Country of Origin Information Report on Eritrea 6 February 2017 Pagina 1 of 86 COI Report on Eritrea | February 2017 Place The Hague Edited by MFA’s Directorate for Sub-Saharan Africa Pagina 2 of 86 COI Report on Eritrea | February 2017 Table of Contents Table of Contents.........................................................................................3 1 Country information ................................................................................. 6 1.1 Political developments...................................................................................6 1.1.1 Announced reforms ......................................................................................7 1.1.2 The economy...............................................................................................8 1.1.3 Relations with the European Union ..................................................................9 1.1.4 The diaspora .............................................................................................11 1.1.5 The opposition in exile ................................................................................13 1.2 The security situation..................................................................................15 1.2.1 Regional context ........................................................................................15 1.3 Documents ...............................................................................................18 1.3.1 Administrative division ................................................................................18 1.3.2 Documents ...............................................................................................20 2 Human rights ..........................................................................................32 2.1 Legal context.............................................................................................35 2.1.1 International Conventions and Protocols.........................................................35 2.1.2 Constitution ..............................................................................................35 2.1.3 Other national legislation.............................................................................36 2.2 Monitoring and legal protection.....................................................................37 2.3 Compliance and violations ...........................................................................37 2.4 Freedom of expression................................................................................39 2.4.1 Press .......................................................................................................40 2.4.2 Radio and television....................................................................................40 2.4.3 Printed media............................................................................................40 2.4.4 Journalists ................................................................................................40 2.4.5 The Internet..............................................................................................41 2.4.6 Mobile and landline telephony ......................................................................42 2.5 Freedom of association and assembly ............................................................42 2.5.1 Freedom of association................................................................................42 2.5.2 Freedom of assembly..................................................................................42 2.6 Freedom of religion and belief ......................................................................42 2.6.1 Non-recognised religious groups ...................................................................43 2.6.2 Jehova’s Witnesses.....................................................................................44 2.6.3 Religious prisoners .....................................................................................44 2.7 Freedom of movement ................................................................................45 2.7.1 Exit visas..................................................................................................45 2.8 Judicial process and detention ......................................................................48 2.8.1 Judicial process..........................................................................................48 2.8.2 Arrest and detention...................................................................................50 2.8.3 Prison conditions........................................................................................50 2.9 Maltreatment and torture ............................................................................51 2.10 Disappearances and abductions ....................................................................52 2.11 Extrajudicial executions and killings...............................................................52 2.12 The death penalty ......................................................................................53 3 Position of specific groups.......................................................................54 3.1 Members of opposition parties / political activists.............................................54 3.2 Ethnic minorities ........................................................................................54 Pagina 3 of 86 3.3 Religious minorities ....................................................................................54 3.4 Women ....................................................................................................54 3.5 LGBT........................................................................................................ 56 3.6 Unaccompanied minors ...............................................................................56 3.7 Conscription objectors and deserters .............................................................57 3.7.1 National service duty ..................................................................................57 3.7.2 Active and reserve national service ...............................................................57 3.7.3 Recruitment ..............................................................................................57 3.7.4 Desertion.................................................................................................. 60 3.7.5 National service duty ..................................................................................61 3.7.6 Exemption and demobilisation ......................................................................62 3.7.7 Reform of national service ...........................................................................63 3.7.8 Conscripts’ incomes....................................................................................64 4 Refugees and displaced persons ..............................................................66 4.1 Flows of displaced persons and refugees ........................................................66 4.1.1 Foreign refugees ........................................................................................66 4.1.2 Migration flows ..........................................................................................66 4.1.3 Reasons for leaving ....................................................................................67 4.2 Reception in the region ...............................................................................68 4.2.1 Sudan ......................................................................................................68 4.2.2 Ethiopia....................................................................................................69 4.2.3 Resettlement and family reunification ............................................................70 4.2.4 Migration route ..........................................................................................71 4.3 Activities of international organisations ..........................................................73 4.3.1 UNHCR’s position .......................................................................................74 4.4 Repatriation ..............................................................................................75 4.4.1 Other countries’ policies ..............................................................................78 4.4.2 Forcible repatriation....................................................................................79 5 Human trafficking ...................................................................................81 6 Appendixes .............................................................................................83 6.1 Sources consulted ......................................................................................83 6.2 Newsletters...............................................................................................84 6.3 Abbreviations used.....................................................................................85 6.4 Map of Eritrea............................................................................................86 Page 4 of 86 COI Report on Eritrea | February 2017 Introduction This Dutch COI report describes the current situation in Eritrea insofar as it is relevant to the assessment of asylum applications from persons originating from Eritrea and to decisions on the repatriation of rejected Eritrean asylum-seekers. It is an update of previous COI reports