Stop the exodus! Europe must show more commitment towards human rights in Eritrea

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) sends an appeal to the European Union (EU), demanding more commitment concerning the protection of human rights in Eritrea, as the mass exodus from the East African country has reached a terrifying level. "Every week, dozens of Eritrean refugees die while trying to escape to Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea", reported Ulrich Delius, the STP's Africa-consultant in Göttingen on Tuesday. "It is especially unsettling that there are so many unaccompanied children and young people who embark on the dangerous journey."

Last weekend, a pastoral letter by four Catholic bishops from Eritrea had become public, in which they express their grief about the mass exodus and the catastrophic conditions in their country. "It was a brave move to publicly address the mass exodus and to criticize the abuses in the dictatorial country of East Africa," said Delius. More than 300,000 of the five million inhabitants of Eritrea are on the run already. There are serious limitations of religious freedom and the freedom of expression, an unlimited conscription, forced recruitment and torture in police custody.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR, 1,960 Eritreans try to escape to Ethiopia every month, on average. Last weekend, several Eritrean refugees drowned in the Mediterranean Sea when a rescue attempt failed. "Europe expresses regret over the high number of boat people in the Mediterranean Sea but does little to advocate for more respect towards the basic human rights in their home countries", criticized Delius. "There must be new attempts to stop the exodus of the population, urgently! The longstanding policy of international isolation against Eritrea has not helped to improve the human rights situation."

About 2,500 of the approximately 10,000 political prisoners in Eritrea are detained for religious reasons. Most of them are evangelical Christians or Pentecostals. At least 49 people who belong to Jehovah's Witnesses have been locked up for years without trial. The former Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Abune Antonios has been under house arrest since 2007 because he had protested against the state's interference with church-internal matters. Also, there are about 180 Muslims who were imprisoned for allegedly criticizing the appointment of a Mufti by the state. Around 63 percent of the Eritrean population are Christians (four percent are Catholic, 57 percent belong to the Orthodox Christians, while Protestants and the other smaller Christian communities make up about one percent each), 36 percent are Muslims.

Ulrich Delius, head of STP's Africa department, is available for further questions: +49 551 49906 27 or afrika@gfbv.de.