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Witness History: Escaping national service in Eritrea

Documentaries

Escaping Eritrea

03/04/2023 GMT

Escaping national service in Eritrea

BBC World Service - Witness History, Escaping national service in Eritrea

The story of one young Eritrean woman’s attempt to escape compulsory national service

The story of one young woman’s attempt to escape compulsory national service in Eritrea.

In 2002, the Eritrean government extended its programme of compulsory national service to make it open-ended. 

Instead of serving 18 months as the government had originally decreed, most students finishing secondary school would be conscripted and forced to remain in government service indefinitely - either serving in the army or in civilian jobs.  

The Eritrean government said conscription was necessary because the recently ended war with neighbouring Ethiopia could break out again. 

But the prospect of working for the state for an indefinite period, without a proper salary, prompted many young Eritreans to begin trying to escape to neighbouring countries and to Europe. 

Over the past 20 years hundreds of thousands have left. It’s an exodus that continues to this day.  

Rob Walker speaks to Semhar Ghebreslassie who began her national service working as a teacher in 2008. 

This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence. 

(Picture: Eritrean migrants. Credit: Getty Images)

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