Crime in Eritrea

The most commonly reported everyday risks in Eritrea include pickpocketing on crowded buses, petty theft, robbery and burglary. Avoid walking alone at night, keep cash, phones, cameras and passports out of sight, store valuables securely and carry a copy of your identification. Do not photograph military or security sites. Travel in remote, coastal and border areas requires attention to permits, checkpoints and official local guidance; foreigners may face restricted movement and limited consular assistance outside Asmara. Women may face verbal or physical harassment and sexual assault. Domestic violence is believed to be common but is rarely reported, and the effectiveness of investigation and prosecution is difficult to verify. Children face risks including abuse, neglect, trafficking, forced labour, female genital mutilation or cutting and early or underage marriage. Trafficking and migrant smuggling affect transnational corridors in the Horn of Africa, while maritime crime and piracy are relevant in the southern Red Sea. The Eritrean Police Force is centrally controlled and has police stations across the country. Police contact may lead formally from a complaint and investigation to the public prosecutor or, for some minor offences, a Community Court. Independent information about police performance is limited, and current reports describe arbitrary arrest or detention, weak due-process safeguards and limited transparency. Contact with security authorities can therefore create a separate personal risk, especially when the circumstances or documentation are unclear. Call the police on 113. In Asmara, the police number is also listed as +291 1 127 799. Sexual assault can be reported directly on +291 1 124 993, and police stations are reported to operate around the clock. Report sexual assault as soon as possible when safe, preserve clothing, messages and other possible evidence, and seek medical care. Ambulance information is inconsistent, with 122244 and 114 both reported, and emergency networks may be unreliable outside major towns. Transport and medical costs may need to be arranged personally; no general police reporting fee has been publicly verified. Victim support is fragmented. Child protection structures involving the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, police and community bodies may provide immediate safety, health care, shelter or psychosocial support, but there is no transparent nationwide referral system. Independent local human-rights organisations are largely absent or not permitted. Formal juvenile procedures, separate child hearings, probation, after-care and child-friendly detention spaces are described in official material, but available juvenile crime figures are old and cannot show current prevalence. Digital crime cannot be measured reliably because Eritrea has limited internet access, no broad 3G service, unreliable telephone coverage outside Asmara and few public access points. These conditions reduce some forms of online exposure but make digital evidence, emergency contact and online reporting difficult. Privacy and surveillance concerns should be considered when sending messages or storing sensitive information. A government report recorded 26,610 offences in 2017–2018, about three quarters involving theft, robbery or burglary, and claimed that 80 percent were resolved within 28 days. These figures are old, state-reported and not independently verified. Another government or United Nations submission recorded 195 rape reports involving female victims in 2022, compared with 218 in 2018; under-reporting is likely because social and institutional barriers can discourage complaints. The figures should not be treated as a current national crime rate.