Eritrea North Korea of Africa

In a rare interview, Eritrea's president Isaias Afwerki says his country doesn't need elections. Eritrea: Africa's version of North Korea By Shashank Bengali | McClatchy Newspapers from the November 10, 2009 edition Asmara, Eritrea - In this lonely corner of the world, the first sign of distress is the luggage. When one of the few international flights that are still operating here touched down one recent afternoon, the returning passengers emerged from baggage claim as if from a big shopping trip. Old metal trolleys squealed under the weight of mundane items: tires, a laptop computer, tubs of detergent and duffel bags crammed so tightly with food that tin cans bulged through the fabric. The needs are acute in Eritrea, a narrow shard of sand and rock along the Red Sea that's presided over by one of Africa's most secretive regimes. As its quixotic experiment in economic self-reliance falters, the Ohio-sized country of 5 million has slipped into its deepest political isolation in its 16 years of independence. The United States and others accuse President Isaias Afwerki of funneling arms and money to Islamist insurgents in Somalia and have threatened to slap him with sanctions. Analysts say Isaias is bent on wresting influence from Ethiopia — Eritrea's large southern neighbor and adversary in a 30-year liberation struggle — and is backing several rebel groups across the chaotic Horn of Africa. In recent years, Isaias has seized U.N. World Food Program stockpiles and expelled or blocked most international relief organizations, claiming that his arid nation could produce enough food to feed all its people. Yet after consecutive poor harvests, and amid one of the worst hunger crises in East Africa in decades, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warned last month that as many as two-thirds of Eritreans may be malnourished. Isaias rejected the report — "We have no shortage," he said — but humanitarian groups say the government blocks them from accessing the areas that are thought to be the most affected. In the capital, Asmara, more and more children in frayed clothes and splotchy skin are begging on the streets, hinting at desperation in the countryside. "A year or two ago, you never saw that," a diplomat said. "It means the safety net is failing." Indefinite military service Perched atop a 7,600-foot plateau, sun-bathed Asmara is one of the continent's safest and most alluring capitals, with wide, palm-fringed streets and splashes of colorful modernist architecture left over from Italian colonial rule. Below the surface, however, beats constant fear. No Eritreans would be quoted by name criticizing the president. The government, which some have likened to an African North Korea, controls people's lives through a program of forced national service that requires all citizens to undergo military training and then assigns them indefinitely to army posts or civilian jobs, paying token wages. Men and women younger than 50 rarely get permission to leave the country, effectively meaning that the entire able-bodied population is on reserve duty. People who resist the service routinely are imprisoned and tortured, as documented in a 96-page report this year by Human Rights Watch, which found that Eritrean authorities had issued shoot-to-kill orders for anyone caught trying to jump the border without permission. "It's for generations that we're trying to build a nation and build an economy, and that requires sacrifice," Isaias said. "National service may not be liked by everybody, even by the government, but it's a necessity."

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[shlho]

fuck this video and fuck this british bitch journalist....they hate eritrea cuz they cant have it........plus they allow any eritrean refugeee only to live in there fucking country.... not any other african nationality..cuz they want to create a group that hate isias .and they did ..... FUCK ENGLAND .... and FUCK any one who is trying to occupy Eritrea , 3awet n7afash............Peace Iso...

[IsaiasButcherofEri]

you are idiot they tell us about how isaias kill our brother and u curse them u are so stupid

[abdatkeren]

isaias is the worst dictatorship in africa people talk about mogabe being adictatorship atleast he got opposition party in his parliament and he had election eritrea never experienced any of this. the eritrean people are living in abig jail

[nadabking]

@shlho i am realy secureyou dont even live in Eritrea, so please just stop writing things you don´t have knowledge of.

[DOLEBET]

USA & EU need to stop isaias, killing our people and our country ........

[100kidane]

If you give any view about the government they put in jail and beat up until you never sat a word again....

[100kidane]

Full of idiots in comment shit...

Everything this guy said was true..

Don't say he is lian Or Something shit you people never being in Eritrea...

You Eeitrean who bored in EU or USA any other country from Africa you don't know anything about our government you don't how the people live you don't know what I saw....We need new president his being there for 40 years him and his man they just let us down....1 million already are dead..only 2 million live in Eritrea now..

[shoxman123]

america=illumanati britian=illumanati new world order regimes look at how many americans oppose the american goverment who invades america not suprising to me ethiopia is good allies with america hmmmmmm people are fool regime change isnt the reason for the invasion if it was why not help palestine hmmmm they want eritreas port the seaaaaa its economicly neededdd! yes eritrea is paranoid building an army just like moa did in china as when eritrea needed help no one answerd not even america!

[mbnik7]

how old is this? eritrea aint like this anymore!

[mouelafrica]

propaganda

[spotorg]

@shlho

IDIOT!