Over 150 people were reported injured in Tel Aviv Saturday, including some 15 seriously, as asylum seekers from Eritrea protesting against dictatorship clashed with supporters of the regime, and as both groups clashed with cops. Police in riot gear shot tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters.
The chaos broke out amid a demonstration against an official Eritrean regime event — marking the 30th anniversary of the current ruler’s rise to power. Opponents of the regime, decked in blue, arrived on the scene to demonstrate against supporters, who wore red. The rallies soon devolved into violence that lasted for several hours.
Eritrean asylum seekers protest against the regime, in South Tel Aviv, September 2, 2023 (Photo: Israeli Police)
Israeli authorities received ample warning by the Eritrean community and Israeli social activists that allowing the event to happen would have dire consequences. A letter penned by Tel Aviv’s Eritrean church leaders cited that social media and previous events led them to believe the tension caused by this event could cause a violent outbreak – as it had previously.
The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants responded to Saturday’s events. “Israeli police fired at protesters in the heart of Tel Aviv. For a whole week, the representatives of the Eritrean leadership contacted the police in an attempt to cancel the embassy event and prevent the collision. The police ignored them, and now they are firing stun grenades and sponge balls at them,” the organization said in a statement.
“The demonstrators wanted to protest the blatant interference of the Eritrean embassy in the lives of those who fled the brutal dictatorship. Eritrean embassies around the world are chasing the asylum seekers, and in other countries embassy events have been canceled precisely because of the fear of flare-ups as we see before our eyes now. This bloody failure could and should have been prevented.” Eritrean asylum seekers are often “hunted and harassed” by the Eritrean regime and its supporters inside Israel, added Sigal Rozen, from the Tel Aviv-based human rights organization Hotline for Refugees and Migrants.
Similar protests and riots against the Eritrean regimes have occurred around the world with increasing frequency this year. Eritrean embassies annually host global festivals, which the regime’s opponents view as a show of power by the government. Anti-government protesters claim the regime is persecuting them through the embassies by monitoring and tracking Eritrean refugees.
Violent clashes broke out in last months in the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Canada many of which have banned these events from taking place following violent outbreaks. At least two state-sponsored Eritrean festivals were canceled in Toronto and Edmonton after violence broke out among protesters and government supporters During the festival held in Toronto at the beginning of August, a petition was created calling for the event to be cancelled. “The event is funded by the totalitarian regime of Eritrea through activists in Toronto in order to raise funds to finance the military establishment,” the petition read. “The Eritrean government is one of the most oppressive regimes in the world, and it continues to commit gross violations of human rights and war crimes”.
In Stockholm, over 50 people were injured in a brawl outside a similar event. Earlier, in July, protesters clashed with police outside an Eritrean festival in the German city of Giessen.
Last week, the Swiss newspaper St. Galler Tagblatt reported that the Eritrean embassy had been sending spies disguised as refugees to extort money from refugees. The paper reported on multiple stories of people who had fled the country being tracked down and threatened to pay back “debts” or “taxes” they owed back home.
Israeli NGO Hotline for Refugees and Migrants also responded to Saturday’s events. “Israeli police fired at protesters in the heart of Tel Aviv. For a whole week, the representatives of the Eritrean leadership contacted the police in an attempt to cancel the embassy event and prevent the collision. The police ignored them, and now they are firing stun grenades and sponge balls at them,” the organization said in a statement.
“The demonstrators wanted to protest the blatant interference of the Eritrean embassy in the lives of those who fled the brutal dictatorship. Eritrean embassies around the world are chasing the asylum seekers, and in other countries embassy events have been canceled precisely because of the fear of flare-ups as we see before our eyes now. This bloody failure could and should have been prevented.”
Eritrean asylum seekers are often “hunted and harassed” by the Eritrean government and its supporters inside Israel, said Sigal Rozen, from the Tel Aviv-based human rights organization Hotline for Refugees and Migrants.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=30635
