[LINK] "Thousands flee Eritrea monthly to avoid endless life in army"

[rfmcdonald]

The National Post's Frank Elbers describes how mass conscription in Eritrea, unending, is driving a constant flow of young people out of that country.

There is no war in Eritrea, and little civil unrest. Yet refugees from this small country on the Horn of Africa make up the fourth-largest group — after Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis — crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.

The main cause of the exodus is the huge number of young people fleeing indefinite national service. Despite claims by officials that conscription would be limited to 18 months, a report published Wednesday by Amnesty International found that national service continues to be indefinite, sometimes lasting for decades. Conscripts include boys and girls as young as 16 as well as the elderly, and the program often amounts to forced labour.

The Eritrean government has cited aggression and the threat of invasion from its neighbour Ethiopia — from which it became independent after a referendum in 1993 following a 30-year war of independence — as the key justification for national service. The two countries were at war from 1998-2000. The Eritrean government adopted a law in 1995 that requires every adult Eritrean to undertake an 18-month period of national service.

More than 5,000 Eritreans are fleeing their homes every month, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.