Eritrea – Current Concerns

Eritrea remains the largest refugee-generating country on a per capita basis, despite a governmental shoot-to-kill border policy, the potential of being held hostage by Bedouin traffickers or being kidnapped from Sudanese refugee camps and facing extreme brutality and extortion, and the possibility of dying in the Sahara or while crossing the Mediterranean in unseaworthy vessels. Eritrean citizens cannot leave the country without an exit visa, and these are rarely granted. Nevertheless, during 2012, a total of 305,723 Eritreans fled the country, with between 2,000 and 3,000 leaving the country every month. Worryingly, an increasing number are unaccompanied minors who are extremely vulnerable to abuse.

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