HRW Called to Focus not on Eritrea but on Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia) and Stop Ongoing Genocides

In five earlier articles entitled "Shameful and Biased HRW Report to Promote Anti-Eritreanism for Fake Ethiopia’s Amhara Gangsters" (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/100961), "Oblivious of the Abyssinian Tyranny and the Amhara Racism, HRW Wastes Resources on Eritrea" (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/100966), "Eritrean – Iranian Relations: Reason for A Biased HRW Report and Silence on Genocides in Ethiopia?" (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/100967), "Ill-timed HRW Report on Eritrea Helps Forget the Ongoing Genocides in Abyssinia (Fake "Ethiopia")" (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/101078), and "Highly Controversial HRW Report Geared to Shift Focus From Fake Ethiopia, Africa’s Worst Tyranny" (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/101079), I questioned the necessity of an HRW Report on Eritrea, asking possible explanations for the inclusion of references to Eritrea’s foreign policy in a Report that purportedly focuses on repression and Human Rights’ violations in Eritrea.

In the aforementioned articles, I republished several parts of the controversial and highly ill-timed HRW Report on Eritrea, notably the Contents, the Summary, the Methodology, the Recommendations, the Background, and the Human Rights Violations. In the present article, I republish further parts of the Report, namely the Experience of Eritrean Refugees.

In forthcoming articles, I will expand on criticism and investigation of the Report’s purposes. I will also voluntarily publish comments and analyses, denunciations and criticisms by Eritreans and others who find it incredible for the leading humanitarian NGO HRW to waste resources on Eritrea and disregard the aforementioned nations that have been invaded, subjugated and forced to remain within the Amhara Abyssinian (Pseudo-Ethiopian) Hell – until their extinction.

The Experience of Eritrean Refugees
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/82280/section/8

Eritrea is currently among the top refugee-producing nations in the world. Fleeing the country is truly a last resort because the conditions facing refugees abroad are appalling and the punishments inflicted on asylum seekers who are forcibly returned are terrible, including torture and death. The Eritrean government considers leaving the country without a valid exit visa a crime, and absconding from national service is viewed as tantamount to treason.

Leaving Eritrea is not an easy undertaking. As described above, heavily patrolled borders, mine-fields, and a shoot-to-kill policy make escape from Eritrea difficult. Despite this, thousands of people are leaving the country. The majority of refugees end up in Ethiopia and Sudan in overcrowded refugee camps. An increasing number try to make it to Europe via Sudan and Libya. They face difficult conditions crossing the Sahara and risk detention and extortion at the hands of Libyan and Sudanese police. Those who elect to take another route to Israel or Egypt run the risk of being forcibly returned without having their asylum claims assessed, as a recent 2008 wave of returns from Israel to Egypt and Egypt to Eritrea has demonstrated (see below).[278] Many others have risked hazardous crossings of the Red Sea to get to Yemen.[279]

The scale of the Eritrean outflux is increasing. In 2007 the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants estimated around 600 Eritreans were crossing into Ethiopia every month.[280] In January 2009 the Ethiopian government claimed the number had grown to 900 a month.[281]In 2007 the UN said that at least 10,000 Eritrean refugees arrived in Sudan and by 2008 this had apparently increased to at least 13,000 known new arrivals, likely a conservative estimate given that many of them do not apply for refugee status and remain in Sudan illegally, in transit for Libya.[282] According to UNHCR, in 2008 more than 3,000 Eritreans entered Italy, the main entry point for Eritrean asylum-seekers to the European Union, an increase of 50 percent over the 2,000 Eritreans who arrived in 2007.[283]

Lack of Protection and Forced Return of Refugees

The problems facing those who decide to flee Eritrea do not end when they cross the border. Indeed, their problems are only beginning. Despite the terrible human rights record of the Eritrean government, Eritrean refugees are often forcibly returned without regard to their rights under international refugee law and in spite of standing UNCHR guidance that even rejected Eritrean asylum seekers should be provided with some form of alternative protection instead of being forced to return home.[284]

Sudan

After more than a decade of tensions, Eritrea and Sudan normalized diplomatic relations in 2005.[285]The Sudanese government currently has a functional relationship with Asmara and from time to time has forcibly returned refugees to Eritrea.

Sudan has hosted hundreds of thousands of Eritreans over the years, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s when Sudanese relations with Ethiopia were at their most difficult and Eritreans fled Ethiopian government attacks.[286] Although thousands of Eritreans returned to Eritrea voluntarily after independence in 1993, many refugees remained in Sudan, some—such as former ELF members—because they feared persecution despite the amnesty extended to individuals.

These refugees were augmented by new arrivals fleeing the border war with Ethiopia after 1998. In 2002 the UNHCR invoked the "cessation clause"—the end of refugee status—for those Eritrean refugees who had fled to Sudan during the independence struggle and those who had fled the border conflict more recently. UNHCR facilitated a controversial repatriation of tens of thousands of the 300,000 Eritreans then residing in Sudan.[287]

Over the past five years the increasingly cordial relations between the Sudanese and Eritrean governments have resulted in increasing pressure from Sudanese authorities on Eritrean refugees to return to Eritrea, contrary to the longstanding Sudanese reception of Eritrean refugees over the previous decades. According to Amnesty International, some of those returned by Egypt to Eritrea in June 2008 (see below) had previously fled Sudan because they feared being returned to Eritrea by the Sudanese authorities.[288]

Currently most refugees who flee Eritrea to Sudan either settle in refugee camps in eastern Sudan or transit onward within the country or to other countries in search of a safer and more stable existence. Those not in camps in Sudan are extremely vulnerable to abuse, in particular extortion and forcible return by the Sudanese authorities—Sudanese security services have links to Eritrean security agents. One woman who escaped to Libya and then Italy had been detained in Sudan in 2004 when she was caught without papers; she described house-to-house round-ups in Khartoum by Sudanese police.[289]

In Sudan, there are nearly 100,000 Eritreans living in open camps at Kassala, al-Gedaref, Gezira, and Sinar. About 30,000 are said to live in towns in these areas and at least another 30,000 or more are estimated to be living in Khartoum.[290] At least 10,000 new arrivals arrived during 2007.[291] According to a Sudanese official, 13,000 Eritreans arrived in Sudan in 2008. The government says it cannot cope and has asked the UN for help.[292]

Even getting to Sudan is hazardous for Eritreans. Asylum seekers are reportedly robbed and extorted by criminals near the border, as well as by the Sudanese police.[293]Several refugees who had passed through Sudan on their way to Italy told Human Rights Watch that they had been imprisoned upon arrival in Sudan and forced to pay bribes to be released.[294]

Egypt

Egypt has in recent years become a serial offender when it comes to violating the rights of asylum seekers.[295]

In June 2008 Egypt returned to Eritrea up to 1,200 Eritreans who had crossed into Egypt from Sudan. As of late 2008, at least 740 of those returnees were still imprisoned in Wi’a, the military detention facility in Eritrea.[296]

In December 2008 and January 2009 the Egyptian authorities deported dozens more Eritreans who had been detained in the Nakhl detention center in North Sinai and police stations in the nearby city of al-Arish. Around 100 of the Eritreans detained in Nakhl had earlier been returned to Egypt by Israel. While detained in Nakhl the Eritreans were visited and registered by officials from the Eritrean embassy, but UNHCR was denied access to the facility. Groups of Eritrean men, women, and children were then deported on several flights from Cairo to Asmara in late December and early January. At least 74 Eritreans, including 12 women and two children, are known to have been returned to Eritrea on flights from Cairo on December 19, 23, and 28 and January 6, and 11, and January 18. The true number of people deported may be higher.[297]

Under international human rights and refugee law, Egypt is obligated not to return any person to a country where they face the risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, or persecution and should give migrants an opportunity to seek protection. Under a 1954 memorandum of understanding, Egypt devolved responsibility to UNHCR to assess refugee claims.[298]To fulfill that mandate, UNHCR needs access to and information about asylum seekers, however, Egypt has denied UNHCR access to Eritreans in detention since February 2008. An exception was a group of 142 who were subsequently granted refugee status after significant pressure.[299]

UNHCR remains concerned but has been unable to have an impact on Egyptian policy. A UNHCR spokesman told Reuters: "We are concerned because there are serious human rights violations in Eritrea and ... when people are forcibly returned they face detention for long, long periods of time. Months, if not years. And they face torture."[300]

In addition, Eritreans and other migrants face possible death and mistreatment at the hands of Egyptian border forces when they try to enter Israel. From July 2007 to October 2008, Egyptian border forces killed 34 African migrants and refugees attempting to cross into Israel, including Eritreans.[301]

Israel

Increasing numbers of Eritreans have arrived in Israel in recent years. Israel has provided many of the Eritrean asylum seekers who successfully entered the country with renewable work visas, but does not grant these individuals formal refugee status. Eritreans are also among the dozens of asylum-seekers who have tried to enter Israel from Egypt but have been stopped, temporarily detained at the border, and then forcibly returned to Egypt by the Israeli Defense Forces.[302]Israeli security forces returned hundreds to Egypt in such fashion during 2008 without assessing their claims for protection.[303]Some of the Eritreans refused entry by Israel in 2008 were among those subsequently detained in the Sinai by Egyptian police and then forcibly deported to Eritrea.[304]

Libya

Libya has a well-documented history of abuses against migrants including forcefully returning people to Eritrea. Conditions in detention are terrible, with detainees often subjected to beatings and other abuse and denied access to medical treatment or to the UNHCR.[305] In one well-publicized incident on August 27, 2004, a group of 75 Eritreans hijacked the plane returning them to Eritrea, forcing it to land in Sudan, where 60 of the passengers sought asylum. UNHCR subsequently recognized all 60 as refugees. The attempt to return them took place following a mass deportation of 109 Eritreans several weeks previously.[306]

In July 2008, Libya made plans to return 230 Eritreans, prompting Amnesty International to warn against their deportation.[307]Amnesty reported that up to 700 Eritreans were being held in Misrata prison and were at risk of deportation. In late 2008 refugees who had spent time in Misrata before arriving in Italy told Human Rights Watch researchers of similar numbers of people in detention in Misrata in appalling conditions.[308]They also said that Libya is holding hundreds of Eritrean and other asylum seekers in other locations for extended periods of time.[309]

One such place was a detention facility at Tripoli airport. An Eritrean detained there in 2007 said that Libyan police were holding migrants for ransom. He told Human Rights Watch that after paying US$500, he was dropped by a police car in Tripoli. He had the telephone number of the policeman and said he had helped secure the release of other Eritreans in detention by contacting their relatives to arrange bribes, collecting money wired from Eritrea, and paying off the Libyan police.[310]

Like many others, he had endured terrible ordeals just to get to Libya from Sudan, only to find that Libya is even less hospitable to asylum seekers than Sudan. One woman described her journey to Libya from Sudan:

I walked to Libya after being dropped in the desert. I saw the bodies of Eritreans and their ID cards there in the desert—two ladies and a boy who looked Eritrean. It took 24 days to get through the desert. You go in an old model Toyota Land Cruiser and normally they put gas or benzene in the water so you don’t drink too much. You get out and walk up the hills when it’s too sandy. There were armed people in the desert [bandits] asking for money. In Darfur they asked for one million Sudanese pounds [more than $1,000 at that time].[311]

In Libya she was moved from place to place by traffickers until she was arrested in Tripoli without an ID card and was taken to Felah prison. Later she was transferred to Misrata prison. She continued:

Torture was normal, slapping, kicking. One woman had her arm broken by the Libyan police... At Felah we were separated from the men but not at Misrata. All of the women had problems from the police. The police came at night and chose ladies to violate. There was no treatment for prisoners, no medical attention. Some went mad, some had babies in jail; everyone was suffering from allergies.[312]

Eventually she was resettled in Italy as part of a UNHCR program for women who had been abused in Libyan jails; she had been in detention for over two years.[313]

Malta

A Mediterranean island on the periphery of the European Union, Malta is one of the first countries in Europe reached by migrants from Eritrea who make the trip across Sudan and Libya and then pay smugglers to take them on the boat voyage.

Malta has a bad record of abuses against asylum seekers and of returning people to Eritrea, so it is not a destination of choice for those fleeing repression. In 2002 Malta returned 232 Eritreans who were imprisoned upon their return, and many of them tortured. In 2004 Amnesty International reported that some of them had died in custody.[314]Former detainees from several different prisons, including the prison on Dahlak island, told Human Rights Watch that they had been held, punished, and tortured alongside people who had been returned from Malta in 2002. They said that the group from Malta was the biggest group of detainees in Dahlak.[315]

Since 2002 there have been no reports of Malta returning any other Eritreans. However, according to an aid official, asylum seekers who arrive in Malta, including Eritreans, are detained for long periods in sub-standard conditions.[316] The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited Malta in January 2009 and raised concerns about Malta’s automatic detention of immigrants, including asylum seekers, for long periods without recourse to a court of law. "We consider that the detention regime applied to them is not in line with international human rights law," said the Working Group’s Chairperson, Manuela Carmena Castrillo.[317]

Italy

In 2008 a record number of 33,000 asylum seekers arrived in Italy, triple the number of arrivals in 2006.[318] This is up from 20,000 in 2007 and 10,000 in 2006. Many of the new arrivals are from Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. Conflict and serious abuses in the Horn of Africa are clearly driving increasing numbers of people to make the long, arduous, and expensive journey to try to reach Europe. A large proportion of those coming to Italy, just under 20 percent, are from Eritrea.[319]

Eritrean asylum seekers told Human Rights Watch they had survived terrifying ordeals involving treks though the desert with no water, bandits in Darfur, unscrupulous Libyan traffickers and policemen, detention in Tripoli, and dangerous sea crossings to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa, off the coast of Sicily, all at a cost of up to $3,000 each paid to people smugglers.[320]

In Italy, asylum seekers are registered with UNHCR and the Italian authorities and are fed and housed in government reception centers or—due to the massive influx—temporarily in schools and churches while they await the determination of their status. While they await determination they receive food and shelter. Ninety-nine percent of all Eritreans are granted the right to remain and work in Italy. A small percentage of those—around two percent—are granted asylum under the 1951 refugee convention and are given refugee travel documents and can apply for visas to travel outside Italy. However the vast majority are granted "humanitarian" or "subsidiary" protection for a finite period of time, usually one year. The latter do not necessarily receive travel documents.[321]

Many Eritrean refugees in Italy complained to Human Rights Watch that once they receive their subsidiary protection documents, they are forced to leave the temporary reception centers and many become destitute. They told Human Rights Watch that they had no money, nowhere to go, and no means of getting any money in the difficult labor market.

Human Rights Watch visited a makeshift camp in an olive grove housing about a dozen Eritrean men that offered a stark picture of the plight of some Eritreans in Italy. The men, who had already received refugee status or subsidiary protection documents, told how new arrivals were smuggling food out of the reception centers to give to them. Others were begging in the small seaside towns of southern Sicily, one of Europe’s poorest regions.[322]They had no shelter and no food and believed they had no recourse to aid from the Italian state.

Some of the individuals interviewed by Human Rights Watch wanted to travel to northern Europe—Sweden, Britain, and Germany. Others hoped simply for a "helping hand" of some social assistance to get them back on their feet, while others hoped to study.[323]

Under European law EU countries (except Denmark) are required to "ensure that beneficiaries of refugee status [or subsidiary protection]...receive...the necessary social assistance, as provided to nationals of that Member State."[324] This is in line with the Refugee Convention which states that "refugees lawfully staying in their territory [should be accorded] the same treatment with respect to public relief and assistance as is accorded to their nationals."[325]

Other European Union countries (Germany, the UK, and Sweden)

Despite a relatively positive record on accepting Eritrean refugees, some European countries have at times ignored the advice of UNHCR and forcibly returned people to Eritrea whom Amnesty International and other human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, fear to be at risk of persecution and torture.

For example in May 2008, Germany deported two Eritrean men whom Amnesty now believes are being detained incommunicado.[326] The UK deported Miskir Sermerab Goitom, a 21-year-old woman in October 2007; Amnesty believes she is being held in Adi Abeto military prison and is at risk of torture.[327] Sweden threatened to return an Eritrean asylum seeker in November 2008 but dropped the action after a request from a representative of the UN Committee against Torture.[328]

Coercion of Eritreans in Exile

The tragic reality for Eritreans who flee the country is that once they have escaped, they—and particularly their families—are still not entirely safe from repressive actions by the Eritrean government. In a small country with a relatively small population (4 million), the local administrations in towns and rural areas usually have a clear idea of who is where. And as described, the government has made it clear that it considers every Eritrean who leaves the country illegally to be a traitor to the nation. Once a person leaves the country they are, in effect, treated as fugitives by the government and if returned are treated as criminals who will face detention, torture, and sometimes death.

There are a variety of ways in which the Eritrean government exerts pressure on exiles for both financial and political reasons. The government expects all Eritreans in the diaspora to pay a two percent tax on income. While taxing expatriates may be a legitimate state function, the manner in which the Eritrean government coerces individuals into paying this income presents serious human rights concerns. If refugees or other Eritrean expatriates do not pay the two percent tax then the government typically punishes family members in Eritrea by arbitrarily detaining them, extorting fines, and denying them the right to do business by revoking licenses or confiscating land.

The two percent tax is not only a financial mechanism, however. The government also uses it to consolidate its control over the diaspora population by denying politically suspect individuals essential documents such as passports and requiring those who live in Eritrea to provide ‘clearance’ documents for their relatives who live abroad—essentially coercion to ensure that their relatives have paid the two percent expatriate income tax demanded by the government.[329]

The two percent tax

As well as being a unique method of social control, the expatriate fund-raising operations are a crucial source of revenue for the Eritrean government. In two months in 2003 the Eritrean Embassy in London reported US$3.2 million profit resulting from ‘second round distribution of land’ collected and remitted to Asmara.[330]According to the documents, the annual income of the Embassy in 2003 was $6.2 million. Of this only $74,282 was derived from visa fees while the rest is described as ‘Contribution to draught affected (sic),’ ‘Contribution to Relief Rehabilitation,’ ‘Contribution to National Defence,’ Contribution for Martyrs Children and Disabled,’ Contribution for Rehabilitation of ex-fighters,’ ‘Contribution to Recovery Tax.’[331]Supporting documents showed payments from Eritreans into a UK bank account held by the Embassy.

During the liberation struggle, most Eritreans in exile willingly contributed portions of their income to the EPLF.[332] After independence, the government continued the practice in the name of national development. It is nominally a voluntary contribution. However, as many Eritreans living abroad in Europe and North America explained to Human Rights Watch, payment or non-payment carries consequences for themselves and crucially, for their families who are still in Eritrea.[333]

One man living in the UK, a known critic of the government, said that his family had been denied land that they had applied for in Eritrea, because of his refusal to pay the tax. "My mum begged me to pay the two percent, she was crying on the phone."[334]

Clearance is a process whereby an embassy charges a fee to certify that Eritreans living abroad have paid their dues and are up to date with the two percent tax. The accounts of the embassy in London for 2004 to 2005 are peppered with references to two percent as well as ‘clearance’, for which Eritreans must usually pay UK£30 ($44).[335] A woman living in Eritrea described how several of her neighbors had had their business licenses revoked because their children, residents in the United States, had not paid the two percent and they could not provide clearance certificates.[336]

Embassies have particular leverage over many Eritrean immigrants and refugees who do not have travel documents, and those whose passports require renewing. A refugee living in Rome had his application for a new passport refused. "When I went back they said they had sent my passport to Eritrea, [and I would not get it back]. When I asked why, they said ‘because you are not a good citizen, you do not pay two percent, you do not complete your national obligations.’"[337]He remains without travel documents to date. "If you don’t pay they don’t renew your passport, with no passport, you have no permit to stay in Italy... so directly or indirectly you are obligated to pay."[338]

Those individuals granted asylum under the 1951 Refugee Convention are generally provided with their travel documents by the host country, but in Italy, for instance, the majority of Eritrean refugees are granted "humanitarian" or "subsidiary" protection, a lesser status usually requiring renewal on an annual basis. This does not automatically provide travel documentation, and so persons in that category need passports. "Those with humanitarian protection, they are vulnerable, many of them go back to the embassy to seek passports...the Eritrean government is a big mafia."[339]

Even once a refugee makes a decision to approach the embassy and request official assistance for whatever reason, the state requires those who have fled the country illegally or absconded from national service to sign a ‘confession’ admitting to treason and failing to fulfill one’s national duty.[340]

One former political prisoner who had fled the country after he had been released from Dahlak jail, is stuck in Italy with expired documents but refuses to go to the Eritrean embassy, "If I seek a passport from the Eritrean embassy you have to sign a paper saying you are a criminal, I don’t want to do that."[341]Refugees in London spoke of similar procedures at the London embassy.[342]

Notes

[278] "Egypt: Don’t Return Eritrean Asylum Seekers at Risk," Human Rights Watch news release, December 19, 2008, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/19/egypt-don-t-return-eritrean-asylum-seekers-risk and "Egypt: Stop Deporting Eritrean Asylum Seekers," Human Rights Watch news release, January 8, 2009, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/01/08/egypt-stop-deporting-eritrean-asylum-seekers.

[279] Precise numbers are not available from UNHCR but an October 2008 UNHCR statement said that 40,000 refugees had attempted to cross the Red Sea to Yemen in 2008, a large number of them Eritreans. Yemen has become increasingly concerned by the influx of refugees from the Horn of Africa. See "Yemen: Move to stem influx of Ethiopians, Eritreans," IRIN, October 22, 2008, http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81051 (accessed March 26, 2009).

[280] United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, World Refugee Survey 2008 – Ethiopia, http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?id=2137 (accessed March 2, 2009).

[281] "Ethiopian government, UNHCR appeal for additional assistance to Eritrean refugees," Ethiopian News Agency, March 10, 2009, http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2009/Mar/10Mar09/82527.htm (accessed March 26, 2009).

[282] "Sudan asks UN for aid for Eritrean, Somali refugees," Reuters, December 22, 2008.

[283] Human Rights Watch interview with UNHCR officials, Rome, October 23, 2008.

[284] UNHCR’s policy paper states: "UNHCR recommends that asylum claims submitted by Eritrean asylum seekers should undergo a careful assessment to determine their needs for international protection. It is also recommended that states refrain from all forced returns of rejected asylum seekers to Eritrea and grant them complementary forms of protection instead, until further notice." UNHCR, ‘Position on return of rejected asylum seekers to Eritrea,’ January 2004 http://www.unhcr.se/Pdf/Position_countryinfo_papers_06/eritrea04.pdf (accessed January 7, 2009).

[285] "Sudan, Eritrea resume severed diplomatic relations," http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/051210/2005121017.html (accessed March 26, 2009).

[286] Under Mengistu, Ethiopia supported the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) against the Sudanese government and allowed the SPLM to establish bases in eastern Ethiopia. Eritrea continued to support Sudanese opposition groups well into the 1990s, including the Sudanese National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a coalition of armed and political opposition groups. The Ethiopia-Eritrea war of 1998-2000 prompted considerable realignment of regional dynamics and in 1999 Sudan and Eritrea signed a reconciliation agreement. "Sudan-Eritrea: Reconciliation Agreement Signed 5/3/99," IRIN, May 3, 1999 at http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/irin_5399b.html (accessed February 10, 2009).

[287] UNHCR’s application of the cessation clause did not apply to individuals with a "well-founded fear of persecution." UNHCR, "Applicability of the "Ceased Circumstances" Cessation Clauses to Eritrean Refugees Who Fled Their Country as a Result of the War of Independence Which Ended in June 1991 or as a Result of the Border Conflict Between Ethiopia and Eritrea Which Ended in June 2000," February 18, 2002, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,COUNTRYPOS,ERI,,4165729f4,0.html (accessed February 10, 2009). The repatriation operation was considered controversial because there were concerns that many Eritreans did not receive adequate information about their ability to apply for asylum despite the cessation clause. See Amnesty, You have no right to ask, p. 32.

[288] Amnesty International, ‘Egypt Continues to Deport Eritrean Asylum Seekers,’ June 13, 2008 http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/egypt-must-stop-flights-to-torture-in-eritrea-20080613 (accessed January 6, 2009).

[289] Human Rights Watch interview with Eritrean refugee, Rome, October 23, 2008.

[290] "Sudan asks UN for aid for Eritrean, Somali refugees," Reuters, December 22, 2008.

[291] "UNHCR says Eritrean refugees arriving on Sudanese border," Reuters, February 6, 2008.

[292] "Sudan asks UN for aid for Eritrean, Somali refugees," Reuters, December 22, 2008.

[293] Christian Solidarity Worldwide, ‘Briefing: Visit to Eritrean Refugees,’ September 2005, p. 8, on file with Human Rights Watch.

[294] Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritrean refugees, Italy, October 2008.

[295] Human Rights Watch, Sinai Perils: Risks to Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Egypt and Israel, November 2008, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/11/12/egypt-end-shoot-stop-practice-sinai-border-crossings. See also other Human Rights Watch documents at www.hrw.org.

[296] "Egypt: Stop Deporting Eritrean Asylum Seekers," Human Rights Watch news release, January 8, 2009 http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/01/08/egypt-stop-deporting-eritrean-asylum-seekers.

[297] "Egypt deports 10 more Eritreans – airport sources," Reuters, January 18, 2009.

[298] "Egypt: Don’t Return Eritrean Asylum-Seekers at Risk," Human Rights Watch news release, December 19, 2008, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/19/egypt-don-t-return-eritrean-asylum-seekers-risk.

[299] "Egypt is continuing large-scale secret deportations of Eritrean asylum seekers," Reuters, June 19, 2008. See also UNHCR statement at http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/485b8b032.html (accessed February 10, 2009).

[300] Ibid.

[301] See Human Rights Watch, Sinai Perils.

[302] Ibid.

[303] Ibid. see also Amnesty International, ‘Egypt/Israel: Fear for Safety’ September 3 2008 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE15/038/2008/en (accessed January 7, 2009).

[304] "Egypt: Stop Deporting Eritrean Asylum Seekers," Human Rights Watch news release, January 8, 2009, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/01/08/egypt-stop-deporting-eritrean-asylum-seekers.

[305] See Human Rights Watch, Stemming the Flow: Abuses against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, September 12, 2006. It is worth noting that 70 women were re-settled in Italy in 2007 after being repeatedly abused in detention in Libya. Human Right Watch interviews, Italy, October 2008.

[306] See Human Rights Watch, Stemming the Flow: "UNHCR conducted interviews with sixty of the Eritrean passengers after their arrival in Khartoum on 27 August. The group said that they had been detained without charges for a prolonged period of time in the Libyan town of Kufra, and had endured repeated physical abuse. They also said that, despite their request to see UNHCR, they had not been given access to any asylum procedure. Additionally, the group was never informed of the decision to deport them to Eritrea, were forced to board a special charter flight, and only found out after their plane took off that the destination was their country of origin."

[307] Amnesty International, "Libya: Amnesty warns against deportation of Eritreans," July 11, 2008, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE19/007/2008/en/a18438b2-4f5e-11dd-a20f-af4976c1087c/mde190072008eng.html (accessed January 7, 2009).

[308] Human Rights Watch, Stemming the Flow and Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritrean refugees, Sicily, Italy, October 2008.

[309] Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritrean refugees, Italy, October 23-30, 2008.

[310] Human Rights Watch interview with Eritrean refugee, Sicily, Italy, October 28, 2008.

[311] Human Rights Watch interview with Eritrean refugee, Rome, Italy, October 23, 2008.

[312] Ibid.

[313] See Human Rights Watch, Stemming the Flow.

[314] See Amnesty International, You have no right to ask.

[315] Human Rights Watch interviews, former prisoners, Sicily, Italy, October 30, 2008.

[316] Human Rights Watch interview with diplomat, Rome, October 23, 2008.

[317] United Nations, "UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Concludes Visit to Malta," January 26, 2009, at http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/125F21AAD7DCBD1AC125754A0057F318?opendocument.

[318] John Hooper, ‘Thousands more migrants reach Italy’s shores,’ The Guardian, December 30, 2008 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/30/italy-libya-migration (accessed January 7, 2009).

[319] Human Rights Watch interview with UNHCR officials, Rome, Italy, October 23, 2008.

[320] Human Rights Watch interviews, Sicily, Italy, October 24-31, 2008.

[321] Human Rights Watch interview with UNHCR officials, Italy, October 23, 2008.

[322] Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritrean refugees, October 30, 2008.

[323] Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritrean refugees, Sicily, Italy, October 28-30, 2008.

[324] European Commission, Qualification Directive, (2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004) Article 28,
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004L0083:EN:HTML (accessed January 29, 2009).

[325] 1951 Refugee Convention, Article 23, see: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/protect?id=3c0762ea4 (accessed January 29, 2009). Under EU law, Art. 28 of the Qualification Direction says that "Member States shall ensure that beneficiaries of refugee or subsidiary protection status shall receive, in the Member State that has granted such statuses, the necessary social assistance, as provided to nationals of that Member State." Art 31 says, "The Member State shall ensure that beneficiaries of refugee or subsidiary protection status have access to accommodation under equivalent conditions as other third country nationals legally resident in their territories."

[326] Amnesty International, ‘Eritrea/Germany: Fear of torture or ill-treatment/incommunicado detention/forcible return,’ May 29, 2008 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR64/002/2008/en (accessed January 7, 2009).

[327] Amnesty International, ‘Eritrea/UK: Fear of torture/incommunicado detention/forcible return, AFR 64/10/2007, November 29, 2007 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR64/010/2007/en (accessed January 7, 2009).

[328] Amnesty International, ‘Sweden: Further information on forcible return/torture,’ November 12, 2008 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR42/007/2008/en (accessed January 7, 2009).

[329] See for example, Amnesty International’s account of the families of deserters who were rounded up and arrested: ‘AI, ‘Fear of Torture,’ AFR 64/011/2005, July 28, 2005, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR64/011/2005/en (accessed January 5, 2009).

[330] Embassy of the State of Eritrea, Letter from Senait Berhare, Head of Administration and Finance, to Michael Woldemariam, Head of Finance, January 20, 2004, on file with Human Rights Watch.

[331] Embassy of the State of Eritrea, London, Annual Report of the Government’s Income, 2003, on file with Human Rights Watch.

[332] See David Pool, From Guerillas to Government, 2001, pp. 129-130.

[333] Human Rights Watch interviews with refugees in London, October and November 2008, see also Dan Connell, ‘Eritrea and the United States: the ‘war on terror’ and the horn of Africa,’ in Richard Reid (ed.) Eritrea’s External Relations: Understanding its regional role and foreign policy (Chatham House, 2009) p. 203

[334] Human Rights Watch interview with Eritrean refugee, London, November 13, 2008.

[335] Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritrean refugees, London, October 11, 2008 and November 13, 2008.

[336] Human Rights Watch interview with Eritrean resident, by phone, December 19, 2008.

[337] Human Rights Watch interview with Eritrean refugee, Rome, Italy, October 22, 2008.

[338] Ibid.

[339] Ibid.

[340] Human Rights Watch interviews with refugees London and Italy, September and October 2008.

[341] Human Rights Watch interview with former political prisoner, Sicily, Italy, October 30, 2008.

[342] Human Rights Watch interviews with Eritrean refugees, London, October 14, 2008 and November 13, 2008.

Note

Picture: Underdevelopment is an issue in Eritrea; Human Rights represent another concern. However, a rapid look at neighboring Abyssinia can convince every unbiased observer that the problem is the prepetration in Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia) of more than 12 spiritual, cultural and physical Genocides against the respective subjugated and persecuted nations whose existence is gravely and inhumanly targeted. This is an imposed task for the leading humanitarian NGO HRW – not Eritrea.