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Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People People on the MoveN° 109 (Suppl.), April 2009
ERITREA
Eritrea in Figures Population: 5 million Pop. growth rate: 3% GDP per capita: US$977 Pop. below poverty line: 53% Life expectancy: 54.3 years Infant mortality: 50:1,000 HIV prevalence: 2.4% Access to clean water: 60% Literacy rate for population over 15: 62.5% Internally Displaced People: 70,000 (by end-2005) Capital: Asmara Languages: English, Arabic, Tigrinya Ethnic Groups: Afar, Rashaida, Bilen, kunama, Nara, Saho, Tigré, Tigrigna Geography: Dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south highlands with jagged mountains, descending in the east to a coastal desert plain, in the northwest to mountainous terrain and in the southwest to flat to rolling plains Border countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti Agriculture products: sorghum, maize, wheat, barley, teff (form of grain), millet, beans, chickpeas The Catholic Church in Eritrea The Catholics in Eritrea are only 5% of the total population: i.e. 250,000. There are three eparchies (Oriental rite dioceses). The Catholic Churches in Eritrea and Ethiopia are under the same Episcopal Conference. There are not refugees in Eritrea, except very few Somali (Assab) and Southern Sudanese (Haycota). The Catholic Church (The parish priest of Haycota) is involved in the socio-pastoral care of the Southern Sudanese. So there is no ÂNational Commission for refugees, migrants and seafarersÂ, but there are priests taking care of the Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees in Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. In different part of the world there are priests ministering to the Eritrean and Ethiopian Catholics in diaspora. The Catholic Church in Eritrea is involved in many social activities (education, healthcare, IDPÂs and refugees cases etc...) if and when the state allows, because there are almost no independent civil society organisations or NGOs, only government-affiliated ones. In August 2004 the Catholic Bishops of Eritrea issued a pastoral letter: ÂLiving on the Hope to the Eritreans living abroad and to the all people of good will. Background Before independence in 1993, Eritrea has been part of a federation with Ethiopia since 1952 until it was formally annexed as a province by Ethiopia in 1962. The annexation led to the formation of armed struggle movements (ELF & EPLF), in favour of independence for Eritrea, culminating in the taking of Asmara, Eritrea's capital, in May 1991, by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) after a series of military defeats. Eritrea attained independence in 1993 but remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with an average annual per capita income of US$180. The 1998-2000 border conflict and the ensuing stalemate over border demarcation have hampered Eritrea's socio-economic development as significant human and economic resources are being diverted to military activities. Most of the internally displaced people have returned to their homes but are still facing extreme socio-economic insecurity, while 70,000 live in camps. The 1998-2000 conflict with Ethiopia displaced more than one million farmers and had a severe impact on the country's infrastructure. Peace and security Conflict and displacement have characterised the Eritrean social and political landscape for 40 years, with the country experiencing the longest continuous war in Africa from 1960 to the 1990s, and in 1998-2000. After independence, Eritrea went to war with Yemen in 1995 over the Hanish islands in the Red Sea, which were eventually awarded to Yemen. The Ethiopia-Eritrea war ended in 2000 with the signing of a cessation of hostilities accord in Algiers. The deal included the deployment of a United Nations peace-keeping force - the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea in a 25km-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) running the length of the border. The two countries also agreed to form an independent boundary commission, comprising five lawyers appointed by both countries, whose decision on the demarcation of the disputed border would be final and binding. However, progress on demarcation has stalled, with the security situation dominated by residual tension between the two countries. Frustrated at the lack of progress in resolving the dispute, Eritrea banned UNMEE flights over its territory in October 2005, forcing peacekeepers to scale back operations by more than half, and expelled the peacekeeping mission's foreign personnel and some relief agencies. IDPs/Refugees The 30-year war in Eritrea, before independence, generated more than 130,000 refugees in Sudan, Ethiopia, and an additional 500,000 Eritreans in diaspora to the Middle East, North America, Europe and Australia. The 1998-2000 war led to the flight of almost 90,000 Eritrean refugees to Sudan, the internal displacement of more than one million and the expulsion of Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean ancestry and the departure to Ethiopia of tens of thousands of 'Ethiopians' who had resided in Eritrea for generations. As of January 2006, at least 50,000 internally displaced persons, 70 percent women and children, were living in refugee-like situations, unable to return to their villages inside the TSZ. Today there are about 350,000 refugees in different countries. The Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees use these countries as transits to go in North America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. The estimated number of Eritrean refugees per country is as follows:
All these refugees are asylum seekers in Canada, USA, Australia, or in other European countries. There are about 2,000 Eritreans and many more Ethiopians settled in Israel. In South Africa the estimated number of Eritreans is 4,000 Democracy and governance After the EPLF had taken Asmara from Ethiopia in 1991, the UN supervised a referendum in April 1993 in which 99.8 percent of Eritreans voted in favour of independence. President Isaias Afewerki, leader of the EPLF, who had ruled before independence, became president. In February 1994, the EPLF reformed as a political party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). Eritrea's first post-independence elections, scheduled for 1998 or 1997, were postponed indefinitely following the outbreak of hostilities with Ethiopia, consequently being rescheduled for December 2001. However, during 2001 the likelihood of elections taking place diminished with President Afewerki assuming an increasingly authoritarian position. Eritrea remains a one-party state where only the PFDJ is legal. The government has also failed to implement the 1997 constitution, drafted by a constitutional assembly and ratified by referendum that respects civil and political rights including guaranteeing multiparty politics. There has also been an increased clampdown on faith groups not willing to take part in the national conscription or carry arms, draft-evaders and army deserters due to the open-ended national army conscription; developments precipitated by the border war with Ethiopia and the great political and economic stresses this is causing. National service of 18 months - six months of military service and 12 of development and military-related service - is obligatory for 28-40 year-olds. However, conscription has become open-ended and many who reported for service during the 1998-2000 border war still find themselves in the military. In its quest to ensure effective defence of the country, the government has become increasingly less tolerant of conflicting views and more intrusive in individual and communal affairs. Eritrea has also taken measures that have seriously and negatively affected the human rights of its citizens including the indefinite detention of PFDJ dissidents for criticising the non-implementation of the constitution and concentration of power in the office of the president, journalists, and others deemed threats to national security. Eritrea has remained under de-facto emergency conditions for eight years accompanied by higher expenditure on defence.
Fr. Amanuel Mesgun, OFMCap. Capuchin Friars Bogani Road 20, Langata P.O. Box 24882 Nairobi, KENYA
Sr. Hiwet Kiflemariam Ursuline sisters Ngong Road P.O. Box 21497 Niarobi, KENYA
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