The reopening of the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea has transformed the towns near the frontier.
A UN commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea in 2016 characterized national service as “enslavement.” And despite its agreement with Ethiopia, the government has not released any long-term national service conscripts. In March, the government released the body of the 90-year-old honorary president of a private Islamic school in Asmara, Al Diaa, jailed in October 2017 for protesting a planned government takeover of the school. Thousands, including minors, were arrested as they marched through Asmara to attend his funeral. Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch Antonios, deposed by the government in 2007, remains under house arrest.Security personnel continue to raid private homes where devotees of unrecognized religions meet for communal prayer. Berhane had authored a book that detailed problems with Isais’s rule and calling on young people to rise against his regime. Symptomatic of the government’s approach to critics was its foreign minister’s diatribe that the rapporteur was “morally bankrupt” and “willfully distort[ed] reality” to further a “wicked agenda.” By year’s end, conditions had not changed. Nigeria says will take steps to address concerns raised by US, which has added six countries to a travel ban.Rights groups slam expanded ban, which includes restrictions for Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania.For Ethiopia, a new dam holds the promise of much-needed electricity; for Egypt, the fear of a devastating water crisis.By targeting refugees and migrants, Sudan's new rulers are betraying the popular revolt that brought them to power.Thousands of Eritreans leave every year, with football players also 'defecting' while playing abroad. Israel’s justice minister warned repatriation would be likely if Eritrea “canceled” national service.In September 2017, the United States announce it would repatriate about 700 Eritreans who were denied asylum. Although pay was increased in recent years, it remains nominal and insufficient to support a family, especially as such increases are offset by higher deductions for food. Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki arriving at the airport in Gondar, for a visit in Ethiopia, November 9, 2018.Limiting Beijing’s Influence Over Accountability and JusticeConvincing “Middle Powers” to Fight Autocrats Despite High CostsHuman Judgment and Responsibility in the Age of TechnologyChanging the Terms of Engagement with Silicon ValleyAfter decades of near total diplomatic isolation, 2018 was a year of significant change in Eritrea’s relationship with its neighbors.

Some of them fled to Canada. In March, the Israeli High Court ruled the policy unlawful after the third-countries said they would refuse anyone deported from Israel. Students are unmotivated by poor teaching and their belief that education has little benefit in the face of a future of endless forced national service.The government has not allowed the private press—destroyed in 2001 when 10 journalists were arrested and detained without trial indefinitely—to resume operations, nor has it permitted nongovernmental organizations.The government neither released nor improved the conditions of its most prominent prisoners, government officials and reporters arrested in 2001 and incarcerated incommunicado ever since. Forced conscription into “national service” was prolonged indefinitely despite a decree limiting service to 18 months. The government arrested Berhane’s wife, Almaz Habtemariam, in February and she has been held incommunicado ever since. To avoid a repeat of history of conflict, and to transform border areas to integrative bridges, Ethiopia and Eritrea need to adopt a roadmap that identifies all issues and the principles. In September, Nevsun agreed to a buyout by China’s Zijin Mining Group Company. The sale cleared regulatory hurdles in Canada and China in November.Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in 90 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice Because of government secrecy and the absence of independent monitoring, it is impossible to determine how many political prisoners remain behind bars. Independent media is prohibited, and journalists imprisoned. Two weeks before the Eritrea-Ethiopia declaration, the United Nations Human Rights Council lamented the government’s “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations” committed “in a climate of generalized impunity.”  Among the abuses were “arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and sexual violence and forced labor,” as described in the latest report of the council’s special rapporteur on Eritrea. A month later, Eritrea and Somalia resumed diplomatic relations after 15 years, and Djibouti and Eritrea did the same shortly after. Nevertheless, in October, the UN General Assembly elected Eritrea to the Human Rights Council.The rights of all Eritrean citizens remain severely restricted, but younger generations conscripted into national service are especially impacted.