The Economist

36 The EconomistAugust 4th 2018

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1

E

RITREA one of Africa’s newest coun-

tries was born in battle. First it fought

for 30 years to break away from Ethiopia

its bigger neighbour to the south achieving

that goal in 1993. In 1998 it was embroiled in

another bloody war that cost perhaps

70000 lives after it invaded Ethiopia over a

trifling border dispute. A decade later it in-

vaded tiny Djibouti over an argument

about whether the border ran along the

top or sides of some hills in the desert.

Reminders of its violent history are

everywhere. In Asmara the highland capi-

tal posters and murals commemorate its

war of independence. On the edge of the

city lies a graveyard for tanks. In the Red

Sea port town of Massawa stand the re-

mains of an Italian-era bank battered by

aerial bombardment three decadesago.

Eritrea signed a peace deal with Ethio-

pia in 2000 but the latter agreed to imple-

ment it only on July 8th saying it would

hand back the almost worthless strip of

land that was disputed. In the intervening

years Eritrea has remained a garrison state.

“With the war everythingstopped” says

Samuel a middle-aged Eritrean who grew

up in Massawa but later moved to Ethio-

pia. When war broke out in 1998 he was

sent home along with some 70000 of his

compatriots. Ethiopians in Eritrea were

sent the other way. Samuel was forced into

military service. Twenty years later he is

yet to be discharged.

He is one of hundreds of thousands of

Eritreans who have either been conscript-

raped by officers and forced to work as

their servants. As in North Korea the gov-

ernment locks in its citizens. Those subject

to the draft cannot get passports or exit

visas. Border guards have orders to shoot

to kill—a power they often abuse to extort

money or sex from would-be refugees.

Apart from two big mines that are joint

ventures between the government and

overseas firms there has been almost no

foreign investment. The government says

this is because investors are frightened off

by an arms embargo yet its own policies

are also to blame. There is almost no priv-

ate sector and construction is carried out

only by companies that belong to the rul-

ing party and that are staffed by conscripts.

Asmara is littered with boarded-up shops

and empty factories most of which date

back decades to when Eritrea was one of

the most industrialised parts of Africa.

There are no ATMs and no mobile internet.

Funerals are advertised on noticeboards so

that bereaved families needn’t make lots of

calls from public telephone boxes (mobile

phones especially outside Asmara re-

main rare). Teff a staple grain costs about

four times as much as in Ethiopia.

Imports are restricted to control scarce

hard currency. Shop shelves in Asmara are

spartan. Electronics such as old televi-

sions can cost hundreds of dollars because

the price includes the cost of the seller’s re-

turn flight to the Gulf. In Massawa a city of

pristine beaches that ought to be full of

tourists hotels and apartment complexes

are empty and unfinished for want of

building materials.

Peace with Ethiopia has brought hope.

The government seems to be preparing to

unwind national service though it has not

said so. New conscripts have been told

they will serve only 18 months. Some of

those who completed the programme this

year have been sent home.

Meanwhile the government has re-

ed to the army or to a system of compul-

sory non-military service. This was origi-

nally set up by President Isaias Afwerki in

1995 to rebuild the newly independent

country. Citizens were meant to serve for18

months after which they could get on with

their lives. But in 2002 the government

made the term indefinite which the UN

says amounts to mass enslavement.

Some conscripts serve in the army

though all are expected to head to the front

if war breaks out. “We all know how to

handle a gun” smiles Yared Ambaw a 28-

year-old accountant at a bar in the capital.

Many do forced labour such as building

roads or dams. The luckier ones are sent to

government departments. Many teachers

journalists accountants and even hotel

staff are conscripts paid pitiful salaries.

Only married women with children and

the most sickly or well connected can

hope to be discharged early. The UNhas

said that female conscripts are routinely

Eritrea

A flicker of light in a prison state

ASMARA AND MASSAWA

A repressive dictatorship that enslaves its people ponders reform

Middle East and Africa

Also in this section

37 Zimbabwe’s bloody ballot

38 Syria’ssuffering refugees

38 Churches in Saudi Arabia

39 Debtors’ prisons in Gaza

SOMALIA

ETHIOPIA

SUDAN

SAUDI

ARABIA

YEMEN

DJIBOUTI

ERITREA

Red

Sea

Asmara

Blue

Nile

White

Nile

Massawa

400 km