The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Escaping Repressive Eritrea

Text Size

Eritrea is a tragic country in a tragic continent. Created out of Ethiopia after years of conflict, the nation of four million is one of the most repressive in Africa. Now the soccer team has defected. The whole soccer tesm.

Reports the Washington Post:

Eritrea's entire national soccer team is seeking asylum in Kenya, joining tens of thousands of compatriots who have fled one of Africa's most repressive governments.

The team absconded after traveling to Nairobi for a regional tournament. Eritrea, with only about 4 million people, was the second-biggest source of asylum seekers in the world last year, and the missing players are probably the highest-profile defectors since the country won independence in 1993.

The 11 players and one substitute were reported missing over the weekend when the team plane returned to Eritrea without them after a match against Tanzania.

After going into hiding, the players contacted the U.N. refugee agency in Nairobi, which directed them to file asylum applications at Kenya's Immigration Ministry.

Nicholas Musonye, a Kenyan soccer official who first alerted the authorities to the missing players, said: "I have been informed by the tour guide who was with them that they are in Nairobi and have been seeking political asylum."

The number of Eritrean asylum seekers worldwide last year was second only to the total from Zimbabwe, according to the United Nations.

People are fleeing a combination of political repression, food shortages, open-ended military service and a moribund economy.

This may be a record. For years individuals and groups defected from the Soviet Union, Cuba, Eastern Europe, and other communist "people's paradises." But an entire team!?

Perhaps the army will next defect. Then the Eritrean people could be free.

View all comments (7) | Leave a comment

DrTomVoter| 12.20.09 @ 7:38AM

Another "developing" country heard from along with the reasons it will be developing for years and merits funds to combat climate change, which of course is paramount.

Eric Dondero| 12.20.09 @ 8:48AM

Notice everyone, how Bandow has completely ignored one of the biggest stories of the decade on the African continent: the current bill in Uganda to allow for the execution of homosexuals, and jailing of anyone who knows a homosexual and doesn't turn them in. Similar bills have been filed in Nigeria and Ruwanda.

Who is behind this? Radical Muslim clerics, surprise, surprise.

This is why the Leftwing Libertarian like Bandow (Lew Rockwell, Justin Raimondo, Steve Greenhut, Anthony Gregory, et.al.) can't touch the story with a ten foot pole.

Bandow and his cronies on the leftwing of the Libertarian movement, are patsys for Islamic Jihadists. They're anti-War under any circumstances, and even go so far as to coyly coddle fringe theories like "Roosevelt knew of Pearl Harbor," and "maybe there is something to the 9/11 Truther movement... at least we should give them a hearing."

Nah, don't expect to see any articles from Bandow supporting human rights for those fighting Radical Islam. Instead, you'll see more stuff like this Eritrea article, which is safe cause there's no Muslims involved.

Doug Bandow| 12.20.09 @ 5:30PM

Eric--Ah, my favorite sectarian libertarian Trotsky-wannabe. You are such a twit. This post is even sillier than most.

I take it you support the Eritrean government, since it is not Islamic. No need to criticize the repression. Just like, well, Burma, Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, et al. No need to say anything bad about them. They aren't Muslim.

You probably should check your facts before babbling incoherently. The Uganda proposal has garnered all sorts of attention, and even caught up mega-preacher Rick Warren, because it is being pushed by Christians. Of course, I probably shouldn't tell you, since you'll likely endorse it now. As long as repression isn't jihadist, what's the big deal, right?

By the way, you might check out my earlier post on Morocco, which at last look was Muslim. Also, look up what I've written on religious repression by Islamic states, including for American Spectator online. But that takes work--sorry. In fact, I have visited Christians overseas and stood on the ruins of churches and Bible schools destroyed by Muslim mobs.

But no worries. You are so cute when you babble incoherently. I look forward to another year of your peerless posts.

Merry Christmas, Eric

Interested Conservative| 12.20.09 @ 11:08AM

What an interesting series of comments following DrTomVoter.

Repressed gays and modern lighting, who knew there was a connection?

Richard Baker| 12.20.09 @ 11:36AM

Freedom is a natural yearning in the human heart. Mr. Jefferson, George Mason, and many other of the Founders understood that. However, the Kenyan and his ilk have repression and tyranny in their hearts which proves that the conflict between Freedom and Tyranny is ever ongoing. Sic Semper Tyrannis.