For years, Norwegian-Eritreans in Norway have told about what they believe to be surveillance, social control and pressure from the regime in their home country. Norwegian-Eritreans who have appeared in the media have asked Norwegian authorities for help to stop Eritrean regime activity in Norway. They have also told about what they believe is a lack of action and help from the Norwegian authorities. Controversy in several places around the world news and Vårt Land have in several cases discussed the allegations about how one of the world’s most closed regimes controls Norwegian-Eritreans. Also elsewhere in the world, reports and media reports have told similar stories. This weekend there were also riots outside Eritrea’s embassy in Israel, and earlier this summer there was violence during an event in Sweden. Eritrea’s approach is often difficult to document, but various reports tell of similar tendencies in various countries around the world. A destroyed tank after the brutal war that led to Eritrea’s independence. Today, Eritrea is a country with extensive control over its people. Photo: AFP “False refugees”? A common claim is that the regime sends out “fake refugees” who mix with the many real refugees in order to exert pressure and control. Eritrea is one of the world’s most closed countries, and claims of pressure and control are often difficult to document. This often leads to the two fronts that exist in the Eritrean environment around the world ending up in a word-for-word situation. The same can be seen in Bergen, where one party believes that a party is being organized for the regime, while the organizers of the party deny that this is true. Varied and extensive activity The regime often hides its activity behind harmless facades, and it manifests itself in different ways. The Press og Kontroll report from 2020 mentions several problematic aspects of Eritrean activity in Norway: Two percent tax: Anyone who wants to have contact with family in the home country, or receive consular services, such as printing diplomas and passports, must pay a tax on 2 percent. Informants say in the report that they can also be thrown out of the Eritrean environment and events if they have not paid. When an agreement to pay tax is entered into, one must also apologize for any criticism of the regime that the person may have previously made. Office at Karl Johan: Until 2016, the “Eritrean Information Association” ran an office in one of the side streets of Karl Johan in central Oslo. The main task was to collect the tax for the regime in Eritrea. The office ceased operations after Norwegian authorities protested. In the reply to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eritrea’s embassy in Stockholm replied that the tax is voluntary, but that it must be paid in order to gain access to services from the Eritrean state. Parties and events: Eritrean parties are organized annually. The organizers say it is to celebrate Eritrean culture, the opponents say it is a party in support of the regime. Several of those who protested against the event in Bergen yesterday claimed that it cost money to be part of the party, and that this money goes to the regime in Eritrea. The organizers in Bergen owe such bands to the regime. Churches: In 2020, there were just under 40 religious communities and church leaders who had an Eritrean background. The report from 2020 states that several of these are controlled by the regime in the home country. Several of these must have received state subsidies from Norway for several years. When news in 2021 asked questions to the State Administrator in Oslo/Viken, who is responsible for state subsidies to religious communities, the answer was that they were not aware of any cases regarding a possible halt in state support to Eritrean church communities in Norway. Fear for the family in Eritrea: An important move to be able to exert pressure on citizens who live in other countries is to be able to seek out and threaten a family member. Several informants tell in the Press og Kontroll report about situations where the family in Eritrea has been contacted by the police. One of those interviewed by news experienced that the family received visitors at the door after he had expressed himself in Norway as critical of the regime in his home country. Discrediting and shame: In the report Press and control, several informants tell about threats, but also incidents where inside the Eritrean environment, rumors are spread or shameful pictures are shared of people who are critical of the regime. Several reports tell of similar activity in other countries. Human Rights Watch is one of the organizations that mentions this. Weakened trust in Norwegian authorities Eritrea’s activity is primarily a threat to Norwegian-Eritreans, and to a lesser extent a threat to the Norwegian state and Norwegians. The report “Press and control” says that several Norwegian-Eritreans have a lack of trust in Norway and that they experience little understanding of the situation they are in. An example is Norway’s requirement to have a diploma from the home country if one wants to enter the Norwegian education system. Obtaining the diploma entails, among other things, that an Eritrean refugee must contact the regime, pay the two percent tax and pledge to be loyal. Another example are episodes where Norwegian-Eritreans say that they feel that their fear of the regime is not taken seriously by the Norwegian police when they report death threats. The report, which was prepared by Proba social analysis in 2020, underlines that more research and insight into the environment is needed to be able to map the extent of the claims that the informants make. It was the Ministry of Knowledge that asked for the report to be drawn up, which also deals with four other immigrant groups who experience pressure and control in Norway. The then Minister for Knowledge and Integration, Guri Melby (V), was responsible for following up on the report. When it was presented, Melby told Vårt Land that the report was “very serious”. A year later, news was contacted by persons close to the Norwegian-Eritrean community who believed that the government had simply forgotten the entire report. Melby then refused to answer news’s questions about what the government has done to follow up on the claims and documentation that emerges in the report. Today’s Eritrea – a brutal military dictatorship After becoming independent in 1992, Eritrea has developed into one of the world’s most closed countries, and has been ruled by dictator Isaias Afwerki for 31 years. He rules the country using extensive military control. Eritrea is one of Russia’s supporting players in Africa, and has bought a lot of weapons from Russia. Eritrea’s president, Isaias Afwerki, and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, have long been each other’s supporters. Photo: AP At the same time, Eritrea has singled out the United States as its major adversary, and by creating a clear image of the enemy, President Afewerki has created the basis for maintaining one of the world’s most extensive military services. Both women and men risk military service for life. Eritrea was also involved in the war in the Ethiopian state of Tigray, where they were blamed for gross war crimes. The TPLF party, which is powerful in Tigray and which ruled the government in Ethiopia for a long time, has been Eritrea’s main opponents since the wars of liberation in the 80s and 90s. Ethiopia’s prime minister and peace prize winner Abiy Ahmed was criticized for letting Eritrea go into the war.
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The Eritrea row did not come completely out of the blue – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
