Eritrea’s strife goes global as diasporas, including those in Canada, clash at cultural festivals

From Toronto and Calgary to Melbourne and London, Eritrean events have seen sometimes violent fights between a repressive regime’s supporters and its opponents

On a freezing morning in Toronto this winter, dozens of Eritrean-Canadians gathered on a plaza in front of City Hall, waving Eritrean flags as they braved the sub-zero temperatures in a bid to save their annual festival.

Passersby might have been puzzled by their pleas for constitutional freedoms and police protection. But it was the latest chapter in a global struggle between rival Eritrean factions – and another sign of how diaspora groups in Canada and elsewhere are becoming the new battleground for the tensions in their home countries.

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Germany: Dozens injured in unrest at Eritrean event

Police in the southwestern German city of Stuttgart on Sunday said dozens of people, including at least 26 officers were injured amid unrest surrounding an Eritrean cultural festival.

Along with 26 officers, four people participating in the event and two protesting it were injured, police said in a statement. Six of the injured officers were being treated at the hospital.

The clash was the latest in a string of incidents at such events in Germany and elsewhere, with fights breaking out between Eritrean government supporters and opponents.


Translation: Stuttgart. Riots broke out at an Eritrean event on Saturday afternoon. Several hundred Africans attacked participants and police officers with stones, bottles and boards. 10 officers were injured.

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Is Eritrea stoking conflicts between its migrants abroad?

Authorities in several countries are facing a moral, legal and diplomatic conundrum over migrants from the East African nation of Eritrea.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the deportation of Eritrean migrants who were involved in violent clashes last Saturday.

The trouble erupted when a demonstration against an event in the Eritrean Embassy turned violent.

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Israel’s Netanyahu says he wants Eritrean migrants involved in violent clashes to be deported

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he wants Eritrean migrants involved in a violent clash in Tel Aviv to be deported immediately and has ordered a plan to remove all of the country’s African migrants.

The remarks came a day after bloody protests by rival groups of Eritreans in south Tel Aviv left dozens of people injured. Eritreans, supporters and opponents of Eritrea’s government, faced off with construction lumber, pieces of metal and rocks, smashing shop windows and police cars. Israeli police in riot gear shot tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters.

Meanwhile in Canada …

‘All hell was breaking loose’: Rival Eritrean groups clash in northeast Calgary Saturday night

A violent clash between two groups shut down traffic in a northeast Calgary neighbourhood Saturday evening.

The confrontation, between two Eritrean groups, closed Falconridge Boulevard in both directions between Castleridge Blvd. and McKnight Blvd. N.E.

“Around six o’clock, maybe 150 to 200 young guys gathered in this parking space and then they were holding long sticks in their hands and then they rushed towards the other side,” said Mian Wahid, who was in the area when the fight broke out.

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No charges yet after Edmonton police read Riot Act to quell violent clashes within Eritrean community

It was a chaotic scene with few if any parallels in Edmonton’s history: hundreds of men clashing on a field — some in blue, others in orange — carrying sticks and poles flying brightly coloured flags.

Now, police are investigating the weekend violence, which pitted members of the city’s Eritrean community against one another and led officers to take the rare step of proclaiming the Riot Act.

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11 injured at Eritrean event in Edmonton

About a dozen people were hurt at an Eritrean-themed event in Edmonton on Saturday during a clash with a group who said they were protesting the Eritrean government.

Edmonton Police Service monitored the group of protesters all day as they moved across the city in the shadow of the festival, sometimes in riot gear while controlling the crowds. Police read more than once what’s colloquially known as the riot act.

Lambros Kyriakakos, the chairman of the Coalition of Eritrean Canadian Communities and Organizations, said he helped organize the annual Eritrean community festival that draws people from across western Canada.


Link from the Blumenthal tweet belowWestern media glorifies TPLF mob violence against Eritrean festivals

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