Missing Eritrean footballers resurface

By Cyrus Ombati

The 12 members of the Eritrean national soccer team who went missing have resurfaced at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees offices seeking asylum.

They arrived at the UNHCR offices in Nairobi in a hired car and met with officials. They were later referred to the refugee offices at the Ministry of Immigration headquarters, where their case was to be heard.

It was not immediately established what the Government and UNHCR decided on the cases but sources said it was being considered.

The development came as police launched a search on the players after their officials reported they had failed to return home after competing in the Cecafa Cup tournament in Nairobi.

Team organiser Nicolas Musonye alerted police when only 13 team members departed after the tournament on Sunday.

UNHCR offices

A police team had been formed to pursue the case with a view of locating the players.

The officers had interrogated some Eritrean officials before getting information the players had arrived at the UNHCR offices.

Eritrea is under the rule of President Isaias Afwerki, whose government has imprisoned critics and exerted authoritarian controls over the economy, media and religion, according to UN reports and human rights organisations.

The United States accuses Eritrea of arming Islamic insurgents who are trying to topple Somalia’s UN backed transitional government.

Eritrea denies the allegation, but Uganda has sought UN sanctions against the Eritreans as a result.

Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993, and the two fought a two-year border war in the late 1990s.

Eritrean forces also clashed with troops from neighbouring Djibouti.