On the occasion of this year's World Refugee Day (20 June 2004), Eritrean students and refugees in South Africa, along with other refugees in the country, conducted a peaceful demonstration today the 21 st of June 2004.   more »

PEACEFUL MARCH IN SOUTH AFRICA

 

On the occasion of this year’s World Refugee Day (20 June 2004), Eritrean students and refugees in South Africa, along with other refugees in the country, conducted a peaceful demonstration today the 21^st of June 2004. The demonstrators, who departed from the corner of Brown and Prinslo Streets in Pretoria, marched through the main streets of the city and gathered in front of the UNHCR Office in Pretoria. The purpose of the march was primarily to highlight the problems refugees are facing in South Africa. Besides, it was aimed at exposing some of the injustices perpetrated against refugees in South Africa. Eritrean demonstrators also raised the predicament of innocent Eritrean refugees currently threatened to forcible deportation in Libya. Some of the placards displayed by Eritrean students and refugees on the march read as follows:

 

Ø      UNHCR should not let the Malta case repeated in Libya

Ø      UNHCR help Eritreans in Libya: they are in death raw

Ø      Eritrean Embassy is a threat to South African Democracy

Ø      We condemn the interference of the Eritrean Embassy in the internal procedures of South Africa

Ø      Condemn dictators: they are the cause of our migration

Ø      We call for the protection of all Eritreans in South Africa

 

In a related news Eritrean students and refugees in South Africa have also commemorated Eritrea’s Martyr’s Day by a candle vigil on the 20^th June 2004.

 

Today’s demonstration which was organised on the occasion of World Refugee Day is a continuation of the relentless efforts towards the salvation of Eritrean refugees in Libya and the promotion of refugees’ rights in South Africa and else where. At the end of the demonstration, Eritrean students and refugees submitted the following petition to the office of the UNHCR in South Africa.

PUBLIC DOCUMENT
AI Index: EUR 33/002/2004