ERITREAN ACTIVIST ARRESTED IN SUDAN

An Eritrean activist, Yorusalem Yakob has reportedly been taken into custody by Sudanese intelligence officers in Khartoum, according to the Arabic website, Hurriyat Sudan. The UK resident, who is also heavily pregnant, is believed to have been arrested as she tried to board a plane on her way back to London following her recent trip to Khartoum to visit friends and relatives in the Sudanese capital.

The website further adds Ms Yakob, who was in the country on a UK Travel Document, is wanted for engaging in advocacy on human rights issues, particularly related to the plight of Eritrean victims of human trafficking in Sinai and elsewhere in the region. There are concerns the expecting mother is being threatened with deportation to Eritrea, where she could face harsh treatment and even death for being outspoken. However, various British human rights organisations are expected to plead Ms Yakob's case with the Sudanese government and call for her release.