Refoulement: France returns an Eritrean woman to Eritrea

The prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales (South-West of France) deported an Eritrean national to her country of origin on 6 June 2019. According to RFI Africa, the French prefecture arrested the young woman on 8 May at the Spanish border with a “counterfeit” residence permit. The French newspaper Le Figaro explains that the young Eritrean woman filed an asylum application with the administrative court and appealed to the jurisdiction, unsuccessfully, after being placed in a detention centre in Toulouse by the French authorities. It is the first return from France to Eritrea and can be considered refoulement, due to the fact that the woman is likely to face persecution and human rights abuses in Eritrea.

Eritrean Women march for justice outside ICC in The Hague

Yesterday, March 8, and on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, Eritrean women from a number of European countries gathered in The Hague to march outside the International Criminal Court. With this symbolic move, around 200 women demanded justice for their relatives who are being held in prison and the ones that have been victims of the PFDJ, the ruling party of Eritrea.