Eritreans protest deportation of refugees
17 November 1993
Sue Bolton
Delegations of Eritrean community members from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane gathered in Canberra on October 1 to protest over the plight of Eritrean refugees in Libya, Malta and Europe who face being deported back to Eritrea.
After protesting outside Parliament House, they moved in succession to the offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the High Commission for Canada, the European Union and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
At each of these stops, letters were presented calling for action to stop refugees being deported back to Eritrea, and also pressure the Eritrean government to release political and religious prisoners. The Canberra protest was part of an international day of protest.
The international protests were prompted by Libya's deportation of Eritrean refugees to Eritrea on August 27. Four of the deported refugees hijacked the plane they were placed on and forced it to change route and land in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. For the moment, this group of refugees is safe, but many other Eritrean refugees in Malta, Europe and Libya are facing deportation.
Libya began deporting Eritrean refugees after coming under heavy pressure from EU member countries, in particular Italy, to stop “illegal” African migration to Europe. One of the problems for Eritrean refugees is that the UN doesn't recognise Eritrea as an unsafe country and therefore doesn't recognise Eritreans as being refugees.
However, the US-based Human Rights Watch organisation has taken up the case of more than 100 Eritrean refugees who were deported by the Libyan government to Eritrea in late July. The Eritrean government, led by President Issayas Afewerki, arrested them on their return and held them incommunicado.
Eritrea is ruled by Afewerki's Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice. National elections have not been held since Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. In 2001, the Eritrean government arrested 11 leaders of the ruling party after they sent a letter to Afewerki calling for democratic reforms, including the implementation of the 1997 constitution.
In 2001, the government shut down all the country's non-government newspapers, and imprisoned the leading journalists. These journalists are still in prison. Eritrea is the only country in Africa where only the government's press has the right to publish.
Arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention without trial have not been limited to politicians and journalists. In 2002, the government detained 250 refugees who were involuntarily repatriated from Malta. The refugees have been held incommunicado ever since.
Religious minorities are also subject to persecution, particularly members of the Pentecostal churches and the Jehovah's Witnesses. There have been so many arrests that some prisoners have been incarcerated in empty cargo containers. International human rights organisations have been denied access to prisoners.
From Green Left Weekly, October 13, 2004. Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.
source http://www.greenleft.org.au/2004/602/31589