Eritrea, Africa’s ‘North Korea’
Because of its repressive policies, Eritrea has been dubbed the “North Korea of Africa”: currently more than 2,000 Christians are believed to be imprisoned there for their faith.
Because of its repressive policies, Eritrea has been dubbed the “North Korea of Africa”: currently more than 2,000 Christians are believed to be imprisoned there for their faith.
Activists from Britain and Ireland were taking part in a protest outside the Eritrean embassy in London on Thursday, May 17, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of mass detentions of Eritrean Christians, organizers said.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that the Secretary of State name Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern in its 2012 Annual Report.
Three Christians imprisoned for the testimony of Christ have died during the past months in Eritrea, including a 42-year-old man in solitary confinement Friday, according to a Christian support organization.
Authorities recently arrested 90 believers in Eritrea as part of a campaign against Christians that began back in December. Although six were eventually released, the whereabouts of the other 84 is unknown.
Poland has granted asylum to 16 Christian refugees who accompanied Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski on a flight back from Tunisia.The Foreign Ministry said Friday, June 17, that the six adults and 10 children were “political refugees” from Eritrea and Nigeria, whose lives have been upturned by recent turmoil in North Africa.
Hundreds of mainly Christian refugees from Eritrea are jailed or or held by kidnappers in Egypt, where they face torture, beatings and sexual assault, according to Christian aid workers who contacted Worthy News.
After two weeks of torture, Seble Hagos Mebrahtu, 27, died in the military training center in Sawa, Eritrea, on January 1. Reportedly, Mebrahtu was refused medical treatment for malaria and died soon after. Although it was unclear as to how long she was imprisoned in Sawa, sources state she was arrested for reading a Bible in her own bedroom.
There was international concern Friday, November 26, over the situation of 80 Eritrean refugees who rights activists said have been held hostage by people smugglers on the Egypt-Israel border for about a month.
Eritrean government officials arrested 11 Christians on Oct. 20, taking them to undisclosed locations.