Eritrea Twitter

Refugees from Libya attacked in Tunisian desert

2011-05-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Choucha Refugee Camp in Tunisia falls into chaos

Clashes between local Tunisians and refugees housed at a camp along the Tunisia-Libya border erupted yesterday. The violence left the camp in ruins and as many as 10 people dead, according to refugees. Today government officials toured the site of the violence. FSRN’s Marine Olivesi journeyed to the camp and files this report.

Reporter:

The Tunisian Defense Minister visiting Choucha camp found the remains of burnt tents and hundreds of refugees from Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and other African nations in disarray. Choucha’s 3000 migrants - including several hundred children - had to sleep out in the open last night, with no food and scant protection. Jella, a refugee from Liberia, says they’ve been let down.

“We’re helpless refugees. We don’t know what’s going on … no protection. We’re fleeing from a war, to come again in this situation, it’s pathetic.”

Four Eritrean asylum seekers died in a fire on Sunday morning. Then refugees blocked the main road next to the camp, a vital transport and trade route for local residents. In response, hordes of local young men carrying sticks and bats tried to break the roadblock on Tuesday. They set fire to dozens of tents and looted part of the camp. Many refugees said Tunisian soldiers and policemen stood by and watch the rampage unfold, but only intervened late in the evening to disperse the crowd. Marine Olivesi, FSRN in Choucha Camp, Tunisia.

Fessaha was treating the the gunshot wounds of five Sudanese men who said they had been shot by Tunisian soldiers. "The soldiers shot at us as we fled the camp," said Abu Bakr Osman Mohammed, 39, who spent three years working in Libya and two in jail for illegal immigration before escaping as the conflict started.

"It is a miracle no one was killed," said Father Sandro De Pretis, an Italian priest based in Tripoli who is involved in the aid operation.

"They came in daylight, well organised, and the army did nothing to protect the camp dwellers and may have even provided an escort as the locals burned what they could not steal. Something has to be done now for these migrants stranded in the sand." De Pretis said the attack marked a change in the mood of Tunisians, who hitherto had offered hospitality to refugees streaming over the border, even as they struggled to rebuild their own economy after this year's popular uprising.

After first hosting Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who have now been repatriated, Choucha is now home to 3,300 Africans – including dozens saved from a leaking boat as they tried to make the perilous sea crossing to Italy earlier this month.

"At first the Tunisians brought food to the refugees but yesterday they were out of their minds," said De Pretis.

Father Mosé Zerai, the head of an asylum seekers' organisation in Italy, said tensions in the camp had risen after a group of Sudanese men tried to rape an Eritrean woman last week.

"The Eritreans defended the girl and the Sudanese burned down their tents in revenge," he said.

Four Eritreans died on Sunday night as 21 tents burned down, triggering demonstrations over conditions in the camp.

Zerai said the roadblock was led by west Africans, including Nigerians, who are less likely to be granted asylum status and feared they would be repatriated. "They were already unhappy, but after the first fire their anger exploded," he said.Two people reportedly died in the first clashes on the road on Monday. "The protest was very stupid, since it halted business travel," said De Pretis. "The army did nothing and the locals took the law into their own hands.

These are not the first murders to occur in Shusha camp. Although the UNHCR office in Tunisia is aware of these incidents, there is still no security in the camp, despite demands from refugees for greater protection. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRC-E) has been informed that the refugees in the camp are now extremely anxious following the recent murders, and the atmosphere remains very tense. Last night the Tunisian armed forces were forced to fire in the air as tensions boiled over between refugees of Arab and African descent.

Elsa Chyrum of HRC-E said, "We call on the Tunisian government to investigate this horrendous crime, bring the perpetrators of these and other crimes to justice, provide more security personnel in the camp to preserve law and order, and to transfer the most vulnerable groups, such as women, children and the infirm, to a safer camp. "

CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said, “We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. CSW urges the Tunisian government and the UNHCR to take urgent action to provide round-the-clock security in the camp, in order to protect vulnerable groups and prevent the tense situation from deteriorating further. Given last night’s violence, we ask both authorities to also consider housing refugee communities that are hostile to one another in different camps. Swift intervention at this stage is vital to avoid further violence and loss of life.

Tunisia camp destroyed in fatal clashes, say UN

2011-05-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

U.N. refugee agency is appealing to international donors to step up aid for thousands of refugees and migrant workers caught up in deadly disturbances over the past week at a camp near the Tunisia-Libya border. The UNHCR is also urging countries to resettle refugees who cannot safely return to their home countries.

Serious disturbances broke out May 22 in Choucha camp in Eastern Tunisia. A fire at the camp killed four Eritreans and destroyed 20 tents.

Until then, more than 4,000 migrant workers and refugees, mainly from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan who fled the conflict in Libya had been living in the camp. Many had been waiting for more than two months to be transported home or to another country of refuge.

U.N. refugee spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says the pressure of not knowing when they would be repatriated became overwhelming, and this provoked a violent reaction.

She says a U.N. team investigated the situation Wednesday and found two-thirds of the camp had been destroyed or looted.

“We have been trying ever since with the help of the Tunisian military to help the people who have been disbursed-at least to help them have temporary shelter, temporary mattresses, food and drink until we can figure out the best way to reconstruct the camp,” said Fleming.

Fleming calls this a very complex situation. She notes the people are of many different nationalities, with different needs. She says many are migrant workers who are awaiting evacuation to their home countries. Others are refugees who cannot be evacuated because their home countries are too unstable.

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, some of the refugees - who are mainly from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan - wanted to be moved after a fire on Sunday night in the Eritrean section of the camp killed four people.

Continue reading the main story

“

Start Quote

Two-thirds of the camp has been either looted or burned”

UNHCR's Firas Kayal

The next day, a large group of camp residents demanding immediate resettlement surrounded the UNHCR's offices, threatened staff and then blocked a main road to the Ras Ajdir border point, an important trade route.

Aid workers were forced to withdraw, after which rival groups within Choucha camp began fighting each other, the UN said.

The situation deteriorated when 500 local Tunisians descended on the camp and many of the residents fled to the surrounding desert in the chaos.

"Two-thirds of the camp has been either looted or burned," Firas Kayal, the UNHCR's spokesman in Tunisia, told the BBC's World Today programme.

"Various groups were fighting amongst each other, the security got totally out of control and the [Tunisian] army tried its best to control the crowds."

Mr Kayal said it took a day and a half to gain control of the situation.

Eritrean doctor Alganesh Fessaha said tensions between the various nationalities began two weeks ago after an alleged rape attempt of a young girl.

"There is no security in this camp, the Tunisian police don't intervene.

In a statement, the UNHCR said its staff had returned to the camp on Thursday and were now meeting representatives from all communities and security was top of the agenda.

Meanwhile, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the health situation in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata remained critical although fighting is currently less intense. There has been no reliable information on casualties as no proper medical records could be kept during the fighting, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.

He added, however, that an average of 12 deaths and 70 injuries are believed to have occurred daily in six existing hospitals in Misrata at the height of the fighting.

Mr. Jasarevic said that there has been shortages of specialized nursing staff, mostly in operating theatres and intensive care units, as well as lack of midwives and dialysis nurses.

“Doctors specializing in areas such as nephrology, neurology, psychiatry, oncology, paediatric cardiology and maxillofacial surgery are also needed. Many doctors have worked continuously for more than 80 days, almost round the clock and are exhausted. In addition, most have not received the salaries.”

Shortages of such medicines as chemotherapy drugs, anti-tetanus, anti-toxoid drugs, as well as most children’s vaccines and antibiotics have reached critical levels, according to Mr. Jasarevic.

Libya has been engulfed by fighting since a pro-democracy movement opposed to the regime of Muammar al-Qadhafi emerged in February following similar protests in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries across North Africa and the Middle East.

Royal Wedding from Eritrea

2011-04-29T10:58:00.001-07:00

Eritrea allowed to appoint AU envoy after bitter protest

2010-02-05T01:51:00.000-08:00

The African Union Commission Chief Jean Ping, has informed Eritrea to send an ambassador to represent it in Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union (AU), despite Eritrea's frosty relations with hosts, Ethiopia.

Eritrea, which is one of only two African countries on the AU sanctions list, protested to the African leaders that its right to fair representation at the AU, had been violated.

Eritrea's Foreign Minister, Osman Saleh, wrote a protest letter to the AU Commission, saying that it had been unable to enjoy its rights as one of the 53 members of the AU.

'For over 10 years, Eritrea's right as a member of the African Union has been willfully violated, in contemptuous disregard of the headquarters agreement with the AU,' Saleh wrote.

In his response to the Eritrean protest, Ping informed Eritrea in a letter, dated 29 January, 2010, that the country was entitled to fair representation at the AU.

But Eritrea's right to appoint an envoy or to send a delegation to the AU, would be strictly limited to its work at the AU.

Ping said after receiving the Eritrean protest, he held talks with Ethiopian aut horities 'at the highest level' and received assurances that Eritrea could open a mission.

'We have been informed that the establishment of such a mission will be in accordance with the terms conveyed to you by the former AU Commission Chairperson, Prof Alpha Konare,' Ping said.

Eritrea will be allowed to open an embassy in Addis Ababa, specifically accredited to the AU.

This embassy will not be allowed to carry out any bilateral activities and its staff will operate from Addis Ababa, only where the AU headquarters is located, Ping said.

Ping said his predecessor, Prof. Konare, also informed Eritrea that it could attend the AU meetings in Ethiopia. He said Ethiopia has assured Eritrean diplomats of visa and security should they plan to attend future AU mee tings in Addis Ababa.

'In light of this, I would urge Mr. Minister, that you kindly reiterate to your government this assurance from the government of Ethiopia, so that its Mission to the AU, could be established as soon as possible,' Ping wrote.

Eritrea is under heavy UN sanctions for allegedly supplying arms to rebel fighters in Somalia.

Ethiopia proposed the Eritrean sanctions during a meeting in Addis Ababa, of the ministers from the Inter-government Authority on Development (IGAD).

The AU adopted the request to impose sanctions against Eritrea for its destabilization of Somalia during an AU Summit in June, 2009, in Sirte, central Libya.

Eritrea and Ethiopia went to war over a disputed territory and have refused to settle their differences. Efforts to mediate the crisis have been opposed by both sides.

Source:afriquejet.com/

Egypt: Police kill two black migrants

2010-02-05T01:47:00.000-08:00

Egyptian border police shot dead two African migrants who tried to escape into Israel through the Sinai border, bringing the number of migrants killed this week to four. Police sources say they refused orders to stop. They were a 26-year-old Eritrean and a 27-year-old migrant of unknown nationality.
Another migrant from Eritrea was critically injured by police as the clandestine group attempted to reach Israel, AFP reported on Thursday.

Observers say increased violence at the border is partly due to the increasing popularity of the route, seen as safer than risking passage by sea from Libya to Europe.

Egyptian Police say they have detained another five Eritreans and three Ethiopians who tried to get into Israel on Wednesday.

Dozens of unarmed Africans, many from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan, seeking work or asylum in Israel were killed by Egyptian border guards last year, while five have died this year.

Israel has been pressuring Egypt to clamp down on the traffic, with a recent approval of the construction of barriers along the two countries' 155-mile border.

Source:africanews.com/

Nevsun raising $117M in private placement; to issue 52M common shares

2010-02-05T01:46:00.000-08:00

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) says it plans to raise $117 million in a private placement aimed at developing its Bisha gold and base metals mine in Eritrea.

The private placement of 52 million shares at $2.25 per share is scheduled to close on or before Feb. 19. Other details were not given.

"The company is confident the funds from this private placement, together with its existing cash and the ongoing one-third contribution by the state of Eritrea to Bisha will be sufficient to see the Bisha project through to cash-positive operations," Nevsun said in a news release.

"The funding arrangements are in excess of estimated costs to complete so as to provide a reasonable cushion in the event of unforeseen events," it said.

The government-owned Eritrean National Mining Corp. has "reliably" provided its one-third contributing share of financing to Bisha as the project has progressed, Nevsun said.

Last month, Nevsun described the project as "very well advanced" approaching 50 per cent complete with costs now estimated to be about $260 million, close to the original budget of approximately $250 million.

Nevsun stock was up 12 cents or more than 5.6 per cent at $2.24 at midafternoon Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange in trading that saw more than 4.2 million shares change hands.

Source:winnipegfreepress.com/

Experts see Eritrea leading regional mining surge

2010-02-05T01:43:00.000-08:00

ASMARA (Reuters) - An impending mining boom in Eritrea will challenge oil-rich neighbours to make it easier for foreign companies to prospect across a massive geological structure in the region rich in base metals and gold, analysts say.

Eritrea set the government's stake in any mining project at 10 percent stake in 2008 with an option to buy a further 30 percent, a small claim compared to other countries in the area like Egypt which mandates a 50 percent stake or Sudan at 60 percent, according to industry experts.

The relatively liberal mining terms have led more than a dozen foreign companies to get licenses to explore in Eritrea which analysts expect to accelerate dramatically in the next five years and provide a lifeline for the impoverished economy.

Advanced projects are at Bisha, run by Canada's Nevsun Resources Ltd, with gold production expected by the end of the year, and at Zara, run by Australia's Chalice Gold Mines and expected to start producing a year later.

"In the next ten years other nations in the region will look at Eritrea's mining boom and they will want in. They will relax their laws and it will become a regional boom," Timothy Strong, Eritrea manager for British company London Africa, told Reuters.

"If you look at the geography, Eritrea is a relatively small nation compared to African giants Sudan and Egypt, but it has many more foreign mining companies than the others combined. Geologically speaking, they are just as prospective as Eritrea."

The companies are attracted to Eritrea because it sits on a patch of the Arabian Nubian Shield, a geologic feature that stretches from Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the east to Sudan and Egypt in the west.

Source:af.reuters.com/

Rapist migrant from Eritrea 'may be deported'

2010-02-05T01:42:00.000-08:00

An illegal immigrant has been sent to prison for raping an 18-year-old woman at a holiday camp where they worked.

Merhawi Ghebe, 30, from Eritrea, had at first denied the offence at the Gwynedd camp but pleaded guilty after DNA evidence came to light.

In addition to the four-and-a-half year prison term, he was placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

Caernarfon Crown Court heard that Ghebe could be deported when he is released from prison.

Ghebe had initially told police the girl had pulled him on to a bed and asked him for a hug, and denied any sexual contact.

John Philpotts, prosecuting, said the DNA evidence proved this was a lie.

The court heard that Ghebe had been sentenced to nine months in jail at Isleworth crown court in November 2007 for having a false identity document.

On his release a friend had found him work in a Pwllheli kebab shop, then most of last year he was employed at the camp.

John Wyn Williams, defending, said Ghebe moved to Britain from Eritrea after being in Italy, and it may be that in due course he will be deported.

Source:news.bbc.co.uk/

Eritrea Government Has Transparent Investment Policy, Says Official

2010-02-05T01:33:00.000-08:00

Eritrea’s information minister says President Isaias Afewerki’s government has a protective and transparent policy towards local and international investments that can rival any country on earth.

Ali Abdu says Eritrea has been attracting lots of investors despite recently imposed United Nations sanctions.

“It was proven that previous investments were very successful, and we do believe that all you need to invest in Eritrea is just one step to knock the door and be welcomed in a very conducive atmosphere,” he said.

Analysts project that Eritrea will soon experience a mining boom that will rival its oil-rich neighbors following Asmara’s modest stake in any mining project.

Minister Abdu said Eritrea in 2008 set its stake in any mining project at 10 percent, with a choice to buy a further 30 percent, which he said is encouraging to international investors.

“We are very cautious on how to handle our natural resources, be it in the land or on the sea. We are lucky enough to take experience from a number of African countries with their huge natural resources, but which is not seen on their output. The bottom line of our objective is to have the result of social justice in our natural resources,” Abdu said.

Observers say Eritrea seems to be enjoying a boom in international exploration companies that have expressed interest in its natural resources.

Minister Abdu says Asmara is fair with potential investors.

“The rationale is we want to be fair and just. I mean, that is our principle… it should serve the interest of the people and it should be handled as a blessing, not as a curse to the people and to the economy of that country,” Abdu said.

The United Nations recently imposed sanctions on Eritrea after accusing the Horn of Africa country of supporting hard-line Islamist insurgents who have vowed to overthrow the internationally-backed administration in Somalia. It’s a charge Eritrea denies.

Abdu notes that Eritrea’s investment drive has not been affected by the sanctions.

“Not at all, because everybody knows that (those sanctions) were politically motivated. I wouldn’t say that one of their objectives is to harm our economy…Nevertheless …we are not subsidized economically and politically by any power. We stand on our own foot. We’ve been for a long time working for our food security, (and) our economy is as independent as our political stance,” Abdu said.

Source:voanews.com/