Eritrean authorities reportedly detaining Sudanese nationals in Asmara

Al-Anba daily newspaper on September 19, 2003

In a surprising development, Eritrean security and police authorities have carried out campaigns to detain a number of Sudanese residents in the capital, Asmara, and the towns of Ginda and Teseny in northern Eritrea.

A prominent official in the Eritrean Ministry of Interior told Eritrean radio that the campaigns were carried out by the passport department and immigration and were aimed at reviewing residence permits and papers to settle the state of foreign residents in Eritrea.

However, sources from the opposition Eritrean National Alliance told Sudanese Media Centre that the statement of the Eritrean official was untrue and pointed out that the campaigns were aimed at Sudanese nationals only, adding that a number of them had been taken to camps outside town and were being detained under appalling conditions.

The sources added that a number of Sudanese who had been arrested last week had disappeared.

According to the same sources, Eritrean army units have cordoned off all camps of Sudanese opposition and announced that all people living in these camps were subject to house arrest for the time being until the end of peace negotiations in Naivasha.