Eritrea’s self-reliance narrative and the remittance paradox: Reflections on thirty years of retrogression

Abstract

This article explores the role of remittances in Eritrea’s transnational authoritarian system. The government exercises a policy of active control over Eritrean citizens living abroad, and the country’s economy relies heavily on private remittances to ensure the subsistence of the population. This stands in stark contrast to the official doctrine of economic self-reliance, which has been hampered by an open-ended national service that can last for decades and deprives Eritrean citizens in productive age from making a living. The government also puts extreme restraints on the private sector. As a result, the livelihoods of Eritreans depend mostly on diaspora remittances. The authors take a historically contextualised approach based on empirical fieldwork in Eritrea from the 1990s to 2010 and among Eritrean diaspora communities in Europe between 2013 and 2019. We demonstrate how the government’s self-reliance approach has shifted from developing Eritrea’s human capital to securing financial support through transnational diaspora control. We conclude that in the case of Eritrea, the process of diasporisation has not triggered development and political transformation but has cemented a political and economic status quo that forces ever-growing parts of the population to leave.

Much More Than Just Money: Investigating Remittances Across Time and Place in the Eritrean Context

“…Moreover, as we showed in these pages, they can increase inequalities between households, triggering social tensions. Finally, due to the "remittance paradox" (Hirt and Mohammad 2021), remittances play an ambivalent role in the process of transition. Indeed, remittances not only contribute to stabilising the political status quo, but, by fuelling youth emigration and improving the living conditions of many households, they also reduce room for social and political contestation.…”

“…Th e act of paying -or not paying -the 2% tax is one that has several meanings and deep implications for an individual's ability to access certain rights and services both in Eritrea and in their countries of destination, and in terms of their position within the transnational social sphere. According to Hirt and Mohammad (2021), the percentage of people who believe that the tax is used for the benefi t of the population has been decreasing in recent years, as the dysfunctional aspects of the PFDJ's authoritarian system have become more evident. Yet, there are still people who approve of the diaspora tax, both among the so-called "generation nationalism" and, to a lesser extent, in the "generation asylum" (Redeker Hepner 2015).…”

“…Finally, it is important to note that within Eritrea, the receipt of goods also helps to reinforce the "remittance paradox" that Hirt and Mohammad (2021) discuss in relation to fi nancial remittances. Goods received from relatives abroad play an ambiguous role with regard to the stability of the government.…”

“…Although remittances are not a new topic in the fi eld of Eritrean studies, the available literature has mostly focused on their fi nancial and political role (e.g. Poole 2013;Hirt and Mohammad 2021). However, remittances, here, are not simply seen as fi nancial transfers.…”