Ethiopia and Eritrea were once one country with a stable government, a well-established economy, and a common history. Yet ethnic tensions between the Tigray and Amhara people caused a war to break out and resulted in the secession of Eritrea in 1991. In the following years, the two countries would continue to diverge in terms of human and civil rights, politics and economic standing. The highly contrasting political perspectives would eventually lead Eritrea to be the largest producer of refugees in the world and Ethiopia as the one of the largest hosts of refugees. Why do political factors cause one country to be a source of refugees while the other is a host? Eritrea’s authoritarian government, unstable economy, monetary restrictions, and infringement of human and civil rights has caused an exodus out of the country and drawn refugees to Ethiopia for safety.
There are many similarities between the two countries, but most important is the fact that Eritrea was once a part of Ethiopia, united by one government. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world, even established as an empire in 1855 by Emperor Tewodros II. Eritrea did not gain its independence from Ethiopia until 1991, so the two countries were one country for 136 years. In addition to this, both countries house some of the same ethnic and religious groups. The Tigray and Afar ethnic groups are present not only in Eritrea but also in northeastern Ethiopia. Roman Catholics, Protestants and Muslims are all moderately sized religious groups in found in both countries. Although they share several similarities, tensions within Ethiopia began to arise between the Amhara and Tigray ethnic groups. Due to the rulers of Ethiopia being traditionally Amhara, eventually tensions began to rise with the people of the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. The Tigray people and their own regional culture were often oppressed due to the Amhara dominance in government. The Tigray people were enraged when Tigrinya, their native language, was removed from the educational system and replaced with Amharic, the language of the Amhara people and the current national language. Relations between the Tigrays and Amhara government began to become strained and eventually, the Tigrays formed a resistance group called the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF). The TLF began to resist against the government and soon after the Ethiopian-Eritrean War broke out. Despite the divergence on some topics, Ethiopia and Eritrea still share somethings in common such as religious and ethnic groups and their once common history.
About 9% of Eritrea’s population, or 525,000 people, have had to flee their homeland since 2012. The United Nations has estimated that over 5,000 people flee the country monthly in order to escape religious and political persecution, indefinite required military service, and to discover more economic opportunities. Eritrea is the largest producer of refugees in the world and the number of people leaving the country is steadily increasing. Without change implemented soon, this number will likely continue to rise. The Eritrean government has blocked the entrance of international human rights organizations, and even UN investigators, into the country so the only hope Eritrean citizens have is to flee their country. Hundreds of thousands of Eritrean refugees flee to the neighboring country of Ethiopia because that is the nearest safe place to them. Other refugees also head towards northern African countries or Europe to find a safe haven but are often taken advantage of, tortured, or sold by smugglers that promise to get them to their new home in another country.
A striking difference between the two countries are their current political systems in place. Since gaining independence in 1993, Eritrea has had a single party presidential system with Isaias Afwerki as the president, although the constitution written in 1993 allows a multi-party system. After the fall of the Marxist military dictatorship formerly in place in Ethiopia, a federal parliamentary system was established. In Ethiopia, national elections are held every few years for the House of People’s Representatives and President in Ethiopia; however, elections have never been held in Eritrea. The lack of elections and separation of power in Eritrea has caused Afwerki’s government to be seen as an authoritarian regime by many. The parliamentary system in Ethiopia breaks up power because each house of parliament has their own responsibilities and powers, whereas the Eritrean government has little to no checks or separation of power. The upper house of parliament, the House of Federation, is responsible for interpreting the country’s constitution and any regional issues that arise. The lower house, the House of People’s Representatives, is responsible for passing legislation. While Afwerki has been in power, he has implemented several strict political regulations, such as one in 2002 that banned all political parties except for his own party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). Asylum seekers leave in order to escape Afwerki’s authoritarian regime and frequently go to Ethiopia knowing the political climate is preferred. Also, the Ethiopian government has set up programs to help incoming refugees. Refugees can now acquire birth, death, and marriage certificates which will help those who have fled their native countries join a new society. With these essential documents, refugees are able to assimilation into their new country easier.
Furthermore, Eritrea’s economic issues are another reason citizen are leaving and heading towards Ethiopia. Eritrea has a command economy, which is almost fully controlled by the PFDJ. In addition to the economy being controlled by the government, about 80% of the population participates in subsistence farming, but that only makes up a very small amount of Eritrea’s total output as a nation. The large dependence on agriculture is worrisome due to droughts, soil erosion, and limited amount of arable land available in the country. The recurrence of droughts in the country has made their economy unstable. In addition to controlling the economy, the government also has a tight grip on the new currency, Nafka, which was introduced in 2015. The old currency was also named nakfa, but the government issued new Nakfa bills in an attempt to de-value the old currency that is cycling through the black market and is used for human trafficking. The old banknotes have to be exchanged for the new ones within a six-week period and there is a limit of ERN 20,000 that one person can exchange. There is also a limit to how much an individual can withdraw from the bank monthly. The monetary strategies implemented have only had negative effects on the economy such as exchange fluctuations, high inflation (18%) and a shortage of hard currency in the market. Eritrea also suffers from a trade deficit because the country imports more goods than they export. These are the driving factors behind Eritrea’s feeble economy and the lack of economic opportunity for their citizens. The unstable economy has made finding a job nearly impossible, so many citizens have no form of income.
While Eritrea’s economy continues on a decline, refugees are drawn to Ethiopia because of their prospering economy and widespread job opportunities. Although Ethiopia also has a command economy, the economy has seen significant growth and was deemed the third-fastest growing country between 2000 and 2016 by the International Monetary fund. A large cause of the significant amount of growth the economy is due to the government’s increasing investments into the country’s infrastructure. Infrastructural projects that are underway in Ethiopia include the production of new roads, railways, airports and other industrial parks. About 70% of Ethiopians are engaged in the agricultural sector of the economy, and service accounts for a large amount of their GDP. World renown Ethiopian Airlines is state-run and is one of the largest sources of earnings for the economy. The Ethiopian currency is stable and has low inflation rates, which is key to the consistent growth in the market, and a reason why Eritreans seek asylum in Ethiopia. These slight differences between the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments make a large impact in the refugee crisis.
Another large cause of the refugee crisis in Eritrea is the infringement of human rights by forced, indefinite military service. A proclamation created in 1995 states that all Eritreans are required to participate in national service for at least 18 months, which includes 6 months of military training. Although the minimum requirement is only 18 months, the government often disregards the time limit originally set, so citizens are forced to serve in the military indefinitely. Citizens have no control over where they are placed or how long they must fill that position. Some people are lucky and get civil service jobs or as educators, while others who are less fortunate are placed in the military. The United Nations Human Rights Council classifies Eritrea’s indefinite national service as a form of enslavement, yet there have been no changes put in place to end this horrifying system. A growing number of young adults and children flee the country in order to escape their potential fate of being placed in the military indefinitely. These children flee to Ethiopia because there is no citizen service required and people will not be placed into the military involuntarily. In addition to no national service requirement, individuals also flock to Ethiopia to escape the physical abuse and torture they were subjected to while in the military. The contrasting treatment of citizens in Ethiopia by their government is just one more the reason why Eritrean citizens view it as a sanctuary.
It is interesting to see such dissimilar treatments of religious groups in both Eritrea and Ethiopia although they share a similar religious breakdown. The lack of religious freedom in Eritrea is seen to be a reason for the large outflow of Eritrean refugees as well. The Eritrean government only recognizes and allows the practice of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Eritrea, the Roman Catholic Church, Sunni Islam, and the Evangelical Church of Eritrea. Several religious groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baha’is, Presbyterians, and Methodists have been banned from practicing their religions. Evangelical Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses often face the most discrimination out of all the other religious groups and are frequently executed. Jehovah’s Witnesses have been denied basic citizenship rights, forms of identification and travel documents since 1993. Many Eritreans are trying to escape the hardships placed on them for practicing their religion, in public and in private, and flee to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian constitution established religious freedom and there are also policies in effect to protect citizens. The religious freedom found in Ethiopia is such a drastic change from what the religious climate is in Eritrea, because of the fact that citizens can actually freely practice their religion.
The absence of political freedom is another large issue Eritreans face, because most citizens do not have the opportunity to express their opposing political views without risking imprisonment. In addition to this, there are no independent press outlets or non-governmental organizations available for citizens to consult with about their views. The Eritrean government has a large amount of control over the judiciary system, so those who are arrested often will not have a trial or be able to appeal their sentence. Political views have to be kept hidden because if the government suspects you have opposing views, you will be arrested. In addition to being imprisoned, individuals are often detained indefinitely and are not told what crime they have committed. Physical abuse is also another issue that prisoners face often. In comparing the two, it is clear that Ethiopian citizens have more political freedom than Eritrean citizens do. Although the Ethiopian government is very strict when it comes to freedom of press, there are still long standing privately-owned paper companies, which offer more political freedom than what is present in Eritrea.
It is shocking to see that a such a widespread crisis is occurring, yet it is not as publicized as other issues that are taking place elsewhere in the world. Eritrea’s dictatorship regime, denial of human rights and civil freedoms, and deteriorating economy have been the galvanic causes of the largest refugee crises in the world. The Ethiopian government is not nearly as oppressive when compared to their neighbor, Eritrea, which serves as a key reason as to why the majority of refugees choose to flock there rather than other surrounding countries. Looking forward, Eritrea will need to begin reforming their government and their policies in place or else the outflow of citizens will only increase and deal the country more political and economic issues. A major step forward for the Eritrean people is possible if Afwerki was to abolish the religious and political bans and the national service proclamation currently in place. Eritrea would be seen as a new country if those bans and proclamation were to be removed, which may lead diaspora to see Eritrea as their homeland once again. It will be interesting to see how long Eritrea goes before implementing new policies, but nonetheless, there is still a high likelihood that Ethiopia will continue to keep their borders open for incoming refugees and continue to establish more federal programs aimed at supporting newly arrived refugees.