Radio Erena is a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-based radio station which broadcasts news in Tigrinya and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

into

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. The two-hour daily broadcasts focus on Eritrean politics as well as the migration situation in Europe. The station is headquartered in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, with financial support from

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

. It uses satellite, the internet, and a mobile app to broadcast into Eritrea, where it is the only independent radio station.

History

The station was founded in 2009 by Biniam Simon, a former journalist for

Eri-TV Eri-TV (acronym for Eritrean Television) is an Eritrean state-owned television network. Headquartered in the nation's capital Asmara, it broadcasts 24 hours a day. The station offers around-the-clock news bulletins, talk shows, and propaganda pro ...

who was allowed to travel to Japan in 2007 to take part in a seminar on video production. Fearing repression at home, he sought but was refused asylum in Japan; he then managed to make his way to France. With the help of

, he found financial support as well as an office for the station. The station uses satellite, the internet and a mobile app to broadcast in Eritrea, where it is the only independent radio station. Since 2009, the station has broadcast news on Eritrean politics and the migration situation in Europe in Tigrinya. It broadcasts two hours every day. In 2010, another former journalist from Eritrean Ministry of Information who fled to Ethiopia before seeking asylum in France, Amanuel Ghirmai, has been a co-presenter. Since 2014, the radio also broadcasts a programme in Arabic three times a week, presented by Fathi Osman, a former diplomat. The station stopped working for three weeks in August 2012. Its satellite dropped the station and its website was hacked. The attack was traced back to an Eritrean location. The station won the 2017 Special Award from

One World Media One World Media is a non-profit organisation, registered in the UK as a charitable trust. It is based in London. The organisation describes its aim as supporting strong vibrant and independent media that empower citizens, promote justice and contrib ...

, a London-based human rights organization. Due to a lack of funding, the station's staff was reduced from six to three in 2024.Radio Erena, Eritrea’s rare free media, in danger of dying out
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radio Eritrea News and talk radio stations in France Radio stations established in 2009 2009 establishments in France 13th arrondissement of Paris Mass media in Eritrea