Eritrea tightens in-country travel restrictions on foreigners

Eritrea slaps tighter travel restrictions on foreigners
NGN
May 31, 2006 (ASMARA) — Eritrea has tightened in-country travel restrictions on foreigners, requiring permits for diplomats, aid workers and visitors to move about the Horn of Africa nation, officials said Wednesday.

The new measure, which expands an earlier permit requirement for travel to and from certain towns, takes effect on Thursday and covers the entire country, according to a government decree sent to foreign residents.

“As of June 1, 2006, all foreign nationals including resident diplomats are required to have a travel permit paper to travel to areas outside Asmara,” the foreign ministry said in the statement.

“Similarly, those foreigners working outside Asmara, if they are to travel outside the towns they are working in, will require a travel permit from the zonal administration in their respective areas,” it said.

Previously, travel permits were not required for foreigners to visit four larger towns — Massawa, Keren, Dekemhare and Mendefera — all of which are less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital.

Information Minister Ali Abdu confirmed the new rule and denied it was imposed for security reasons but declined to discuss the government’s reasoning for tightening the existing regulation.

“We feel it’s necessary,” he said, maintaining the restrictions should not hamper tourists and should not adversely impact foreign diplomats, aid workers and other expatriates resident in Eritrea.

“It will have no effect on tourism, and there will be no change for the daily life of foreigners in Eritrea,” Ali Abdu said.

Such permits in Eritrea require authorities to approve the specific dates and times of travel, the route to be take and the reason for the trip and generally take several days to be processed.

On main roads, there are regular checkpoints at which soldiers verify that travel has been approved and send those without permits back to their town of orgin.

Asmara-based diplomats said they were unaware of why the government had suddenly imposed the new restriction that takes effect as ties between Eritrea and the international community have become increasingly strained.

Eritrea is under heavy pressure to remove restrictions it imposed last year on the movements of UN peacekeepers monitoring its tense border with Ethiopia and has expelled certain aid agencies.

(ST)