Kale Hiwot Church’s humanitarian projects to be liquidated.
LOS ANGELES – The Eritrean government demanded this month that the Kale Hiwot Church surrender all its property and physical assets to the government.
The written confiscation order targets possessions of the Protestant church’s relief department, which has for more than 20 years functioned as a legally recognized non-governmental organization (NGO) under the Eritrean Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
The demand was issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, which has been closing down NGO operations in Eritrea steadily for the past two years. But according to local Christians, this government ministry has no legal authority to issue and enforce such an order.
The sweeping property confiscation would include all church buildings, schools, vehicles and other assets.
Security police raided and closed down the central offices of the Kale Hiwot Church in Asmara’s Paradizo district last October. They arrested all the church’s administrators and staff , together with a few visitors present at the time. Officers also confiscated the church’s computers, office equipment and files.
Keys to the church offices have remained in the hands of the police ever since.
The raid in effect closed down not only the church office, but also several humanitarian aid projects operated by Kale Hiwot, which oversees an orphanage and kindergartens throughout the country.
“This is a direct attack upon the church,” one source told Compass. “It is the final act of banning this church.”
