More effort to understand the roots of its suspicions and greater engagement rather than further isolation would be a more promising international prescription for dealing with the genuine risks it represents. The year war of independence was part of a network of conflicts which devastated north-east Africa. The real significance of that legacy has only become clear in the last decade, as President Isaias Afwerki and a small cohort of ex-fighters have strengthened their grip on power, while suppressing social freedoms and economic development in favour of an agenda centred on an obedient national unity and the notion that Eritrea is surrounded by enemies.
Conditions are worsening dramatically. Since the crackdown that ended a brief period of public debate, jails have been filled with political prisoners and critics, religious dissidents, journalists, draft evaders and failed escapees. Isaias uses the standoff with Ethiopia to justify severe internal discipline and military adventures across the region. Eritrea subsequently placed restrictions on UN peacekeepers that led to their withdrawal in from the demilitarised zone between the belligerents, citing total lack of cooperation.
Militarised politics has spilled into foreign policy, the latter frequently involving armed responses and aggressive adventurism at the expense of conventional diplomacy.
To date, Eritrea has fought, directly or indirectly, with Ethiopia, Yemen, Djibouti and Sudan and involved itself in various ways in the conflicts in eastern Sudan, Darfur and Somalia. While it asserts that it is pursuing legitimate national security interests and lambasts the U. Society more broadly is under enormous strain. Remarkably, there have not yet been serious protests, but pressure is building, both inside the borders and in the extensive diaspora, whose remittances have been a major financial support.
A range of external opposition groups — though still deeply divided — are lining up against the regime. To avoid a fresh crisis in the Horn of Africa, the international community and the Eritreans alike will need to demonstrate a new level of imagination and flexibility. Development assistance and improved trade links should be tied to holding long-promised national elections and implementing the long-delayed constitution.
At the same time, in particular the UN Security Council should pressure Ethiopia to accept the border ruling. All this is necessary to prevent another failed state from emerging in the Horn. Eritrea continues to be an enigma few outsiders know well.
President Isaias Afwerki has become virtually synonymous with the state of Eritrea, having single-handedly moulded the country in his image since its inception in Together they explore how Isaias has maintained his unyielding grip on power while pursuing his geopolitical ambitions in the region and further afield. Information obtained from Eritrean sources by the British Embassy in Asmara indicates that students who complete their final year are automatically assigned to military service, other national service work, or higher education UK 17 Aug.
Country Reports states that students who do not complete the final year cannot graduate and are not permitted to write the final examinations that are required to continue their education US 24 May , Sec. Additionally, according to Human Rights Watch's interviews with Eritrean refugees, students who do not perform well academically or are not expected to graduate from secondary school can be relocated to Wi'a military camp 16 Apr.
According to the University of Leiden academic, between 15, and 20, students write the grade 11 exams at the school in Sawa military camp every year, where they are conscripted into the national service Bozzini , According to a news article published by the Eritrean Ministry of Information, there were 19, students in the 26th cohort of conscripts, who began their training at Sawa in July Eritrea 23 July According to the British Embassy in Asmara, local authorities may send letters to citizens who have not completed their military service to remind them of their obligation UK 17 Aug.
The authorities also conduct "round-ups" in order to capture national service evaders ibid. The British Embassy in Asmara indicates that such round-ups are not regulated by government policies or procedures and take place in different parts of the country ibid. The same source indicates that apprehended national service evaders are subsequently sent to military camps ibid. Country Reports states that people have been beaten "severely" and killed during round-ups US 24 May , Sec.
Corroborating information for this statement could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
The authorities also set up roadblocks and checkpoints to find draft evaders and deserters ibid. However, the University of Leiden researcher notes that ID, travel permits, and other documents are not provided to conscripts "on a clear and regular basis" ibid. There are no provisions for conscientious objection to military service AI 2 Nov. The Country Reports indicates that, although religious workers from government-approved religions were previously often exempt from military service, around 3, such workers were rounded up and sent to the Wi'a military camp in May and June US 24 May , Sec.
Sources report that three Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned since for conscientious objection to military service AI ; Human Rights Watch ; War Resisters' International []. According to Amnesty International, they have been detained without charge at Sawa military camp War Resisters' International's database of prisoners of peace and conscientious objectors lists the names of 12 additional Jehovah's Witnesses who were put in detention between and for conscientious objection and remain imprisoned at Sawa and Meitir camps [].
Country Reports explains that students who have family members who fought in the war of independence are sometimes allowed to serve five months or less in the military and are often placed in technical college for further education US 24 May , Sec. Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted within the time constraints of this Response.
According to the British Embassy in Asmara, married women or women with young children are usually exempt from military service UK 17 Aug. Country Reports also states that girls who are already married are generally exempt from training at Sawa and military service US 24 May , Sec. Sources indicate that pregnant women may also be exempt from national service Bozzini , 96; Human Rights Watch 16 Apr. However, Bozzini indicates that pregnant women are not "promptly" issued demobilization papers to prove their exemption 16 Feb.
He notes, further, that some women in the national service do have children Bozzini 16 Feb. Article 15 of the Proclamation of National Service states that citizens who are certified to "suffer from disability such as invalidity, blindness, [or] psychological derangement" can be exempted from national service Eritrea , Art.
According to the British Embassy in Asmara, the certification of disabled individuals and persons who are medically "unfit" for military service is done by doctors on military bases UK 17 Aug. Citizens declared unfit for military service are nevertheless required to fulfil their 18 months of national service obligations in "any public and government organ according to their capacity and profession" Eritrea , Art.
Human Rights Watch's interviews with refugees indicate that in practice, virtually all citizens undertake military service, unless they are blind or "'missing their trigger fingers'" 16 Apr.
The law states, further, that if a person flees the country to avoid national service and "does not return to perform his service until the age of 40 years, he will be liable to punishment or to an imprisonment of 5 years until the age of 50, and his rights to license, visa, land tenure and the rights to work will be suspended" ibid. Human rights reports indicate that national service evaders and deserters are subject to detention without trial AI or without public trial Human Rights Watch , or are "informally charged with violations relating to national service, effectively allowing authorities to incarcerate them indefinitely" US 24 May , Sec.
According to Human Rights Watch, the number of detainees for national service evasion is unknown but is estimated to be in the tens of thousands Human Rights Watch Country Reports stated that hundreds of such citizens were detained in in "harsh and life-threatening" conditions, and were often held in solitary confinement US 24 May , Sec.
The same source notes that possessing documents proving completion of or exemption from national service did not necessarily prevent citizens from being jailed as draft evaders, although providing a proof of completion reportedly permitted to some detainees to be released ibid.
Similarly, the University of Leiden researcher states that individuals who fulfill their military obligations are also at risk of being apprehended and detained during round-ups Bozzini , Country Reports also indicates that some draft evaders were sent to Wi'a military training camp, where they were subject to beatings US 24 May , Sec. Sources report that citizens detained for national service evasion or desertion have been subject to "torture" ibid. There are also reports of enforced disappearances of deserters or draft evaders US 24 May , Sec.
According to Human Rights Watch, prisoners frequently die from torture, disease, malnutrition, and other forms of mistreatment Security forces are authorized to shoot to kill citizens who try to leave the country without permission AI ; Human Rights Watch 22 Sept. Country Reports indicates that individuals were killed in while attempting to escape from military service US 24 May , Sec.
Human Rights Watch also indicates that a family member may be forced to perform national service in the place of the deserter, even if the family member has already completed his or her service obligations 22 Sept. This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection.
Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request. Amnesty International AI. Bozzini, David M. National Service and State Structures in Eritrea.
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