Nicolas Germain
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/ 29 November 2005

Eritreans flee as war fears mount

Eritreans are fleeing their country in growing numbers amid fears of a new war with Ethiopia and economic hardships blamed on authoritarian government policies, according to diplomats and United Nations figures. Diplomats say the numbers are rising even as those who leave risk being shot if caught and their families face prosecution.

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/ 17 October 2005

UN vacates nearly half of monitoring posts in Eritrea

The United Nations operation monitoring the increasingly tense border between Ethiopia and Eritrea said on Monday that Asmara’s ban on helicopter overflights would force it to vacate nearly half its posts on Eritrean territory. The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea said a review of the ban had led it to conclude that it could no longer staff 18 of the smallest and most isolated of its 40 observation posts.

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/ 22 October 2004

War of words intensifies between Eritrea, Sudan

Relations between fractious neighbours Asmara and Khartoum reached a new low this week after Eritrea claimed to have uncovered a Sudanese-backed plot to assassinate President Issaiais Afeworki. Its announcement that it had arrested a ”terrorist” cell allegedly deployed to attack civilians as well as kill Afeworki sparked a furious reaction from Sudan.

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/ 29 September 2004

Eritreans celebrate highlight of orthodox calendar

Draped in white shawls, thousands of Asmarinos thronged September Square, the largest in the Eritrean capital, to mark the Meskel, the highlight of the orthodox religious calendar, which commemorates the discovery of Christ’s cross by Saint Helen. About half of Eritrea’s four million inhabitants are Orthodox Christians, according to the government.