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Eritrean footballers seek asylum in Botswana

AFP, GABORONE (BOTSWANA): Ten footballers from Eritrea’s national squad have sought political asylum in Botswana after playing in a qualifier match for the 2018 World Cup, an Eritrean non-governmental organisation said Friday. The players were part of the national team — known as the Red Sea Camels — that lost 3-1 to Botswana in Francistown on Tuesday night.
“About 10 football players from the country declined to board a plane home... stating that they needed political asylum,” said Dick Bayford, a human rights lawyer representing the Pretoria-based Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR). “They were then taken into custody for interviewing.”
The players reportedly absconded from their camp the day after the match before being picked up by police. Eritrea footballers have repeatedly sought asylum while playing abroad.
In 2012, 18 players claimed asylum in Uganda after a match there. Another six fled while in Angola in 2007, and 12 more did the same in Kenya in 2009. Military service is compulsory in Eritrea, where President Isaias Afwerki has been in power since independence in 1993. The Eritrean government dismissed the report.

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Eritrean footballers seek asylum in Botswana AFP, GABORONE (BOTSWANA): Ten footballers from Eritreas national squad have sought political asylum in Botswana after playing in a qualifier match for the 2018 World Cup, an Eritrean non-governmental organisation said Friday. The players were part of the national team known as the Red Sea Camels that lost 3-1 to Botswana in Francistown on Tuesday night. About 10 football players from the country declined to board a plane home... stating that they needed political asylum, said Dick Bayford, a human rights lawyer representing the Pretoria-based Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR). They were then taken into custody for interviewing. The players reportedly absconded from their camp the day after the match before being picked up by police. Eritrea footballers have repeatedly sought asylum while playing abroad. In 2012, 18 players claimed asylum in Uganda after a match there. Another six fled while in Angola in 2007, and 12 more did the same in Kenya in 2009. Military service is compulsory in Eritrea, where President Isaias Afwerki has been in power since independence in 1993. The Eritrean government dismissed the report.