You live in countries where freedom is not just a word, but a right protected by law. You enjoy the fruits of democracy, the right to speak, vote, organise, and protest without fear. You benefit from healthcare, education, justice, and the dignity of citizenship. Yet, from that place of safety and privilege, you choose to support one of the most repressive regimes in Africa, a government that thrives on fear, silences dissent, and has destroyed the futures of an entire generation.

You support a regime that imprisons without trial, enslaves its youth through indefinite military service, tortures those who think differently, and has driven millions from their homes. Many of you will not return to live in Eritrea yourselves, not because of the weather or the economy, but because you know the truth. You know what happens to those who go back.

Now, you point fingers at Brigade N’Hamedu, a group of traumatised young people who have walked through hell to reach safety. These are survivors of the very system you defend. They are not terrorists. They are not criminals. They are young Eritreans whose lives have been shattered by tyranny. Their protest is a cry born from trauma, from abuse, from torture, from forced labour, from the graveyards of the Sahara and the depths of the Mediterranean Sea.

Yes, some individuals who directly inflicted harm or broke the law will be held accountable, and rightly so. Justice must prevail. But to paint the entire Nehamedu group as terrorists is not only unjust, it is dangerous. It silences victims and emboldens oppressors.

Had you, regime supporters, stood with the suffering of the Eritrean people, had you listened to their pain instead of dismissing it, this explosion of rage would not have happened. Instead, you danced while the homeland bled. You raised flags while mothers wept. You raised funds while the youth were enslaved. You stood by a cruel regime, while your own people cried for help.

The Nehamedu youth did not start this war. They inherited it. Their lives were shaped by cruelty, and now they are being criminalised for resisting it.

If you truly cared for Eritrea, you would stand with the wounded, not with their oppressors. You would defend the broken, not condemn them. And you would ask yourselves: what kind of Eritrean supports dictatorship while living in democracy?

History will not be kind to those who remained silent, or worse, supportive, while their own people drowned, fled, tortured and died. It is not too late to choose the right side of history.

Stand with justice. Stand with truth. Stand with the victims. Eritrea needs healing, and it starts with accountability, not hypocrisy.

Elsa Chyrum