WorthyNews: Several Injured As Eritrean Clashes Hit Netherlands

[WorthyNewsBot]

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (Worthy News) – Security has been stepped up in The Hague after the Dutch city turned into a war zone with two rival groups of Eritreans fighting each other over the weekend, injuring at least six police officers, officials said.

Police used tear gas in an attempt to quell the massive unrest in The Hague and detained 13 suspects as rioters torched police cars and a bus, authorities explained.

Witnesses saw vehicles in flames and dozens of men in the street, some throwing rocks.

“It got seriously out of hand,” The Hague Municipality spokesman Robin Middel said in a statement.

Middel stressed that a group loyal to Eritrea’s government was holding a meeting when the venue was attacked by Eritreans who oppose the African nation’s authoritarian government.

During the clashes, two officers reportedly suffered injuries to their hands and another to her teeth. A fourth was hit by a police car in the chaos, according to investigators.

Police, in a later statement, said another agent became unwell because of the tear gas, while a sixth officer was wounded in the knee.

SERIOUS VIOLENCE

“Out of nowhere, our colleagues were confronted with very intense and serious violence,” recalled police commander Marielle van Vulpen.

“The violence used against police officers and equipment is appalling and unacceptable,” said the city’s mayor, Jan van Zanen.

Politician Geert Wilders, whose anti-Islam PVV party became the most significant political grouping following recent elections, posted social media images of the riots with a caption in capital letters: “Arrest and Deport.”

He then wrote on social network X, formerly Twitter: “The Netherlands has really had it up to here with this.”

He wondered: “Why is half the world allowed to come here to tear down our country, fight amongst themselves, throw stones at the police, and set their cars on fire?”

Wilders added that he wants “to become the prime minister who finally brings some order to this.”

Some 25,000 Eritreans are living in the Netherlands, according to official government figures.

LATEST VIOLENCE

Yet the clashes are the latest outbreak of violence at Eritrean events in Europe.

Dozens of people, including some 26 police officers, were injured during unrest at an Eritrean cultural festival in the southwestern German city of Stuttgart in September 2023, authorities said.

A fight the same month between Eritrean government supporters and opponents in Tel Aviv, Israel, led to violent street confrontations among African asylum-seekers and migrants.

Months earlier, a clash at an Eritrean festival in the western German city of Giessen left 22 police officers injured.

Tens of thousands of people, including Christians, have fled Eritrea for Europe, many alleging the repressive government of President Isaias Afwerki mistreated them.

Eritrea has long lingered in the top 10 of the annual World Watch List (WWL) of 50 nations where Christian advocacy group Open Doors said Christians face most persecution.

The nation, known as the “North Korea of Africa” due to its “intense authoritarian government,” is ranked 4 on the WWL, Open Doors said.

FEW DENOMINATIONS RECOGNIZED

Eritrea only recognizes three Christian denominations (Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran), “so anyone who follows Jesus outside of these sanctioned churches is at constant risk,” Open Doors warned.

Even in the recognized churches, the government closely monitors every congregation, Christians said. “Speaking out about persecution or government interference in church matters is not tolerated at all,” Open Doors added.

“Raids to round up believers who worship God outside the recognized denominations are common. When Christians are caught in these raids, they can be sent into Eritrea’s notorious prison network, where they can be detained indefinitely,” Open Doors said.

Around 1,000 Eritrean Christians are imprisoned—and they haven’t been charged with any crime, according to Open Doors investigators.

“Members of some house churches have been in prison for more than 10 years, enduring shocking conditions, including solitary confinement in tiny cells,” the group said.

The clashes in the Netherlands showed that the Eritrean tensions are boiling over thousands of miles away.

The post Several Injured As Eritrean Clashes Hit Netherlands appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

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[FJK]

Why does this sort of thing seem so common among certain groups of migrants on a worldwide basis?

Seriously, what's the reason(s) behind it?

[Rick-Parker]

36 minutes ago, FJK said:

Why does this sort of thing seem so common among certain groups of migrants on a worldwide basis?

Seriously, what's the reason(s) behind it?

Because they bring the violence from their homelands, which is engrained in their DNA from centuries of tribal violence.

[RdJ]

7 hours ago, FJK said:

Why does this sort of thing seem so common among certain groups of migrants on a worldwide basis?

Seriously, what's the reason(s) behind it?

What are these people doing in the Netherlands and why is it getting out of hand? "The violent regime in Eritrea also wants to silence the opposition abroad," says professor Mirjam van Reisen, who has been following the Eritrean community in the Netherlands for a long time.
 

There are about 25,000 Eritreans in the Netherlands. Some of them are people who have fled the regime. But there is also a slightly older generation that has already left because of wars. 

According to Mirjam van Reisen, there are many supporters of Afewerki's regime, especially among the group of Eritreans who have been here for a while. 

 

According to her, this indicates that it is a festival organized by those in power in Eritrea, and often there are even representatives of the regime present, who raise money and tell you what you can and cannot say. "They have been doing that more often and for many years, also in other countries where there are many Eritreans." Some attendees, especially young men, are pressured to speak out and work for the regime. For example, they are threatening to harm their families in Eritrea if they do not cooperate, says Van Reisen.

Opponents of President Afewerki also come to the festivals to demonstrate against him. You also saw that in The Hague yesterday. Van Reisen says that they are not looking for violence and usually want to protest peacefully. "Especially those deployed by the regime are looking for chaos to silence the opposition abroad."

That is why, according to her, these types of festivals deliberately get out of hand and they also target the police. "They want to show that this group of Eritreans is in charge here and not the opponents of the regime. They are identifying, intimidating and threatening them so that they will keep their mouths shut from now on. The aim is that the opposition abroad does not spills over to Eritrea itself. Afewerki wants to stay in power this way."

 Afewerki's supporters are out to give the Eritreans in our country a bad name. "They hope that opponents of the regime will also be sent back. And that people in Eritrea will be discouraged from fleeing the country."

According to Van Reisen, it is important that the Netherlands clearly identifies the people who are mobilized to go to these festivals. So who is in favor of the authoritarian regime and who are its opponents.

https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/nederland/artikel/5435683/dit-waarom-het-uit-de-hand-liep-tussen-eritreeers-den-haag

 

Edited February 20, 2024 by Renskedejonge