The Eritrean regime called and held a large meeting in Massawa last week.  The meeting was attended by PFDJ politburo members, regional administrators, military leaders with ranks higher than brigade commanders, as well as ministers. The event was so secretive that even the regime’s own Ministry of Information, which usually provides a cursory summary of similar meetings, was barred from attending the meeting.  

Meanwhile, disappearance of military officers even with the rank of colonel is increasing.  It is unclear whether these officers are arrested in connection with the assassination attempt on Colonel Simon Gebredengel or whether they are simply joining their subordinates (regular soldiers) who have been deserting at the rate of 250 per month. Pressed for details, our source reveals that the escapees include those “who own government houses and [have] a family…and are fleeing from the country with their pistols.”

In this connection, there have been reports by the Khartoum-based Eritrean Center for Media Services (ECMS) that the government of Sudan has recently deported 74 Eritreans.  In the past, the UNHCR has appealed to the Sudanese government to stop returning refugees to places where they fear persecution.  Known as “refoulement”, this practice is prohibited under international law—the 1951 Refugee Convention as well as the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention. 

The Government of Sudan has given directives to the government of the Kassala region to stop the practice of seizing and deporting Eritreans. It is unclear how long this moratorium will last, as the government of Sudan has regularly banned and allowed this practice. Often, the intelligence officers of the Eritrean regime treat Eastern Sudan as one of their provinces and do not seek permission to cross the border and snatch Eritreans.

In any event, Sudan’s actions do not seem to have deterred the flow to Sudan and Ethiopia: in the first week of November alone, 225 Eritreans entered Sudan through Hamdait.   

Meanwhile, the Eritrean government has issued letters to 13 Catholic missionaries (locally known as Comboni) informing them that their residency permit will not be renewed.  This order, which is seen as an expulsion by those who read the letter, is being explained as expiration of residence permit by the Eritrean regime.