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| Thousands of Eritreans flee forced conscription |
April 18, 2012 - As the clock ticks closer to May 24, the Eritrean government grows increasingly worried. Its isolation is only superseded by its brutality and paranoia. After 20 years of suppressing the will of the people of free speech, democratic rights, equality, and justice, cracks are emerging on the surface.
Today in Asmara, new rounds of arrests had taken place after the distribution of flyers calling for revolution in the streets the past couple of week. Security agents raided internet cafés, bars, shops, and restaurants arresting dozens of customers on unspecified charges under the banner of "national security." Mind you, this is not the first time the regime arrests its own citizens arbitrarily and without trial. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Eritrea has the highest number of jailed journalists in the world, even surpassing North Korea, China, and Iran.
RT @NickKristof: RT @pressfreedom: #Eritrea, for 10 consecutive years, is the leading jailer of journalists in #Africa.
— CPJ (@pressfreedom) February 10, 2012
Thousands of Eritreans flee the country every month due to Isaias Afewerki's repressive PFDJ military regime, which is the only legal political party allowed to operate in Eritrea. "I didn't want to be a soldier" says 12-year-old Eritrean refugee Abel. As soon as Eritrean students finish high school they are forced into indefinite labor under the guise of "national service." Youths are routinely rounded up and those that flee are shot. You can read more about the roundups (giffa in Tigrinya) from Page 41 of this Document.
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