Eritrean opposition groups will protest on Bern’s Bundesplatz on Saturday afternoon. The Eritrean opposition groups call themselves “justice seekers”. They have been taking out protest rallies in European countries against alleged transnational repression perpetrated by Eritrean government against Eritrean diaspora members.
The Saturday’s protest is directed both at the influence of the Eritrean government on Eritreans in Switzerland and at the alleged growing hostility towards Eritreans in Switzerland.
The protesting Eritreans have four demands:
1. Abolition of the passport requirement for Eritreans
2. No deportations – neither to Eritrea nor Rwanda or other countries
3. Stop the Eritrean government backed propaganda festivals in Switzerland
4. Stop racism and SVP hate speech against Eritreans
Eritreans critical of the regime from all parts of the country are being mobilized to take part in the demonstration. Bus trips from Ticino and Geneva are planned. The protest is organized by different association, activists from the Brigade Nhamedu, the Eritrean Media Association of Switzerland, Migrant Solidarity Network and others.
In Switzerland, the Eritrean embassy and consulates regularly hold cultural or general festivals. Opposition groups say that these festivals serve as a propaganda platform for Eritrean dictatorship. In 2019, the Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh visited Switzerland for this occasion.
Since its formal independence in 1993, Eritrea has been ruled by one man President Isaias Afwerki, and one party People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). The country never held general elections.
Swiss government has been considering tough measures to stop escalating violence in Eritrean community. Some MPs earlier this year proposed that those Eritreans, whose asylum cases have been rejected, should be deported to Rwanda or some other country.
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