Remembering the Holy Ethiopian Martyrs of Libya

Solomon Kibriye – (Chief Editor – Ethiopian Affairs) – OCP News Service – 21/04/2019

Special Courtesy – Archdeacon Tesfa Mikael Williams

Four years ago today, a video was released by ISIS forces in Libya that showed the horrific massacre of 34 young men. Half were shown being marched out onto a beach on the Mediterranean, wearing orange jumpsuits, and were beheaded. The other half, wearing black jumpsuits, were shot in the head in the desert. ISIS called them “People of the Cross” and killed them for refusing to renounce their faith and convert to Islam. It is reported in some sources that one young man was in fact an Ethiopian Muslim but chose to die with his Christian compatriots. Their number may have also included Eritreans. Not all of their identities were confirmed, but they were generally identified as Ethiopians. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church declared them to be Martyrs of the faith, and while they were mourned for the cruel manner in which they died, their resoluteness and bravery in martyrdom were celebrated. Their relics were found and exhumed just this past December, and there is the talk of returning them to Ethiopia.

Young people continue to stream out of the Horn of Africa and other parts of the continent in search of a better life. Some make it to their destinations, but many perish in the horrors of their travels. Just a few days ago, a group of young Ethiopians drowned in a tragic accident in the Red Sea. Countless others perish in the deserts as they travel north. Modern slave trade has emerged in Libya were sub-Saharan Africans are captured and sold like cattle. There is the talk of organ harvesting, rape, murder and torture of these migrants in North Africa and the Middle East. The other day saw a story go viral where young migrants trying to clean themselves on an Israeli beach were photographed being ridiculed and abused by some burly locals. We pray that someday conditions in Africa below the Sahara improve enough that our young people do not have to risk life and limb and pass through the contempt and hostility that greet them in the hopes of improving their lot. The word migrant has become a dirty word in the West which increasingly shows a hostile face to these people. The dangers they face have continued.

May the Holy Ethiopian Martyrs of Libya pray before the throne of the Almighty for their homeland and for all those who are traveling over land and sea in the face of dangers hoping for a better life.

Source:
OCP News Service