The regime in Eritrea gives a clear signal by organizing a meeting of supporters in the Netherlands, say experts and stakeholders. Many refugees from the African country see the conference as a provocation, says Eritrea scholar Mirjam van Reisen.
The youth wing of the PFDJ, the only party allowed in Eritrea will soon hold its annual European conference in the Netherlands , report radio program Argos and OneWorld platform today. The meeting would come down about 650 supporters of the dictatorial regime. The right hand of President Afewerki would speak.
The conference aims to strengthen the long arm of the Eritrean regime, says Van Reisen, professor at Tilburg University. “In recent years, the PFDJ lost face because of some lost lawsuits against people who were critical of the regime. The government wants the Eritrean community show continues to be the boss in the Netherlands.”
Van Reisen is the continuing influence of the regime large. She speaks with an iron grip. Much of the approximately 20,000 Eritreans in the Netherlands is intimidated and put under pressure, as confirmed by recent research from Tilburg University and research DSP group.
This is done partly through a spy network, says the Dutch government. There are indications that the Eritrean regime used the conference to recruit new spies. Sennay Ghebreab, an Eritrean scientist from the University of Amsterdam, also shows that young people are employed in this way.
It would go mostly to the second generation of Eritreans, young people born in the Netherlands and do not know how it is to live in a dictatorship. They would often be made warm by their parents to the regime. “At these meetings, they are prepared for the battle against critics of the regime in the Netherlands and elsewhere,” says Ghebreab.
These people are everywhere. If you tell something, you can be given away.
Fikadu Hagos, a refugee from Eritrea
Meaning that fight, experienced Eritrean refugee Fikadu Hagos (25) firsthand. Hagos was assaulted in 2012 at a party with supporters of the regime. He had told friends that he was against the president. Shortly after he was beaten. “The youth wing of the PFDJ has much influence in the Netherlands,” he says.”Those people are everywhere. If you say something, you can be given away.”
The professor knows that the politicians in The Hague is concerned. The Eritrean president right traveling possible with a gang, so the risk of violence is present.
Also Sennay Ghebreab UvA finds it worrisome that the meeting is scheduled. “The bubbles for years in the Eritrean community,” he says. “This is just more fuel to the fire.”
