Reuters Africa: U.N. Security Council considers lifting Eritrea sanctions next week – 6 November
- Reuters reports on the potential lifting of sanctions on Eritrea, set to be voted on by the UN Security Council on 14 November.
- It obtained a British-drafted resolution proposing the immediate removal of the arms embargo and sanctions imposed on Eritrea in 2009. France and some other Council members are thought to be keen to maintain diplomatic pressure on Eritrea, particularly regarding its border dispute with Djibouti, and can propose changes to the text during negotiations.
- A final decision requires nine votes in favour of the lifting and no vetoes from the United States, China, Russia, Britain or France.
- A Security Council resolution issued in November 2017 said that the peaceful settlement of the border dispute between Eritrea and Djibouti would be considered in any review of sanctions imposed on Eritrea.
- Other media outlets including Africa News and The Washington Post report on the subject.
Bloomberg: AFDB Says Initial Steps Taken to Restart Eritrea Relations – 7 November
- Bloomberg reports on the African Development Bank’s renewed interest in Eritrea, which could lead to the resumption of lending to the country.
- The peace agreement reached by Ethiopia and Eritrea has renewed the latter’s economic attractiveness to investors, according to AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina.
- Kapil Kapoor, the AfDB’s southern Africa director-general who previously worked with Eritrea, said that the initial steps reached to agree on any potential deal would depend upon the decisions taken by the government of Eritrea.
Eritrea Hub: First Eritrean elected to US Congress – 7 November
- Eritrea Hub reports on the election to the US Congress of Joe Neguse, an African-American attorney and civic leader of Eritrean descent.
- Mr Neguse’s parents fled Eritrea and immigrated to the United States as refugees, eventually settling in Colorado. His father had previously been an English teacher in Eritrea.
- In 2008, he became the second African-American and the first Eritrean to be elected on the CU Board of Regents, where he served for six years. Mr Neguse’s politics focus on education and the creation of career opportunities for all Coloradans.
Thomson Reuters Foundation: Over a decade from the mid-2000s, about 64,000 Africans – mainly from conflict-torn Sudan and Eritrea – arrived in Israel across the then-porous border with Egypt’s Sinai – 6 November
- The Thomson Reuters Foundation carries a feature on the efforts of the Eritrean community in Israel to bring support to children of migrant families who suffer racism and dire living conditions.
- Eritrean migrants who seek refuge in Israel after fleeing violence are often deported by the Israeli government, which sees them as economic migrants. The Israeli non-profit Hotline for Refugees and Migrants found that between 2009 and 2017, Israel granted refugee recognition to less than 0.5 percent of 11,000 asylum applications.
- Yonit Naftali, vice-president of Elifelet, an Israeli charity that supports children born to African migrants, said that money is lacking and distress is prevalent amongst migrant families.
- A lack of funds derailed a project to develop sessions for children with a psychologist to help them with migration related traumas.
Eritrea Hub: Abune Makarios – President Isaias must consult the Eritrean people – 6 November
- Eritrea Hub reports on the recent visit to London of Abune Makarios, Bishop General in the Orthodox Coptic Church, who welcomed the rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
- Makarios commented upon the discrepancy between Eritrea and Ethiopia in terms of civic freedoms and people’s right to vote. He compared the cases of political prisoners in Ethiopia, who were released by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, while President Afwerki has not taken any similar action.
- Makarios called for the British government to use its influence in the UN Security Council to stop the suffering of the Eritrean people.
