The Eritrean National Service: Servitude for "the common good" and the Youth Exodus 1847011608, 9781847011602

Table of contents :
Frontcover
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Foreword by Professor Christopher Clapham
Acknowledgements
List of Acronyms & Abbreviations
1 Introduction
The Goals of the Eritrean National Service: Origins and Rationale/s
Outline of the Structure of the Book
Methodological Procedures of Data-Gathering
The ENS: A Synopsis
The Common Good and the ENS
The Rationales of the ENS
The Magnitude of the ENS
2 National/Military Service in Africa: Theories and Concepts
National/Military Service: The Highest Good and Fountain of Virtue
War, Solidarity and Social Capital
Compulsory Military/National Service: The Antithesis of a Free Society
The Institution of National/Military Service in Africa
3 The Government and the Structure of the Eritrean Defence Force
National Service and Preparation for War
National Service and the Border War
The Narratives of Conscripts
4 The Nature of the Eritrean National Service and its Effectiveness as a Fighting Force
Indefinite Nature of Service
Coercion, Indefinite Service and Flight Propensity
Indefinite Service without Remuneration
Mismanagement
The ENS: Mechanism of Enrichment
The Impact of the Conflicts between Yikealo and the Warsai on Defence Capability
5 The Eritrean National Service as a Mechanism of Preserving and Transmitting the Core Values of the Liberation Struggle
Conscription as a Vehicle of Homogenisation and National Integration
Political Socialisation as Opposed to Political Education
The ENS as a Mechanism of Transmission and Preservation of Core Values: Deserters’ Narratives
Vices Learned in the ENS and the WYDC
6 The Eritrean National Service: A Vehicle for National Unity and Cohesion
National Service: A Form of Mass Mobilisation against Imagined Foreign Threat
The ENS: Instrument of National Integration
The ENS: Mechanism of National Unity and Cohesion: Respondents’ and Informants’ Perceptions
Dissenting Opinions
7 The Eritrean National Service and Forced Equality
Respondents’ Perceptions as to whether the ENS Ensured Equality among Conscripts
Equality, Religion and Women’s Participation in the ENS
The ENS, Wealth, Class and Corruption
From Badge of Honour to Unbearable Burden
8 The Overarching Impact of the Eritrean National Service on the Social Fabric of Eritrean Society
The Impact of the ENS on the Country
Sexual Violence
Militarisation and Securitisation of Education
The Plight of Deserters and Draft Evaders
Mistreatment of Eritrean Asylum-Seekers in Israel and Remittance
Asylum and the Eritrean Diaspora
9 Impact of the Open-Ended Eritrean National Service on Families and Conscripts
Dissenting Minority Voices
10 Conclusion
The Building of Eritrea’s Defence and Fighting Capability
Preservation and Transmission of the Core Values of the Liberation Struggle
Fostering National Unity
Promotion of Equality
Overarching Impact on the Social Fabric of the Polity
Postscript: The UK Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum
Chamber) Country Guidance on Eritrea
References
Index