Eritrea: Military Service With No End Date — 20+ Years

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Photo: U.S. Army Africa Supports Military Medical Exchange in Mauritania - US Africa Command

Military service in Eritrea is unlike any other conscription system in the world. On paper, Proclamation 82/1995 requires 18 months of national service. In reality, conscripts serve for 20 years or more with no discharge date. The UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Eritrea's national service programme amounts to enslavement. Hundreds of thousands of Eritreans remain trapped in a system that strips them of freedom, subjects them to forced labour, and punishes any resistance with imprisonment and torture. For asylum decision-makers and expert witnesses, Eritrea military service represents one of the clearest cases for international protection.

This article examines the legal framework, conditions of service, the notorious Sawa military camp, penalties for evasion, and the implications for asylum claims. The evidence draws on UN reports, Human Rights Watch investigations, and testimony from former conscripts who have fled the country.

Background: Proclamation 82/1995 and the Legal Framework

Eritrea's national service obligation is rooted in Proclamation 82/1995 on National Service. This law was enacted shortly after independence from Ethiopia in 1993. It requires all Eritrean citizens between the ages of 18 and 40 to complete 18 months of national service. The first 6 months consist of military training at the Sawa military camp, followed by 12 months of active military or development service.[1]

The 1998-2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia border war changed everything. President Isaias Afwerki declared a state of emergency and indefinitely extended national service. Although the formal state of emergency was never codified into law, the indefinite extension has continued without interruption for over 25 years. There is no legal mechanism for conscripts to challenge their continued service. No court has jurisdiction over military service disputes, and no independent judiciary exists to review government decisions.

In addition, a 2002 decree known as the Warsai-Yikealo Development Campaign further expanded the scope of national service. Under this programme, conscripts are assigned to government ministries, state-owned enterprises, and construction projects. They receive subsistence pay of approximately 500 Eritrean nakfa per month (roughly $33 at official exchange rates). This amount is far below a living wage, and conscripts cannot freely leave or change their assignments.

Current Situation: Eritrea Military Service in Practice

Eritrea military service today bears no resemblance to the 18-month term described in Proclamation 82/1995. Conscription begins at age 17 or 18, when students in their final year of secondary school are sent to Sawa for military training. From that point forward, there is no guaranteed discharge. Many conscripts serve for 20 years or longer. Some have been in continuous service since the 1998-2000 war.[2]

During service, conscripts perform a mix of military duties and forced labour. Assignments include construction, agriculture, mining, and service in government offices. The government effectively controls all labour in the country through the national service system. Conscripts have no choice in their assignments, cannot negotiate their pay, and cannot resign. The UN Commission of Inquiry explicitly compared this system to slavery and servitude.

Women face particular dangers during Eritrea military service. Female conscripts report widespread sexual violence, including rape by commanders. The power imbalance is absolute: commanders control every aspect of a conscript's life, including housing, food, movement, and discipline. Reporting sexual abuse leads to punishment for the victim rather than the perpetrator. Many women become pregnant as a result of rape and are then discharged without support.[3]

Sawa Military Training Camp

Sawa is the main military training centre for Eritrea's national service programme. Located in the western lowlands near the Sudanese border, it serves as both a military camp and the country's only facility for completing the final year of secondary school. Every Eritrean student must attend Sawa to receive their school-leaving certificate. This means that education and military service are deliberately intertwined.[4]

Conditions at Sawa are harsh by any standard. Trainees endure extreme heat, inadequate food, limited clean water, and overcrowded dormitories. Discipline is enforced through severe physical punishment, including beatings, stress positions, and confinement in underground cells. Former trainees describe being tied in the "helicopter" position, a torture method where the victim's wrists and ankles are bound together behind the back.

Furthermore, the educational component at Sawa is widely regarded as inadequate. Classes are overcrowded, teachers are themselves conscripts, and academic standards are low. Students who fail to meet military standards face additional punishment. The camp functions primarily as a mechanism for induction into indefinite service rather than as a genuine educational institution. Accordingly, many families attempt to send their children abroad before they reach conscription age.

Penalties for Evasion and Desertion

The penalties for evading or deserting Eritrea military service are among the most severe in the world. There is no formal codified penalty structure; instead, punishments are imposed arbitrarily by military commanders. Documented consequences include imprisonment without trial, torture, forced labour in detention camps, and execution. The government operates a network of underground prisons where detainees are held indefinitely without charge.[5]

The shoot-to-kill policy at Eritrea's borders is well-documented. Border guards have standing orders to fire on anyone attempting to cross without authorization. Despite this, thousands attempt to flee each month, with many crossing into Sudan or Ethiopia. UNHCR estimates that approximately 5,000 Eritreans flee the country every month. The vast majority cite national service as the primary reason for leaving.[6]

Collective punishment is a defining feature of the Eritrean system. When a conscript deserts or flees the country, their family faces severe consequences. Parents, siblings, and sometimes extended family members are detained. Fines of 50,000 Eritrean nakfa (approximately $3,300) are imposed, a sum that most families cannot afford. Property may be confiscated, and remaining family members may face restrictions on movement, employment, and access to services.

Eritrea Military Service Compared to Other Countries

Scale of the Crisis: 300,000+ Currently Serving

Estimating the exact number of Eritreans currently in national service is difficult due to the government's extreme secrecy. However, credible estimates from the UN and independent researchers suggest that at least 300,000 people are serving at any given time. In a country with a total population of approximately 3.5 million, this means nearly 10% of the entire population is conscripted.[7]

The economic consequences are devastating. Eritrea's productive workforce is largely trapped in national service, earning subsistence pay. Private enterprise barely exists because the government controls most economic activity through conscript labour. Young Eritreans see no future in the country. As a result, Eritrea has one of the highest emigration rates in the world relative to its population size.

Between 2012 and 2024, Eritreans consistently ranked among the top nationalities for asylum applications in Europe. In 2023, over 40,000 Eritrean nationals applied for asylum in EU member states. Recognition rates remain high. In the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, the majority of Eritrean asylum claims are granted, reflecting the widely accepted assessment that return to Eritrea military service would constitute persecution.

The use of indefinite national/military service of a compulsory nature, involving numerous human rights violations over a sustained period of time, may amount to enslavement in the context of the widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population.
UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, Report A/HRC/32/47, June 2016

UNHCR Position on Eritrean Asylum Claims

UNHCR has maintained a consistently strong position on Eritrean asylum claims. The UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Eritrea (last updated 2023) identify several profiles at risk. These include persons of draft age who have not completed national service, deserters, individuals who left Eritrea illegally, and family members of evaders or deserters.[8]

UNHCR explicitly recommends that Eritreans who have fled to avoid national service or who have deserted should generally be considered for refugee status. The guidelines note that the indefinite nature of service, combined with the forced labour conditions and severe penalties for evasion, means that national service amounts to persecution. Furthermore, UNHCR emphasizes that illegal departure from Eritrea is itself punished severely, creating an independent ground for protection.

Implications for Asylum Claims

Eritrea military service creates several distinct grounds for international protection. First, the indefinite nature of service, combined with subsistence pay and forced labour, constitutes persecution under Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention. The characterisation of the system as enslavement by the UN Commission of Inquiry provides powerful supporting evidence. Second, the disproportionate severity of punishment for evasion, including torture, indefinite imprisonment, and execution, satisfies the persecution threshold.[9]

Third, female conscripts face gender-specific persecution through systematic sexual violence. Claims by Eritrean women should address this dimension alongside the general forced labour claim. Fourth, individuals who left Eritrea illegally face punishment upon return regardless of their service status. This means that virtually every Eritrean who left without exit permission has a basis for claiming international protection.

Decision-makers should be aware that Eritrea does not issue travel documents to citizens abroad except through its embassies, which require payment of a 2% income tax (the "diaspora tax") and signing of a "regret form" acknowledging guilt for leaving illegally. Refusal to comply means the person cannot obtain consular services. This system further evidences the punitive approach of the Eritrean government toward its citizens abroad. Expert witnesses can provide detailed evidence on these processes.

Conclusion

Eritrea military service stands alone as the most extreme conscription system in the modern world. What the law describes as 18 months has become a lifetime of forced service. The UN has called it enslavement, and the evidence supports that conclusion. Conscripts endure forced labour, torture, sexual violence, and complete denial of autonomy. Those who flee face shoot-to-kill policies, and their families suffer collective punishment.

For asylum systems worldwide, Eritrea military service represents a relatively straightforward case for international protection. UNHCR guidelines, UN Commission findings, and extensive country evidence all point in the same direction: returning an Eritrean to face national service exposes them to a real risk of persecution and serious harm. Legal representatives should present the full scope of the evidence, and expert witnesses should address both the general conditions and any individual-specific risk factors. The 300,000 or more Eritreans currently trapped in this system deserve the attention and protection of the international community.