International Over 200 arrested in Germany after violence at Eritrean diaspora event

[LeonardoBjj]

At least 26 police officers injured in the riot that broke out between supporters and opponents of Eritrean government.

At least German 26 police officers were injured in the riot that broke out on Saturday. [File: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters]

More than 200 Eritrean opposition supporters have been arrested in Germany after violence broke out on Saturday during a cultural festival organised by the supporters of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in the southern city of Stuttgart, local police said on Sunday.

At least German 26 police officers were injured in the riot that broke out on Saturday, drawing condemnation from German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Sunday.

“Foreign conflicts must not be carried out in our country,” she said on Sunday about the violence that erupted after around 200 protesters began throwing stones, bottles, and other items at police officers and participants of a pro-Isaias gathering. Four participants and two opposition supporters were also among the injured.

Nearly 300 law enforcement personnel deployed to the scene found themselves caught in “massive violence” between the two opposing groups, said Carsten Hofle, deputy police commissioner in Stuttgart.

“Neither the intensity nor the extent of the violence was foreseen,” he said.

The event saw up to 90 Eritrea government supporters face off against several hundred opposition backers who refused to go to the site designated by authorities to hold the protest, police said.

It added that officers were attacked with bats, nails, metal rods, bottles and stones.

String of violent protests

Saturday’s protests were the latest in a spate of unrest surrounding Eritrean cultural events in Germany and elsewhere.

In July, a clash at an Eritrean festival in the western German city of Giessen left 22 police officers injured.

A fight between Eritrean government supporters and opponents in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv in early September led to one of the most violent street confrontations among African asylum seekers and migrants in the city’s recent memory.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Eritrea for Europe, many alleging they were mistreated by Isaias’s repressive government.

The conflicts surrounding gatherings like Saturday’s highlight the deep divide among members of the Eritrean diaspora, those who remain close to the government and those who have fled to live in exile and strongly oppose Isaias.

Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia in May 1991 and formally declared independence in May 1993. It is led by Isaias, who is known for his iron-fisted rule.

The East African country, often dubbed the “North Korea” of the continent, has been sanctioned for meddling in regional conflicts, including most recently over abuses by its army in the Tigray war in Ethiopia.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023...any-after-violence-at-eritrean-diaspora-event

 

[Fluffernutter]

This is the third time I have come across this story (Eritrean vs. Eritrean violence).

Israel, Canada, and Germany

For such a small country that is never in the news, it seems odd that this is making headlines now.

Is this an astroturfed event?

 

[Cole train]

In a way if you got lots of guys from another country in yours , they can become "sleeper agents" for political stuff at home

I remember there was big problems with turks and kurds beating the shit out of each other during 2017 protests

Not sure if i worded my thoughts clearly lol

 

[GoldenWolf87]

In Germany to?
In Canada Eritrean festival had clashes in Toronto and Alberta just four weeks ago..

 

[Otto!]

Different cultural event. Hard to judge.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

Holy fuck. Whole lot of incidents surrounding these inconsequential fucks. Guess it's Israel, Canada Germany etc fault for letting these 3rd world antediluvians into their lands.

 

[Renard]

"Officers were attacked with bats, nails, metal rods, bottles and stones, the statement added."

Extreme much? Apparently Eritrea is a one-party state with a repressive militarized police force. I wonder if because the migrants are used to evil cops in their country of origin it hasn't clicked in their heads yet that this isn't how German cops are and there's no need to lose their shit like that. In their headspace they're still viewing everything with Eritrea vision. Lefties seem to think that once you import someone into your country they magically transform into a copy of the average citizen. Of course not, all their subconscious assumptions about the world stem from their culture of origin. You don't change that so easily.

 

[BroRogan]

This is the third time I have come across this story (Eritrean vs. Eritrean violence).

Israel, Canada, and Germany

For such a small country that is never in the news, it seems odd that this is making headlines now.

Is this an astroturfed event?

I want to add Switzerland(yeah you read that right) - they even deal with these "people" for a little longer already.

 

[Fluffernutter]

In Germany to?
In Canada Eritrean festival had clashes in Toronto and Alberta just four weeks ago..

(Adjusting tinfoil hat)

Is the Eritrean government paying people to pick fights with the diaspora population in these towns?

 

[GoldenWolf87]

(Adjusting tinfoil hat)

Is the Eritrean government paying people to pick fights with the diaspora population in these towns?

Why would anyone want to come to Toronto, Alberta when rents are rising nearing above 3k? do these new arrivals have some sorta of extra funding??

 

[Kingz]

Ummm…to be legitimate refugees I would figure almost all of them would have to be against the government right?

you just let both sides of a conflict in? Yep, not nefarious agenda behind EU immigration policy whatsoever. How about they are sent back so they can settle it where it matters?

reminds me when I kept hearing stories about the most vulnerable(legitimate refugees) of the Syrian and Iraq conflicts/ISIS upheaval. Yazidi’s and Christians being raped and assaulted in the refugee camps by jihadists. Many of whom would fit right in with ISIS..many of them ISIS!

 

[Cherry Brigand]

Why would anyone want to come to Toronto, Alberta when rents are rising nearing above 3k? do these new arrivals have some sorta of extra funding??

They want it free. And they're going to get it because of the taxpayers.

 

[lsa]

The same happened in Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
The festival is pro the government in Eritrea (why did they leave then?) the protesters are against.

 

[Goonerview]

Yay for the EU.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

We had one of these Eritrean vs Eritrean clashes here in Edmonton last month, followed by another in Calgary a couple of weeks later.

What I want to know is why have these battles never happened before? What’s prompted them to start happening now? What exactly are these “cultural festivals” where the fighting has been taking place? Are they just pro government rallies meant to antagonize the antigovernment diaspora? If so, why does the media keep calling them “cultural festivals” instead of what they really are?

 

[The_Renaissance]

We had one of these Eritrean vs Eritrean clashes here in Edmonton last month, followed by another in Calgary a couple of weeks later.

What I want to know is why have these battles never happened before? What’s prompted them to start happening now? What exactly are these “cultural festivals” where the fighting has been taking place? Are they just pro government rallies meant to antagonize the antigovernment diaspora? If so, why does the media keep calling them “cultural festivals” instead of what they really are?

Has there ever been a history of immigration from Eritrea until fairly recently? I don't think we have many at all in the UK. There doesn't seem to be a community of them, anyway.

 

[andnowweknow]

I came here for Legos, what gives TS?

 

[LeonardoBjj]

In Germany to?
In Canada Eritrean festival had clashes in Toronto and Alberta just four weeks ago..

Police on alert for potential violence at Eritrean festival in Melbourne​

Supporters of the African nation’s dictatorial regime have clashed with opponents in the diaspora at similar events in other countries

A supporter of the Eritrean government at an event picketed by protesters in Canada last year. Australian authorities are concerned at the possibility of violence at this weekend’s event in Melbourne, where members of the pro-democracy group Birged Nhamedu say they will protest peacefully against the regime of Isaias Afwerki. Photograph: Reuters
Australian federal police and government officials have met representatives of the Eritrean community in a bid to avoid potential violence during a planned cultural festival in Melbourne’s western suburbs this weekend.

Similar events held in Europe and North America in recent months have ended in violence and arrests, as supporters of the African nation’s regime clashed with members of the pro-democracy youth movement Birged Nhamedu.

Much of the Eritrean diaspora around the world sees the festivals as a show of power to intimidate those who have fled the dictatorship of Isaias Afwerki.

Members of Birged Nhamedu in Australia have asked the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, to ban the festival, citing foreign political interference. They have said they would protest peacefully outside the event, due to begin on Thursday, if it went ahead.

A spokesperson for the group, Hatu Gebremedhin, said the cultural festivals were used as a propaganda tool. He claimed the events included politically motivated militaristic demonstrations and hostile speeches directed at those who had fled the country since Afwerki took power in 1993.

In images Birged Nhamedu say were captured during last year’s Melbourne festival, children dressed in military-style uniforms can be seen carrying what appear to be replica rifles.

The organisers of the festival, the Eritrean Group Association of Victoria and the Eritrean National Communities Council Inc, have previously received Victorian government grants for the festival, including $4,000 in 2020. No funding has been provided since then, according to the government’s grants data.

Neither organising group could be contacted for comment. The Eritrean consulate in Melbourne did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, a senior member of Afwerki’s People’s Front for Democracy and Justice governing party, which a UN report found responsible for “widespread and systematic crimes against humanity”, was granted an entry visa to Australia to open the festival.

Asked whether any representative of the regime had been granted a visa for this year’s event, a spokesperson for Giles said the minister was unable to comment on individual cases.

Questions over concerns among the Eritrean community about the festival were referred to Home Affairs. Representatives from that department were present at Tuesday’s meeting in Melbourne, where AFP officers presented information on Australia’s interpretation of foreign interference and laws governing peaceful protest.

An AFP spokesperson said in a statement its community liaison officers “regularly partner with other government and non-government agencies to support community engagement between law enforcement and diverse communities on sensitive matters”.


In a statement, Birged Nhamedu said high-ranking members of Afwerki’s regime had been used to intimidate, spread disinformation and compromise the safety and unity of the Eritrean diaspora across the globe.

In August, more than 50 people were injured and dozens detained after clashes at a Eritrean cultural festival in Stockholm. In September, Israeli police fired on Eritreans in Tel Aviv when their protest against the festival turned violent.


Clashes have also been reported at similar events in the US, Canada and Germany.

Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991, has been dubbed the “North Korea of Africa”. In 2016, an inquiry by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council found reasonable grounds to believe the regime had committed crimes against humanity.

“Eritrean officials have engaged in a persistent, widespread and systematic attack against the country’s civilian population since 1991,” the report concluded.

“They have committed, and continue to commit, the crimes of enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, other inhumane acts, persecution, rape and murder.”

It is believed as many as half a million of Eritrea’s population of about five million have fled the country since the PFDJ took power, crushing all opposition parties, banning independent media and introducing forced and indefinite military service for all Eritreans under 40.

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ce-police-warning-dictatorship-birged-nhamedu