East Africa Monitor: Eritrea is rebuilding its global reputation – but what does this mean for human rights at home? – 1 October
- • East Africa Monitor published an analysis of Eritrea’s new attempts to rebuild its reputation on the global stage as a cooperative partner with regional neighbours, questioning what these developments mean for the country’s human rights record.
- • There are concerns that if Eritrea can become profitable, human rights will not be addressed consistently. This has happened in Ethiopia and Rwanda, who have been able to maintain authoritarian regimes while dealing with the UN or global financial partners.
- • East Africa Monitor warns that Eritrea’s benefits from an increasingly positive promotion under the eyes of global leaders only reinforces Afwerki’s position as the country’s leader – which could halt progress on human rights more than it facilitates it.
Eritrea Hub: Urgent appeal on behalf of refugees trapped in Libya – 30 September
- Eritrea Hub published an urgent appeal for refugees blocked in Libya from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) and The America Team for Displaced Eritreans and supported by 54 other organisations. It was issued on 21 September.
- Some eight thousand Eritreans and other sub-Saharan refugees, migrants and trafficking victims have recently been caught in the crossfire between warring militias in Libya.
- The urgent letter calls upon UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations, donor countries and the international community to ensure that all available resources be deployed to move these vulnerable individuals to safety and to otherwise administer aid and protection as soon as possible.
- The UN, the EU the African Union, UNHCR and the IOM are also called upon to monitor the overall situation more effectively, to promote comprehensive solutions and immediately end the enslavement of the refugees, migrants and trafficking victims warehoused in Libya.
UN News: At UN, Eritrea’s Foreign Minister says peace deal with Ethiopia ends ‘dark chapter,’ paves way for development – 29 September
- Speaking at the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly, Osman Mohammed Saleh, Eritrea’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, called for the lift of sanctions imposed on Eritrea by the UN.
- Osman Mohammed Saleh’s speech at the UN was reported by The Washington Post, The Sudan Tribune, The Herald, Africa news and France 24.
- Criticizing the sanctions imposed on Eritrea, Mr Mohammed Saleh said that they “have entailed considerable economic damage to the country and unnecessary hardships on its people”, and called for sanctions to be rescinded to make “amends for the damages incurred and opportunities forfeited”.
- The full statement of Osman Mohammed Saleh can be read here.
CNN News: Jailed at 15 she dreamed of being a fashion designer. No trial and six years later, she’s still missing – 29 September
- CNN reports on the story of Ali Ahmed, who was imprisoned at 15 by Eritrean security forces while trying to leave the country. Six years later, her family says they don’t know where she is or what has happened to her.
- Amnesty International has called her detention an “enforced disappearance,” and this week launched a global petition calling for her release.
- Ali Ahmed was born in the US but grew up in Eritrea. She is the daughter of the country’s former minister of information, who fled the country in 2012 fearing for his life under the growing dictatorship of President Afwerki. Ali Ahmed’s uncle, Abdu Ahmed Younis, confided that “the only thing one can speculate is that it’s some form of punishment to her father.”
Borkena.com: Ethiopia and Eritrean story: Father-daughter moving reunion after 25 years – 29 September
- Ethiopian news website Borkena reports on a televised reunion between an Ethiopian father and his Eritrea-born daughter, separated following Eritrean independence in 1991.
- The JTV Ethiopia talk show brought together Getachew Muhye, a former member of the Ethiopian Air Force based in Eritrea during the war, and his daughter Selamawit Getachew, who met for the first time in more than 25 years following the rapprochement between Eritrea and Ethiopia and the reopening of border crossings.
