{"id":11926,"date":"2020-10-29T00:01:52","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T00:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/?p=11926"},"modified":"2020-10-29T00:02:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-29T00:02:00","slug":"minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.nu.nl\/m\/109xsftau4d3_wd640.jpg\/minister-blok-vraagt-opheldering-aan-eritrea-over-omstreden-geldinzameling.jpg?w=840&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising\" width=\"385\" height=\"216\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok, demanded clarification from Eritrea on Saturday about fundraising by the embassy office of the country, a minister told the\u00a0<em>ANP<\/em>\u00a0news agency\u00a0after reports on the\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vpro.nl\/argos\/lees\/nieuws\/2020\/eritrees-regime-haalt-opnieuw-geld-op-bij-asielzoekers-in-nederland.html\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Argos<\/em><\/a>\u00a0radio program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to&nbsp;<em>Argos<\/em>&nbsp;, the Eritrean embassy office in The Hague uses coercion to raise money among Eritreans in the Netherlands.&nbsp;They were asked to donate at least 100 euros in connection with the Corona crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eritrea has been asking for money from fellow countrymen living abroad for years.&nbsp;It concerns the so-called diaspora tax.&nbsp;This tax cannot be banned, but according to the United Nations (UN), the tax is often done with intimidation and coercion.&nbsp;Action can be taken if Eritreans report that they have been pressured to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blok calls it \u201cvery worrying\u201d that there are again reports of the forced collection of money by Eritrean diplomats.&nbsp;The minister requires an explanation from the embassy office.&nbsp;He also says he cannot rule out further actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Highest diplomatic representative was previously expelled<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2018, former Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra demanded that Eritrea\u2019s senior diplomatic representative, Tekeste Ghebremedhin Zemuy, leave the Netherlands, as the embassy continued to forcibly collect money from the diaspora. He was declared persona non grata.&nbsp;The House of Representatives also demanded that the embassy office be closed, but the cabinet did not agree to this at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minister Blok calls on victims of the fundraising to file a report, so that the Public Prosecution Service (OM) can investigate the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Source:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nos.nl\/l\/2353596\">NOS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Regime Eritrea again raised money from Eritreans in the Netherlands\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Eritrea diplomats have again collected money from fellow countrymen in the Netherlands.&nbsp;This was preceded by a call from the Eritrean embassy, \u200b\u200bwhich asked in the spring to contribute a minimum of 100 euros to the fight against the corona virus in Eritrea, VPRO radio program&nbsp;<em>Argos<\/em>&nbsp;reports&nbsp;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Members of the Eritrean community in the Netherlands said that representatives of the country also went through the doors to collect money.&nbsp;Those who paid stated that they had been pressured, including with the threat that the family in Eritrea would not receive food coupons if they did not pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From a list of payments&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vpro.nl\/argos\/lees\/nieuws\/2020\/eritrees-regime-haalt-opnieuw-geld-op-bij-asielzoekers-in-nederland.html#\">which&nbsp;<em>Argos<\/em>&nbsp;got hold<\/a>&nbsp;, it was apparent collected at least 155,000 euros.&nbsp;Some come from supporters of the military regime, or organizations affiliated with the regime, but the list also includes people who have fled that regime.&nbsp;It concerns hundreds of status holders, but also people who still live in an asylum seekers\u2019 center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Harassment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The action is remarkable: two years ago, the highest Eritrean diplomat, the Netherlands, was expelled because the regime forced former countrymen in the Netherlands to hand over taxes to Eritrea.&nbsp;Intimidation was not shunned,&nbsp;the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Zijlstra&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nos.nl\/artikel\/2212375-hoogste-eritrese-diplomaat-moet-nederland-verlaten.html\">wrote<\/a>&nbsp;to the Lower House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MPs want the cabinet to take measures.&nbsp;Minister Blok informed&nbsp;<em>Argos<\/em>&nbsp;that he will ask the Eritrean embassy for clarification.&nbsp;He also calls on people who are victims to report the crime.&nbsp;\u201cIf there are well-founded suspicions of criminal offenses, the Public Prosecution Service will investigate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>eritreahub.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok, demanded clarification from Eritrea on Saturday about fundraising by the embassy office of the country, a minister told the\u00a0ANP\u00a0news agency\u00a0after reports on the\u00a0Argos\u00a0radio program. According to&nbsp;Argos&nbsp;, the Eritrean embassy office in The Hague uses coercion to raise money among Eritreans in the Netherlands.&nbsp;They were asked to donate at least [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.1359999999999998987476601541857235133647918701171875,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3000000000000000444089209850062616169452667236328125,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.67849999999999999200639422269887290894985198974609375,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92000000000000003996802888650563545525074005126953125,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.84999999999999997779553950749686919152736663818359375,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.1999999999999999555910790149937383830547332763671875,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.90000000000000002220446049250313080847263336181640625,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.270000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.020000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.4699999999999999733546474089962430298328399658203125,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok, demanded clarification from Eritrea on Saturday about fundraising by the embassy office of the country, a minister told the\u00a0ANP\u00a0news agency\u00a0after reports on the\u00a0Argos\u00a0radio program. According to&nbsp;Argos&nbsp;, the Eritrean embassy office in The Hague uses coercion to raise money among Eritreans in the Netherlands.&nbsp;They were asked to donate at least [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-29T00:01:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-29T00:02:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.nu.nl\/m\/109xsftau4d3_wd640.jpg\/minister-blok-vraagt-opheldering-aan-eritrea-over-omstreden-geldinzameling.jpg?w=840&amp;ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Administrator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Administrator\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/\",\"name\":\"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-29T00:01:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-29T00:02:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/984095fb4b8562530c05496fc8b26adf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/\",\"name\":\"UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\",\"description\":\"\u0648\u0633\u0627\u0626\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0645 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0631\u064a\u062a\u0631\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0648\u062d\u062f\u0629\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/984095fb4b8562530c05496fc8b26adf\",\"name\":\"Administrator\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/913b0e245545154e0835947100e60b86?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/913b0e245545154e0835947100e60b86?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Administrator\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/author\/administrator\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA","og_description":"Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok, demanded clarification from Eritrea on Saturday about fundraising by the embassy office of the country, a minister told the\u00a0ANP\u00a0news agency\u00a0after reports on the\u00a0Argos\u00a0radio program. According to&nbsp;Argos&nbsp;, the Eritrean embassy office in The Hague uses coercion to raise money among Eritreans in the Netherlands.&nbsp;They were asked to donate at least [&hellip;]","og_url":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/","og_site_name":"UNITED ERITREA MEDIA","article_published_time":"2020-10-29T00:01:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-29T00:02:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.nu.nl\/m\/109xsftau4d3_wd640.jpg\/minister-blok-vraagt-opheldering-aan-eritrea-over-omstreden-geldinzameling.jpg?w=840&amp;ssl=1"}],"author":"Administrator","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Administrator","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/","url":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/","name":"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-10-29T00:01:52+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-29T00:02:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/984095fb4b8562530c05496fc8b26adf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2020\/10\/29\/minister-blok-requests-clarification-from-eritrea-about-controversial-fundraising\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Minister Blok requests clarification from Eritrea about controversial fundraising"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#website","url":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/","name":"UNITED ERITREA MEDIA","description":"\u0648\u0633\u0627\u0626\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0645 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0631\u064a\u062a\u0631\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0648\u062d\u062f\u0629","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/984095fb4b8562530c05496fc8b26adf","name":"Administrator","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/913b0e245545154e0835947100e60b86?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/913b0e245545154e0835947100e60b86?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Administrator"},"url":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/author\/administrator\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11926"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11926"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11928,"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11926\/revisions\/11928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}