Date: Monday, 29 October 2018
ASMARA / BERLIN (APA / AP) - The government of the East African state of Eritrea has asked Germany not to interfere in regional affairs. Background of the criticism is a speech by Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) on October 12 before the Bundestag, in which he denounced the human rights situation in the state of the Horn of Africa.
The statement released by the Information Ministry in Asmara on Saturday entitled "Germany's Cynical Attitude" states: "The banal and distorted presentation unfortunately reflects the hostile attitude that the German government has long held against Eritrea, as well as its view of the a looming rapprochement between Eritrea and Ethiopia. "
In July, Eritrea and former archenemy Ethiopia surprisingly had peace after two decades of conflict. Eritrea belonged until its independence 1993 to Ethiopia.
Maas criticized that the peace agreement with Ethiopia had "led to no improvement in the human rights situation in Eritrea at the present time." The regime also adheres to the obligatory National Service as the central social control element.
The government of the repressive country commits the population to an indefinite military and labor service that has forced thousands of people to flee. There are nearly 500,000 Eritrean refugees worldwide, of which around 50,000 are in Germany, according to the UNO's Refugee Relief Organization. Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) recently even spoke of 75,000 asylum seekers from Eritrea in Germany.
