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INFO RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 5832
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RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1112
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RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000323 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR PREL CVIS ER
SUBJECT: CAMEL AIRWAYS: IS THERE HUMAN SMUGGLING IN 
ERITREA? 
 
CLASSIFIED BY:  AMB Scott H. DeLisi, for reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) As the situation in Eritrea further deteriorates and 
GSE restrictions tighten, increasingly Eritreans 
desperately search for a way out. To avoid national service 
and conscription into the army, many Eritreans are trying 
to leave.  A recent report from the western region of 
Eritrea regarding a public execution of two human 
smugglers, reports of military involvement in smuggling, a 
rise in the reported cost of getting across the border and 
increasing scrutiny on the whereabouts of Eritrean citizens 
focuses attention on the potential for an increase in human 
smuggling in Eritrea. 
 
A PUBLIC EXECUTION 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (C) Sometime in the middle of March, two individuals 
were reportedly executed in the public square in a village 
near Teseney in western Eritrea.  Poloff spoke with a third 
country national who had received information that two 
individuals from the region were apprehended allegedly by 
military personnel near the border with Sudan.  They were 
brought to a village near Teseney and in front of the 
village elders accused of smuggling an estimated forty 
people into Sudan.  Immediately following the public 
accusation, the alleged military personnel forced the two 
individuals into the nearby public square and shot them. 
 
¶3. (C) The motivation for the execution of the two alleged 
smugglers remains unclear.  Were the alleged smugglers 
denied due process and killed because they were breaking 
Eritrean law or was it because they were in competition 
with the military's alleged smuggling business or did not 
pay a cut to the military?  Or were they not smugglers at 
all, just two young men attempting to leave Eritrea 
illegally and caught at the border? 
 
THE SMUGGLER'S ONE WAY TICKET: TO WHERE AND HOW MUCH 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶4. (C) With extremely tight restrictions on the legal 
issuance of exit visas, many Eritreans are looking for 
another means of leaving the country.  Locally called 
"camel airways", the cost per person rose reportedly from 
10,000 nakfa (USD 665) to 35,000 nakfa (USD 2334) in the 
past two years. Private citizens, primarily locals in the 
border regions, and military personnel operate the 
smuggling networks, taking individuals to Sudan and 
Ethiopia.  UNMEE Human Rights Coordinator reports GSE 
military personnel as key players in the network, alleging 
higher ranking officers operate as coordinators of the 
smuggling and the rank and file do the work. In some cases 
for reportedly 50,000 nakfa (3334 USD), the military will 
pick you up in Asmara and take you to the unguarded border 
crossing - a non-stop routing. 
 
¶5. (C) Most individuals, however, will take public 
transportation as far as they can either to Teseney in the 
west or to Nakfa in the north and cross into Sudan with the 
assistance of a local guide/smuggler.  For those crossing 
to Ethiopia, Senafe or Mendefera may serve as starting 
points for the journey through the heavily militarized 
border region.  UNHCR reports a monthly average of 500 new 
Eritrean refugees arriving in IDP camps in Ethiopia and 
over 700 per month into Sudan.  At this rate an estimate of 
14,000 Eritreans are leaving per year and the number is 
probably higher as many do not pass through the IDP camps 
in Sudan and Eritrea. 
 
¶6. (C) Crossing the border to Sudan or Ethiopia is 
extremely risky.  Getting caught will almost certainly lead 
to incarceration, as many are escaping national service. 
In addition, several Eritrean locals and the UNMEE Human 
Rights Coordinator reported to PolOff that individuals 
caught by military personnel or police while attempting to 
cross the border to both Ethiopia and Sudan are shot. 
 
EXIT VISAS: THE ONLY LEGAL OPTION 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) In order to legally depart Eritrea, citizens are 
required to obtain exit permits from the Ministry of 
Immigration usually with a one month validity. 
Increasingly difficult to obtain, conversations buzz about 
immigration officials accepting "additional and unpublished 
fees" aka bribes as high as 100,000 nakfa(6650 USD) in the 
issuing of exit visas.  While the age fluctuates regularly, 
presently the GSE refuses to issue exit visas to children 
over the age of five, for fear these families will not 
return. 
 
¶8. (C) Recently an Eritrean told PolOff of a 65 year old 
man who frequently travels to Europe and the US to visit 
family, including his wife who works in Europe.  In the 
past he would receive an exit visa valid for multiple trips 
in the course of a year.  Recently, he has had to apply for 
an exit visa for each trip and, for every request, prove 
through sworn affidavits by himself and three friends that 
he remained married.  With each statement the three friends 
grow increasingly nervous, for if he does not return they 
worry the GSE will hold them accountable for his departure 
from Eritrea.  Immigration required an FSN local staff 
obtain a signed document from her husband as one of the 
requirements for applying. 
 
¶9. (C) Combined with the pressure to obtain exit visas, 
there appears to be increasing scrutiny paid to Eritreans 
applying for US visas.  A recent DV winner, who has yet to 
even be issued a visa, received a veiled threat from an 
Eritrean official.  The tone of the threat, given as advice 
reminding the DV winner that given the situation in 
Eritrea, "you never know what might happen to you or your 
family", occurred after the DV winner initiated the process 
at the US Embassy but before he had inquired about exit 
visas. 
 
IN ASMARA REGISTRATION BEGINS AGAIN 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) In Asmara the week of March 27, the GSE directed 
the district offices to conduct registration again. 
Completed about five or six months ago, the district office 
must now repeat the counting and registration of their 
residents.  Given that the registration was just done, 
speculation arises that the GSE is seeking to identify who 
remains in Eritrea and who has recently departed.  In a 
practice begun last year, but according to an Eritrean 
judge not a written law, parents are detained and asked to 
pay 50,000 nakfa fine or bail for each child that has 
illegally left Eritrea. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11. (C) Comment:  Alone the reported public execution of 
the alleged human smugglers is disturbing and offers 
another example of Eritrea's disregard for human rights. 
Yet taken within the increasing number of Eritreans 
attempting to depart the country by any means necessary, 
the corruption and human rights related problems, the 
commerce of human smuggling may also grow.  The probability 
of normalized relations between Sudan and Eritrea and the 
GOS deployment of troops in Eastern Sudan combined with the 
possible demarcation of the border with Ethiopia may also 
affect the flow of Eritreans across the border. Given the 
political tensions, repressive society and the crumbling 
economy, those Eritreans who can find ways to leave will 
continue to do so. End Comment. 
 
DeLisi