More than 200 Eritrean opposition supporters were arrested in Germany following a violent outbreak during an Eritrean diaspora event organised by supporters of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The incident occurred in the southern city of Stuttgart on Saturday and drew swift condemnation from German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
At least 26 German police officers sustained injuries during the riot that erupted on Saturday. Minister Faeser voiced her concern on Sunday, emphasising, “Foreign conflicts must not be carried out in our country.”
The violence ensued when approximately 200 protesters began hurling stones, bottles, and other objects at police officers and participants in a pro-Isaias gathering. Four participants and two opposition supporters were also among the injured.
Carsten Hofle, the deputy police commissioner in Stuttgart, described the situation as involving massive violence between the two opposing groups, emphasising that neither the intensity nor the extent of the violence at the Eritrean diaspora event had been anticipated.
The event witnessed a confrontation between around 90 Eritrean government supporters and several hundred opposition backers who refused to assemble at the site designated by authorities for their protest, according to police. Officers reported being assaulted with bats, nails, metal rods, bottles, and stones.
Saturday’s protests mark the latest in a series of disturbances associated with Eritrean diaspora events in Germany and other locations. In July, a clash at an Eritrean festival in the western German city of Giessen left 22 police officers injured. Additionally, a confrontation between Eritrean government supporters and opponents in Tel Aviv, Israel, in early September resulted in one of the most violent street confrontations among African asylum seekers and migrants in the city’s recent history.
Eritrea has witnessed tens of thousands of people fleeing to Europe, with many alleging mistreatment by Isaias’s repressive government. The conflicts that arise during gatherings like Saturday’s underscore the profound division within the Eritrean diaspora, comprising those who maintain ties with the government and those who have fled into exile, vehemently opposing Isaias’s regime.
Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in May 1993 under the leadership of Isaias Afwerki, has been characterised by his authoritarian rule. The country has faced sanctions for its involvement in regional conflicts, including recent allegations of abuses by its military in the Tigray War in Ethiopia.