News Brief
Antoinette Isama
Nov. 01, 2017 08:40PM EST

Students Have Been Protesting In Eritrea Against the Government Interfering with Their School

Anti-government protests are rare in Eritrea, as the country does not protect the freedom to protest.

Students in Asmara, Eritrea, staged a demonstration Tuesday to protest the government's interference in the affairs of a community-funded Muslim school, BBC reports.

The students attend Diae Al Islam, one of the best private schools in the capital. They offer both secular and Islamic education. Their protest was a response to reports that its chairman, Hajj Musa Mohammed Nur, 90, and other members of the school board were arrested after pushing back against the government's attempts to regulate the school.

BBC reports a video circulating on social media that shows Nur speaking before his arrest, saying that authorities demanded that the school drop religious teachings, ban the hijab and stop the separation of sexes.

There have also been reports of shooting in the city, where Information Minister Yemane Meskel downplayed reports of violence on Twitter.

Some Eritreans on the platform seem to agree with Meskel.

The U.S. Embassy, however, said it received reports of gunfire in "several locations."

According to Tesfalem Araia of BBC's Tigrinya service, the Eritrean government cut off internet access in the wake of the protest, as messages aren't coming in from people in the country.

Eritrea has been under rule by President Isaias Afwerki for 26 years. Anti-establishment protests like this in the country are very rare because of its restrictions and not having a constitution that guarantees the rights of citizens, including the right to protest.

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