“The members of the 19th round have become difficult to control. Desertion, absenteeism and overstaying have become a daily affair. Therefore, to combat the situation, every unit should strengthen its surveillance system and control the situation. All units are ordered to combat this trend and should shoot anyone they consider suspect of deserting.”

According to a very reliable source, the above is an excerpt from a circular that has been sent to all of the six operational commands.

The 19th round includes the Sawa students as well as the Wia and Kiloma conscripts, some of whom have already been dispatched to their units.

To reduce the rate of desertion, the Eritrean regime is using the following approaches:

1. Limit visits by parents: Responding to bitter parental complaints, the mimihidar [local administration] of the Parents and Teachers Committees revised the ministry of defense’s total ban on parental visits. The ban was modified to make exceptions for mothers and fathers whose children are currently in Sawa High School. But parents only made one visit before the policy was revised again, resulting in a total ban of all visits.

2. Patriotic Fervor: Two weeks ago, President Isaias Afwerki and virtually his entire cabinet went to Sawa to inculculate the youth with revolutionary and patriotic fervor. This was followed by a visit by the Defense Minister, General Sebhat Ephrem, who also gave one of the patriotic lectures he is famous for.

3. Eavesdropping: The Hagerawi Dihnet [National Security] has intensified its tapping of telephones, including mobile phone calls to and from Eritrea. Anyone who talks about the current situation in Eritrea in a negative tone via mobile phones to Diaspora relatives or aides, abates or encourages sending youth to Sudan and Ethiopia is imprisoned indefinitely. According to people in the military, all mobile phones in some of the zonal operations including those of officers were confiscated.

Despite all these measures, desertion is on the rise: the proximity of Sawa to the Sudanese border combined with the officers’ readiness to facilitate escape for money, makes attempts to control desertion very difficult. Typically, the deserter buys a menqesaqesi wereqet [a pass] from a colonel or a major for Nkf 7,000 (USD $350) to get to Tessenei and then pays other intermediaries Nkf 10,000 (USD $1,000 [corrected: USD $500]) to cross the border.

The 19th round is now in Sawa going through military readiness exercises. Meanwhile, the 20th round is taking its matriculation exam this week after which they will undergo tactical training.

Last Updated ( Mar 30, 2007 )
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