Editing: "HAPC" Team:
For the twelfth day, Eritrea continues to detain 14 Egyptian fishermen after their boat entered its territorial waters, which has sparked outrage among the Egyptian public regarding Eritrea’s repeated practices of detaining fishermen, disregarding the diplomatic relations between the two countries .
As a result, Egyptian public opinion witnessed a wave of anger and resentment regarding what Eritrea is doing to Egyptian fishermen, especially after two weeks of their detention. They called on the Egyptian authorities, through various social media platforms and opinion channels, to take a firm and explicit stance with the State of Eritrea and compel it to curb this behavior towards their fishermen , as the detention of the fishermen was not the first time, but rather dozens of times.
An image circulated on Egyptian opinion platforms
Egyptian tweeters added that Eritrea has gone too far in its lack of respect for the mutual diplomacy between the two countries, contradicting what appears officially to be bilateral relations.
The families of the fishermen recount that after they set sail in a boat owned by a crew member named “Zakaria Foda”, contact with them was lost, and then they learned of their detention by other fishermen who were working near the Eritrean “ Dahlak ” Islands , regarding the Eritrean navy’s seizure of the boat and its crew and taking them to the port of Massawa.
The families of the detainees expressed their regret at the leniency shown by the relevant Egyptian authorities towards the continued detention of their relatives by Eritrea.
According to Mirna, the fiancée of one of the detainees: “We appealed to the Egyptian Prime Minister’s office to address Eritrea through its ambassador or through any diplomatic channel, and we received a response from them about contacting the Egyptian mission in Eritrea, and that they would be informed as soon as any new developments came in, but so far we have not heard anything new from the government.”
Observers believe that there is a great contradiction and paradox between Eritrea’s positive diplomatic approach towards Egypt and its strict and unfair measures against Egyptian fishermen, and this may affect Egyptian-Eritrean relations in the future, if the Egyptian government takes into account the tension that has been present in Egyptian public opinion in recent days.
It is worth mentioning that Eritrea considers its territorial waters a red line for all fishermen, regardless of their nationality, and continues to arrest and detain fishermen from various neighboring countries, most notably Yemenis and Egyptians. It always imprisons fishermen with hard labor, and the prison term may reach years, along with the confiscation of fishing boats. It does this while ignoring the right of neighborliness or diplomatic exchange between it and the countries of the region.
