The United States is considering lifting sanctions on Eritrea, as Washington DC seeks to forge a closer relationship with the isolated East African country in the hope of securing stronger commercial and geopolitical influence in the region. The relationship between the US and Eritrea has been fraught for decades, largely over allegations of human rights abuses during the rule of President Isaias Afwerki.
Human rights groups have accused the Eritrean government of conscripting men and unmarried women into military or government posts for indefinite periods of time, repressing freedom of expression and unlawfully detaining perceived critics of the government.
During the 2020-22 war in Tigray, when Eritrea fought alongside Ethiopia against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the United Nations alleged the Eritrean military had engaged in summary executions and the abduction of Eritrean refugees in the region.
In September 2021 the Biden administration imposed sanctions against high-ranking individuals in Eritrea’s ruling party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, as well as other government and military officials. The US government cited “widespread violence, atrocities and serious human rights abuse” in Tigray as the reason for the sanctions.
