Eritrea

Since 1993 the country’s regime, under the leadership of President Afewerki, has become synonymous with absolute authoritarianism and is doing everything to maintain its power. Christians have been arrested, harassed and killed because they are considered agents of the West and therefore a threat. Many Christians have fled. Others have been held in miserable prison conditions for years or kept in shipping containers in scorching temperatures. Evangelicals and Pentecostals have been at particular risk since a 2002 law was passed prohibiting Churches other than the Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and also Sunni Islam. Meanwhile the Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch Abune Antonios has been under house arrest since 2007.

European Parliament condemns ‘in strongest terms’ Eritrea’s human rights record

July 13, 2017 Abune Antonios, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Europe, Human rights, UN

The European Parliament (EP) has passed a resolution condemning in “the strongest terms” the “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations” in Eritrea, reports CSW. It follows 2016’s report by the UN that the country’s “crimes against humanity” should be investigated by the International Criminal Court. The EP resolution describes […]

Eritrean Christian women detained in ‘notoriously harsh prison’

June 30, 2017 Asmara, Catholics, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Protestants, Sunni

Thirty-three Eritrean women, detained during a series of raids on churches by the military, are being held in a “notoriously harsh prison”, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). The women are among a growing number of Eritrean Christians arrested since the beginning of May. CSW says at least 170 have […]

Eritrea arrests another 22 Christians

June 16, 2017 Abune Antonios, Adi Quala, Asmara, Pentecostals

The number of Eritrean Christians arrested since the beginning of May has risen to more than 120, according to charities Open Doors and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). World Watch Monitor first reported on the fresh wave of arrests on 26 May, at which stage over 90 people had been arrested. […]

100 Christians detained, 10 years after Eritrea put Patriarch under house arrest

May 26, 2017 Abune Antonios, Adi Quala, East Africa, Eritrea, Pentecostals

The Eritrean government has stepped up its campaign against Christians, arresting almost 100 in the past month. The arrests come as Christians in the repressive East African country mark ten years since government officials placed the Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch under house arrest and incommunicado, and 15 years since the forced […]

Two Eritrean Christian women die after hunger strike

March 29, 2017 Abune Antonios, Asmara, East Africa, Eritrea, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Pentecostals

Two Pentecostal Christians are reported to have died in Eritrea on 17 March, days after being transferred to a hospital from detention, where they had been on hunger strike. According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide the two women were detained in Wi’a military camp before being transported to Massawa Hospital in […]

Eritrea begins European offensive in Germany

September 9, 2016 Asylum seekers, Eritrea, Europe, Migrants, Refugees

Two Eritrean Ministers are in Germany at the start of a campaign to overcome European opposition to doing a deal with a government the UN labels “a serial abuser of human rights”; the UN says 5,000 people leave Eritrea every month. Eritrea, politically isolated for years, and often called the […]

‘Refer Eritrea to ICC for crime against humanity of persecution’

June 10, 2016 Eritrean Orthodox Church, Europe, International Criminal Court, Migrants, Mussie Zerai, Refugees, UN

In 2015, Eritreans made up 25 per cent of the migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. gettyimages.com A new report from the United Nations says “systematic, gross and widespread crimes against humanity”, including abuses of religious freedom, have been committed in Eritrea and should be investigated by […]

Eritrean church leaders still in jail 12 years later

April 13, 2016 Abune Antonios, Barentu, East Africa, Refugees

Although the tiny East African nation of Eritrea has a population of just 6 million, Eritrea is one of the leading sources of refugees in Europe. There are many reasons for this, but chief among them is a lack of religious freedom. The Eritrean government outlawed worship outside of Islam […]

Eritrean priest nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

October 6, 2015 Eritrea, Ethiopia, Migrants, Mussie Zerai, Refugees

An Eritrean priest who has helped to save the lives of hundreds of refugees has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Pope Francis and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Father Mussie Zerai, who lives in Switzerland, has received hundreds of emergency phone calls from refugees. (His number is written […]

A migrant’s story

August 17, 2015 Eritrea, Migrants, Pentecostals, Refugees

So far this year, more than 200,000 migrants have landed on European shores. Almost two-thirds of them have come from Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea – countries where pressure on Christians is intense. As European politicians squabble over how to respond to the world’s greatest refugee crisis since the Second World […]

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