Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Eritrea: Crackdown on Draft Evaders’ Families

Collective Punishment Over Forced Conscription Campaign

(09.02.2023) The Eritrean government has in recent months punished relatives of thousands of alleged draft evaders as part of an intensive forced conscription campaign, Human Rights Watch said today.Eritrean security forces have been heavily involved in operations in support of the Ethiopian government since the outbreak of conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in November 2020, and have carried out some of the conflict’s worst abuses. Eritrean authorities have conducted waves of roundups in Eritrea to identify people it considers draft evaders or deserters.

Expert opininion: Conditions and legal implications of Eritrea diaspora status

(May 2022) PRO ASYL and Connection e.V. have investigated the questions about the prerequisites and resulting legal guarantees of diaspora status and commissioned an expert opinion from Dr. Rezene Mekonnen and Amanuel Yohannes, proven experts on the Eritrean legal system. This is now available.

The experts come to the conclusion that diaspora status is only granted to those who have a secure residence abroad. If the German Federal Office of Migration revokes refugee recognition, the persons concerned cannot be granted diaspora status at all. So far, the Federal Office has ignored this question in its decisions.

Dual Agenda: In Ethiopia’s civil war, Eritrea’s army exacted deadly vengeance on old foes

(01.11.2021) When Eritrea sent troops into the Tigray region, the secretive nation seized a double opportunity: It detained thousands of Eritrean refugees as it battled Ethiopia’s former rulers. Spearheading the bloody campaign: a colonel nicknamed ‘Son of Bread’.

The peace deal with Ethiopia has not changed Afwerki’s Eritrea

If anything, it has actually strengthened his regime.

(12.10.2018) After signing an historic peace deal with Ethiopia, and receiving unprecedented levels of positive media coverage, Eritrea applied for a seat at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). As a member of the UNHRC, Eritrea will have the right to vote on UN's human rights resolutions, including the ones that are about its own abuses, for a period of three years. So, as Eritrea prepares to take its place in a top human rights body, let me provide some insight into what the country really looks like today, despite high hopes and optimistic media reports about imminent political changes.