Eritreans Demonstrate In Bern Against Repression And Racism


(MENAFN- Swissinfo) More than 800 Eritreans demonstrated in front of the federal building in Bern on Saturday, calling for protection of their rights.

This content was published on June 23, 2024 - 13:16 3 minutes Keystone-SDA

Several Eritrean organisations in Switzerland and the Migrant Solidarity Network called for Saturday's rally. After gathering on the square in front of the federal building, the demonstrators marched through the old town in pouring rain.

Do you want to read our weekly top stories? Subscribe here .

The police were present in the background, reported Keystone-SDA. In recent months, Eritreans loyal to the Eritrean government and those in the opposition camp have clashed several times in Switzerland.

One of the main demands at the Bern demonstration was the abolition of the passport requirement. Eritreans who apply for a B residence permit in Switzerland, want to get married or request family reunification must present a valid Eritrean passport.

+ What's behind the clashes among Eritreans in Switzerland?

But the Eritrean embassy in Geneva is imposing unreasonable and inadmissible conditions, according to people at the rally.

Anyone applying for a passport, for example, must sign a declaration of remorse. In it, people must declare that they have been disloyal to the regime and accept any punishments if they return.

Against deportations and hate speech

The demonstrators also demanded that Switzerland not allow any deportations even to third party countries such as Rwanda. The Swiss parliament recently adopted a motion for rejected asylum seekers from Eritrea be returned to their homeland via a third country.

The rally was also directed“against racism and hate speech in Swiss politics”. Demonstrators pointed out that right-wing attitudes are currently targeting people from Eritrea.

Liaison to Eritrea

On Saturday, the Swiss government announced that it intends to send a liaison officer to eastern Africa for talks with Eritrea. A key concern is the refusal by the Eritrean government to accept repatriation of Eritrean nationals.

Adapted from German by DeepL/jdp.

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look
here , and if you have feedback on this news story please write to
... .

Deeply Read More Science Switzerland says it can't afford to take part in Copernicus programme Read more: Switzerland says it can't afford to take part in Copernicus programm More Workplace Switzerland How Switzerland plans to tackle its labour shortage Read more: How Switzerland plans to tackle its labour shortag More Culture Switzerland wins Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Read more: Switzerland wins Eurovision Song Contest 202 More Workplace Switzerland Owning a home is becoming increasingly difficult in Switzerland Read more: Owning a home is becoming increasingly difficult in Switzerlan More Life & Aging Swiss village of Lauterbrunnen mulls Venice-style tourist entry charge Read more: Swiss village of Lauterbrunnen mulls Venice-style tourist entry charge Most Discussed

MENAFN23062024000210011054ID1108362743


Swissinfo

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.