Human Rights in Eritrea: Why Tragedies like Lampedusa will Continue

On October 3, 2013, a boat capsized off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy. Over 350 Afri- can migrants died. Most were from Eritrea and Somalia.

Calls were made in the wake of the tragedy to reform Europe’s immigration laws. Some argue that if migrants are able to file immigration applications closer to their home countries, they would not attempt the perilous journey to reach European shores. Such temporary solutions however ignore the root cause of the problem, namely, the human rights situation in the countries these migrants are fleeing from, particularly Eritrea.

Thousands of Eritreans have fled the country in recent years. As of mid-2013, Eritrea’s total refugee and asylum population was over 300,000 from a population of approximately 6 million. In 2012, between 2,000 and 3,000 Eritreans fled the country each month, many to refugee camps in Ethiopia and the Sudan. This is in spite of the government’s “shoot-to-kill” policy at the border. Once inside Ethiopia and Sudan, many also attempt the journey across the Sahara to Libya, Egypt, or Israel, paying smugglers thousands of dollars while facing the risk of kidnapping and extortion from those same individuals.

The extent and nature of the risks Eritre- ans are willing to face when fleeing suggest that the situation inside the country is bleak. Indeed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, described the situation in Eritrea to the UN General Assembly in October 2013 as “alarming... with extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, inhumane prison conditions, indefinite national service, and lack of freedom of expression and opinion, assembly, association, religious belief and movement.”

The human rights crisis grew steadily in the years following Eritrean’s independence from Ethiopia in 1991 after a 30-year war.

Since that time, elections have not been held, the constitution (ratified in 1997) was never implemented, and the country remains under the power of a single party – the Peoples’ Front for Democracy and Jus- tice (PFDJ). The PFDJ operates under the leadership of Eritrea’s only head of state in over 22 years, President Isaias Afewerki.

One of the most worrying characteristics of Eritrea’s post-independence period is the high level of militarization. Since independence, Eritrea fought wars with both Yemen and Ethiopia, and was accused of invading Djibouti. The unresolved border conflict with Ethiopia keeps Eritrea in a heightened state of militarization, which has resulted in a system of indefinite forced military service for young Eritreans. While in the service, conscripts are subjected to harsh conditions, military punishment and torture. Evading military service is known to be a reason why many young Eritreans are fleeing the country. However, anyone caught attempting to evade conscription is subject to deplorable detention conditions and torture; their families are also put at risk of facing heavy penalties.

Freedom of expression is also severely suppressed in the country, which has limited political engagement and vocal dissent. The independent press was banned in Eritrea in the early 2000s. Many journalists were imprisoned, and several still remain in state custody, their locations unknown. Year after year, Eritrea continues to be ranked last in press freedom surveys, behind such countries as North Korea, Burma, China, and Iran.

Migration is not unique to Eritrea; individuals from across Africa leave their countries in search of a better future. Those fleeing Eritrea however are not simply seeking a better tomorrow: they are escaping the deplorable conditions that characterize life in Eritrea today. If the world wants to see less tragedies like the one off the shores of Lampedusa in 2013, more has to be done to press for change within Eritrean borders. European immigration reform alone does not offer the long-term solution.