Four Dutch police officers were injured during the night of this Saturday in The Hague due to riots between two opposing groups of Eritreans, which led to a pitched battle in the middle of the city, with fire, burning vehicles and throwing sticks and stones.
The altercations pitted supporters and opponents of the Eritrean government, and broke out around a conference center in The Hague where a group of government supporters gathered last night to celebrate a New Year’s party, according to Dutch media.
A group of critics of the Eritrean government also attended the event and it was at that moment that violence broke out between both sides, who clashed in the street, but also left broken windows and other damage to the conference center.
The police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the rioters, who threw stones, bricks, sticks, bicycles and even traffic signs at the riot police deployed to contain the fight.
Four officers were injured, two of whom suffered injuries to their hands, one to their teeth, and the fourth was run over by a police car amid the chaos of the riots.
The altercations also left several vehicles on fire, including some police vehicles, and a tourist bus.
In Eritrea there is only one authorized political party, that of President Isaías Afewereki, who came to power in 1991, the year the country became independent from Ethiopia, and has repeatedly postponed the holding of elections in the country.
The UN rapporteur for human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, assured last June that President Afewerki exercises “absolute power” that leaves no room for the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary or the separation of powers.
The UN rapporteur also warned of the repression that exists on any form of dissent and called on the government to release all those detained “illegally and arbitrarily.”
Last year, the Global Slavery Index placed Eritrea as the second most affected country in the world by modern slavery, behind only North Korea.
A direct effect of this situation has been the departure of Eritreans from the country, of which more than 577,000 had requested asylum outside their country by the end of 2022, according to data from the UNHCR agency, the UN agency for refugees. refugees.
