By Linda Burkle, PhD, ICC Fellow
In this age of instant news, we are bombarded with information. At times, we easily become numb or apathetic to the numerous reports of persecution occurring throughout the global community. Although multiple nonprofit watchdog and humanitarian organizations, as well as government entities, monitor and disseminate information on the atrocities committed toward certain religious groups, many in the general public have only a vague notion of the prevalence of persecution.
In 2024, religious persecution has been brought front and center into public consciousness by the explosion of antisemitism following the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews in Israel. Massive protests, demonizing Israel for retaliation and accusing it of genocide, have erupted on college campuses and elsewhere throughout the U.S. and Europe. Such protests, some well-organized and well-funded, and some seemingly organic, have blocked bridges and main transportation routes and disrupted major gatherings, such as the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
Without discounting the seriousness of growing antisemitism, the ongoing plight of Christians throughout the world has been overshadowed as a result. Every day, 13 Christians(1) are martyred for their faith; Christians are imprisoned without cause, denied legal rights, public services, and education, and live in constant threat of harassment and imprisonment. In 2022, it estimated that roughly 5,000 Nigerian Christians were murdered for their faith, eclipsing the total number killed in all other nations combined.(2) News of Christians massacred, villages burned, and churches destroyed in this nation is almost commonplace and receives little more than a mention by major news outlets if mentioned at all.
For those who are paying attention to the persecution of Christians around the world, countries such as Nigeria, North Korea, China, Pakistan, and Arab nations may come to mind. In this article, I intend to highlight the plight of Christians in Eritrea, an Eastern African nation bordering Ethiopia. Many people I know are unaware of the nation of Eritrea and where it is located. Rarely, if ever, does this nation make Western news; it is not in our collective consciousness. However, Eritrea is one of the most dangerous nations to be Christian and a place where persecution comes from multiple actors.
In 2024, Open Doors’ World Watch List ranked Eritrea as the fourth worst country for the persecution of Christians,(3) surpassed only by North Korea, Somalia, and Libya. The primary source of persecution is a paranoid dictator, President Isaias Afwerki (“Isayas Afewerki” in the report”), who has ruled since the country’s inception in 1993 and virtually controls all aspects of life. As a result, Eritrea has earned the nickname “The North Korea of Africa.” Although, like North Korea in that it is a one-party authoritarian state with no individual freedoms, one distinction is that Eritrea does not have nuclear weapons.(4)
“President Isayas Afewerki and his party, the People’s Front for Democracy, the only political party, has maintained an unelected, nondemocratic form of governance. There is no religious freedom nor freedom of speech, assembly, or association. Afewerki has also cultivated a personality cult, promoting national identity as more important than individual rights and ethnicity. ‘The government’s promotion of this national ideology has helped to channel potential social and ethnic-based conflicts into social harmony and has thus helped avoid any major social upheaval and conflict. However, the ruling elite is mostly from the Tigrinya ethnic group.”(5)
Geopolitical Context
Originally, Eritrea was part of Ethiopia, but it broke away through a protracted “liberation struggle” from 1961 to 1991. It became an independent nation in 1993, with borders established by an international border commission. As common with national boundaries being arbitrarily drawn, tribal alliances and family ties often are not considered, resulting in years of border disputes and a proxy war in Somalia. In 1998, a bitter two-year war erupted between the two countries in which more than 70,000 people lost their lives and families were separated.
In 2018, the new Ethiopian prime minister visited Eritrea, paving the way for a historic peace treaty signed on July 9, 2018, resuming diplomatic and economic cooperation after decades of hostility. As a result, many families separated by the war reunited after 20 years. Despite this peace treaty, the lives of Christians in Eritrea did not improve, and many continued to suffer in prisons, which are considered some of the worst in the world.
With the improved relationship between the two nations, in November 2020, Eritrea began assisting the Ethiopian army fighting a civil war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). However, some Eritreans sympathetic to the TPLF fought on their side. The Ethiopian government and the TPLF signed a peace agreement in November 2022. Eritrea’s involvement in Ethiopia’s civil war was broadly condemned by the international community as well as created political unrest at home.(6)
Demographic Composition of Eritrea
Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List cites the Eritrean population as being 3,728,000, although there has never been an official census conducted. The number of Christians is estimated at 1,739,0001, 47% of the population, while Muslims account for 51%.(7)
There are nine recognized ethnic groups. The Tigre ethnic group is the largest, at around 40%, and the second largest group is the Tigrinya, most of whom are Christians, making up about 35% of the population. According to the U.S. Department of State, “A majority of the population in the southern and central regions is Christian, while the northern areas are majority Sunni Muslim.”(8)
Most Christians in Eritrea are Eritrean Orthodox, while Catholics, Protestants, and other Christian denominations comprise less than 5%. The government only recognizes four officially registered religious groups: the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Sunni Islam, the Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea; these are considered indigenous because they predate Eritrea becoming a country.(9) Other Christians face severe pressure from these traditional denominations and the government. They risk imprisonment for meeting in home groups and practicing their faith.
Due to the repressive totalitarian government with forced indefinite military conscription, Eritrea holds the distinction of being the “World’s Fastest Emptying Country.” It is estimated that 800,000 Eritreans, about one-fifth of the population, fled the country by 2023.(10)
Sources and Degrees of Religious Discrimination
Although Eritrea’s law and constitution protect the freedom of religion, conscience, and beliefs, the government violates all such codified protections and routinely monitors all aspects of civil life. Under Afwerki’s paranoid dictatorship, there have been no elections, no freedom of speech, or the practice of religion other than the “official” denominations. The state controls all news and media outlets.
“President Afewerki told an Al-Jazeera reporter in July 2012: ‘There is no commodity called democracy in Eritrea” (Al-Jazeera, 11 July 2012). These restrictions on internationally recognized human rights (including freedom of religion) are justified by the government on the grounds that these rights form an existential threat to social and religious harmony in the country. This means that the introduction of non-indigenous types of Christianity (i.e., non-traditional Protestants such as Pentecostals) or certain forms of Islam (such as Salafism) will be seen as a potential threat to Eritrean society.”(11)
All Christians face some level of stigma and are closely monitored. However, nontraditional Christians, such as Baptists or Pentecostals, experience the harshest treatment. They are subject to arrest and forced indefinite and brutal military conscription or labor. There is no due process, and some are imprisoned for years without being sentenced for a crime. It is reported that some house church members have been imprisoned for more than 10 years, often in solitary confinement in horrific conditions.(12) Like North Korea, the whole nation is a prison. Those attempting to flee are shot or imprisoned. Family members of those targeted also face persecution.
“According to reports, prisons in Eritrea are horrifically maintained, and those incarcerated endure physical abuse, sexual violence, and torture. According to the U.S. State Department, as of 2023, Eritrean authorities were holding an estimated 500 Christians as prisoners, including nearly 40 Jehovah’s Witnesses.” (13) However, Open Doors International estimates that the number is much higher, with around 1,000 Christians imprisoned without being charged with a crime.(14) Due to the lack of transparency and intimidation, it is difficult to gather accurate information.
In addition to government persecution, Eritreans are encouraged to monitor fellow countrymen and report “violations.” Communities, neighbors, and even one’s own family are expected to report any violations. Christians in the officially recognized denominations are protective of their denomination and suspicious of other Christians, contributing to their persecution. Anyone converting from Islam to Christianity suffers extreme persecution. Afwerki’s paranoia creates a culture of constant suspicion and oppression. Moreover, organized crime and corruption also contribute to the misery of Christians, compounding the oppression and persecution.
The International Response
Due to ongoing severe religious persecution, Afwerki’s regime has been widely condemned by human rights groups as well as Western nations and the U.N. Since 2004, under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the U.S. Department of State has continued to classify Eritrea as a “Country of Particular Concern” due to extreme violations of religious freedom. “On December 29, 2023, the Secretary of State redesignated Eritrea as a CPC and identified the following sanction that accompanied the designation: the existing ongoing restrictions referenced in 22 CFR 126.1 pursuant to section 402(c)(5) of the Act.”(15) This sanction reestablishes the 2021 arms embargo referenced in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. However, in 2018, the U.N. lifted a sanctioned arms embargo on Eritrea due to an ease in censorship related to the internet.(16)
Under pressure from the U.N. Human Rights Council to release prisoners who were detained solely because of their religious beliefs, Eritrea did release nine Christians in March 2023 who had been held for nine years. Hundreds more, however, continue to be detained without charges in prisons where torture, extreme deprivation, isolation, and sexual violence occur routinely. USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie stated, “USCIRF urges the Biden administration to engage with the Eritrean government to end religious persecution of unregistered religious communities and release the remaining religious prisoners. The U.S. government must also urge the Eritrean government to ratify U.N. conventions related to freedom of religion or belief.”(17)
Given the plight of persecuted Christians in Eritrea, it is no surprise that many flee the country, often finding themselves in refugee camps in Ethiopia, Sudan, or Somalia. “The Eritrean government has even engaged recently in the forced return of its nationals who fled abroad by forging cooperation with some states like Sudan who are willing to deport Eritreans seeking asylum in their territory. For Eritrean refugees living in camps, the risk to their life in the camps is as grave. For example, thousands of Eritrean refugees who fled their country’s repression and crossed the border to Ethiopia faced displacement by attacks on their camps (UNHCR, 18 February 2022) and severe health risks due to deteriorating conditions in their camp (UNHCR, 21 January 2022).”(18)
A Call to Action
Eritrean Christians, often horrifically suffering unseen, desperately need the global Christian community to advocate on their behalf by urging their nations to exert economic and diplomatic pressure on the Eritrean government to abide by their own constitution, which ensures freedom of religion. Human rights groups, humanitarian organizations, and other governments need to continue to monitor abuses and call out President Afwerki for the ongoing persecution. Sanctions should continue until significant improvements are evidenced, including the release of all imprisoned Christians.
In addition, we must not forget to pray for our persecuted Eritrean brothers and sisters in Christ. We can also tell others of their plight and mobilize the Christian community to join us in prayer and advocacy. There is power in prayer and unity in purpose. We must make this our collective aim.
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1. https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/stories/13-christians-killed-day-average/
3. https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/eritrea/
4. Inside The North Korea of Africa/Firstpost Africa, YouTube, May 21, 2024]
5. Eritrea-Full_Country_Dossier-ODI-2024%20(7).pdf
6. https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/ERI
7. https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/eritrea/
8. https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/eritrea
9. Ibid
10. http://gebeta.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=58]
11. Eritrea-Full_Country_Dossier-ODI-2024%20(7).pdf
12. https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/persecution/countries/eritrea/
13. https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/eritrea
14. https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/persecution/countries/eritrea/
15. https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/eritrea/
18. Eritrea-Full_Country_Dossier-ODI-2024%20(7).pdf
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