Nation’s troubled history points to dim future for the young

“Eritrea’s migrant problem is rooted in its history,” says political science assistant professor Yohannes Woldemariam of Fort Lewis College, Colo.

“It was in a lonely three-decade struggle with one of the best armies in Africa, but amazingly, it won. There was a real existential threat, and a need for military discipline and secrecy. Now it’s at the point where dictatorship becomes the force that binds the country together.”

Eritrea was colonized by Italy in the 1880s, then occupied by the British in 1941. In 1952 the UN voted it into a federation with Ethiopia, which 10 years later dissolved the union and annexed Eritrea, leading to a long armed struggle.

Eritrea won independence from its larger and more powerful neighbour in 1993, but border disputes exploded into warfare in 1998, with a loss of more than 100,000 lives. Despite a peace deal in 2000, Ethio- pia has not accepted the border division, and tensions remain high.

The threat of war, says Woldemariam, gives the regime an excuse to extend national service indefinitely because of Ethiopia’s “belligerence” and occupation of its territory.

If the West is really interested in dealing with the roots of the Eritrean problems, he maintains, it should press Ethiopia to implement the border settlement. “Ethiopia agreed to it, but ignored it when it wasn’t to its liking.”

Later this month, U.S. President Barack Obama plans to visit Eritrea’s bitter foe, now a subsidized ally in the regional “war on terror” in spite of its poor human rights record. Eritrea’s support for rebel groups in the region, including in Somalia, and unresolved border dispute with Djibouti, have made it an international pariah.