An exiled Eritrean opposition political organization has denounced what it said was a “security arrangement” between Eritrea and Yemen to deport thousands of Eritrean refugees, most ethnically Afar fishermen who sought asylum in the Gulf state.
The Ethiopia-based Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) on Thursday told Sudan Tribune that, Yemeni Interior Minister, Abdul-Qader Qahtan, and Eritrean ambassador to Yemen, Musa Yasin, has held discussions last week on common security concerns.
The two sides conferred over ways of curbing illegal immigration from the Red Sea nation to the Yemeni coast and reviewed the situations of the Yemeni and Eritrean fishermen who depend on traditional fishing for living from the shared water territory.
During the bilateral talks the two sides agreed to set mechanisms to deport illegal Eritrean refugees in Yemen.
RSADO has expressed concerns over the planed deportation and called on the international community to intervene.
“The recent security agreement between Yemen and Eritrea violates international rights of refugees to seek asylum” Abdu Sheik Mohamed, the head of RSADO’s Political Department to the international community, told Sudan Tribune.
Yemen is one the few countries in the region which is signatory the 1951 Geneva’s Refugee Convention, however the country is accused of being “unfriendly” to refugees particularly to asylum seekers from East African nations.
The Eritrean opposition official called on the international community to put pressure on Yemen to reverse the “illegal security arrangement” which if implemented would lead to forcible deportation of thousands of Eritrean Afar refugees.
If deported, the Eritrean nationals will face a serious risk of prosecutions by the regime back home, including lengthy jail terms in harsh prison facilities or a possible punishment of death, according to the group.
Following the security meeting between Asmara and Sana, prison officials have began to threaten and take action against the refugees for expulsion.
2012 Sudan Tribune