Eritrea Country Profile, Updated June 2016
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- Eritrea
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- DRC
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Key mixed migration characteristics
Eritrea is solely a country of origin. Its role in the region as transit or destination country is negligible.
The prolonged national service obligation coupled with poor economic conditions continues to fuel migration of especially young Eritreans.
An estimated 5,000 Eritreans flee their country every month. Most spend time as refugees in refugee camps in Eastern Sudan and Northern Ethiopia, from where they engage in onward migration.
Eritrean refugees in the region are mainly hosted in Sudan (101,751) and Ethiopia (155,862) as of May 2016.
Mixed migration flows of Eritreans are mostly directed towards Europe, transiting overland through Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya, before crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. Eritreans were the single largest group of migrants and refugees entering Italy in 2015, totaling 39,162 or 25% of all arrivals in Italy. Eritreans continue to make the crossing in 2016. Between January and May 2016, 6,076 Eritreans arrived in Italy.
Eritreans are generally granted protection status upon arrival in Europe. In the fourth quarter of 2015, the recognition rate for Eritreans in Europe was 93% (out of 12,935 first instance decisions).