Eritreans are fleeing their country in growing numbers amid fears of a new war with Ethiopia and economic hardships blamed on authoritarian government policies, according to diplomats and United Nations figures.
In the first eight months of this year, more Eritreans have risked death to leave the impoverished Horn of Africa nation than in all of 2004, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics seen by Agence France-Presse.
As border tensions with Ethiopia rose and Asmara tightened already tough economic restrictions, 6 113 Eritreans fled between January and August, compared with 5 542 last year, the statistics show.
Of both figures, 69% went to Sudan and 31% to Ethiopia, where most of them were granted refugee status, according to the UNHCR offices in Khartoum and Addis Ababa.
Diplomats say the numbers are rising even as those who leave risk being shot if caught and their families face prosecution, something Eritrean officials say is wrong as they deny the departures have caused any kind of a crisis.
”It is not at all a subject of grave concern,” Information Minister Ali Abdu said, adding that ”most of the time the UNHCR figures are politicised”.
”Here and there, some people are going, this is a global phenomenon. The endurance of people differs, some are selfish,” he said.
Taboo subject
In Eritrea, the subject of people fleeing is taboo and those who agree to speak about it do so only on condition of anonymity.
Asmara-based diplomats and numerous Eritreans say those leaving are doing so to escape compulsory military service, economic hardship and a lack of freedom of expression for which the government has been roundly criticised abroad.
The country has only one political party, has had no presidential elections since independence from Ethiopia in 1993, closed all independent media outlets in 2001 and is regularly criticised for violating religious freedoms.
Eritrea is also facing an economic crisis, with some fuel prices more than doubling this year and the creation of state-run food and tightened currency restrictions.
”More and more people are leaving now because of the tensions on the border with Ethiopia and they really don’t want to fight a war,” said one military-age Eritrean in his 20s.
He and others recalled the 1998-2000 war with Ethiopia that claimed about 80 000 lives on both sides but badly hit much smaller Eritrea.
The UN warned this month that the situation on the border is ”tense and potentially volatile” amid troop movements on both sides ,and the UN Security Council threatened to slap sanctions on each in the event of new war.
Eritrea has warned conflict is looming again because of Ethiopia’s refusal to accept a legally binding 2000 border ruling, a position Asmara routinely cites as the reason for its strict policies.
Harsh consequences
Diplomats say Eritreans suffer harsh consequences if a member of their family is found to have fled.
”Usually they arrest the oldest family member,” said one. ”It could be the grandmother. She is fined up to 50 000 Nakfa [about $3 333], put in prison, and released after a certain time.”
The fine is hefty, as Eritrea’s per capita income is only $130 a year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Ali Abdu did not deny that such arrests took place but said they would take place only when the person who fled did so to avoid military service illegally.
”If there is proof that someone has collaborated with a person who has committed a crime, then they are a collaborator and they have to face the due process of law,” he said.
”If people ask to go and they have fulfilled their obligations, they can go via the legal channel,” Ali said.
But many Eritreans believe the government grants exit visas only to the elderly, forcing younger people who want to leave to rely on often unscrupulous middlemen to make the dangerous journey across the border.
Diplomats say it costs up to $2 000 for an Eritrean to pay a middleman to get them fake documents and then cross into Ethiopia or Sudan.
”Some Eritreans try to go alone … and they get lost or die of thirst,” said one diplomat. ”You can get caught and put in prison several months, and even longer if you attempt to enter Ethiopia.”
But some say the penalties are even harsher.
”If you are caught, you are either imprisoned or shot,” said one Eritrean.
”I love my country,” he whispered. ”Until recently, I’d never thought of leaving, but things are really turning bad here.” — Sapa-AFP