Saudi Arabia Deports Tigrayans; Ethiopia Detains Some of Them

 Human Rights Watch published on 5 January 2022 a report titled "Ethiopia: Returned Tigrayans Detained, Abused."  

Human Rights Watch reports that Saudi Arabia has been deporting Tigrayans to reception centers in Ethiopia where some of them are being unlawfully held.  There are 8 detention centers in the Addis Ababa area and other regional centers.  Some young male Tigrayans have been sent to forced labor sites.  

Chinese Company Labor Abuses in Nigeria

 Global Voices, which receives funding from numerous sources including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, published on 22 September 2021 a report titled "Chinese Firms in Nigeria Face Widespread Labour Abuse Allegations, Tainting Bilateral Relationship" by Nwachukwu Egbunike.  

The report identifies two major categories of infractions by Chinese companies in Nigeria: industrial accidents caused by lack of safety standards, and forced labor.  

Trafficking in Persons: East Africa and the Horn

The U.S. Department of State has just released the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report. It ranks countries into 4 Tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watchlist, and Tier 3. No country in East Africa and the Horn was included in Tier 1.

Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are in Tier 2: do not fully comply with Trafficking Victims Protection Act's (TVPA) minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with these standards.

Djibouti is on the Tier 2 Watchlist: same as above but is delinquent in several respects.

Eritrea, South Sudan, and Sudan are in Tier 3: governments do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

Somalia is a special case.

Human Rights Watch Criticizes Eritrea's Mining Sector

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report in January 2013 titled Hear No Evil: Forced Labor and Corporate Responsibility in Eritrea's Mining Sector.  It pointed out that Eritrea's first modern mine, a joint venture between the government and Canadian firm Nevsun Resources, has produced hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of gold. 

HRW argued that the mining company is walking into a potential minefield of human rights problems by risking entanglement in the Eritrean government's program of "forced labor" or national service program.  HRW asserted that the national service program keeps many Eritreans under perpetual government control as conscripts.  At the government's insistence, the mining project engaged Segen Construction Company as a local contractor.  Segen is owned and operated by the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice. 

HRW added that other firms--Australia's South Boulder Mines, Canada's Sunridge Gold, and China's SFECO Group--are moving ahead with plans to develop new mines in Eritrea. 

Girma Asmeron, Eritrea's ambassador to the African Union, responded that the HRW report is a "distortion" of Eritrea's national service program, adding that the the analysis "shows deliberate ignorance."  Asmeron noted that all 18-year old Eritreans do national service, which is designed to protect the nation's security and sovereignty.  His remarks are contained in a Bloomberg article titled Eritrea Slams Group's Report of Forced Labor at Nevsun Mine.