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Begin New Search Topic Diaspora Political Geography Eritrea

1. Unveiling Dissent: Eritrean Diaspora Festival Turmoil and Social Media Mobilization

Author:
Yonatan Tewelde
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Amidst the TikTok videos that inundated the Eritrean digital landscape during the summer of 2023, a tapestry of dissent unfolds. A wounded protestor, his head swathed in bandages, is ushered into an ambulance: a powerful testament to the toll of resistance. A striking photograph captures a black man in a blue shirt adorned with the raised fist logo of Birgade Nhamedu (a new, diaspora Eritrean, youth-led movement). He is handcuffed and escorted by three stern riot police officers, his silent defiance echoing louder than words. Videos depict intense street clashes between two factions in Israel, one clad in blue shirts and the other in red, hurling projectiles amidst tear gas clouds, their battlegrounds emblazoned with the fervor of discord. The lens then shifts to scenes of vulnerability, with two young women kneeling before the police, one clad in the emblematic blue shirt, the other brandishing the Israeli flag and a gallon of milk, a poignant plea for justice. Across borders, from Ontario to Seattle, a sea of blue-shirted protestors unites in dance, protest, and celebration. However, the more forceful videos paint a vivid picture of upheaval; festival venues overrun, tents ablaze, and the clash between the dissenting blues and the establishment’s red emblematic of a struggle that transcends geographical boundaries. These TikTok vignettes, widely shared and discussed with viral fervor, capture the essence of a burgeoning movement of global dissidents led by young Eritrean refugees. Their resistance is motivated by their opposition to an authoritarian government that has been in power since 1991. This movement represents a visceral reaction to the years of forced military conscription from which the prostestors sought refuge. The struggle unfolds as a response to a range of egregious acts, including enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappear- ance, torture, persecution, rape, and murder. These inhumane acts have been systematically carried out since the Eritrean government authorities assumed control of the territory in 1991. The United Nations has since condemned these actions as crimes against humanity.1
Topic:
Diaspora, Social Media, Dissent, and Mobilization
Political Geography:
Africa and Eritrea

2. Record Number of Forcibly Displaced Africans Likely to Grow

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
With Africa's population expected to double by 2050, the rapid increase in the number of forcibly displaced Africans of the past decade will continue to expand unless key drivers are reversed.
Topic:
Migration, United Nations, Diaspora, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, South Sudan, and Central African Republic

3. The Eritrean Diaspora: Savior or Gravedigger of the Regime? Diaspora Responses to the Imposition of UN Sanctions

Author:
Nicole Hirt
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article examines the impact of UN‐imposed sanctions on the stability of the Eritrean regime, using diaspora behavior as an explanatory variable of crucial importance. It explores the transnational nature of Eritrean society, which is characterized by long‐distance nationalism, and examines the history and structure of the Eritrean diaspora as well as its transformation since the political crisis of 2001. The paper argues that the government and its supporters among the diaspora, as well as regime opponents, have all instrumentalized the sanctions for their own specific purposes. While the former use the sanctions to create a “rally around the flag” effect and for fundraising purposes, the latter campaign against the 2 percent diaspora tax levied by the government because it may be used for illicit purposes in breach of the sanctions regime. However, due to the opposition\'s disunity and failure to organize joint campaigns, its efforts have so far failed to decisively contribute to the demise of Eritrea\'s crumbling rebel regime. Meanwhile financial flows to both the government\'s coffers and to private individuals continue to play a stabilizing role. Nevertheless, unsuccessful domestic policies, the mass exodus resulting from the militarization of the entire society and an isolationist foreign policy are all contributing to the growing weakness of the regime, and with it the State of Eritrea.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Diaspora, Insurgency, Fragile/Failed State, and Governance
Political Geography:
Africa, United Nations, and Eritrea

4. Full Issue

Author:
Sefi Atta, Kathleen Stassen Berger, Jacqueline Copeland Carson, Kinuthia Macharia, and Femi Ojo-Ade
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Ìrìnkèrindò: A Journal of African Migration
Institution:
Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration
Abstract:
CONTENTS Articles Independence Day — Sefi Atta....................................................................................................... 1 Immigration, Psychosocial Development: Implications for Africa and the US — Kathleen Stassen Berger ................................................................................................................. 30 “Africa” in Minnesota: New Models of Translocal Culture — Jacqueline Copeland Carson . 60 Criminal Convictions That Can Cause Non-U.S. Citizen Removal From The United States — Oláyínká Dánsàlámì ........................................................................................................ 71 African Immigrants in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area: Immigration Waves and Community Building — Kinuthia Macharia ................................................................... 79 Living In Paradise?: Africans In America— Femi Ojo-Ade ...................................................... 111 Rotatory Credit Schemes: A Comparative Analysis of an African Traditional Economic Institution in Contemporary Africa and its Diaspora — Iheanyi N. Osondu ................ 138 Oromo African Immigrants’ Experiences with Child Care — Deborah Ceglowski, Jaesook Gilbert, Greg Wiggan, Tekla Johnson, and Rosemary Traore ...................................... 166 Return Migration to Asmara, Eritrea: Readjustment Challenges — Berhane Keleta Chirum .. 221 Book Reviews Creating Africa in America: Translocal Identity in an Emerging World City — Jacqueline Copeland-Carson............................................................................................................ 245 Embracing the Infidel: Stories of Muslim Immigrants on the Journey West — Terri Bennett . 254 Film Reviews J’y Crois - I Believe in it: The Road to Decentralization in Mali, 2004 — Ekerete Udoh ........ 256 In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies, 2004 — Ekerete Udoh ............ 258 The Price of Aid, 2004 — Ekerete Udoh .................................................................................. 260
Topic:
Migration, Diaspora, Immigration, Film, Credit, Identity, and Child Care
Political Geography:
Africa, Rwanda, Eritrea, Mali, and United States of America