The long overdue reaction by the British Government

The Eritrean government in its usual high-handed way has fallen foul of the British authorities in an attempt to treat British citizens with the same inhuman and illegal disdain that it extends to its own populace. For more than five months, four Britons have been detained incommunicado without access to any consular services or legal help.

They appear, also, not to have been charged with any crime. This is in breach of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom has been denied any information or engagement in dialogue. Whatever these Britons may or may not have done, they are entitled to due process of law and some basic human rights although Eritrea, after all, has no independent judicial system to speak of. The Eritrean Government seems to think that it and its supporters in diaspora are immune to certain laws.

It is now waking up to the fact that the British government has retaliated by implementing the same kind of restrictions that apply to foreign diplomats and visitors to Eritrea and, more importantly, by investigating the questionable legality of the ‘tax’ (2-3% of gross income) collected by the Eritrean Government from its citizens abroad, even those who are on state benefits such as Income Support. http://ukinitaly.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=601623682

In cases where one spouse, for instance, is not working, the other has to double their contributions. The Eritrean Government seems to think that it is authorised to demand inspection of P60 (a tax document which shows how much was earned and how much tax was paid during the tax year), Payslips, Proof of Income Support and other normally highly confidential documents relating to income and benefits which, of course, are not to be seen by anyone apart from the workers/claimants and the respective UK government departments. How many laws is the Eritrean Government breaking?

I have personally encountered an Eritrean employed by the UN, who despite the fact that UN employees are exempt from paying taxes, has connived to make them pay 2% of his high salary to the Eritrean Government, and then have it reimbursed to him by the UN.
Non – payment of this tax by Eritreans to the Eritrean government can result in the seizure of property in Eritrea, inheritances are blocked, i.e. if the tax has not been paid even power of attorney can be jeopardised. As if these were not enough, your children can have travel limitations imposed upon them preventing them from going to Eritrea from diaspora, and these penalties apply equally to any unpaid extra tax such as ‘draught tax’, etc..

How will the Eritrean Ambassador Tesfamichael Gerahtu continue to please his master Isaias Afewerki, now that he is ordered to stop extorting ‘illegal tax’  from Eritreans in the UK, and his own movements and that of his staff are restricted to London? No more Sheffield. No more Manchester. No more Birmingham for Mr Gerahtu.

I welcome this long overdue reaction by the British Government. It remains to be seen what will happen and how relations between the two governments will be changed in the future if the four detainees are finally granted access to the British Consular services.

Elsa Chyrum
London, UK
28 May 2011