By TESFA-ALEM TEKLE
Ayssaita, Afar Region, Ethiopia – In a powerful display of unity and resolve, thousands of Red Sea Afar refugees gathered today at the Ayssaita Refugee Camp in Ethiopia’s Afar Regional State for a peaceful demonstration calling for justice, accountability, and international action against what they describe as decades of systematic persecution by the Eritrean regime.
Organised by Committee of the Red Sea Afar Refugees, the demonstration saw the participation of tribal and religious leaders, youth groups, women, community representatives, survivors, eyewitnesses, and victims of past atrocities.
The protest was held in support of a formal complaint submitted by the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (RSADO) to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, a body of the African Union.
The complaint outlines a harrowing catalogue of human rights abuses allegedly committed by the Eritrean government over the past thirty years, including:
Genocide
Arbitrary arrests
Brutal sieges and starvation
Forced military conscription
Mass displacement of Afar communities
Ethnic cleansing through demographic engineering
According to the Committee, these acts constitute violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, notably:
Article 4: Right to life
Article 5: Right to human dignity
Article 6: Right to liberty and security of the person
Articles 8 & 9: Rights to freedom of belief, opinion, and expression
Articles 15 & 17: Rights to work and education
They are also seen as contraventions of international humanitarian law and the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Protesters carried banners condemning Eritrea’s policies of ethnic exclusion, political repression, and systemic marginalization.
Their collective demands were clear and urgent:
Immediate cessation of human rights violations;
Lifting of the humanitarian blockade;
Delivery of aid to affected populations;
Release of all political prisoners;
End to forced military conscription;
Safe and voluntary return of displaced Afar people to their ancestral lands.
The Demonstration Organising Committee issued a strong appeal to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the broader international community, and regional and global human rights institutions.
Specifically, the Committee urged the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to:
Launch a thorough and impartial investigation into the reported abuses;
Ensure perpetrators are held accountable under international law;
Implement urgent protection mechanisms for Afar refugees and communities at risk.
“This demonstration marks the beginning of a sustained campaign,” the Committee stated in a statement it shared to The East African Daily.
“It is not just about highlighting past and present suffering; it is about ensuring that the fundamental rights of the Red Sea Afar people are recognised, respected, and enforced in practice—not merely acknowledged on paper.”
The Red Sea Afar people, an Indigenous community historically rooted in Eritrea’s coastal regions, have faced escalating displacement and marginalization.
Protest organisers stress that this is part of a broader pattern aimed at altering the demographic and cultural identity of the Red Sea Afar region, replacing indigenous populations with groups aligned with the regime’s political interests.
With today’s demonstration, the Red Sea Afar community seeks not only to draw international attention to their plight but also to galvanize meaningful action from regional and global actors.
Their call is urgent and clear: justice must not be delayed, and silence in the face of such abuses must no longer be tolerated.
