Rijkswijk mayor bans Eritrean gathering for fear of new unrest, rioting
Mayor Huri Sahin of Rijkswik has banned a meeting of Eritreans that was planned at the Event Plaza conference center this month. According to the mayor, the conference center had not reported the meeting to the municipality, giving it and the authorities no time to take measures against possible unrest, Omroep West reports.
The Federation of Eritrean Communities in the Netherlands (FEN) organized the closed members’ meeting in the conference center, expecting some 500 attendees.
There have been tensions in the Eritrean community for some time. Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki runs a dictatorial regime that also tries to exercise control over Eritreans abroad, for example, by requiring them to give part of their income to the regime. In the Netherlands, policy like this has resulted in several clashes between proponents and opponents of the regime.
For example, two years ago, several people were injured in a mass brawl in Rijswijk, also at the Event Plaza. And in February last year, a confrontation between two groups of Eritreans in The Hague escalated into riots. Several people have been convicted and sentenced to up to 12 months in prison because of this violence.
Given this unrest, mayor Sahin cannot responsibly allow the meeting this month with no notice. “This gives the municipality and the police no preparation time to take security measures,” she said to Omroep West. She agrees that the right to assembly is a fundamental right. “But if you do not report such a meeting in time, you completely ignore the tensions within the Eritrean community.”
According to the mayor, the conference center’s permit states that it should have reported this meeting to the municipality at least four weeks in advance.
Mayor Sahin also said that the national government was not taking the unrest in the Eritrean community seriously enough. “Unfortunately, we have personally experienced how excessive and serious the riots can be. It has led to violence against the police and emergency services. We really do not want to experience that again,” she said. “Unfortunately, a solution has not yet been found. As a result, we are being confronted with it locally again, while we cannot solve the problem locally. Not even with a hundred riot police officers.”
The FEN told the broadcaster that it was disappointed in the mayor’s decision and by the fact that the conference center failed to report the event as it should have. “We may consider postponing the date and ensuring that the report reaches the municipality in time,” a spokesperson said.
