Eritrea has attracted attention for a number of concerning issues in recent years.
While the dictatorship under the Kim dynasty in North Korea is widely acknowledged, the African continent also hosts nations where authoritarianism looms large. Among them, a country on the Red Sea coast has earned a chilling nickname: “Africa’s North Korea.”
Eritrea, which is a nation emerging from decades of conflict, has garnered this unsettling nickname due to its highly centralized government and alleged human rights violations.
Like its Asian counterpart, Eritrea boasts a single-party rule under President Isaias Afewerki, who has held power since 1993. Critics point to a lack of free elections, limited press freedom, and a pervasive surveillance apparatus as hallmarks of an oppressive regime. Independent media outlets are practically nonexistent, with the government controlling the narrative and tightly restricting access to information.
According to The Economist, Eritrea was Africa’s largest single source of refugees to Europe from 2014 to 2016. Over the past decade, so many people have left that Eritrea has been called the world’s fastest-emptying nation. It has been likened to Cuba and the former East Germany. But in recent years no title has proven more durable (or more controversial) than that of “Africa’s North Korea”.
According to the BBC, Eritrea is a one-party state and a highly-militarised society, which the government has sought to justify by citing the threat of war with Ethiopia. Prolonged periods of conflict and severe drought have adversely affected Eritrea’s agricultural economy, and it remains one of the poorest countries in Africa.
By UN estimates, hundreds of thousands of Eritreans have fled the country in recent years, making the perilous journey across the Sahara and the Mediterranean to Europe.
National Leader
President Isaias Afwerki has ruled Eritrea since its independence in 1993; his party is the only one allowed. Elections and a constitution planned for 1997 were never implemented.
Afwerki led the fight for independence from Ethiopia in 1966, becoming president in 1993. He controls both the executive and legislative branches.
Mandatory system of indefinite conscription
According to the Human Rights Watch, in the country, there is an ongoing government-supported compulsory system of indefinite conscription. This involves individuals being required to serve in the military for an extended and unspecified period, leading to instances of torture, violence, and forced labor. Even young school children are not exempt from this harsh and abusive system.
Once individuals are conscripted into the military, they have limited options for discharge, and attempting to escape this situation can result in severe consequences. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry has described this situation as a form of “enslavement.”
No privately-owned media
Eritrea stands alone in Africa as the only nation with no independent media outlets. There, free reporting is absent, and the media follows the president’s dictates, leaving no room for diverse perspectives. This lack of press freedom is so severe that in 2021, Reporters Without Borders ranked Eritrea as the worst offender globally, surpassing even North Korea.