On 18 September 2019, Dryad Global issued a situation report (SITREP) regarding a possible high-jacking in the Red Sea of persons on board a personal sailing yacht. The specific area of this incident is 18 nautical miles north of the Dahlak Island, Eritrea. This yacht issued a “MAYDAY” call while they were being approached by a vessel with military clan occupants, bearing automatic weapons. The yacht is believed to have four (4) Russian nationals on board.
This area of the Red Sea is known for smuggling and human trafficking from Yemen to Eritrea. These waters are often patrolled by Eritrea military forces, and in this case, analysts believe the vessel is likely the Eritrea coast guard. Piracy is not common in this area and high-jacking would be an unusual event. Private vessels are not encouraged to sail in these waters.
On 16 September 2019 the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) reported that the Committee to Protect Journalists ranked Eritrea "the most censored country in the world." The recent peace deal with Ethiopia removed the Eritrean government’s primary rationale for its vice-like grip on power and disregard for the civil and political rights of its people. Yet it did not open any civil freedoms. In June 2019, over a hundred well-known African intellectuals wrote to the Eritrea president stating concern about political prisoners and the steady stream of young asylum-seekers, desperate to escape the constraints of life in the Eritrea. But nothing has changed and Eritrea citizens remain fearful to express themselves on these liberty issues.
Eritrea’s history is fraught with oppression. CFR claim that the ruling elite who are “so consumed by the past should be aware that history.” This includes the very recent African history, which is ripe with past “liberators” who then became the current “oppressors.” The current government is now on the hot-seat regarding the religious oppression of Jehovah Witness and Catholic Christians who are still being held in prison and schools shut down.[1]
How this high-jacking is connected to the current state of politics in Eritrea, remains to be seen. Regardless, this is a stark reminder of the perils of transiting in waters controlled by hostile regimes, especially in privatly owned vessels.
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[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/eritrean-bishops-say-seizure-of-catholic-schools-is-hatred-against-the-faith-10732
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