Ever since Eritrea achieved its hard-won independence in 1993, the government of President Isaias Afwerki has attempted to force Eritrean abroad to provide his regime with finances and political support. The British government needs to act urgently to halt the dictator’s transnational repression here in the U.K.

By Working Together for Peace and Justice in the UK

Ever since Eritrea achieved its hard-won independence in 1993, the government of President Isaias Afwerki has attempted to force Eritrean abroad to provide his regime with finances and political support. So called ‘festivals’ have been staged by Eritrea’s only legal party – the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) with the help of the Eritrean embassy. These are often para-military events, at which children are provided with mock uniforms and armed with toy guns, to be marched around pledging support for the regime, which is one of the most repressive in the world. The ‘festivals’ are guarded by hit-squads who use force to prevent dissent. These are variously termed ‘Eri-Blood’ ‘The Fourth Front’ and ‘52’. They patrol the venues, denying access to anyone critical of the regime and beating up those who attempt to enter.

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Festivals are organised by the embassy, or through churches and community groups controlled by the regime. They hire halls from unsuspecting organisations, including local authorities. These become venues at which the transnational repression of the Eritrean diaspora takes place. Naturally, those who refuse to back President Isaias, who has no election mandate and keeps Eritreans in conditions described as ‘slavery’ by the UN Human Rights Commission, are furious. We did not escape Eritrea only to find its repressive tentacles reaching us in Britain!

All the funds raised at these events are transmitted to Eritrea via Eritrean banks situated in China or Russia. Embassy staff and PFDJ members, some of whom claim have claimed asylum status in the UK, oversee these payments.

Eritrean Regime Transnational Repression and Exploitative Tactics:

Through its propaganda festivals, the Eritrean regime has resorted to hate speech propaganda campaigns. Supported by the Fourth Front, regime spies infiltrate Eritrean communities worldwide, abusing democratic systems to persecute Eritrean youth. Recruited by the Eritrean regime and its embassies, the Fourth Front aims to destabilise the West. Their aggression has resulted in disturbances in Israel, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, and the USA. They have targeted vulnerable refugees fleeing persecution, justice seekers, political dissidents, and journalists, mostly through collusion with regime supporters, violating their fundamental rights and freedoms. They heavily engage in suppression of free speech, harassment, abduction, and murder to silence activists and journalists. The most recent murder took place in Israel, where an Eritrean critical of the regime was stabbed to death in Tel Aviv.

The Fourth Front, is controlled and directed following from Asmara by Colonel Gaim Misgina (the Eritrean regime representative for national and foreign security). He is currently working with the leaders of the 4G, is globally sending death threats to any Blue Revolution members and Eritrean human rights advocates using social media platforms.

As recent events in Israel show, the Eritrean embassy, aided by Fourth Front members who pose as asylum seekers have been responsible for murdering two members of the opposition group known as the Blue Revolution. Both were dedicated family men, leaving behind their beloved wives, underage children, and even in one case grandchildren, both brutally murdered in public.

Eritrean Embassy in the UK

The Eritrean Embassy in the UK is openly enabling and facilitating transnational repression tactics to stifle dissent, gather intelligence, and coerce individuals through its members. Notably, these activities are organised by the embassy here in the UK. Members of the Fourth Front, directed by Eritrean authorities and the Eritrean Defence Forces’ Chief of Staff, are involved in these actions. Recently, members of the Fourth Front from the UK travelled to Eritrea to meet with General Filipos Woldeyohannes, as reported in the country’s only Tigrigna newspaper, Haddas Eritrea, on February 24, 2024. It is believed that these members returned to the UK with specific missions, heightening concerns among Eritrean asylum seekers and opponents residing in the UK, thus transforming diaspora communities into battlegrounds.

Members of the Eritrean community and the Blue Revolution have been trying to inform government officials and their MPs about the death threats and transnational repression of the regime’s long arm, and how its embassies organise illicit activities here in the UK. The Eritrean community is willing to work with UK government officials such as the FCDO, Metropolitan Police, the UK Home Office, and many other civil society organisations to stop transnational repression here in the UK.

Below are some solutions the UK government can implement to protect the Eritrean community from transnational repression

1. Accept the recommendations of the Norwegian report on Transnational Repression, adopted by the Norwegian Parliament.

2. Open a Transnational Repression Reporting Helpline

To protect its citizens and vulnerable asylum seekers, the UK government should establish a reporting helpline to allow individuals to exercise their rights, report violations and act to prevent them. The aim would be to safeguard the Eritrean community in the UK and help identify fake asylum seekers. The USA already has an active helpline.

2. Ban Regime-sponsored Events

The Eritrean regime has long profited from the proceeds of diaspora-organised events and shows no signs of ceasing these activities. Nations including Switzerland and Norway have timely interventions to curb these events, ensuring public safety and property protection. However, sadly, the UK is currently is the weak link in countering this repression, allowing these events to take place. This only benefits a regime against which US and UK sanctions have been implemented and allows the Eritrean regime to continue to disrupt of public order and safety in Britain. The UK needs to remain vigilant and prohibit such celebrations.

3. Open Investigations on Regime supporters who enable transnational repression

    The Eritrean Embassy has enabled transnational repression, transforming diaspora communities into battlegrounds. The Home Office, police and security services need to investigate the role of the Eritrean Embassy in the UK and members of the 4th Front in this regard. Some have recently returned to the UK having met with sanctioned Eritrean Defence Forces’ Chief of Staff General Filipos Woldeyohannes, who is believed to have assigned them with specific missions, heightening concerns among Eritrean asylum seekers and opponents residing in the UK. We fear that the measures he ordered could transform diaspora communities into battlegrounds.

4. Apply Targeted Sanctions

This includes diplomatic pressure and applying targeted sanctions against regime diplomats and embassies to ensure the safety of the wider Eritrean communities living peacefully and legally in the UK and worldwide. It is essential for the UK government investigates cases of transnational repression and those who are aiding it in targeting the Eritrean Community.

UK authorities needs to work closely with Eritrean human rights advocates and members of the Blue Revolution justice seekers to combat the repression being targeted against the Eritrean communities in the UK.