Dylan Bettencourt
Five members of the Eritrea under-20 women’s team who escaped their regime during a tournament held in Uganda last year remain in hiding.
The five players are said to be “safe and well” after fleeing hours before their game in the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Women’s Under-20 Championship last November, according to the Guardian.
Around 60 footballers have escaped Eritrea in an attempt to get away from the dictatorship of President Isaias Afwerki since 2009, but this is the first case that involves female players.
The Federation of Uganda Football (Fufa) established an investigation into the missing players but spokesperson Ahmed Hussein said the matter was handed over to the Uganda police.
“It’s out of our jurisdiction,” he said.
Cecafa executive director Auka Gecheo said the disappearance was investigated by all the necessary parties.
“As the tournament organisers, we did inform the authorities of the disappearance of the players and offered all relevant cooperation that was required by the investigation authorities,” he said.
A United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea released a report on concerns across the nation.
The report indicates circumstances such as forced military conscription, arbitrary arrests, disappearances and torture.
Eritrea is a small country on the Horn of Africa, with a population of fewer than six million. It hasn’t held an election since gaining independence in 1993.
The report added that children as young as 14 were enlisted to fight in the conflict against Ethiopia.
“I remain gravely concerned by the situation of hundreds of Eritreans who have been disappeared and arbitrarily detained in secret prisons in violation of human rights standards,” Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker wrote in the report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council.
