Eritreans protest at UN refugee office in Cairo

Police deploy at UNHCR headquarters after brief clashes during a protest

Minor clashes break out at UNHCR in 6 October on Sunday where Eritrean refugees protested what they describe as a lack of protection and justice
A group of Eritrean refugees held a demonstration on Sunday at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in 6 October City on the outskirts of Cairo, protesting what they describe as inadequate protection and help from the UN body.
Around a hundred refugees stood outside the building in the morning, some holding banners. Although the protest was largely peaceful, tensions broke out mid-morning between the protesters and refugees of other nationalities who were angry at not being able to access UNHCR’s services.
The UN body had suspended its normal refugee reception service, saying that the protesters had blocked access to the area and impeded its work.
Tense arguments led to minor clashes, which began when a Sudanese refugee threw stones at the protesters. As a result, one Sudanese man was injured and taken away by ambulance, while one Eritrean protester was arrested by Egyptian police at the scene.
UNHCR's office was also the site of refugee protests in 2011, after services were closed down for several weeks during the 2011 uprising.
Eritrean protesters told Ahram Online on Sunday that they were protesting in frustration at a number of issues.
"UNHCR is not working according to its mandate; it’s not transparent," said a protester who declined to give his name.
"Interviews [with UNHCR to determine status and support] are delayed for months. We are left without any financial assistance. How can we survive? Refugee status determination interviews are supposed to happen after a maximum of six months [upon arrival in Egypt]. Some people have been waiting for 19 months."
Another major concern was the drop in the number of permanent resettlements outside of Egypt granted to Eritreans. "The year before last, 260 Eritreans were resettled. Then last year, only 116. We need to know why they decreased the quota," Meron, 29, told Ahram Online. “The situation for Eritreans is really desperate."
A number of protesters told Ahram Online they were victims of trafficking, kidnapped in Sudan and taken to Sinai in Egypt, where they were tortured until members of the Eritrean diaspora community sent money to ransom them.
"There is no protection from UNHCR. No one has helped us. The world knows, UNHCR knows what happens in Sinai. Every week more people arrive from there," said Gibrali, 25, who lifted up his shirt to show deep scars on his back which he said were from torture at the hands of Sinai traffickers.
"Since we came from Sinai, we are living 15, 20 people in one room. We are scared. Some of us have seen the Bedouin [traffickers] in Cairo. We told the police about one man, but they released him. We told UNHCR, but they do nothing. We need protection."
In a telephone interview with Ahram Online on Sunday,  Karmen Sakhr, senior protection officer at UNHCR, said that the organisation's deputy representative Elizabeth Tan had recently met with leaders of the Eritrean community and listened to their concerns. "If people have complaints, this is not the right way to approach the issue; not by blocking access and disturbing the workflow for others."
“We do acknowledge the problem [of trafficking in Sinai] but we also have to rely on national authorities on these issues. We stand ready to provide legal support if refugees wish to make a complaint, but we can’t prosecute traffickers ourselves. Victims have to go to the national authorities,” Sakhr told Ahram Online.

Former Eritrean freedom fighter gets to art of matter

ERITREAN artist Michael Adonai says he is obligated to tell the world of his country's situation.

In 1977, at the age of 15, Adonai joined the Eritrean People's Liberation Front.
Much of his early work centres on his experiences as a "freedom fighter".
Now a world-renowned artist, Adonai has won Eritrea's top art prize and exhibited internationally, including at a United Nations-sponsored global art show in New York.
Adonai, who lives in Werribee, is exhibiting prints of his paintings at Altona's Joel Gallery until Friday.
The originals remain in Eritrea, from where he was forced to flee in November.
"My solo exhibition was supposed to be in January at Federation Square, but the situation back home forced me to leave earlier," he says.
"I came on November 1 because there was a very bad political situation in Eritrea and someone, a head official from Eritrea, told me to leave the country to save myself.
"I didn't bring my original work because I ran away from my country because of the political situation."
Adonai says his country's culture is his favourite subject matter, but painting about politics is inescapable.
"Some of my paintings are political because I am living in a volatile area of east Africa, so it's unavoidable for me as an artist and a citizen to express my inner feelings. The situation is really deteriorating.
"We have had this deterioration in Eritrea for this past eight years. We don't have any free press, elections, no constitution. Even now in Eritrea, there are massive arrests.
"There was also an army mutiny in Eritrea these past two or three months. It was not a successful mutiny because they started to arrest a lot of people and the Eritrea area is known for its cruelty.
"Art for me, it's my life. That's my life: whether it's under this cruel Eritrean regime . . . for me, it's an obligation."
Wyndham Council has given Adonai studio space and in return he will pass on his skills.
"I have volunteered to help my community, to teach promising young artists, to share my experiences with them."

'Freedom Friday' Movement Challenges Eritrea

A new grassroots movement in Eritrea that draws inspiration from the Arab revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia

is poised to challenge the one-party authoritarian rule of Isaias Afewerki , who has been in power for more than twenty years.The Freedom Friday (Arbi Harnet) movement, started in November 2011 by the Eritrean diaspora, is finally gaining momentum inside the country according to Merom Estefanos ,a human rights activist and presenter with the France-based Radio Erena, which broadcasts in Eritrea and around the world.

In tandem with Eritrean Youth for Change (EYC) and the Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change (EYSC), Estefanos has set up a new campaign to reverse the Arab-style call to take to the streets every Friday. Instead, it urges Eritreans to empty the streets.
"We made phone calls from diaspora to Eritrea," Estefanos told IBTimes UK. "We have a phone catalogue and called random numbers every Friday, telling them to stay at home and think about problems in our country."
Freedom Friday's coordinator in the UK Selam Kidane, also director of Release Eritrea rights group, explained that asking Eritreans to stay at home "give them an opportunity to protest without risking too much".
""Eritreans have been denied many rights and are very afraid of the government and its informants," she said. "We want to build trust among people who carry out joint protest actions."
'Go out and demonstrate'
After two years, the Freedom Friday movement has established solid roots inside Eritrea. "Now they trust us

Meron Estefanos

inside the country, we have our team in Eritrea that puts out posters and leaflets late at night," Estefanos said.
"The plan now that we have their trust is asking them to go out and demonstrate."
Kidane confirmed that support is rising inside the secretive Africa country. "The small team initially based in the diaspora is now an established project inside the country and everyone knows about it," she said.
What started as a call to Eritreans in the capital, Asmara, to vacate the streets every Friday may soon become a widespread youth protest akin to the April 6 movement in Egypt, which eventually helped topple president Hosni Mubarak.
"In our country we cannot have a revolution because every youth bitter about life is fleeing the country," she said. "In my radio programme I'm discussing that people shouldn't leave because it is not a solution. I believe the youths should fight in their country. The Egyptian revolution showed that anything was possible because there was an unhappy youth."
African North Korea
 Dubbed the North Korea of Africa, Eritrea is considered one of the continent's most opaque countries. National elections have not been held in the Horn of Africa country since it gained independence in 1993. Torture, arbitrary detention and severe restrictions on freedom of expression remain routine.
"We have a dictatorial regime, that's why people are fleeing every month," said Estefanos. "Around 3,000 people flee to Sudan every month and 1,000 to Ethiopia. We are losing the whole generation because all the youth is fleeing the country."
The mandatory military service that forces citizens to serve, on average, between the ages of 18 and 55 is one of the main causes of fleeing from the country. Advocacy group Reporters without Borders has ranked Eritrea 179^th among 179 countries on freedom of expression. Access to the country for international humanitarian and human rights organizations is almost impossible and the country has no independent media.
"Unless there is a regime change in Eritrea, things will continue like that," Estefanos said. "[Our] only target is to keep in contact with people inside the country. Now nobody doubts us anymore."

UN expert to assess human rights situation in Eritrea through neighbouring countries

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Beedwantee Keetharuth, today regretted that the Eritrean Government continues to deny her access to assess the situation of human rights in the country, and announced she will undertake a mission to neighbouring countries to talk to Eritrean refugees.

Ms. Beedwantee Keetharuth

“I have urged the Eritrean authorities to cooperate with my mandate, as required by the UN Human Rights Council,” Ms. Keetharuth said during the 53rd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, The Gambia, where she held an ad-hoc meeting with the delegation of Eritrea in the margins of the event.
“In the meantime, I will engage with all others concerned by human rights in Eritrea, including those who consider themselves to be victims of alleged human rights violations, human rights defenders and other civil society actors,” she explained. The Special Rapporteur will present her first report on the human rights situation in Eritrea to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2013.
Ms. Keetharuth welcomed a call on the Government of Eritrea to fully cooperate with international and regional mechanisms and to implement previous decisions by the African Commission, made by the NGO Forum which preceded the regional meeting. During the NGO Forum, she introduced her mandate and exchange information on the situation of human rights in Eritrea with various stakeholders.
Earlier calls by the African Commission for the release of eleven former Eritrean Government officials detained in 2001, a fair trial for 18 journalists detained without trial since 2001 and the lifting of the ban on free press have remained unanswered by the State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
From human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur heard about the Eritrean Government’s blatant disrespect for the rights and dignity of its people. They highlighted the indefinite national service, forced labour, and arbitrary and incommunicado detention of those held in more than 300 prisons throughout the country in inhumane conditions.
They also stressed the alarming living conditions in a country where most people are struggling to survive on insufficient food rations, lack access to health care and are faced with frequent shortages of electricity, water and the absence of an independent press.
All these factors were presented to the UN independent expert to explain why thousands of Eritreans deciding to leave their home county per months despite the serious risks along the routes to where they hope their human dignity will be respected.
“I reiterate my hope that the Eritrean Government would consider the mandate of the Special Rapporteur as an opportunity to start a fresh and constructive dialogue on human rights issues that have been raised by the international community and other stakeholders,” Ms. Keetharuth said, while stressing that the primary concern of the mandate is to provide an objective, fair and impartial picture of human rights in Eritrea.
The human rights expert also expressed her expectation that the Eritrean Government would view her mandate as an opportunity “to safely and in all trust, address Eritrea’s compliance with its human rights obligations as contained in international treaties to which the country is a party.”

Eritrean forces detained Yemeni fishermen and boats

The Fishery Cooperative Union, a non-governmental syndicate made up of Yemeni fisherman, said on Sunday that Eritrean forces have now detained over 200 Yemeni fishermen and confiscated over 850 boats since 2006.

One Yemeni fisherman was allegedly shot by Eritrean marine forces, according to the Fishery Wealth Ministry.

Wade’ Ata, the head of San’d Organization—another organization which works with the country’s fisheries—told the Yemen Times that fishermen undergo humiliating treatment once captured.

“They are forced to do hard labor in construction projects,” Ata said. “They are inhumanely treated. They don’t get enough food, water, medicine or sleep.”

“The Eritrean authorities have detained Yemeni fishermen in many camps on different islands, like Fatima and Dahlk islands,” Ata said.

On Saturday, this issue was raised during a session of the Yemeni Parliament.

Yahiya Al-Raei, the head of Parliament, was tasked with speaking with President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi in order to reach some sort of solution.

Given that Yemen has a 2,500 kilometer shoreline, the fishing industry is important for this country, supporting around 400,000 Yemenis and their families.

Ambassador Mohammed Al-Jaefi, the head of the African Department at the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Eritrean government has only detained fisherman who have been fishing outside of national boundaries.  

Abdulla Sunbul, the deputy minister of the Fishery Wealth Ministry, said the ministry formed a committee to address the dire situation of the captured Yemeni fishermen.

The ministry released a statement last Sunday expressing its concern for the inhumane treatment of Yemeni fishermen.

The statement called on the Eritrean government to launch an  investigation into the incidents and release the Yemeni detainees immediately.