Ethiopian News, Current Affairs and Opinion Forum
Zack
Senior Member
Posts: 16162
Joined: 17 Feb 2013, 08:24

Eritrean footballers on the run face anxious wait in push for safe haven

Post by Zack » 22 Jul 2021, 11:40

Eritrean footballers on the run face anxious wait in push for safe haven
Four players hiding in Uganda since 2019 are waiting for a resolution and wondering what might have been

Ed Aarons and Alex Cizmic
@ed_aarons
Wed 21 Jul 2021 15.00 EDT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email
For Hanibal Tekle, the news that Robel Teklemichael had become only the second Eritrean footballer to cross the border and sign a professional deal with a club in Ethiopia since war broke out between the countries in 1998 provoked mixed emotions. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Tekle reflects.

But when Teklemichael – the 21-year-old defender who captained Eritrea to second place in the 2019 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, a tournament for teams from East Africa – followed in the footsteps of his compatriot Samyoma Alexander by joining the Addis Ababa side Ethiopia Bunna in April, Tekle was left to wonder what might have been in terms of his own career. He was one of four players who fled after Eritrea’s 5-0 win over Zanzibar in the quarter-finals of the Under-20 Cecafa Cup in Uganda nearly two years ago and remain in hiding as they await the result of their asylum application. Tekle knows he could easily have been playing as a professional alongside Teklemichael.

‘If they find us it’s death or kidnap’: the Eritrean footballers on the run
“After Eritrea and Ethiopia signed the peace agreement in 2018, I received many offers from Ethiopian clubs but the government rejected them all,” he says. “When you get offers from abroad, you need to talk to your club officials, but even if they accept, the government will [usually] refuse. And when you ask for the reason, they hide it or simply say: ‘You can’t go.’ All the clubs in Eritrea are under the government’s control, so club officials are constantly in touch with the government – or sometimes they are state officials themselves.”

It was a similar story for Sami Tesfagabr, a promising talent scouted by the Israeli club Hapoel Petah Tikva in 2008. The Eritrean government blocked the transfer without explanation and the defender and his international teammates fled during the following year’s Cecafa Cup in Kenya. They spent eight months at a refugee camp before they were granted refugee status by Australia, with Tesfagabr granted full citizenship in 2016.

Teklemichael faced no such obstacles. He was allowed to join Bunna – who are also known as Ethiopian Coffee and finished second in the Ethiopian Premier League last season – having excelled for his hometown club Red Sea FC in Asmara.

The Eritrea team that started the Cecafa Cup final in December 2019.
The Eritrea team that started the Cecafa Cup final in December 2019. Photograph: Darren McKinstry/Alamy Stock Photo
Since 2009 it is estimated that more than 50 players have used their status as international footballers to escape the oppressive regime of the Eritrean president, Isaias Afwerki, which imposes lifetime military service on many subjects and bans groups of more than two people congregating in public places. Seven – Abel Okbay Kilo, Eyoba Girmay, Yosief Mebrahtu, Filmon Serere, Robel Kidane, Abraham and Ismail Jahar – went missing after helping Eritrea reach the Cecafa Cup final for the first time in December 2019 and remain in hiding. Tekle and his teammates Mewael Yosief, Simon Asmelash and Hermon Yohannes have recently been moved to a UN refugee agency (UNHCR) camp after being evicted from a safe house provided for them to avoid capture by Eritrean agents searching for them in Uganda.


“UNHCR told us it was the time to live together with the rest of the local population as normal people,” he says. “We were supposed to stay in that house for three to six months only, but we refused to go, given our case. We told them that it’s too risky for us to go out, that we don’t know what can happen to us outside. So we stayed until December, although they warned us every week. In December they said they were going to renovate the house, so we had to go out. That is when we lived in fear.”

He adds: “Since Covid-19 broke out, nobody has asked about us. We asked UNHCR to resettle us, but we are still waiting for their answer. There are some Eritreans who help us sometimes. The footballers who escaped in 2012 and are now in the Netherlands also helped us once. They collected some money and sent it to us for food and rent. It meant a lot to us.”

Their American lawyer, Kimberley Motley, who was introduced to the players by the Stockholm–based campaigner Vanessa Tsehaye, says they face an anxious wait for their case to be resolved. “Covid issues completely messed things up for everybody, especially in regards to refugee cases,” she says.


“We are just hoping that file gets approved for them to go to a safe place. That is out of Uganda, which isn’t a safe place for them given their status with the Eritrean government and their profile. Hopefully, UNHCR steps up and another country steps up and accepts the footballers, but unfortunately at this point in time that did not happen.”

The Guardian has sought comment from UNHCR.

… we have a small favour to ask. Since we started publishing 200 years ago, tens of millions have placed their trust in the Guardian’s high-impact journalism, turning to us in moments of crisis, uncertainty, solidarity and hope. More than 1.5 million readers in 180 countries have recently taken the step to support us financially – keeping us open to all and fiercely independent.

With no shareholders or billionaire owner, we can set our own agenda and provide trustworthy journalism that’s free from commercial and political influence, offering a counterweight to the spread of misinformation. When it’s never mattered more, we can investigate and challenge without fear or favour.

Unlike many others, Guardian journalism is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe in information equality. This way, everyone can keep track of global events, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action.

We aim to offer readers a comprehensive, international perspective on critical events shaping our world – from the Black Lives Matter movement, to the new American administration, Brexit, and the world's slow emergence from a global pandemic. We are committed to upholding our reputation for urgent, powerful reporting on the climate emergency, and made the decision to reject advertising from fossil fuel companies, divest from the oil and gas industries, and set a course to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our journalism and sustains our future. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.

Abe Abraham
Senior Member
Posts: 14412
Joined: 05 Jun 2013, 13:00

Re: Eritrean footballers on the run face anxious wait in push for safe haven

Post by Abe Abraham » 22 Jul 2021, 11:53

Thanks. Why has Djibouti moved its troops close to the Ethiopian border ?


https://www.garoweonline.com/en/world/a ... t-corridor.

Zack
Senior Member
Posts: 16162
Joined: 17 Feb 2013, 08:24

Re: Eritrean footballers on the run face anxious wait in push for safe haven

Post by Zack » 23 Jul 2021, 06:32

That's. Fake news Djibouti has done nothing like that

Dr 'Zackovich

Post Reply