The diplomat who represents Eritrea in Canada insisted Monday his office was not extorting money from expatriates but merely providing “information” to those who want to donate to the African regime.
Mr. Micael said the 2% tax was Eritrean law. But he said the consulate in Toronto was no longer collecting the levy or the defence fee. He said those who pay do so voluntarily. “We don’t force them at all,” the consul said.
The consulate headed by Mr. Micael, Eritrea’s only accredited diplomat in Canada, is under investigation over its alleged role in financing the repressive regime and its military in violation of international sanctions. The dispute revolves around Eritrea’s efforts to impose a 2% “diaspora tax” and “national defence” fee on Eritreans living abroad — a practice critics call extortion and that has been denounced by the United Nations.
Although Ottawa warned Eritrea in a diplomatic note last September to stop its “tax solicitation and tax collection activities,” documents and interviews indicate the consulate has continued as recently as two weeks ago.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is weighing how to respond to the apparent defiance, and the TD Bank, which is being used to wire the money to Eritrea’s central bank, said Monday it was investigating.
“TD is committed to complying with all applicable laws and we are currently investigating claims,” a TD spokeswoman said, adding the bank had “rigorous controls to ensure that we comply with Canadian economic sanctions regulations.”
“TD is committed to complying with all applicable laws and we are currently investigating claims,” a TD spokeswoman said, adding the bank had “rigorous controls to ensure that we comply with Canadian economic sanctions regulations.”
With no measurable economy, Eritrea, one of the world’s least developed and most repressive states, is dependent on money collected from the many Eritreans who have left the country for the West, including thousands in Canada.
Mr. Micael said the 2% tax was Eritrean law. But he said the consulate in Toronto was no longer collecting the levy or the defence fee. He said those who pay do so voluntarily. “We don’t force them at all,” the consul said.
Asked about forms the consulate had sent to Eritrean-Canadians in November and January, demanding 2% of their wages and a $300 “donation for national defence against Ethiopian invasion,” he said that was “information,” not solicitation.
“Now look, we can give information, you know. We are not collecting it, but for those they are asking information for me, I am answering, you know. I am trying to give you an information, for those who ask the information I think it is our duty to give an information,” he said.
The fundraising scheme would be illegal because the UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on the Eritrean military due to its destabilizing influence in the Horn of Africa, where it has supplied weapons, money and training to a variety of armed groups such as the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab.
In addition, the RCMP and UN have reported that those who refused to pay have been subjected to threats, intimidation and coercion. Eritrean-Canadian refugees also complain they should not have to pay taxes to a regime they fled.
