Hate speech and threats at the core of Eritrean ‘festivals’ in Germany and Switzerland

Eritrean regime has organised a series of ‘festivals’ and ‘seminars’ promoted as cultural events. On the basis of previous events that have been organised many perceive that the events promote hate speech and incite violence. They have fuelled pushback in the form of protests, legal action and letters from Eritreans in the diaspora and allies opposing the violent message of the Eritrean regime. A new festival was organised in secrecy in Switzerland last weekend, 27 August 2022, and another event was announced in Germany on 3 September – of which the cancellation was announced yesterday, 31 August.

News Highlights: Mass detentions in Amhara, UK Asylum seekers detained ahead of Rwanda, 100 million displaced worldwide

The News Highlights are sent out on Wednesday due to the Ascension Day holiday. In this week’s News Highlights: Concern over mass detentions in Amhara, Ethiopia; Repression of protests leads to another death in Sudan; Aid to Tigray increasing, but shortages remain; Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights speaks on the situation in South Sudan; 85 migrants and refugees lost at sea, 4 found dead between Libya and Tunisia; 148 “vulnerable” Gambians returned from Libya by IOM; Sub-Saharan migrants living in fear of pushbacks in Morocco; Asylum seekers detained in UK before being sent to Rwanda; Two migrants and refugees wounded by gunshot near Dunkirk; A third of migrant workers on fishing boats in the UK facing abuse; Eritrean refugees acquitted by the Italian supreme cassation court in illegal migration trial; Greek shelter for unaccompanied minor migrants and refugees attacked; 100 million forcibly displaced people, a concerning record for UNHCR; Polish president Andrzej Duda warns about a global migration wave following hunger caused by war in Ukraine.