Tag: Mussie Zerai

Eritreans still suffering despite peace deal with Ethiopia, says priest

October 29, 2018 Eritrea Abune Antonios, Asmara, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Human rights, Mussie Zerai, Religious freedom, UN

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Cathedral in Asmara, Eritrea. (Photo: David Stanley)

An Eritrean priest has called on the international community not to close their eyes to the reality of what is happening in his country, reports the Catholic news site Agenzia Fides. While bilateral relations with countries in the region are improving, the harassment of religious groups at home continues, Fr. Mussie . . . Read More

Eritrea government closes Church-run initiatives

January 19, 2018 Eritrea Asmara, Catholics, Eritrea, Mussie Zerai

In a further clampdown on religious groups in Eritrea, the government is closing all social initiatives run by the Catholic Church. Mussie Zerai, an Eritrean priest now living in Italy, told Catholic news agency Fides that in the last few months the government closed five Catholic health clinics and has . . . Read More

‘Refer Eritrea to ICC for crime against humanity of persecution’

June 10, 2016 Eritrea Eritrean Orthodox Church, Europe, International Criminal Court, Migrants, Mussie Zerai, Refugees, UN

In 2015, Eritreans made up 25 per cent of the migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. gettyimages.com A new report from the United Nations says “systematic, gross and widespread crimes against humanity”, including abuses of religious freedom, have been committed in Eritrea and should be investigated by . . . Read More

Eritrean priest nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

October 6, 2015 Eritrea Eritrea, Ethiopia, Migrants, Mussie Zerai, Refugees

An Eritrean priest who has helped to save the lives of hundreds of refugees has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Pope Francis and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Father Mussie Zerai, who lives in Switzerland, has received hundreds of emergency phone calls from refugees. (His number is written . . . Read More

Report claims 30,000 Eritreans kidnapped in 5 years

December 10, 2013 Eritrea Europe, Human rights, Kidnapping, Mussie Zerai

A report presented to the European Parliament shows that around 30,000 Eritreans have been kidnapped since 2007 and taken to the Sinai while ransom payments are demanded. The report, conducted by an Eritrean human rights activist and professors from a Dutch University, says that a total of around $600 million . . . Read More

African migrants risk lives to flee war and persecution

October 8, 2013 Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, Italy, Lampedusa, Libya, Migrants, Mussie Zerai, Netherlands, Refugees, Somalia

The latest tragic incident of hundreds of African migrants drowning in European waters tells a wider story. Scratch beneath the surface and for many of the migrants, their stories are not only of wanting a better life. Often they will be of fleeing persecution or conflict at home, and paying . . . Read More

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