We're reporting from Tel Aviv, Israel, at the location where violent street clashes broke out between two opposing groups of Eritrean asylum seekers who wore red or blue clothing.

The Reds declare their support for the Eritrean government, while the Blues oppose the government they fled. It raises the question: if the Reds love the government, why are they seeking asylum here in Israel?

One man we spoke to, pointed out how absurd it is for the Reds side to flee Eritrea yet still support its government. “Why are you supporting them?” he wonders.

“It was very scary. We run away, go inside our homes. We were very scared,” says another man who was there when the Reds and Blues clashed.

Eritrean "asylum seekers" fight each other in Tel Aviv, Israel.

They are causing problems in Israel and disturbing the peace. pic.twitter.com/9BehyvJrYI

— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) September 2, 2023

While the footage shocked the world, the government here in Israel has now arrested 50 of those responsible for the violence and are holding them in detention, talking about deporting them.

“Throw them out,” a local says when asked about the government's decision to consider deporting the detained Eritreans.

Even a local Palestinian man who works at the scene of the violence said those involved should be deported.

“I think that they should get thrown out,” he tells Rebel News. “They don't contribute anything to Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants Eritrean migrants involved in a violent clash in Tel Aviv to be deported immediately and has ordered a plan to remove all of the country's African migrants. https://t.co/AC6x1o6zWl

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 3, 2023

Deportation is an approach that has infuriated the left here in Israel, but a right-wing member of the Knesset says hey, if you don't want us to deport them back to the country they fled, then we should deport them to your local neighbourhoods in northern Tel Aviv.

We spoke to a man who said he was an asylum seeker and was part of one of the group's at one point, who condemned the actions of the two sides.

“They came and they were claiming they need protection from the government of Israel, so I don't know what is happening to them now,” he explains about the Reds. “I don't know what is happening to them now, they are now supporting the the [Eritrean] government.”

Causing a disturbance in a nation that has granted you asylum was not the right action, according to this man.

"We're not policing ideologies": Calgary's police chief responds to a melee that broke out between Eritreans on the city's streets.

With no charges laid, Chief Mark Neufeld says officers will "go after all of the offences" from the riot.

FULL REPORT: https://t.co/qZ4Pre6CqF pic.twitter.com/eUOPgtu97x

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) September 6, 2023

“After I close from work, I go home and I don't have to do anything that's going to cause a problem to the society and to the nation,” he says. “It's not a good idea because they have sympathy. The people of Israel, the government, they have sympathy.”

This story is not unique to Israel. We have seen similar protests around the world — including in Calgary.

But the overwhelming consensus, even by fellow asylum seekers, is you cannot come to a country claiming asylum while supporting the government you claim to have fled.

And if you come here to start your new life, you definitely cannot come here to get violent.