"Eritrea's top diplomat in Australia, Yassin Omer Mahmoud, freely admits
that the Melbourne consulate does impose a two per cent levy on services.
He describes it as a contribution to national recovery, and denies that it
is compulsory.
And he says he's seen no directive from the Australian government telling
him to stop asking for the payments"
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/03/17/calls-probe-eritrean-diaspora-tax-Australia
17 Mar 2014 - 7:48pm
Calls for probe into Eritrean 'diaspora tax' in Australia
According to the UN, the Eritrean government has been destabilising the
Horn of Africa by redirecting funds raised through a so-called diaspora tax
to armed groups, including Al Shabaab.
Members of the Eritrean community say they're being forced to pay the two
per cent tax on their incomes to the Eritrean Consulate in Melbourne - the
country's only diplomatic office in Australia.
David, who does not want to be identified, has shown SBS receipts from the
consulate indicating he's been paying the tax for years.
"When I came here, I wanted to renew my passport because I was still a
skilled migrant, so I went there and my passport had expired and I said I
need to extend it because I wanted to travel, so I went to the Consulate
and they asked me to pay 2 percent."
Members of the Eritrean community say failure to pay the tax means they
cannot obtain new passports, or other services from the Eritrean government.
And they claim family members back in Eritrea can be intimidated by
government agents if they don't pay.
The federal opposition's spokeswoman on foreign affairs, Tanya Plibersek,
says the reports are concerning.
"We know that in 2011 the United Nations Security Council banned the paying
of such a tax and the Australian government at the time made very clear to
the Consul here that the tax should not be collected here in Australia."
The Australian Greens' deputy leader Adam Bandt raised the issue of the tax
on behalf of the Eritrean community with the previous Labor government.
He says he's concerned by the claims that community members in Australia
are still being asked to pay the tax.
"It's very worrying that people who have come to this country seeking a
better life are now being pursued. They're forced to pay a tax, pay money
by blackmail or they won't get services."
Tanya Plibersek says the federal government needs to investigate the
allegations.
"I think it's very important to establish the facts as a first step. So if
members of the Eritrean community have further allegations it's very
important to contact the government with those allegations to ensure that
there is a full disclosure of this practice occurring here in Australia."
Ahmed Abdelrehim is from a group calling itself the Freedom Friday Project,
which represents Eritrean youth.
He says he would like to see the Australian government take stronger action.
"As an Australian Eritrean, I don't want anyone in my country to intimidate
me in Australia and I don't want anyone to force me to do anything that is
illegal I'd like the Australian government to be very tough and say that
this is an illegal activity and should stop immediately."
Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt agrees.
"At the very least the Australian government should put the representatives
of the Eritrean regime on notice that they must stop this practice and give
them a very clear directive that it is not permissable for this kind of
blackmailing to happen on Australian soil."
Eritrea's top diplomat in Australia, Yassin Omer Mahmoud, freely admits
that the Melbourne consulate does impose a two per cent levy on services.
He describes it as a contribution to national recovery, and denies that it
is compulsory.
And he says he's seen no directive from the Australian government telling
him to stop asking for the payments.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has told SBS when it becomes aware of
potential breaches of Australian laws it passes that information to the
relevant federal and state law enforcement authorities.
It says it does not itself have investigatory powers into alleged breaches
of Australian domestic law.
Received on Mon Mar 17 2014 - 10:31:17 EDT