The 'embassy' of Eritrea on Javastraat in The Hague.

Ⓒ ANP

At the end of last month, a majority of the House of Representatives asked Zijlstra to close the Eritrean embassy. The reason is the persistent habit of Eritrea to take money from the countrymen who have fled to the Netherlands via the embassy.

The ambassador was already called April last year after a youth conference was organized in Veldhoven where the right hand of the Eritrean president would speak.The conference would be a means to monitor fellow countrymen and put pressure on them.

"On the basis of this maintenance and earlier discussions with the Eritrean authorities, the government notes that there is no understanding on the Eritrean side of the great Dutch political and social resistance to the way in which the diaspora tax is collected and also that there is no willingness on the Eritrean side. is to meet this ", writes Zijlstra in a letter to the House of Representatives.

Because years of political upheaval and diplomatic pressure on the Eritrean government to stop with the diaspora tax have w ill, VVD and D66 decided in December that it was enough. A firm signal had to come. The Chamber arranged itself behind it.

Zijlstra already indicated in the House that closing the embassy would be difficult.After all, there is no evidence established by the court that "the Eritrean embassy office in The Hague has committed unlawful or punishable offenses." However, the requirement of a person's departure in diplomatic traffic is considered to be "particularly severe measure".

Yet it is not enough to put an end to the extortion practices of the Eritrean regime, writes Zijlstra. This makes it 'crucial' for victims to file a report.