Groups opposed to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s government are organizing political and social activity abroad, attempting to build a unified force capable of leading political change inside the country in the future.
This was reported in a report published by the newspaper Haaretz, which detailed a movement known as the N’Hamedu Brigade and the efforts its members are carrying out across various countries where Eritreans in the diaspora live.
The report said a center located in southern Tel Aviv is among the places where movement members meet, with participants living across Israel, the United States, Canada, Sweden, Germany and Ethiopia.
The movement said it aims to unite Eritreans living abroad and prepare a political framework that could replace the system currently in place in Eritrea.
Dawit Teferi, an Eritrean-Canadian businessman and one of the movement’s leaders, told Haaretz that Eritrea’s opposition had struggled for nearly twenty years to have any visible political impact.
However, he said, since 2022 new phases, organizing methods and political approaches have emerged, which the opposition is attempting to use to build a unified force.
The movement has now established a structure that includes departments or responsibilities related to finance, diplomacy, community organizing and security planning.
Last month, nearly 1,300 Eritreans took part in an election held in Nes Tziona, Israel, to select representatives for an international council representing the movement.
According to Haaretz, 17 similar events were held in various countries, and a council of 51 members was established.
Mulu Sultan, one of the council members, said members meet regularly, discussing matters including finances, distribution of responsibilities, their contacts inside Eritrea, and plans to build an organizing base located in Ethiopia.
The movement’s leader, Beyene Gerezgher, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Gerezgher said the movement maintains contact with people inside Eritrea, whom he said include civilians as well as individuals within government institutions and the armed forces.
The claim that the movement has contacts among members of the Eritrean government and armed forces could not be independently confirmed.
The movement is also trying to get its messages to the public inside Eritrea, despite the existence of heavy restrictions imposed on the internet and independent media.
Gerezgher said some of the messages are prepared in video and song form, to make it easier for them to reach the public inside the country.
On the diplomatic front, movement members are carrying out efforts in Washington.
Dawit Teferi told Haaretz that he holds meetings with members of the U.S. Congress and officials from the U.S. administration.
He argued that the United States, Israel and Gulf countries have a strategic interest in the Red Sea region, and could therefore see value in engaging with parties working toward political change in Eritrea.
However, Gerezgher said these contacts do not yet amount to formal recognition or government support extended to the movement.
According to Haaretz, citing the International Crisis Group, Ethiopia has openly hosted the movement since early 2025.
Gerezgher said movement members enjoy freedom to operate in Addis Ababa, and that they are building, in that city, the capacity they hope to eventually bring into Eritrea itself.
This matter carries particular significance, since relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have long been sensitive, with the two countries having previously fought a border war. Eritrea has been led by President Isaias Afwerki since its independence in 1993.
The country has still not held a competitive national election, while the constitution ratified in 1997 has never been fully implemented.
Independent media has also long been absent inside Eritrea, with human rights organizations regularly speaking out about the state of political and civil freedoms there.
Human rights organizations have also reported allegations related to indefinite detention without trial and open-ended national service.
Tensions between supporters of the Eritrean government and the opposition have in recent years repeatedly erupted in countries with large Eritrean diaspora populations.
In September 2023, Tel Aviv saw serious clashes stemming from an event planned by the Eritrean embassy.
The United Nations has also previously warned about intimidation, threats and cross-border pressure directed at Eritreans living abroad.
The Brigade N’Hamedu movement is also facing allegations related to violence and unlawful acts. In March 2025, German federal prosecutors conducted investigations into 17 people suspected of having led the Brigade N’Hamedu branch in that country.
German authorities suspected these individuals of forming or being part of a domestic terrorist organization.
However, these allegations concern the German branch, and do not constitute a final verdict against the entire international movement or all of its members.
Brigade N’Hamedu’s leaders maintain that their aim is to build a system they describe as democratic, to replace President Isaias Afwerki’s government.
However, the movement still does not have official international recognition, and the actual extent of its influence inside Eritrea itself remains unclear.
It is likewise not possible to confirm how the movement could implement its political plan, or the level of support it has inside Eritrea.
The organizing taking place in the diaspora is therefore an attempt by the Eritrean opposition to unite their supporters, build political and diplomatic institutions, and prepare for what they describe as a future political change in Eritrea.