The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the Trump administration is pursuing normalized relations with Eritrea, a reclusive and highly repressive regime in the Horn of Africa.

Talks to date have included discussions about easing sanctions long imposed on the country in response to its brutal treatment of political dissenters, religious minorities, and other disfavored groups. 

Eritrea controls more than 700 miles of coastline along the Red Sea, facing the western coast of the wealthy, oil-producing Arabian Peninsula and providing access to the Gulf of Aden and broader global trade routes. With conflict in Iran effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz to the peninsula’s east, the Red Sea — and those who control it, including Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea — is growing in importance. 

Among the region’s challenges, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have threatened to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea in acts of solidarity with their benefactors in Tehran. 

While the U.S. operates a base in Djibouti — its only permanent base in Africa — to counter the Houthi threat and protect regional security, a rapprochement with Eritrea could expand the range of defense capabilities in the region. 

However, as conversations with Eritrea progress, human rights advocates warn that easing sanctions may undermine a core U.S. value and strategic interest: religious freedom. 

Long History of Religious Persecution 

Often called the “North Korea of Africa” for its disregard for international human rights standards and its cruelty toward independent religious groups, Eritrea has long been considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for Christians and other disfavored religions. 

Many cases target independent Christians, including pastors imprisoned for leading congregations outside government-approved structures. Jehovah’s Witnesses face especially severe restrictions due to their refusal to support the political formation of the Eritrean state in the 1990s, as well as issues related to mandatory military service. 

Though many of the most severe violations target unregistered groups, even approved religious communities — the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Sunni Islam, the Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea — are far from free and live under constant government supervision. 

Though detailed information from Eritrea is difficult to obtain, it is known that the country is currently holding at least dozens, if not hundreds, of prisoners of conscience. The government occasionally announces amnesties, granting early release to select prisoners. While these releases sometimes include prisoners of conscience, they represent only a fraction of those detained. The government’s animosity toward free religious expression continues unabated and shows no sign of easing, despite sustained international concern and sanctions. 

International Response 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that Eritrea be designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) every year since 2004, writing that the “government in Eritrea systematically persecutes individuals for their faith” and “continues to imprison hundreds of Christians and dozens of Jehovah’s Witnesses, many of whom face violence — including torture — and harsh prison conditions without access to adequate health care.” 

Survivor testimony includes accounts of prisoners crammed into shipping containers placed on the hot desert floor, in conditions so harsh that their skin burns against the metal walls by day and freezes by night. 

The U.S. Department of State has consistently followed USCIRF’s recommendation, designating Eritrea as a CPC each year since 2004 for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. 

The CPC designation carries statutorily mandated sanctions, though these are often waived in the national interest of the United States or in light of existing sanctions. 

U.S. sanctions on Eritrea are driven largely by the country’s role in the Tigray War and longstanding human rights concerns. Under authorities such as Executive Order 14046 and the Global Magnitsky Act, Washington has imposed asset freezes and financial restrictions on Eritrean military actors and the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, citing credible reports of atrocities, including extrajudicial killings and widespread abuses against civilians. 

While earlier U.N. sanctions tied to alleged support for al-Shabab were lifted in 2018, U.S. measures have since intensified, reinforced by Eritrea’s CPC designation for severe religious persecution. The result is a sanctions regime that stops short of a comprehensive economic embargo but continues to isolate key figures and institutions at the core of Eritrea’s political and security apparatus. 

International Christian Concern (ICC) has long highlighted the egregious persecution carried out by the Eritrean government, both through regular reporting and in its annual Global Persecution Index. 

As the United States considers warming relations with Eritrea, it must continue to advocate for disfavored religious communities suffering in the country’s prisons and tightly controlled society. 

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email [email protected]. To support ICC’s work around the world, please give to our Where Most Needed Fund.