Eritreans flee amid war fears

2005-11-29 17:57

Asmara - 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 UN figures.

In the first eight months of 2005, 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.

As border tensions with Ethiopia rose and Asmara tightened already tough economic restrictions, 6 113 Eritreans fled between January and August, compared to 5 42 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.

'Figures are politicised'

"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 phenomena. The endurance of people differs, some are selfish," he said.

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.

The United Nations 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 2002 legally-binding border ruling, a position Asmara routinely cites as the reason for its strict policies.

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, put in prison, and released after a certain time."

- AFP