Radio Erena: 17 June 2015
The protesters were marching against a Home Office report saying their home country is safe for them to return to.
Hundreds of protesters marched through the city centre and gathered outside the Home Office building.
The protesters were marching against a Home Office report released this March, which stated their African country of Eritrea was a safe place for them to return to.
Eritreans from across the country gathered in Liverpool to protest outside the Home Office building and deliver a letter outlining the tyrannical regime they would be forced to live under should they return home.
The crowd stood outside the Home Office in Union Street holding signs reading “No human is illegal” and “We need your support” as they asked for a representative of the Home Office to meet and receive their letter.
One organiser of the protest, Yacob, said: “The protest is about the Home Office report they put out in March 2015. The report says there is no problem and we will not be persecuted if we returned home to Eritrea.
“We have an open letter to give the Home Office which says that is not true. These protesters are from all parts of the UK and we have been organising it for some time.”
Protesters said they need the Home Office to understand the fear their home government instils in its citizens.
Many of those on the protest were too fearful of their home government to have their photograph taken or give their full names.
Yacob added: “We are asking the Home Office to be truthful about the regime in Eritrea and not just issue some report about how it is safe there. We are people who have been ruled by fear.”
Assistant Director of Liverpool’s Home Office Ian Macdonald greeted the protesters outside the Home Office building and received the letter to applause and cheering from the crowd.
He said: “We are dealing with fluid situations all the time. Circumstances change and that effects people around the world including the United Kingdom.
“We need these type of events to enable us to review our policies.”
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk
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