Religious Persecution in Eritrea: Only Four Faiths Are Legal

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Photo: Traditional House - David Stanley

Religious persecution in Eritrea is among the most severe in the world. In Eritrea, only four religions are legal. Every other faith is banned. People who practise an unregistered religion face arrest, torture, and death in detention. The government has imprisoned hundreds of believers in shipping containers in the desert without charge or trial. Since 2002, Eritrea has maintained one of the most restrictive religious policies on earth. For asylum seekers fleeing Eritrea because of their faith, this article explains the situation in detail. For decision-makers and expert witnesses, this report provides the evidence needed to assess religion-based claims.

The Four Recognised Faiths

In 2002, the Eritrean government issued a decree that required all religious groups to register with the state. Only four groups received registration. These are the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Sunni Islam, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Church of Eritrea (a Lutheran denomination). Every other religious group was ordered to stop all activities immediately. This ban remains in force today.[1]

The four recognised religions represent the traditional religious landscape of Eritrea. The Orthodox Church is the largest, followed by Sunni Islam. Together, these two groups account for roughly 90% of the population. The Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church of Eritrea are smaller communities with long histories in the country. However, even these four recognised groups are not truly free. The government controls their leadership, their activities, and their finances.

Persecution of Unregistered Religious Groups

Since the 2002 ban, Eritrea religious persecution has targeted every unregistered faith community. The largest persecuted group is Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians. Eritrea had a growing Pentecostal movement in the 1990s, with churches in Asmara and other cities. After 2002, all these churches were closed. Members who continued to worship in secret face arrest if discovered. Security forces raid homes where prayer meetings are held. Those arrested are taken to military-run detention centres.[2]

Jehovah's Witnesses have faced persecution in Eritrea since before the 2002 ban. In 1994, President Isaias Afwerki stripped Jehovah's Witnesses of their civil rights because they refused to participate in the 1993 independence referendum and reject military service on religious grounds. Since then, Jehovah's Witnesses have been unable to hold government jobs, obtain business licences, or receive identity documents. Many have been detained for decades. Three Jehovah's Witnesses — Paulos Eyassu, Isaac Mogos, and Negede Teklemariam — have been in prison since September 1994. That is over 30 years without charge or trial.[3]

Other persecuted groups include Baha'i, Seventh-day Adventists, members of the Full Gospel Church, and various other Protestant denominations. Any form of worship outside the four recognised faiths is illegal. There is no registration process available. The government has not allowed any new religious group to register since 2002.

Scale of Religious Imprisonment

Methods of Persecution

The methods used in Eritrea religious persecution are brutal and well-documented. Security forces regularly raid private homes where prayer meetings take place. Neighbours and informants report suspected religious gatherings to the authorities. When a raid happens, everyone present is arrested, including women, children, and elderly people.[4]

Those arrested are held in detention without charge. There is no court hearing, no lawyer, and no right of appeal. Detainees are held indefinitely. Many are taken to military prisons in remote locations. Some of the most notorious detention sites include Adi Abeito prison near Asmara, Wi'a military camp in the Danakil desert, and Me'eter prison in the eastern lowlands.

Conditions in these prisons are extreme. Detainees are held in underground cells or metal shipping containers. In the desert, temperatures inside these containers can reach over 45 degrees Celsius during the day and drop to near freezing at night. Prisoners receive minimal food and water. Medical care is almost nonexistent. Multiple prisoners have died from the heat, dehydration, and untreated illness.[5]

The government also uses forced recantation as a tool of control. Detainees who belong to banned religious groups are told to sign a letter renouncing their faith. If they sign, they may be released. If they refuse, they remain in prison indefinitely. Many believers refuse to sign. Some have been detained for over 15 years because they will not renounce their religion. This practice amounts to a direct attack on freedom of conscience and belief.[6]

Even Recognised Churches Are Controlled

Eritrea religious persecution does not only target banned groups. Even the four recognised churches face heavy state control. The most dramatic example involves the Eritrean Orthodox Church. In 2006, the government removed Patriarch Abune Antonios from his position as head of the church. His offence was refusing to excommunicate 3,000 members who the government considered disloyal. He was replaced with a government-approved patriarch.[7]

Abune Antonios was placed under house arrest, where he remained for 16 years. He was denied medical care despite serious health problems. He died in February 2022 at the age of 94, still under house arrest. His removal and detention showed the world that the Eritrean government will not tolerate any religious leader who acts independently, even the head of the country's largest church.

The government also controls Muslim institutions. It appoints the Grand Mufti and monitors mosques. Independent Islamic education is restricted. Any Muslim leader who speaks against government policy faces the same fate as the Orthodox patriarch. In 2017, the head of the Al Diaa Islamic School in Asmara, Hajji Musa Mohammed Nur, was arrested after protesting the government's ban on the hijab in schools. He died in custody in 2018.[8]

Eritrea is one of the world's worst persecutors of religious freedom. The government imprisons people for their beliefs, tortures them in inhumane conditions, and demands that they abandon their faith as the price of freedom.
US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Annual Report 2025

The Scale of Eritrea Religious Persecution

It is difficult to know the exact number of religious prisoners in Eritrea. The government does not allow independent monitors, and there is no free press. However, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) estimates that at least 1,000 people are imprisoned for their religious beliefs at any given time. Some estimates are higher. Christian Solidarity Worldwide believes the real number may exceed 1,500.[9]

USCIRF has designated Eritrea as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) every year since 2004. This is the most serious designation in the US religious freedom framework. It means that Eritrea commits "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom." Only a small number of countries receive this designation. Eritrea stands alongside North Korea, China, and Saudi Arabia on this list.

The persecution is also long-lasting. People arrested for their faith in 2002 and 2003 are still in prison today, over 20 years later. There are no known cases of religious prisoners being brought to trial. The government holds them without any legal process. This is one of the longest-running campaigns of religious imprisonment in the modern world.

No Internal Relocation Alternative

Some asylum decision-makers ask whether a person can relocate within their country to avoid persecution. In Eritrea, this is not possible for religious persecution. The ban on unregistered religions applies everywhere in the country. There is no region, city, or village where it is safe to practise a banned faith. Security forces operate throughout the territory. Additionally, Eritrea's system of internal surveillance means that people cannot move freely without government permission. Every citizen must carry an identity card and have a residence permit for their area.[10]

Furthermore, the persecution is directed by the central government. It is not carried out by local groups or militias that operate in one area. The same security apparatus that raids prayer meetings in Asmara also operates in the countryside and in border areas. For more information about conditions in Eritrea, see the country reports section of this website.

Implications for Asylum Claims

Eritrea religious persecution creates strong grounds for asylum under the 1951 Refugee Convention. The Convention protects people who face persecution on the ground of religion. Membership in a banned religious group in Eritrea is a clear basis for a claim. The UK Home Office Country Policy and Information Note (CPIN) on Eritrea recognises that members of unregistered religious groups face a real risk of serious harm. Similarly, UNHCR guidance states that Eritreans fleeing religious persecution should be recognised as refugees.[11]

Even members of the four recognised churches may have a claim if they have experienced persecution for religious dissent. For example, Orthodox Christians who supported Patriarch Abune Antonios, or Muslims who protested the government's interference in religious education, may face persecution upon return. The key question is whether the individual's religious practice or belief has brought them into conflict with the state.

Asylum applicants should also be aware that the asylum process may require evidence about your religious belief. You may be asked questions about your faith, your religious practices, and your church community. Be prepared to explain your beliefs in your own words. If possible, obtain a letter from a religious leader in the host country confirming your membership and participation.

Conclusion

Eritrea religious persecution is systematic, severe, and ongoing. The government has banned all but four religions since 2002 and shows no sign of changing this policy. Thousands of people have been imprisoned for their faith, many for over a decade. Conditions in detention are brutal, including shipping containers, underground cells, and forced recantation. Even the recognised churches are subject to heavy state control. There is no safe place within Eritrea to practise a banned religion. For anyone fleeing Eritrea because of their faith, the evidence strongly supports a claim for international protection. The human rights record is clear: Eritrea is one of the worst countries in the world for religious freedom.