CAMEL AIRWAYS: IS THERE HUMAN SMUGGLING IN

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
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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
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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

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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
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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
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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