Interview with Samia Tecle

Series:

African Perspectives

  » # Episodes: 76
  » Most Recent: 21 Apr, 2015
  » Website: http://afri-perspectives.blogspot.com/

Length: 0:22:43
Uploaded: 23 Aug, 2014

Recording Date: 23 Jul, 2014
Recording Location: CHRY Toronto
Logsheet: none
Language: English
Topical for: Timeless
Status: Complete, Ready to Air
Copyright:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Program Title: Eritrean Diaspora
Description: In early July, The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) set up an inquiry commission to look into human rights abuses in Eritrea. The three-member panel is due to report back to the UN body in one year. The UNHRC censured the "widespread and systematic" human rights violations in Eritrea, including torture and other cruel punishments. The British rights group, Amnesty International, alleged last year that nearly 10,000 Eritreans had been imprisoned for political reasons since independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Last month, four Eritrean Catholic bishops took the rare step of publicly criticizing life in country, describing it as "desolate." Young Eritrean men are obligated to perform national service until the age of 40, reportedly prompting an estimated 3,000 to flee the country each month. All private media have been shut down as well.

We spoke with Samia Tecle about the current state of affairs in Eritrea, especially with regards to its disapora. Samia was born and raised in Toronto to Eritrean parents who left the country during the early 80's. She studied at York university, and has always been interested in issues of diasporic identity, development and involvement of people in the diaspora in their home country. She is currently working for a refugee serving agency in Toronto and plans to perhaps pursue further studies on these issues in a PhD. Samia has published in journals on the issues that we discuss in the interview

Host(s): Omme-Salma Rahemtullah
Featured Speakers/Guests: Samia Tecle

Credits: CHRY 105.5fm

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