Eritrea Intensifies Crackdown on Evangelicals, Pentecostals; Over 120 Arrested Since May

By Jay Gotera, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Many Christians are in the grip of fear in Eritrea but remain steadfast in their faith.

More than 120 of them have arbitrarily been arrested since May, based from reports filed by Open Doors and Christian Solidarity Worldwide and gathered by World Watch Monitor (WWM).

Among the Christian denominations, the Evangelicals and Pentecostals are at particular risk in Eritrea following the passage of a law in 2002 prohibiting Christian practice outside the Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran denominations, and also Sunni Islam.

The latest wave of arrests began in the days leading up to Eritrea's Independence Day on May 24.

A source told WWM that 49 Evangelicals were arrested outside the capital, Asmara, on May 21 during a post-wedding family celebration a week after the wedding at the home of the newly-weds. The couple were among those arrested.

This followed the arrest of more than 35 Christians from their homes in Adi Quala, a market town 25 km from the Ethiopian border, after security officials, together with representatives of the Orthodox Church, started house-to-house searches on May 15.

The officials asked the residents what religious denominations they belonged. Those who said they were Pentecostals were arrested.

Since the 2002 law took effect, members of outlawed churches have been forced to meet secretly in people's homes.

But this is not preventing the authorities from finding and arresting them.

For the past 15 years, countless homes have been raided. Local sources told WWM that hundreds of Christians are being held in Eritrea's prisons.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide said at least 28 Christians have died during their detention or shortly after their release because of the torture, hard labor, insufficient food given them, lack of medical facility, and the filthy conditions inside prison.

Christian detainees are freed once they renounce their allegiance to Christ and sign a document promising not to engage anymore in unlicensed religious activities.

Those who refuse to sign such document remain locked up in prisons for years.

Eritrea has been described as the world's fastest-emptying nation because of the hundreds of thousands of its people who have fled to other countries, according to TRTWorld.

One of the reasons for the exodus is the regime's denial of its people's basic freedom, including the freedom to worship, Abraham Zere, Executive Director and Chief Editor of PEN Eritrea, said.

"Such renunciation of all forms of freedom is coupled with total disregard for the rule of law and the smallest means of supporting oneself," said Zere.

He said there are currently about 12,000 Eritreans in Uganda; 150,000 in Ethiopia, around 30,000 in Israel, and 125,350 in Sudan, as of 2015. In that year, more than 47,000 Eritreans applied for asylum in Europe.

The 2017 Open Doors World Watch List ranked Eritrea as the 10th worst country in the world for Christians.