THREAD: Hello friends.
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THREAD: Hello friends. So depending on your exposure to African news, you may or may not recognize the girl in the photo.
But with the Iran Hormuz deadlock, and global powers looking elsewhere for trade corridors, it is timely to know about her. Especially if you are American. Her story may (should!) become very relevant in the near future.
Her name is Ciham Ali Abdu and she is an American citizen.
She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.
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THREAD: Hello friends. So depending on your exposure to African news, you may or may not recognize the girl in the photo.
But with the Iran Hormuz deadlock, and global powers looking elsewhere for trade corridors, it is timely to know about her. Especially if you are American. Her story may (should!) become very relevant in the near future.
Her name is Ciham Ali Abdu and she is an American citizen.
She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.
Ciham was born in April 1997 in Los Angeles, California, to Eritrean parents.
She moved to Eritrea as a child when her father, Ali Abdu, became the Eritrea's Minister of Information in 2002. Under Eritrea's totalitarian regime, Ali Abdu was known for threatening critical voices and defending the regime's record. He was a feared man and anyone with remotely critical views risked jail by angering him.
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Ciham was born in April 1997 in Los Angeles, California, to Eritrean parents.
She moved to Eritrea as a child when her father, Ali Abdu, became the Eritrea's Minister of Information in 2002. Under Eritrea's totalitarian regime, Ali Abdu was known for threatening critical voices and defending the regime's record. He was a feared man and anyone with remotely critical views risked jail by angering him.
A decade after becoming a powerful member of Eritrea's government, in November 2012, Ali Abdu had a falling out with President Isaias Afewerki. Over what exactly, we don't know.
He defected & applied for asylum in Australia. The news was groundbreaking in Eritrea, where his was a feared face for years.
President Isaias, who has ruled with a iron fist since Eritrea's independence in 1991, was reportedly livid.
A CPJ article on the minister's disappearance from 2012.
https://cpj.org/2012/12/where-is-eritrean-information-minister-ali-abdu/
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A decade after becoming a powerful member of Eritrea's government, in November 2012, Ali Abdu had a falling out with President Isaias Afewerki. Over what exactly, we don't know.
He defected & applied for asylum in Australia. The news was groundbreaking in Eritrea, where his was a feared face for years.
President Isaias, who has ruled with a iron fist since Eritrea's independence in 1991, was reportedly livid.
A CPJ article on the minister's disappearance from 2012.
https://cpj.org/2012/12/where-is-eritrean-information-minister-ali-abdu/
Ali Abdu doesn't appear to have coordinated his defection with his family. Because weeks later, in December 2012, his daughter Ciham, then aged 15, tried to flee from Eritrea by crossing the border on foot into Sudan.
She was caught and taken into custody. She hasn't been seen since. Human rights orgs have slammed the US for the lack of urgency on her case.
The girl who dreamed of being a fashion designer, is paying the price for what Eritrea's President deems to be her father's betrayal.
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Ali Abdu doesn't appear to have coordinated his defection with his family. Because weeks later, in December 2012, his daughter Ciham, then aged 15, tried to flee from Eritrea by crossing the border on foot into Sudan.
She was caught and taken into custody. She hasn't been seen since. Human rights orgs have slammed the US for the lack of urgency on her case.
The girl who dreamed of being a fashion designer, is paying the price for what Eritrea's President deems to be her father's betrayal.
Every few years, stories like this surface...either on the Dec 8 anniversary of her arrest, or on her birthday April 3.
But no new information has emerged. Her father, truly a coward, has disappeared into obscurity in Australia & had been silent ever since.
Eritrea is a country literally at the bottom of the RSF press freedom index (behind even North Korea). If you are made to disappear, you may never be seen again.
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Every few years, stories like this surface...either on the Dec 8 anniversary of her arrest, or on her birthday April 3.
But no new information has emerged. Her father, truly a coward, has disappeared into obscurity in Australia & had been silent ever since.
Eritrea is a country literally at the bottom of the RSF press freedom index (behind even North Korea). If you are made to disappear, you may never be seen again.
As someone who is half Eritrean, my family's circumstances are those of most Eritrean families: my Eritrean family hasn't had a family reunion in decades. Young kids flee military service and cant return without risking persecution, ageing heartbroken parents stay behind, longing for their return and clinging to pictures or memories.
Eritrea is also home to Dawit Isaak, the longest detained journalist in the world today (held since 2001)
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As someone who is half Eritrean, my family's circumstances are those of most Eritrean families: my Eritrean family hasn't had a family reunion in decades. Young kids flee military service and cant return without risking persecution, ageing heartbroken parents stay behind, longing for their return and clinging to pictures or memories.
Eritrea is also home to Dawit Isaak, the longest detained journalist in the world today (held since 2001)
So why am I bringing up old news?
Global powers are falling over themselves to establish ties with Eritrea's leader who for decades they dismissed as an eccentric, pro-Moscow dictator. This despite him standing accused of overseeing a genocide.
Eritrea lies south of Saudi Arabia, & the Bab El Mandeb strait lies off its coastline. Key word, strait. You see where I'm going with this.
The value of Eritrea's position has suddenly skyrocketed, with the Hormuz uncertainty.
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THREAD: Hello friends. So depending on your exposure to African news, you may or may not recognize the girl in the photo.
But with the Iran Hormuz deadlock, and global powers looking elsewhere for trade corridors, it is timely to know about her. Especially if you are American. Her story may (should!) become very relevant in the near future.
Her name is Ciham Ali Abdu and she is an American citizen.
She hasn't been seen or heard from since 2012.
@Zecharias Zelalem
Too many posts to click. Unfortunately, the wrong colour for american media... -
So why am I bringing up old news?
Global powers are falling over themselves to establish ties with Eritrea's leader who for decades they dismissed as an eccentric, pro-Moscow dictator. This despite him standing accused of overseeing a genocide.
Eritrea lies south of Saudi Arabia, & the Bab El Mandeb strait lies off its coastline. Key word, strait. You see where I'm going with this.
The value of Eritrea's position has suddenly skyrocketed, with the Hormuz uncertainty.
Most of the Gulf and western powers were certain that the IRGC in Tehran would crumble under the weight of the Israeli-American offensive against the country.
As you all know, that hasn't exactly panned out.
Some 4 million barrels of crude per day pass through the Bab El Mandeb. It has always been a strategic oil corridor but even more so now. And now there is a geopolitical race for this strait, with the realization that the reliability of the Hormuz is going to be compromised for a while.
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Most of the Gulf and western powers were certain that the IRGC in Tehran would crumble under the weight of the Israeli-American offensive against the country.
As you all know, that hasn't exactly panned out.
Some 4 million barrels of crude per day pass through the Bab El Mandeb. It has always been a strategic oil corridor but even more so now. And now there is a geopolitical race for this strait, with the realization that the reliability of the Hormuz is going to be compromised for a while.
But the hassle with the Bab El Mandeb strait? Those pesky Houthis and their rockets. Besides their permanent presence as an Iranian proxy in the region, in recent years they've been firing at vessels originating from countries that support Israel.
If the Washington Post's report about the KSA lobbying for the US to attack Iran is accurate, then the KSA's primary motivation was probably finding a conduit for its oil in the Hormuz with no risk of rockets firing at them.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/28/trump-iran-decision-saudi-arabia-israel/
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But the hassle with the Bab El Mandeb strait? Those pesky Houthis and their rockets. Besides their permanent presence as an Iranian proxy in the region, in recent years they've been firing at vessels originating from countries that support Israel.
If the Washington Post's report about the KSA lobbying for the US to attack Iran is accurate, then the KSA's primary motivation was probably finding a conduit for its oil in the Hormuz with no risk of rockets firing at them.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/28/trump-iran-decision-saudi-arabia-israel/
So the other day, Reuters released this report based on a leaked document: that the US was about to lift 5 year old sanctions that it had placed on Eritrea. The Biden admin had sanctioned Eritrea in 2021 for its ethnic cleansing campaign during the Tigray war.
The US is clearly getting in on the strait craze, and has identified proximity to the Bab El Mandeb as being of critical importance.
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So the other day, Reuters released this report based on a leaked document: that the US was about to lift 5 year old sanctions that it had placed on Eritrea. The Biden admin had sanctioned Eritrea in 2021 for its ethnic cleansing campaign during the Tigray war.
The US is clearly getting in on the strait craze, and has identified proximity to the Bab El Mandeb as being of critical importance.
To get an idea of the seriousness of the atrocities Eritrea committed back then, my investigation from February 2021 for VICE World News, on the ethnic cleansing campaign and civilian massacres it carried out.
Three years later, legal scholars would deem these atrocities and others to have been genocide.
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To get an idea of the seriousness of the atrocities Eritrea committed back then, my investigation from February 2021 for VICE World News, on the ethnic cleansing campaign and civilian massacres it carried out.
Three years later, legal scholars would deem these atrocities and others to have been genocide.
N.B Iran observers:
For the USA to go as far as warming up to Eritrea, a country it long viewed as irrelevant... over its Red Sea oil corridor in this manner, I interpret this as a move forming part of an effort to soften the economic fallout that comes with accepting that "Epic Fury" will not achieve its Hormuz related objectives.This despite no one in the Trump admin publicly admitting it. The good thing from this is it appears that the US is looking for alternatives from war with Iran.
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N.B Iran observers:
For the USA to go as far as warming up to Eritrea, a country it long viewed as irrelevant... over its Red Sea oil corridor in this manner, I interpret this as a move forming part of an effort to soften the economic fallout that comes with accepting that "Epic Fury" will not achieve its Hormuz related objectives.This despite no one in the Trump admin publicly admitting it. The good thing from this is it appears that the US is looking for alternatives from war with Iran.
So, we know the US has extended an olive branch to Asmara, because of a leaked document seen by Reuters. What we don't know is if there's any effort by the Trump admin to capitalize on an opportunity to learn about Ciham and rescue her.
Is she even on the agenda?
HRW article on the 10th anniversary of her arrest in 2022.
Eritrea: 10 Years Behind Bars for Ex-Minister’s Daughter
The Eritrean government should immediately release Ciham Ali Abdu, held incommunicado since she was arrested a decade ago, when she was only 15, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org)
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So, we know the US has extended an olive branch to Asmara, because of a leaked document seen by Reuters. What we don't know is if there's any effort by the Trump admin to capitalize on an opportunity to learn about Ciham and rescue her.
Is she even on the agenda?
HRW article on the 10th anniversary of her arrest in 2022.
Eritrea: 10 Years Behind Bars for Ex-Minister’s Daughter
The Eritrean government should immediately release Ciham Ali Abdu, held incommunicado since she was arrested a decade ago, when she was only 15, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org)
In the days and weeks to come, what is currently a hush hush behind the scenes diplomatic maneuver by western states to bring Eritrea back from the cold, will become public.
We'll need the scrutiny then.
LA native Ciham Ali Abdu has now been disappeared for 13 years, 5 months, one day and counting. She'd be 29 years old today.
The Eritrean human rights advocacy group One Day Seyoum have been campaigning for her release for years. Their website:
https://onedayseyoum.org/ciham -
In the days and weeks to come, what is currently a hush hush behind the scenes diplomatic maneuver by western states to bring Eritrea back from the cold, will become public.
We'll need the scrutiny then.
LA native Ciham Ali Abdu has now been disappeared for 13 years, 5 months, one day and counting. She'd be 29 years old today.
The Eritrean human rights advocacy group One Day Seyoum have been campaigning for her release for years. Their website:
https://onedayseyoum.org/cihamAs someone of Eritrean descent myself, I can tell you that there is zero expectation in our communities that this diplomatic clamour for Eritrea will result in reform of any kind, that could enable us to visit our families at home.
But the bare minimum is closure about the fate of an American, a child political prisoner who has spent nearly half her life incommunicado.
I wonder if it's too much to expect the US press circle to bring this up as the US prepares for this foreign policy switch up.
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As someone of Eritrean descent myself, I can tell you that there is zero expectation in our communities that this diplomatic clamour for Eritrea will result in reform of any kind, that could enable us to visit our families at home.
But the bare minimum is closure about the fate of an American, a child political prisoner who has spent nearly half her life incommunicado.
I wonder if it's too much to expect the US press circle to bring this up as the US prepares for this foreign policy switch up.
This is Vanessa Tsehaye, among the most amazing people I know.
She is the founder of One Day Seyoum & managed to collect over 440,000 signatures for a petition submitted to the US gov, demanding action on Ciham. This is her when she submitted it, in late 2025.
She's a former Amnesty International researcher, &now journalist at Al Jazeera. She also won the Magnitsky prize in 2025.
Her uncle Seyoum Tsehaye is a journo held incommunicado in Eritrea since 2001.
May the demands of 440k be heard.
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@Zecharias Zelalem
Too many posts to click. Unfortunately, the wrong colour for american media... -
Most of the Gulf and western powers were certain that the IRGC in Tehran would crumble under the weight of the Israeli-American offensive against the country.
As you all know, that hasn't exactly panned out.
Some 4 million barrels of crude per day pass through the Bab El Mandeb. It has always been a strategic oil corridor but even more so now. And now there is a geopolitical race for this strait, with the realization that the reliability of the Hormuz is going to be compromised for a while.
@ZekuZelalem I really don't think most western powers had that opinion, I don't even think that was consensual opinion inside the USA.
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@ZekuZelalem I really don't think most western powers had that opinion, I don't even think that was consensual opinion inside the USA.
@DiogoConstantino ah you're actually right. US intelligence didnt support the move either. But I believe that's what the head honcho in DC believed!
