INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
National service is mandatory in Eritrea
Eritrea has often been
described as one of the most repressive states in Africa, where people lack basic political and religious freedoms
This is not surprising as it has been a one-party state ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since it officially gained independence from
The government has banned opposition parties and local private media, jailed critics (some of whom have not been heard of for years), and
has imposed military conscription on young people
This has forced hundreds of thousands of Eritreans to flee the country, some of whom perish during the treacherous journey across the Sahara
desert and the Mediterranean Sea as they try to reach Europe.TheIndianSubcontinent's Amharic's Jibat Tamirat recently visited the
country under the watchful eye of government minders
Here, he writes about the government's extraordinary control over the lives of people
1) Sim cards are like gold dustImage copyrightAFPImage caption
Public pay phones are still used by many people
State-owned EriTel is the sole provider of telecom services
The service it provides is bad, and tightly controlled by the government
A report by the International Telecommunication Union says that internet penetration in Eritrea is just above 1%
Sim cards are like gold dust in Eritrea
Citizens need to apply to the local government administration to get one
And even if you get a Sim card, you can't use it to access the internet because there is no mobile data
People can only access the internet through WiFi, but it is very slow
To get onto social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, people use a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent government
censorship.Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionEXPLAINED: What is a VPN service?Because of the huge difficulty in
getting Sim cards, people still rely on public pay phones to make calls
We used them for the first four days of our visit
Then we got one Sim card for the three-member TheIndianSubcontinent team, which we had to return when we left.2) People can only withdraw
cash over bank counters Image caption
Cash can be difficult to get hold of
The government has imposed
restrictions on the amount of money depositors can withdraw from their bank accounts
Even if they have millions of nakfa, the Eritrean currency, in their account, they can only withdraw 5,000 ($330) a month
One resident we met in the capital, Asmara, told us that to buy a 1986 Toyota Corolla car, he had to make monthly withdrawals of 5,000 nakfa
He then gave the seller 55,000 in cash, and another 55,000 through a bank transfer
He said the government would have expected the entire sum to be transferred, but some businessmen prefer cash in their hands because it is
There is an exemption for weddings, which are usually big ceremonies costing more than 5,000 nakfa
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Weddings are elaborate affairs
If a wedding is coming up, the
host has to go to the offices of the local government administration to get officials to write a letter to his bank, saying he should be
allowed to withdraw more than 5,000 nakfa
Eritreans gave us different opinions on why the government has imposed restrictions on cash withdrawals
Some said it was ''to develop people's habit of saving and to curb inflation'' while others said it was because ''the government doesn't
So they limit money circulation"
There are no ATMs in Eritrea
The car-buyer told us that when the border with Ethiopia opened last year following the end of the "state of war" between the two nations,
he went to Mekelle city in northern Ethiopia and his ''jaw dropped'' when he saw ''people taking a large amount of money out of a machine''
3) There is only one local television stationImage copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Many people prefer to watch
foreign rather than local television
State-owned Eri-Tv is the only television station based in Eritrea
It is the government's mouthpiece, but if you have a satellite dish you can watch the TheIndianSubcontinent and other international
channels or Asena TV and ERISAT, run by political exiles.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) takes a dim view of media freedom in
Eritrea, describing it as "the world's most censored country", behind even North Korea
It quotes Germany's Deutsche-Welle Akademie as saying that "satellite broadcasts of radio stations in exile are restricted through
occasional signal jams and by the poor quality of the government-controlled internet"
However, Information Minister Yemane Meskel denies that Eritrea is a "closed" society
He points out that more than 91% of homes in towns and cities have satellite dishes and receive more than 650 international TV channels
He even tweeted photos to make his point: 4) and one brewerySet up in 1939 by Italian engineer Luigi Melottia, Asmara Brewer is the only
Locals told us that until recently, they were only allowed to drink two beers in a bar
So they used to take non-drinkers with them - and drink their quota as well
Residents say the brewery underwent an upgrade a few months ago and there is now an adequate supply, though we found only Asmara lager in
It is commonly referred to as melotti, after Melottia
He came to build roads and other infrastructure in the former Italian colony, saw a gap in the market for a brewery, and seized the
And he seems to be most remembered for that
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Many bars and cafes have Italian names
5) Many young people
want to emigrate''Getting a passport is like a dream come true,'' says a young man who had dinner with us
But he says youngsters are not given passports until they complete their national service - which includes military training - and get a
letter in support of their application from the offices of their local government administration
"By then you are old - 40 or 45 with a wife and children," he quips
And once they get a passport they cannot just leave the country - they need an exit visa
There is no guarantee that they will get one because the government apparently fears that they will not return
So, many young Eritreans leave illegally, crossing the porous borders to settle in Ethiopia and Sudan
Others risk the treacherous journey through the Sahara and the Mediterranean to reach Europe, only to die of hunger and thirst in the desert
The UN refugee agency describes Eritrea as "the ninth largest country of origin" for refugees - there were 507,300 of them at the end of
2018, up from 486,200 in the previous year
Most of the refugees are hosted by Ethiopia (174,000) and Sudan (114,500), but many also found "protection" in European states such as
Germany (55,300) and Switzerland (34,100), it says
With the exodus of youngsters, old people are most visible in Asmara, sipping macchiato in cafes to pass their time
The size of Eritrea's population is unclear because the government has never carried out a census since independence
Nevertheless, the World Population Review estimates its population to be 3.5 million, with Asmara's standing at around 500,000
6) But the capital city is beautifulItaly's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini wanted Asmara to be the "Piccola Roma" (Little Rome) in
Africa, as he planned a new Roman Empire in the 1930s
The city's leafy boulevards and modernist buildings are a reminder of its Italian colonial past
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Mussolini wanted Asmara to be "Little Rome"
The UN cultural
agency, Unesco, has listed Asmara as a World Heritage Site, describing it as an "exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the
beginning of the 20th Century and its application in an African context"
So despite Eritrea's political and economic problems, Asmara is a charming city well worth a visit
More about life in Eritrea:
