Eritrean government rounds up teens from church service

Monday, September 12th, 2022

Places of worship have become the latest target for the forced roundup of Eritrean teens to serve as soldiers, which clerics describe as a deteriorating situation.

For two years, 15- and 16-year-olds have been taken from towns and villages. According to the sources, some are ending up on the front lines in the war in Ethiopia’s northern state of Tigray.

“A few weeks ago (Eritrea) resumed confiscating schools run and owned by the Catholic Church. (As if) this was not enough; now there are roundups of young boys and girls aged 16 … for compulsory military service without end,” Father Mussie Zerai, a Catholic priest of Eritrean origin who works with migrants, told Catholic News Service on 7 September.

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News category: News Shorts, World.

Tags: Eritrea, Father Mussie Zerai, Tigray

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