Govt protests over "mass arrest" of Eritreans in Sudan

The Eritrean government has protested to the Sudanese authorities over the "mass arrests" of Eritrean citizens in the country. The Eritrean News Agency (ERNA) quoted the foreign ministry as saying Sudanese security forces on Monday "illegally entered" the compound of the Eritrean Community Centre in Khartoum "and arrested many Eritreans, including two members of the Eritrean embassy in Khartoum". "Apart from this, the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed that the government of the Sudan has started mass arrests of innocent Eritreans all over the Sudan," the news agency said. The foreign ministry summoned the Sudanese ambassador in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and handed him an official memorandum of protest, demanding the immediate release of all arrested Eritreans. It also called on the Sudanese government "to refrain from such irresponsible acts". Sudanese government officials were not immediately available for comment. Meanwhile, Khartoum has denied allegations by Eritrea that the governor of Sudan's eastern Kassala region has called on the UN refugee agency UNHCR to "move all Eritreans in the administrative region of Kassala to Eritrea within one week". "The allegations are totally unfounded," a statement from the Sudanese embassy in Asmara said. It said Sudan was committed to the tripartite agreement signed with UNHCR and Eritrea on the return of refugees. "We are in fact in the process of coordinating efforts to transport those who wish to return to their homeland in spite of the closure of the common border as a result of the recent Eritrean aggression," the statement added. Khartoum has accused Eritrea of involvement in recent attacks by rebel Sudanese forces in eastern Sudan, charges strongly denied by Asmara. "To protect refugees against any hazardous acts by the invading forces, they will be moved to camps away from the border area," the statement said. "This operation is being carried out in full coordination with the concerned authorities."