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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ASMARA 000057 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E AND DRL 
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
STATE FOR G/TIP, G-ACBLANK, INL, PRM, AF/RSA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KTIP SOCI PREF PGOV ER
 
SUBJECT: 2008 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: 08 STATE 132759 
 
--------------------------------- 
¶1. (SBU) ERITREA'S TIP SITUATION: 
--------------------------------- 
 
--A. Information on trafficking in persons was scarce during the 
reporting year.  The government remained elusive to requests to 
provide information for this report and published neither data nor 
statistics regarding TIP.  Various organizations have small-scale 
projects to address TIP, specifically the smuggling and/or 
trafficking of individuals fleeing from Eritrea into countries such 
as Kenya, Ethiopia, or Sudan. 
 
--B. Eritrea was not a country of either transit or destination for 
trafficking in persons, but may have been a country of origin; large 
numbers of migrant workers departed Eritrea in search of work, 
particularly to the Gulf States.  Additionally, the GSE's forced 
recruitment of labor meets the TIP definitions in reftel paragraph 
¶15.  Also, thousands of Eritreans fled the country illegally, mostly 
to Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia.  UN, NGO, and post observations 
indicate that TIP by private actors was not a significant problem in 
Eritrea. 
 
--C. Eritrea's totalitarian government operated without a 
constitution, and all power resided in the executive.  The GSE 
conscripted large numbers men from ages 18 - 54 and women from ages 
18 - 47 into compulsory national service.  National service workers 
were not allowed to choose their jobs, change jobs, travel within 
Eritrea without written permission, or obtain passports or exit 
visas for international travel.  The length of service was 
indefinite, with many conscriptees serving in their positions for 
over ten years.  The World Bank estimated that 420,000 Eritreans 
work in national service jobs, with approximately half working in 
civilian occupations, either as government civil service employees 
or in state-owned/directed commercial enterprises (including 
construction companies and Eritrea's merchant fleet).  The GSE 
justified labor conscription based on "national security" due to the 
unresolved situation on the border with Ethiopia, which sparked a 
war between the countries from 1998 - 2000. 
 
All Eritrean high school seniors, except those receiving medical 
waivers, were required to complete mandatory military training prior 
to their final year of high school.  Those who do not complete the 
training or receive a waiver were not allowed to continue their 
studies, graduate, or apply for tertiary education. 
 
The GSE denied families of students not completing military training 
or going AWOL the student's share of rations.  (Note: Basic food 
imports are controlled by the GSE and allocated by ration coupons. 
Food purchased on the open market is very expensive by local 
standards.  End Note.) 
 
--D. As the economic situation in Eritrea continues to deteriorate, 
both the poor and the young remain vulnerable to trafficking. 
Additionally, all Eritreans of national service age remain subject 
to conscription into below-minimum wage jobs. 
 
--E.   Trafficking took two forms.  First, the GSE's National 
Service policies give the government full autonomy over where, when, 
and how a person is employed.  Second, due to the increasing number 
of individuals fleeing the country, there is a potential for 
individuals or groups to take advantage of the poor by selling them 
into forced labor in neighboring countries. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶2. (SBU) Setting the Scene for the Government's Anti-TIP Efforts: 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
--A.  The government does not directly acknowledge that trafficking 
is a problem in the country.  However, there have been extensive 
efforts to curb the flow of Eritreans illegally leaving the country. 
 
 
--B.  The Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare (MLHW) oversees the 
trafficking portfolio, but individual cases are reportedly handled 
by the Eritrean embassy in the country to which trafficking 
 
ASMARA 00000057  002 OF 004 
 
 
occurred. 
 
--C. Eritrea is an extremely poor country, leaving the GSE with 
limited means to address its myriad internal challenges. 
 
--D. Eritrean media, all state-owned, made neither public 
announcements nor media presentations regarding TIP, which indicated 
the GSE did not view it as a significant problem. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶3. (SBU) Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers: 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
--A. The Eritrean Criminal Code stringently prohibits TIP.  Article 
605 prohibits trafficking "in women, infants, and young persons." 
Article 607 prohibits the "organization of traffic in persons," and 
makes a criminal offense of the "habitual exploitation for pecuniary 
gain" of prostitutes.  No new articles regarding trafficking have 
been added to the criminal code. 
 
--B. TIP or seducing, enticing, or procuring women and children to 
engage in prostitution is punishable by a fine and up to five years 
imprisonment.  The Criminal Code also punishes an indecent act with 
children younger than 15 years by imprisonment for up to 5 years. 
 
--C. Forced labor is prohibited under article 16 of the 
unimplemented Eritrean Constitution, but there are no known laws or 
enabling proclamations specific to trafficking for labor 
exploitation.  The GSE, however, conscripted large numbers men under 
the age of 54 and many women under the age of 47 for national 
service.  The GSE pays national service workers below the nationally 
established minimum wage, provided no choice of employment, and 
strictly limited internal movement.  The GSE strictly controlled 
entry and exit of all persons and actively discouraged its citizens 
of national service age from traveling abroad.  No known labor 
recruitment services for foreign employment operated in Eritrea. 
 
--D. Rape is punishable by up to ten years imprisonment, while rape 
of a minor, invalid, or by multiple people acting together is 
punishable by up to fifteen years in prison.  Sexual assault is 
punishable by six months to eight years in prison.  The GSE does not 
have specific laws for trafficking-related rape and sexual assault. 
 
--E. The GSE did not publish accounts of arrests or prosecutions of 
human traffickers. 
 
--F. Post is unaware of any GSE-sponsored TIP training during the 
reporting period, and is unaware of any person tried or convicted in 
court for trafficking violations.  Several GSE-sponsored 
organizations such as the youth union and the workers' union 
actively incorporated anti-TIP education into outreach programs. 
 
--G. The GSE did not report cooperation with other governments on 
investigating TIP cases, nor did any resident foreign missions. 
 
--H. The government does not provide this information. 
 
--I. The GSE in 2007 reportedly provided approximately 40 national 
service workers to hotels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but 
this information was not corroborated.  According to the report, the 
UAE hotel owners directly paid the workers' salaries to GSE, which 
then paid the workers a small stipend and confiscated the remainder. 
 Similar reports in 2008 maintained the GSE trafficked some national 
service employees to work in GSE-owned hotels in southern Sudan. 
 
The national service policies allow for the GSE to have total 
control over the movement and wages of those conscripted.  National 
service is indefinite, devoid of promotion or wage increase, and 
strips the citizen of his or her right to freedom of movement. 
Additionally, the GSE remains complicit in conscripting child 
soldiers, sometimes as young as 15, into the Sawa military training 
academy which takes the place of the student's final year of high 
school. 
 
--J. Post is unaware of any government officials prosecuted for 
trafficking. 
 
 
ASMARA 00000057  003 OF 004 
 
 
--K. Eritrea does not have legalized prostitution but as of 2007, at 
least 3,000 prostitutes were believed to be working, including a 
small number under the age of eighteen.  Most prostitutes are 
self-managed and not accountable to pimps or brothel owners. 
Security forces patrolling the city at night occasionally arrest 
prostitutes who spend the night with foreigners. 
 
--L. Eritrea does not contribute international peacekeeping forces. 
 
--M. Eritrea is neither a source nor destination country for child 
sex tourism.  Eritrea's child sex abuse laws have extraterritorial 
coverage. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶4. (SBU) Protection and Assistance to Victims: 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
--A. The GSE provides no known protection for victims and witnesses 
of TIP. 
 
--B. The GSE has no known facilities dedicated to trafficking 
victims. 
 
--C. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--D. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--E. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--F. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--G. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--H. Eritrea does not have legalized prostitution. 
 
--I. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--J. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--K. The GSE does not provide funding or other forms of support to 
foreign or domestic NGOs for services to trafficking victims.  The 
GSE severely limited the number of foreign NGOs allowed to operate 
in Eritrea; none operate anti-trafficking programs. 
 
--L. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--M. UNICEF and ICRC stated there are no known TIP problems in 
Eritrea.  No NGO provides TIP victim assistance. 
 
-------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) Prevention: 
-------------------- 
 
--A. The GSE held no public anti-TIP education campaigns.  However, 
the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS) actively 
warns the populace of the dangers of leaving the country, including 
the prospects of being sold into slave or sex labor.  During the 
reporting year, the National Confederation of Eritrean Workers 
(NCEW) applied for funding through the Italian NGO Istituto 
Sindacale Di Cooperazione Allo Sviluppo (ISCOC) to assist Eritrean 
victims of trafficking in Nairobi and Sudan.  It is not known, 
though, if these individuals are victims of smuggling (i.e. have 
paid individuals to assist in fleeing the country) or are actual 
victims of trafficking. 
 
--B. The GSE does not provide this information. 
 
--C. The GSE does not engage the UN or any NGOs specifically on 
TIP. 
 
--D.  The MLHW oversees the trafficking portfolio in coordination 
with Eritrea's overseas embassies.  The Ministry did not make a 
representative available to discuss the issue during the reporting 
period. 
 
--E. The GSE initiated a community-based rehabilitation program to 
assist approximately 250 of Eritrea's 3,000 commercial sex workers. 
 
ASMARA 00000057  004 OF 004 
 
 
The GSE reportedly held seminars and workshops to educate the public 
on the plight of commercial sex workers, but the workshops do not 
relate to TIP. 
 
--F. Eritrea was not a country of either transit or destination for 
international child sex tourism. 
 
--G. N/A 
 
MCMULLEN