International
The Hague, Netherlands, hit by clashes between Eritrean groups (Videos). Integration is working perfectly
According to the Federation of Eritrean Communities in the Netherlands, a “peaceful and belated New Year’s Eve party” took place yesterday at the De Opera venue in The Hague. The problem is that the party was a bit too much of a celebration, as you can see from the following video and the others we show you
Footage taken at the center showed that it was more of a political rally, perhaps organized by the dictatorial regime of President Isaias Afewerki. His Popular Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) has been in power since 1993. The country had been independent for only two years after Ethiopian troops were driven out of the capital, Asmara.
An estimated 25,000 Eritreans live in the Netherlands. They received residence permits almost immediately because of the situation in their home country. Some of them fled more than 30 years ago because of the war with Ethiopia. They see their president as a hero who made the country independent. However, every non-democratic government triggers violent opposition, which in this case is headed by the Nhamedu Brigade.
This group tries to disrupt these rallies, often using brute force. This association, which attracts many young people, clashed in The Hague with supporters, and what resulted was a night of fires, destruction, and clashes with police.
In retrospect, Mayor Jan van Zanen said that the deployment of police should have been much more substantial and that there were missed signs that the demonstration would go badly, but several signs had circulated on social media that the demonstration would degenerate. Thirteen arrests were made. These were men between the ages of 19 and 36.
This is not the first time that these gatherings, at which Eritrean artists also regularly perform, have gotten completely out of hand. In May, there were clashes in Rijswijk at a gathering of Eritreans, which was also attended by members of the Nhamedu Brigade. In 2022, an event at the same event plaza, where a prominent member of the PFDJ was to speak, was banned. Violent clashes between supporters and opponents of the Asmara regime have also occurred in Germany and Sweden.
Integration is proceeding nicely in Europe!
Ariam
February 19, 2024 at 4:33 am
Dear reporters, a little more investigative journalism is in order here. The Dutch and the West in general have issued a welcome permit for Eritreans who fled the Eritrean Army for the last 20 years. For Eritreans, the only way to flee Eritrea safely, ironically, was by crossing the border into Enemy territory [Tigray, Ethiopia]. The people in Tigray and the Christian Eritrean ethnic group speak the same language. when these Tigrians noticed the West was receiving any Eritrean as a legit refugee, the Tigrians who received the Eritreans as refugees decided to use the Eritrean ID and names to come to the West, pretending to be these Eritrean army deserters. So, the West ended up granting asylum to these Tigrians from Ethiopia, while,thenrealmEritreans longer in refugee camps in Tigray. estimates run between 70 to 80% of registered Eritreans in Europe actually are from Tigray, Ethiopia.
Here is the key point.
Eritreans during their entire history never were known as violent or fighting each other. They are actually extremely descent people and patriotic. (Read their life in Holland http://www.m-abraham.com). So, what changed in the last few years? Well, the Tigrayans lost the war against Eritrea in the most disastrous way back home where more than one million people died. The Tigrians who asked asylum as Eritreans around the globe, wanted to avenge the battle field loss. The only way they could do that is by going after ANY Eritrean gathering and attacking the attendees. In social media, they even threaten to burn and stone Eritrean churches and businesses.
When facing the Western media, they will give the reason they do that is that the Eritrean festivals who happen to have been peaceful for the last 30 years, are run by the regime in Eritrea and that they are fighting against a dictator in Eritrea, (who they just lost a war to). Unfortunately, journalist are easily biased when they hear words like “dictator, freedom of speech, human rights, …”. So we end up spreading the wrong information that Eritreans are fighting each other and even worse the authorities make a decision based on incorrect information and therefore they will never be able to resolve the issue.
if you want to learn more you have to visit the actual communities where they gather and see for yourself how beautiful and peaceful these community events are.