Eritrea is not a party to the key international instruments concerning the protection of refugees and stateless persons, and does not provide for granting refugee status on a prima facie basis.   Eritrea has not acceded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which provides the internationally recognised definition and outlines the legal protection, rights, and assistance a refugee is entitled to receive, nor the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which expands the Convention to apply universally and protect all persons fleeing conflict and persecution.  Eritrea has neither ratified the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which establishes a framework for the international protection of stateless person nor the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which sets rules for the conferral and non-withdrawal of citizenship to prevent cases of statelessness from arising. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended that Eritrea ratifies these conventions to better protect the rights of stateless individuals.

Eritrea is also not a signatory of the 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (“OAU Convention”), which is a binding convention on member states that have ratified it and provides a comprehensive framework on refugee protection in Africa. 

However, Eritrea has ratified several other international legal instruments that also relate to treatment of refugees, including the:     

• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which obliges signatories to take action to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which sets out protections for a wide range of human rights, including freedom from torture and other cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment, fair trial rights, equality, and non-discrimination 
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which ensures the enjoyment of economic, social, and cultural rights to education, fair and just working conditions, adequate standards of living, social security, and the highest attainable standard of health
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which sets out provisions to ensure women’s full enjoyment of human rights on an equal basis with men
• Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which requires signatories to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which protects children’s rights and obliges public bodies to consider children’s best interests     
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which seeks to eliminate disability discrimination and safeguard the rights of disabled people

Regionally, Eritrea has ratified the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which is a binding instrument on member states that have ratified it and provides a comprehensive rights framework on civil and political rights, economic, social, and cultural rights, and group (or collective) rights, referred to as “people’s rights”, as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which is specifically designed to promote and protect the rights and welfare of children in Africa.

While not party to the Refugee Convention, Eritrea is obligated to respect the international customary legal principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits any country from deporting any person to a country where they face the threat of persecution.

In the absence of national asylum laws, Eritrea does not have a formal refugee status determination (RSD) system. Eritrea is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol, or the 1969 OAU Convention. In the absence of state accession to these instruments and any national asylum procedure, UNHCR would in principle be responsible for conducting mandate RSD for refugees within Eritrea — the process by which individuals are formally recognised as refugees and thereby able to realise their rights under international law. However, UNHCR’s ability to fulfil this role is limited by restricted access and the absence of a formal operational framework agreed with the Eritrean government. As a result, the majority of refugees within Eritrea have no access to formal status determination. Eritrea has no dedicated asylum law, refugee legislation, or formal policy framework for the protection of refugees or asylum seekers. While the Eritrean government has hosted those fleeing the Sudan conflict — providing shelter and access to basic services in host communities in the Gash Barka region — this reception is not underpinned by any formalised refugee recognition system. The US State Department’s 2024 Human Rights Report on Eritrea confirms that Eritrean law does not provide for granting asylum or refugee status, and that the government has no established system for protecting refugees. While Ethiopians, Sudanese, and South Sudanese are permitted to enter and remain in the country, the government does not recognise them as refugees — instead treating them as economic migrants.

The Constitution of Eritrea, ratified in 1997, includes provisions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, but does not specifically address the rights of refugees or asylum seekers. Despite being ratified nearly three decades ago, it has never been brought into force — meaning Eritrea continues to operate without constitutional governance, an independent judiciary, or the rule of law protections the constitution envisages, a situation that has persisted under President Isaias Afewerki, who has ruled without electoral mandate since independence in 1993.

Eritrea has no independent judiciary. The government controls all aspects of civic and political life; independent media has been banned since 2001, and freedoms of assembly, association, and expression are not recognised in practice. The 2016 UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea and the 2025 UN Special Rapporteur report on the situation of human rights in Eritrea have both found that human rights violations perpetrated by the government against citizens — including enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention — amount to crimes against humanity, and that Eritrea’s system of compulsory, open-ended national service constitutes “enslavement”, with the Special Rapporteur further documenting ongoing sexual harassment and violence against female conscripts in a context of impunity. These conditions have produced one of the world’s most sustained refugee outflows. Over 660,000 Eritreans were in exile as of late 2024, representing roughly 18 percent of an estimated population of 3.8 million, and return is not a safe option for many. In late 2024, neighbouring Egypt and Ethiopia detained and deported Eritreans, and space for Eritrean asylum seekers in neighbouring countries remained severely constrained. Over 600 Eritreans who had sought refuge in Ethiopia were forcibly returned between December 2024 and February 2025, with the Eritrean government treating their asylum claims abroad as evidence of treason. 

The Eritrean government’s reach extends beyond its borders. The UN Special Rapporteur has documented increased transnational repression, with Eritrean authorities suppressing diaspora dissent through intimidation, online harassment, and the refusal of consular services. The US State Department’s 2024 Human Rights Report similarly identifies transnational repression as a significant human rights concern, including harassment of activists and coercion of diaspora members. This has direct implications for Eritrean refugees abroad, who may face pressure, surveillance, or reprisals for having sought asylum.

UNHCR has been engaged with Eritrean refugee issues since the 1990s, including through cessation clause determinations relating to refugees who fled during the War of Independence and the 1998–2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea border conflict, though the relationship fraught. According to the Eritrean government, it was not informed of UNHCR’s Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Eritrea — first issued in 2009 and revised in 2011, providing guidance to states and UNHCR offices on assessing Eritrean asylum claims — until 2014. In April 2026, UNHCR issued a Guidance Note on Eritrea, superseding the Eligibility Guidelines, concluding that many Eritreans will have international protection needs and that state authorities are not willing or able to provide protection to Eritreans at risk of persecution. The Eritrean government formally and comprehensively rejected the Guidance Note, challenging its methodology, disputing its evidentiary basis, and characterising it as politically motivated. UNHCR continues to seek pathways for constructive engagement with Eritrean authorities, though a formal operational framework for refugee protection within Eritrea remains absent.