‘Is Eritrea the North Korea of Africa?’
August 19, 2015
Two Catholics who serve on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom lamented government repression and the persecution of religious believers in the African nation of Eritrea.
“Civic space for the free and peaceful practice of religion is incredibly restricted, with the government grossly interfering with Eritrea’s four recognized religious communities – the Coptic Orthodox Church, Sunni Islam, Roman Catholicism, and a Lutheran-connected denomination,” Robert George and Father Thomas Reese wrote in The Christian Science Monitor.
“Hundreds of thousands of Eritreans -- between six and 10 percent of the country’s population -- have fled such tyranny over the past generation,” they added. “Those who leave are at risk of human traffickers capturing, torturing and killing them. Those who traverse Libya risk falling into Islamist State hands. Those crossing the Mediterranean risk drowning.”
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