Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASMARA57
2009-02-18 15:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Asmara
Cable title:  

2008 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

Tags:  PHUM KTIP SOCI PREF PGOV ER 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5581
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHAE #0057/01 0491505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181505Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASMARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0178
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEPADJ/CJTF-HOA J2X CAMP LEMONIER DJ
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUMICEA/JICCENT MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHRMDAB/COMUSNAVCENT
RUZEFAA/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
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

---------------------------------
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