[7] Reportedly, many conscripts live in terrible conditions, and are essentially used for slave labor, subjected to severe physical punishments for trying to escape, and are at the mercy of their commanders.
[10][11] The same year, a UN report documented extensive human rights abuses within the Eritrean Army, and stated:Indeed, the indefinite duration of national service, its terrible conditions — including arbitrary detention, torture, sexual torture, forced labour, absence of leave and the ludicrous pay — and the implications it has for the possibility of any individual to found a family, conduct a family life and have favourable conditions of work make national service an institution where slavery-like practices are routine.
[12][13] However, when the border conflict with Ethiopia was resolved in 2018, this policy did not change,[14][15] and Eritrea did not respond to questions from Human Rights Watch when asked why this was the case.
[4] Beginning in mid-2022, and escalating after mobilization in September that same year, Eritrea engaged in a mass conscription campaign for the Tigray War.
Human Rights Watch reported that families of those who wished to avoid the draft became targets of collective punishment, with government authorities subjecting them to arbitrary detention and forced evictions from their homes.