble spots in the world with millions of people starving and being displaced with many ending up in the UK as refugees. It is well documented that the Ethiopian government, encouraged by the US government invaded Somalia in 2006 and created the current instability in the country.

Moreover, the Ethiopian government is occupying sovereign Eritrean land and refusing to honour a border arbitration decision set up by UN that both country signed as final and binding; this situation has been allowed to persist for the last 12 years thereby draining the resource of both nations and destroying the future of millions of young people who are currently facing each other in the border of the two nations.

I would like to thank you for addressing my concerns and hope that you will raise this issue with the concerned authority in the Foreign and Commonwealth office.

Yours Sincerely