
Eritrea: The North Korea or Naples of Africa?
African countries like Burundi and Somalia garner consistently negative press. Eritrea, on the other hand, garners consistently zero press.
Perhaps this is because the International Press Freedom Index ranks Eritrea’s freedom of press as dead last in the world — below that of even North Korea. It is not then entirely surprising that one of the first articles I find about the country describes it as the “North Korea of Africa”. Another discusses how Eritrea has the second largest standing army relative to general population, right behind North Korea.
These are not normally two statistics that would inspire one to visit a country. But I also stumble upon a Lonely Planet review that describes the capital, Asmara, as “like a film set from an early Italian movie.”
So which is it: North Korea? Or Naples?
Visiting Africa’s Hermit Kingdom
When I first call the Eritrean embassy in Washington, the man on the other end of the phone does not sound hopeful.
“So, you do not have any family in Eritrea?”
“No.”
“What about an organization to sponsor you?”
“No.”
“What about Eritrean friends in the country?”
“No.”
“Okay… well, this could be challenging.”
The central government in Asmara issues all visas. US-Eritrea relations are strained at best, rocky at worst, making it difficult for even American-Eritreans to obtain visas. Tourism is virtually non-existent.
When I receive a call from a random Washington DC phone number six weeks later, the same gentleman at the embassy seems as surprised as I am: “They gave you a visa.”
On the ground
Other travelers warn me about the airport. Every penny of currency will be counted, every picture on my camera checked, every serial number of every device recorded.
I make it from the plane to the parking lot in 10 minutes flat.
After a quick nap, I venture out to the streets of Asmara with two Eritrean friends of friends. The ever-optimistic US State Department told me to expect the following:
- “The Government of Eritrea is arming its citizens with automatic rifles to form citizen militias.”
- “Crime in Asmara has increased as a result of deteriorating economic conditions accompanied by persistent food, water, and fuel shortages, and rapid price inflation.”
- “The Eritrean government-controlled media frequently broadcast anti-U.S. rhetoric.”
The first Eritreans I encounter, on the other hand, have this to say, after they recovered from their initial shock of meeting an American tourist wandering the streets:
- “Welcome, America!”
- “San Francisco is my favorite city in America!”
- “I lived in Houston for a few years; I would never walk in the city at night. Here I always do.”
Someone in the Eritrean anti-American propaganda department needs to be fired.
Unlike North Korea, I was able to freely wander around Asmara at all hours of the day and night and speak to whomever I wished.
Brief History
Italy controlled Eritrea from 1890 until WWII when the British awarded Eritrea to Ethiopia. Ethiopia annexed Eritrea as a province 10 years later, sparking a 30 year war for independence between Eritrea (population: 6M) and Ethiopia (population: 94M).
The conflict ended in 1991 with the expulsion of Ethiopian forces. Eritreans overwhelmingly voted for independence in 1993 under an UN-administered referendum.
Unfortunately, independence did not bring lasting peace or prosperity. The two countries continued to fight over disputed borders. Under the guise of security, one party has controlled Eritrea since independence. The country has held exactly zero national elections in the last two decades.
I know this only from public sources, however. Given Eritrea’s political situation, I was advised against inquiring about politics, so limited my visit to experiencing life on the ground. While not ideal, I wanted to both ensure my own ability to leave the country as well as the security of my local hosts.
Naples
From at least external appearances, Lonely Planet had it right — Asmara felt much more like Naples than North Korea.
In fact, it is unquestionably the most beautiful African capital city I’ve visited. It’s truly pleasant to stroll around on foot, with wide sidewalks, towering green trees, and minimal traffic. Breathing comes a bit harder at an altitude of over 7,000 feet, but the mountain air is refreshingly cool, clean, and crisp. The streets are immaculate; “roving gangs” of street sweepers “descend upon” the city every morning at 5am and “attack” litter.
Cafés dot the sidewalks. The gelato rivals that of Rome or Florence. Cappuccino is considered a national addiction. The national cuisine resembles Ethiopian, but Italian restaurants almost outnumber Eritrean ones.
Immaculately preserved cathedrals and mosques line the main squares. Christian and Islamic houses of worship stand in close proximity. The population is split between the two religions, but I am told no one can tell a person’s religion unless they ask. Everyone attends each other’s weddings regardless of religion; my hosts had over 4,000 guests at their ceremony.
Walking is a slow process as every third person stops and offers a warm greeting. I did not receive as much attention as in other countries as there are still quite a few Italians living in Asmara, making Eritrea the first and last time I will ever be mistaken for an Italian.
Allies versus enemies
Eritrea undoubtedly has issues, but it seems the US government has taken a particularly harsh approach to the country. When you compare it to a country such as Bahrain — which relentlessly cracked down on protestors during the Arab Spring — it seems the US approach to Eritrea is disproportionately heavy-handed. That being said, unlike Bahrain, Eritrea isn’t housing the US Fifth Fleet.
Despite warnings about militias and armed gangs, I saw a grand total of three traffic police and zero militias — unlike Bahrain where every 10 minutes a pack of 5 armored police cars roared past. Even without a visible police presence, crime seems extremely rare.
In many respects, I found myself thinking back to my travels to Iran. Simply because a government is autocratic does not mean a country is either unsafe, unfriendly, or lacking beauty. Here’s to hoping that one day, both governments will reconcile their differences and make it easier for more people to enjoy the charm of the Naples of Africa.
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Great article! Just wanted to correct one minor mistake. You said “Tourism is virtually non-existent.” and I would like to say that it is an inaccurate statement. The reason you may not have seen tourists in Eritrea at this time is because tourists (who comprise of mostly Eritrean diaspora) come during the summer months. During that time, the capital city is very busy and it is even difficult to find seats at popular cafes during busy hours of the day.
Some links on tourism to Eritrea:
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL
Enjoy your stay in Asmara!
Good catch! I did hear that lots of diaspora and even some Europeans do visit during the summer. I think it is safe I say American tourism, outside of diaspora, is virtually non-existent, yes?
Paul – I think that would be accurate. Non-Eritrean descendant Americans are not visiting Eritrea in large numbers. I think this is for a variety of reasons (e.g. Ask the average American Eritrea is you will most likely be told that it is a small airline based out of Atlanta – clear confusion with Air Tran Airways).
Hilarious. Reminds me of telling people in high school that my family is from Estonia, which often elicited a reply along the lines of “Your whole family are stoners? Way cool, man.” Geography does not tend to be America’s competitive advantage.
Just had a chance to look at the link you shared — very interesting statistics. My homeland (Estonia) has 2 arrivals per every resident! Eritrea is at 0.02. I realize it’s comparing apples and oranges, but still fascinating. Thank you for sharing!
I’m sure most European Nations trump most African nations in tourism. But if you were to compare per resident arrivals for Eritrea and Ethiopia, you get this:
Eritrea : 0.018
Ethiopia:0.005
Very interesting. I wonder too what the relative size of each country’s diaspora is today?
This may be one of my favorite sentences that you have published: “Someone in the Eritrean anti-American propaganda department needs to be fired.”
Glad to hear that all went well 🙂
I think your article would be value added if you let readers know what cities you visited in Eritrea and how long was your visit.
Some of what you are writing will have unintended consequences by default so it was good to see you have quite a balanced reporting. I personally don’t think it is fair to judge certain aspects of a country as a tourist because you get to indulge in a number of luxuries that the common individual rarely achieves. There are a number of comments I could berate but just glad you were able to enjoy the Country and hope more tourists continue to visit.
Hi Bereket- good questions. I was in Asmara and only for two days. You can thank Egyptair canceling my original flight for my short stay. But I agree that I only had a glimpse and only from the point of view of a Western tourist. I would love for you (and other Eritreans) to chime in with your views on the country.
I don’t want your blog to become host of pro vs. anti government trolls but will give you my personal opinion.
As a nation Eritrea is currently having a quasi-cold war with Ethiopia. No member of the UN Security Council/EU can rationally support Eritrea for economic/strategic reasons [Eritrea (population: 6M) and Ethiopia (population: 94M)]. No other logical reason to explain why there are no sanctions placed on Ethiopia which is illegally occupying Eritrean sovereign land.
It has become a war of attrition which Eritrea hopes to win in the long run. As a result of all of this, thousands of Eritrean refugees are suffering in camps in Sudan and Ethiopia hoping for a visa from one of the first world countries.
I would venture majority of the citizens are ready for some of reconciliation with Ethiopia but the powers that be demand otherwise.
Even within my own family I am intimidated about inquiring about politics regarding Eritrea. As someone who lives abroad if I am petrified of speaking my mind in Eritrea, imagine what it’s like for real Eritreans. It’s not an easy pill to swallow for majority of dual citizen Eritreans that if you speak your mind against the government you can never visit your motherland.
This article goes into depth about the kind of psychological conundrum facing Eritreans. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/mariakonnikova/2014/05/why-do-people-persist-in-believing-things-that-just-arent-true.html A quote that sticks in mind is “When there’s no immediate threat to our understanding of the world, we change our beliefs. It’s when that change contradicts something we’ve long held as important that problems occur.” Individuals get very defensive about criticizing the government because it is like a personal attack on their character.
One of the unintentionally consequences of the message you may be conveying to certain individuals is that everything is peachy in Eritrea. No one likes going as a tourist to refugee camps but that is were the real story on Eritrea is.
Enough of my long winded message but will end with my views that everything HRW says about Eritrea is 99% correct: http://www.hrw.org/africa/eritrea The difficult question is it justifiable for the security of the nation?
Thank you for sharing; it is great to hear firsthand and unfiltered perspectives. I hope my comment about not feeling comfortable to ask about politics lets people know that my experience was in many ways only surface-level deep; moreover, the fact that I was told not to ask about politics says something quite significant in and of itself.
On a separate note (from my earlier reply), glad that you had a notable trip to Eritrea! Come back soon!
Thanks! I would love to explore more and visit outside of Asmara.
I like you to explore Sawa and all “Agelglot” locations and it will be first hand experience for you to know what is really going on.
if you get chance please try to visit prisons: it will be good opportunity to meet great people behind bars. they say in Africa Eritrea is taking the leading place on having high number of journalist detained.
Rezene- I suspect it would be difficult, if not impossible, to visit some of these locations (particularly the prisons) as a tourist, sadly.
Paul – thanks for visiting our country Eritrea .
Hello Paul, great snapshot for the two days you’ve been there. Asmara has indeed been one of charming cities in Africa. The peace you’ve come to experience is a little misleading. All Eritreans from 18 – 40 are currently caught up in an indefinite forced labor, the UN refugee agency reports that upto 4000 Eritreans are flooding out of the country every month, recently a boat carrying 366 Eritrean migrants sank off the coast of Italy, they were all desperate to leave the country. If you wondered at night, the peoples militia means everybody from 18 – 70 that is not in the forced miltary service and you would see them patrolling blocks in groups of 4 – 5. You would not have been able to travel out of Asmara without a permit, all western nationals are required to do so. The heavy dictatorship in the country would mean that the regime simply locks up people in prison and let them rot for ever, no courts no charges no nothing. Most citizens like to get the hell out of the place asap. Just for your information, money is mostly exchanged in the black market, prostitution is high and all civil servants, teachers, police… are paid a stipends because they are considered still serving in the endless national service and their monthly pay doesn’t buy few kilograms of meat. The tranquil atmosphere you seen is the result of heavy repression and a population that chooses to quietly make it to the borders and run for it. I hope you now get the other picture, but I still wish you better occasions in the future. Nice job though.
Thanks for sharing, Simon. Again, in no way do I intend to condone the government of Eritrea, but rather share my experience of the beautiful city and friendly people of Asmara.
Thanks Paul, you did that superbly. I am certain that it won’t continue like this forever and great times might be around the corner. I agree with you that it is one of the wonderful places that you would keep going back once you’ve discovered it. Best wishes and thank you.
paul i do not think u undestand the government of ertirean behaviour ,,,have you heared about lambudasa death this is because of the government ,,,,thier are 93000 refugges of ertirean in ethiopia who fled recently ,,,in sini desert many ertireans kideny is stolen ,,,if u check the prison u could get money political and civil innocent people .the ertirea government is supporting terrorizem to distablize the whole east africa ….so paul to know the reality it is too rush u have to ask oppionion from people like kunama red sea afar ,,,tigre ,,,in keren the second city then i hope u will come with the reality ,,,,u have to ask people who oppose the government they can show u the reality ,,,ertirean government is expending its budget to train ethiopia oppostion and its own people ,,
It seems your blog post is being inundated by perspectives from anti-government folks. I wish you had a chance to stay in Eritrea for a bit longer to see things for yourself. All I can say is don’t buy into the media or what is said on the internet The tranquil atmosphere is not due to “heavy repression” but due to Eritrean culture and the collective history of the long struggle for independence. It also helps that Eritrea does not have a heavy level of corruption seen in most African nations (no billionaire/millionaire politicians). Considering the circumstances (war, no peace, hostile foreign powers, etc…), you would expect the citizens of Eritrea to be desperate and robbing eachother and visitors blind, left, right and center; you dont and there is a reason for that.
“making it difficult for even American-Eritreans to obtain visas.” Well, US-Eritreans shouldn’t apply for a visa, therefore I don’t understand what you are implying with this sentence. Other than that, I’m glad you liked Asmara and thank you for your kind and positive words.
I meant US-Eritrean citizens, sorry 🙂
More specifically, Eritrean-Americans who do not hold an Eritrean passport — I believe they still do need a visa.
The fact that Eritrean citizenship (therefore eligibility to have an Eritrean passport) is ruled by ‘ius sanguinis’, makes “Eritrean-Americans who do not hold an Eritrean passport” sound as a sort of contradiction in terms. The ones who do not have an Eritrean passport can travel with a foreign passport (US ppt in this case) and an Eritrean ID. I guess the real problem is that anyone eligible to obtain an ID or a passport won’t be issued one unless the pay taxes and other contributions. As far as I know, if you have an Eritrean parent and you need to apply for a visa to go to Eritrea, there’s something more to it rather than “the Embassy making it difficult”. Sorry but when it comes to facts, particularly about my home country, I tend to be as meticulous as I can be: as you clearly pointed out in this blog entry, there’s already enough inaccurate information about Eritrea.
Sonia- thanks for sharing. My sense is that the issue my Eritrean friends in America have is exactly the above — it’s not as simple as getting a visa, but rather obtaining a citizenship card / passport and all the related requirements that you discuss.
Jonatan
Good job, Poul you share your expirience wonderfull. Don’t forget Eritrea has a lot of enemis. Eritrea and Eritreans ate #1 in this world. We went through very hard and we are now in very stabel ground as a nation. Ofcourse we still have economical problem. Our government working very hard, we can’t be like european country with in short time.But Eritrea will be prevail in short. And at last the peace you feel in Eritrea is from the above, Eritrea is a promis country this people is a promis people from our God Lord JESUS Amen!!!
The truth nothing but the truth…FYI tho there are a lot of Ethiopians (tigrayans) pretending to be Eritrea all over the internet, Facebook and tweeter is flooded by them. Eritrea have an economic problems but not political one. Even the people leaving the country are joining the gov while they in the west that only is enough evidence to determine what’s happening, but to see Eritrea a new country with all the hostility not only doing well bit now it’s become one of the fastest growing economise and all this without Aid. That’s really unheard of in Africa. Check out the link from The Economist Intelligence Unit has released its projections for economic growth in 2014 http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/09/these-10-countries-are-set-to-be-the-fastest-growing-economies-in-2014/ anyways I hope u will be back soon and you going to love it more
Henok- thank you for writing. While I cannot comment on whether Eritrea does or does not have a political problem, I have to take exception to some of your claims. Over the last few years, at least half the fastest growing economies in the world have been in Africa. Similar to Eritrea, their growth is almost entirely fueled by natural resource extraction (in Eritrea’s case, I believe it is mostly gold) — not, sadly, the inherent dynamism of their economies. Moreover, almost all the countries on the list (including Eritrea) are quite poor to begin with, making growth much easier from a low base. So simply because Eritrea has a fast growing economy does not prove (or disprove) the strength of its political system.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/theworldin2013/2013/01/fastest-growing-economies-2013
http://www.businessinsider.com/fastest-growing-economies-through-2015-2013-1?op=1
http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-fastest-economies-2012-10?op=1
Paul, you’re absolutely right! Africa is moving forward finiancially, mostly though due to chinese help and hopefully because they have learned and chose to change path. My boyfriend is a photojournalist who has travelled a lot in Africa and Asia, and he sees the developement as a chinese involvement where US and Europe is losing it’s toll on Africa.
Thankfully, many of the fastest growing ecos in Africa are very poor countries like eritrea
What you are objectively wrong is these two things: “So simply because Eritrea has a fast growing economy does not prove (or disprove) the strength of its political system.”
You see, it does in fact prove the strength of its political system. It’s BECAUSE of it’s political system the economy is moving forward. WHY?
1) unlike most of these African countries, Eritrea is the only country that suffers so much from sanctions, has occupied land, is in cold war, and is constitently threatened by the international community to lose it’s sovereignity – like international invasion using the crime against humanity crap as prescription.
2) we have age old culture for democracy… actually since the 1300s we developed a culture for fair legal system that is based on democracy back then when Eritrea was called Medri Bahri with the capital in Dubarwal. For this reason, cruelty and inhumane treatment is not our culture. It’s one big fat lie. The truth however is the hardship of current political situation and the national security issue, basically halts and makes life in general a super ad hoc, let alone enjoy regular democratic previlges one would expect to have in any peaceful country. So,Eritrea has security, and recource problems even for administration!
3) It’s the government’s idea NOT TO HAVE ANY AID that is making the progress. It strengthens human charchter. Unlike any country in Africa, we have no aid and no loan. If they thought like us, they would have supported us politically. Yet, somehow, Africa chose to play the other tambourine.
All the companies that work in Eritrea have quite attrative and good contracts (google), with Eritrea being in control of its resources. The philosophy is political neutrality, and neither Chinese, Candandians, Europeans nor Australians or Arabs gets to control it. So no, there’s no particular leaning towards China at all. We are independent, which I think is wise and thinking beyond the moment.
Also, the mining process is happening in a very environmental way. Mining means polution of the air and soil in the process. Obviously, this nothing people can take for granted even today! (google)
4) Crime safety, education, health services, decentralization of urban life (meaning creating new rural cities), clean water, food security and greening projects >>> Eritrea is nr. 1 in Africa and among the very top 10 countries in the world to have achieved all these things – like in terms of eradicating poverty etc. You can google all this.
5) there’s relative equality between men and women, absolute equality and respect between different religious groups and ethinicities in eritrea. There ACTUALLY IS NO RACISM WHATSOEVER IN ERITREA OF ANY KIND, neither between each other nor to foreigners. The jehovas, certain types of pentecostals and special muslim religious groups that are not alloud to practice their religion are those who in fact are separatists in nature that disrupt the harmony of the people as a whole. Those religions are regulated in the west too, and are not necessarly FREE for practice.
So you see this is our culture, and it is the government who nourtures and make space to create this room of respect. It doesn’t mean we are perfect or better than anyone, but the govt does for real make politcal instruments to make this happend and to continue to grow this. Our only problem is economy and guarantee for eternal peace.. that serisously gives us life threatning problems aka lampedusa. We only live once as they say!
Eritrea truly is a beautiful and safe place to visit. Glad you enjoyed it.
Good reporting, Paul. It doesn’t surprise me that it took an independent journalist to offer a more balanced portrayal of Eritrea than many so-called journalists in the corporate media.
My own take is that the Eritrean government has obliterated Eritrea-based freedom of the press by banning all independent press and has cowed its own journalists into compliant and demoralized stenographers. It is impossible to deny this.
With that said, it’s been equally frustrating to see the comparison with North Korea. Unlike many nations, even those that are darlings of the West receiving all sorts of economic and military aid from the US and European nations, the Eritrean government doesn’t block websites–all opposition sites can be accessed from Eritrea. And many Eritreans who can afford it can install satellite dishes to access Western and Middle Eastern sources for news and other developments.
It is also impossible to deny that Eritrean government is nowhere as bad as North Korea, Cuba or even the shockingly brutal new Egyptian government, which we prop up with billions of dollars of military aid, while the so-called adversarial Western press is mostly tows the government line by measuring its criticisms to the edges. There are also many other governments that don’t receive their fair share of criticism for engaging in aggressive censorship of internal and external news outlets.
But that’s too low a bar to set for the current Eritrean leadership. The people in power are serious people who spent most of their lives either fighting to free Eritrea from foreign domination or rebuilding its shattered economy and infrastructure since then. The Eritrean government’s allocation of meager resources in expanding health, education, electricity and other vital services has been commendable. It is its performance in the political sphere that has been shockingly short-sighted and alarming for a whole host of reasons. The Eritrean government’s refusal to address, let alone create, the requisite atmosphere for political freedom that might bring back the broad consensus that Eritrea enjoyed until about a dozen years ago has fueled enormous amount of anger and opposition by Eritreans in the Diaspora.
It’s in this context, when Western corporate journalists parrot their own leaders’ hypocritical and arrogant pronouncements against Eritrean interests, many Eritreans and friends of Eritrea who used to push back in the past have simply decided to remain silent.
Dan- Thank you for putting so eloquently a view that is very similar to what I believe to be the reality of Eritrea, at least based on my brief visit as an outsider.
You are. The man. Thanks for portraying my country in the light it truly deserves!
hmmm…few observations here…
– If Eritrea is so peaceful and at ease with its current internal situation, then why would a simple tourism related article cause us to indulge in long political commentaries?
– Some of the dictatorial regime loyalist wrote that none-Eritreans (Ethiopians) are commenting. But how does such be the case when this very article is currently being widely circulated throughout the Eritrean regime websites to drum up support ant rally a push back against the international isolation of the regime for its disturbing human rights violations against the Eritrean people? Are we to assume that none-Eritreans are the main readers of pro-regime websites?
Simon- I only meant to imply that it is a peaceful please to visit, but certainly cannot or will not state that Eritreans are at ease with their current internal situation or politics. But interesting to hear how it is being shared.
Paul – I was actually responding to the comments of some of the writers. I do appreciate the your points were not intended to imply anything other than your experience. Unfortunately, it is the nature of things that it also provided a welcome break to the stressed out recluse regime which is holding the beautiful people and country hostage for the last quarter of a century. Here are the list of its major online information organs, and your article has attained an imposing top row in every single one of them 🙂
http://www.madote.com/2014/06/eritrea-is-africas-naples-american.html
http://www.dehai.org/archives/dehai_news_archive/2014/jun/0085.html
http://www.tesfanews.net/eritrea-the-north-korea-or-naples-of-africa/
https://www.facebook.com/ERTREA
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Voice-of-Eritrea-DC/272084598166
Regards
Fascinating. I have to say, I am bit surprised they would share it so widely, given lines like, “Under the guise of security, one party has controlled Eritrea since independence. The country has held exactly zero national elections in the last two decades.” But I suppose everyone already knows that. As always, thanks for sharing.
I guess you’ve stumbled into two major aspects that are influencing this whole thing. Tomorrow June 6, 2014 the UN human rights council will hear report of its Special rapport for human rights in Eritrea. The rapporteur was denied access to the country and had to travel all over the world to interview Eritrean refugees. It is funny that the regime refuses visa to a UN agent mandated to answer the questions we are dealing with and try to use your (outsider) article to insinuate that Eritrea isn’t as bad as it is reported to be (for Eritreans). The UN is disturbed by reports of mass arrests, gross violations and forced labor imposition on the youth of the country. It also identified the regime’s involvement in trafficking in arms and persons and posing a threat to world peace through its collaboration with Somali terrorists (some were long term Asmara residents at the invitation of the regime). So, your article would appear (to the regime) that it supports its argument that Eritreans and the world are fabricating their allegations and those who visit can testify to a peaceful, tranquil nation full of happy and thriving population (I know you never said anything remotely to that effect). But hey, it is one of those fogs of war (i.e. media).
The second is that the nick “north korea of africa” is pretty formidable and well established term used by the world over to describe it. Your challenge of that notion must have been interpreted God sent 🙂
Very pleasant and refreshing article. I am glad you were able to see and appreciate with your own eyes . And do not be too hard on the folks of the State Dept. in DC: They only do what is told to them from the US embassy in Asmara.
Thank you for sharing a brilliant article of the beautiful country, Eritrea.
Its not surprising the anti Eritrea would react in the negative angel , any positive news or article about Eritrea is not appreciated by them. Its one thing to oppose the government but opposing the Country itself and its people then you might want to question, do you even care for this country or are they just talking for their own interests.
No one is going to deny that Eritrea has its own challenges like every developing country do but challenges are supposed to go through together and solve them one by one, all of them cannot be fixed over a night. If one is going to talk about Eritrea’s challenges then that individual needs to describe and talk about everything in full context….in every angle left ,right, up and down. One cannot start talking about Eritrea’s human rights without talking about the EEBC (Eritrea Ethiopia border commission ), where Ethiopia is illegally occupying Eritrea’s territories for over 12 years now and the international committee has done nothing to respect Eritrea’s rights even after the agreement was done. ( The links below has more details) http://stesfamariam.com/2013/12/12/eritrea-13-years-after-the-signing-of-algiers-agreements-ethiopian-occupation-persists/
About human trafficking investigation the Eritrean government has repeatedly called on the Human Rights Watch organization to do an independent investigation in Eritrea numerous times but that has fell on deaf ears but yet the organization has set up a reporter for Eritrea’s human rights watch who has never set a foot in Eritrea and her interests has nothing but full of fabrications. The reporter claimed she has done interviews with Eritrean refuges but the interviews she has done were very selective, she has picked to interviews the anti Eritrea elements . Her interviews are bias and unacceptable by majority Eritrean people and she has been told by many Eritreans to make her stories in more balanced and acceptable way but she also has deaf ears .
“President Isaias has also sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon requesting the UN to launch a comprehensive investigation of the act through an independent, neutral and transparent body.” (more in details , http://www.tesfanews.net/eritrea-participated-at-a-regional-meeting-on-human-trafficking-and-smuggling/ )
Eritrea is also being sanctioned twice over fabricated reasons that has yet to provide a legitimate evidence by the SEMG group (Somalia Eritrea monitoring group) or even the UN itself. ( for more info take a look at the articles, the second article is a well written article and should give it your time to read)
http://www.tesfanews.net/un-sanctions-and-its-impact-on-eritreas-infrastructure/
http://natna.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/us-foreign-policy-in-eritrea-kagnew-badme-to-sanctions-and-ethiopia-the-worthless-center-rump/
Despite all the sanctions , the Eritrean people and the government are making impressive progress towards achieving MDG (Millennium Development Goals): http://www.tesfanews.net/eritrea-making-impressive-progress-towards-achieving-mdg/
http://www.tesfanews.net/insight-on-eritreas-tuberculosis-reduction/
http://www.tesfanews.net/hivaids-in-eritrea-some-insight-on-progress-and-continued-challenges/
http://www.tesfanews.net/visiting-high-level-un-mission-underlines-eritreas-success-story/
Thanks for sharing, Harena.
Paul – As a person you might had wrong or right predefined image and concept of Eritrea. Even if I have some reservations about that, I would like salute you for putting eloquently what any visitor would witness in Eritrea. But as you already have noticed there are some individuals who gets agitated if they hear some positive thing about Eritrea. and as you can see their best “advice” is not to believe your own eyes. One even suggested that the true situation of Eritrea should be experienced in Ethiopia. Any sensible critique would suggest to visit the rural areas and see how is the situation there, if living standard is increasing or decreasing, if the tangible peace that you witnessed in Asmara is a fact in the whole country. But no They want you to go to the country who are trying to destabilize Eritrea and assess Eritrea’s situation from there. Because they know even if you go to the rural areas you would be even more impressed of the ongoing development there. But Ethiopia is Ethiopia …. I my self is an Eritrean immigrant in Europe. I can’t see how my situation here explains the situation in Eritrea. I think it is healthy to say that the situation of an immigrant only reflects the host country’s actual situation.
Any way it is evident that no one can fake peace in a country. Even the US with all its might couldn’t help Bahrain to impose a fake peace in that country. One can notice that there is something wrong there within two hours, let alone two days. Of course if your visit was longer, the depth of you experience would be proportional. Nevertheless one can notice a lot within two day, and by doing that the anti Eritrean elements are upset. Don’t mind them, it is never a sin to write what you saw.
well said Tsnat
Another insightful read!
Paul! What a controversial! I don’t’ know whether u wrote this intentionally or not! Do u know that, the country’s constitution is abolished?! What left then if a country is runlled without a constitution?!
Do u know that Eritrean has “0” press – after this country steped forward to record a sucessful development – the extreme dictator banned and dismised 11 public newspapers, putting all their journalists in jail since 2001 some r killed in the jails?! Do u know that all first even democratic institutions of the country r demolished? Do you know, since independence, the country is ruled by one man show”! Do you know that, no any opposition party exist?! Do u know that, “special trial” is sucking the blood of innocent Eritreans? Kill without justice – brining to the courts! Do u know that, it is now more than 10 years, the blood-sucker Issaias gave a false hope to grant citizens (in diaspora) a piece of land in asmara if paid USD 9-15k – but when citizen (almost more than 50,000) paid in full, till now we r given nor a piece of land nor refunded?! (I am one of them) – Do u kinow the fate of these millions? the blood-sucker’s “personal” account in China!! Do u know that this hopeless and unfortunate country has more than 10,000 political prisoners?! Many of them in critical situation called “Container Prisoners” – stuffed in containers like a sardine? Do u know that youths r forced to serve for lifetime slavery?! (Never happen in any country’s new history!!) Do u know that the regime – the most brutal dictator in the world, detain parents?! Have u heard the reason?! Because their son / daughter escaped the slavery?! What a paradox?! Not only a prison is their cursed fate, but also r foced to pay more than 50,000 Nakfa as a penalty, which today is a burden to any eritrean family!!!.. if u don’t know this all conspiracies against the eritrean legitimacy, what is the fruit of ur visit?! Read: http://afrol.com/index.php Eritrea “celebrates” 20 years of terror! By Rainer Chr. Hennig;
Also read in tigrigna (eritrean language): http://niqhhat.com/ to realize the OPEN TRUTH known to all.
Wake up paul!
Hi Abdu- thanks for sharing. I certainly never intended to imply that Eritrea is a free or democratic country. In fact, I think my post makes clear that it is the opposite. Yet that does not mean it is not beautiful, its people friendly, and that it is overall a safe place for a foreigner to visit.
Paul,you said …
‘Yet that does not mean it is not beautiful, its people friendly, and that it is overall a safe place for a foreigner to visit ‘
As tourist, that is all you need friendly,piecefull place, charming to see and
Different variiety of things to see, ERITREA has all of that,
All above telling you all the nonsense, are ethiopians pretending to be eritreans, just to confuse and deter tourist like you from coming back, or GOD forbid write any thing good about ERITREA.
What matters here, you had a good time, & hopefully you go back to have an even greater time on your next visit!
Apreciate the blog, its a a masterpiece !
Eritrea is for eritrea and in ground hard worker people and building their own country without too much talk.
Eritrea proud country in Africa because not place for begs or lazy people.
Eritrea history is with out help any country fight for which support by super country in our world and Ethiopia have more than 96 million people but eritrea victory 19961-1992 (30) take long for freedom . But they were say like you Eritrea can’t win but Eritrea win now.
Eritrea right now will be win for building their country with out more talk.
Doesn’t matter what America or Sanction over eritrea .
Eritrea believing on their mind and confidence .
Please learn about eritrea and her people.
Eritrea people not like Africa or Ethiopia people ??? They are different historical and mind.
Friendly people and peace like heaven in Eritrea you can’t get like other country killing or fighting.
Eritrea people love their country than any one in the world so that pay blood and their sweat for building their country.
Why Ethiopia people call them self in Foreign we are eritrea and even they can’t speak eritrea language then UN knows about this but give them paper and then call them as asylum skeer.
Eritrea people around now is 6 million .
Why All this begs Ethiopia people call eritrea and Knows about this Unssiar..
The Dog bark! but the Camel continuos his Jounray!!!
The line that I will never forget: “Simply because a government is autocratic does not mean a country is either unsafe, unfriendly, or lacking beauty.”
Check out this video links to confirm your visit more. Bottom line is in order to understand the situation in Eritrea one has to look at every angle of it’s short years of independence (1991) and how it has been able to build itself without debt and being a boot licker like it’s neighbor to the south who by the way has a minority leadership hated by the vast majority of it’s people. But it is one of the central locations for the recently exposed CIA interrogation locations. So the USA stands to gain by supporting Ethiopia over Eritrea as they can dictate all policies dealing in a huge country that depends on aid. Not trying to get political here but you were telling us what you saw with your own eyes and the “Trolls” and what we call “Hasus” in tigrinia are trying to divert the attention of your true and honest opinion.
Enjoy these two videos one produced by an Eritrean and the other by an American. The second one aired on 45 PBS stations about three years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvKjPWsz4kc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk7WGmsM2s0
and how it has been able to build itself without debt and being a boot licker
Meant to say “NOT A BOOT LICKER”…….. You get my drift.
Good job!!
The idiosyncrasy of the people who are out to taint Eritrea as ‘hell on earth’ is a fascinating mental sport to watch, and is backfiring slowly but surely, since it is difficult to keep up a propaganda devoid of the truth.
If a tourist writes about his experience objectively, why does it become a concern for these people, so that they come out with such vile and illogical arguments against a Tourist blog. What is the reason for not accepting comments for what they are and argue from Eritrea’s Tourist experience point of view.
I guess it just confirms (if there was any confirmation needed) the predicament Eritrea finds itself in. If a tourist visit any country, say Morocco, and comments how great the market is in that country is, Would anyone ask him ..’ah, but have you visited the prisons where the US tortures prisoners…’ . Nobody with logical mind would tie those two comments in the same argument, however the idiosyncratic people who are out to blacken Eritrea’s Image do this with impunity.
Anyways, it is great to read the experience of a US tourist about his visit to Asmara, and apologies for late reaction, I just stumbled my way to the article.
Just two points. You need to get your facts checked.
1) Eritreans overwhelmingly voted for independence in 1993 under an UN-administered referendum.
– The referendum was administered and orchestrated by the Provisional government of Eritrea.
– Those who voted in the referendum were around 1,100,000 (of which 99.8 %) voted for independence. what was the population of Eritrea in 1993 ? How many were eligible to vote ? Have you checked that ?
2) It’s truly pleasant to stroll around on foot, with wide sidewalks, towering green trees, and minimal traffic.
– Have you wondered why the streets are empty making the “Capital City” having minimal traffic ?
– You did not tell us the population in the City consists of mainly women, children and old people. Why did you skip that ? What was the ratio of the people aged between 20 – 50 vis a vis the whole population which you saw on the streets ?
I HOPE YOU WILL ENLIGHTEN US ABOUT THE ABOVE.
Hi Ghirmay-
1) I went only by what I was able to find online — which does seem to indicate the UN verified the election as free and fair — but I am open to other sources. Here’s what I used: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrean_independence_referendum,_1993
2) I did not notice any marked disparity in the ratio of men to women walking around the streets of Asmara. I would say I met more men on the street than women. There were children as well, but not in any ratio that felt disproportionate. I realize most young men in the country are stuck in involuntary national service, but many seemed to be still out and about despite being technically in the service. Again, only my impression — I am open to other sources refuting this, particularly any that can cite demographic numbers.
Great view from a great person, who relies on his own intuition…keep it up!!!
You have been two days in Asmara as foreign tourist staying in best hotel and walking around freely. Talk to a 50 years old Eritrean who has lived there all his/her life and spent decades doing endless military service, not being able to work, develop his/her personal or/and his/her family’s living conditions, then you will understand why people call it Africa’s North Korea. And why 5000 people a month are escaping from there. And why Eritrea is the biggest refugee producing country after Syria per capita. Just because you can walk around freely around as foreign tourist and you didn’t see militias on the streets, it doesn’t mean, Eritrea is a free nation. The whole population are militia. And fear for the regime is deeply instilled in the mindset of the people through many years of imprisonment, torture and killings of ordinary citizens by the regime. Therefore, the people are mentally imprisoned and enslaved by the fear of the dictatorial regime. The regime knows this, so no need for big police or militia force on the streets. But this was common from 2001 to 2013. Now there’s almost nobody in Eritrea that threatens the regime. 20% of Eritrean population is outside Eritrea, especially the intelligent minds have totally vanished and still are escaping daily to Sudan and Ethiopia. So please do better research about a country before you write this one-sided emotional amateurish article that doesn’t describe Eritrea’s situation from a scientific and balanced viewpoint.
I don’t pretend to make any claims as to the freedom of Eritreans or the legitimacy of the government. In fact, I attempt to explicitly do the opposite: “Under the guise of security, one party has controlled Eritrea since independence. The country has held exactly zero national elections in the last two decades.” My goal was only to show that Eritreans are warm and welcoming people and that Eritrea is a safe and beautiful country to visit as an outsider. But your perspective is certainly appreciated!
I feel a bit sorry for you. Unwittingly being dragged in to the political propaganda war of the internet. I bet you didn’t mean this to be used as a pro government political writing.
It’s funny how many times I’ve been linked to this blog post when I’ve mentioned problems in the country.
First you get a “you are brain washed by the western media” if that doesn’t work you get “you are a white man, what do you know” and then I inevitably get a link to this piece.
You have become a political writer for the propaganda machine of the Eritrean regime.
You should ask them to pay you for your work. ?
Or maybe you could go there again to do a proper journalistic piece. The pro government crowd love you, so getting a visa would be a doddle. ?
Thanks for writing, Jonah. It’s interesting. This piece, like most of my others on various countries, has been linked to by both those who are both pro and anti government sources. I attempt to make quite clear that Eritrea is nowhere close to a democracy and that I am explicitly told not to ask questions about politics, certainly a chilling request. My goal was simply to share what my experience as a tourist was like, which was quite different than what the US State Department would lead me to believe — as well as my experience with the people and sights of the country. It certainly felt much more open than North Korea, based on friends who have also been there. But as always, the perspectives of those with much more personal experience are very welcome here.
You have been in Asmara for only 2 days. You only glanced at the Eritrean situation from the surface to say the least. Go to refugee camps in Sudan or Ethiopia and talk to Eritrean who have been in the forced military service for decades. They had their youth and their lives stolen from them.
Thanks for sharing. Of interest perhaps is the U.S. military maintained a base called Kagnew Station in Asmara from the 1950’s to 1974, and supported Haile Selassie’s reign. Might be a reason for the anti American friction. I lived there in the early 1960’s and one of our worries was Eritrean rebel activities. Many of the service people I am in contact with from the Kagnew Station days, look back on their time in Asmara Ethiopia as one of their favorite duty stations.