Eritrea Country Profile
Eritrea is a sovereign state in the East Horn of Africa, with its capital at Asmara. Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country, with nine recognized ethnic groups in its population of around 5 million. The main language spoken is Tigrinya, Arabic and English serve as the two working languages too. There are two major religions in Eritrea, Christianity and Islam.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Eritrea is a totalitarian one-party dictatorship in which national legislative and presidential elections have never been held since independence (1991). According to Human Rights Watch, the Eritrean government's human rights record is among the worst in the world. The Eritrean government has dismissed these allegations as politically motivated. The compulsory military service requires long, indefinite conscription periods (unlimited time), which some Eritreans leave the country to avoid. Because all local media is state-owned, Eritrea was also ranked as having the second-least press freedom in the global Press Freedom Index, behind only North Korea
WHY PEOPLE ARE LEAVING ERITREA ?
Most people walk in fear in Eritrea because there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of traveling from one place to another,
Every month as many as 5,000 people flee Eritrea, a country ruled by an authoritarian regime in which human rights violations are widespread.Eritrea owes its notoriety largely to its national service, nominally 18 months of compulsory military service for young men and women which is often extended indefinitely at the whim of military commanders. National service is one of the main reasons why young Eritreans flee their country.
Eritrea is one of the worst countries when we talk about religion freedom. The persecution of religious believers has become an increasingly tragic fact in Eritrea. The Government started attacking the churches from 2002, when he banned all the Pentecostal churches, put some pastors and priests in jail, without being charged or brought before a court, and continued putting people in jail if found gathering together in fellowships.
a lot of people are held in jail for an indefinite time, none of which are subject to judicial oversight.
References:
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/12000/afr640012013en.pdf