Human trafficking has emerged as a major problem over the past decades. This problem has been tragic in the case of Eritrea, where the government deliberately pursued a policy of citizen eviction, to the extent that it was tagged the ‘fastest emptying country in the world’. With 459,390 refugees as at 2016, Eritrea ranked as the ninth largest source of refugees in the world. The majority became victims of kidnapping, smuggling and abduction, and were taken on routes through Sinai, Egypt, where they were vulnerable to torture, imprisonment, death and slavery. The Eritrean refugee saga in Sinai was so traumatic that it warrants serious interrogation. What factors triggered the mass exodus and who benefited? What marked the experiences of the refugees and what responses did they receive from the world? This book provides answers to these questions from different angles.

The first chapter gives a glimpse into the Eritrean state and its complicity in trafficking crimes. The next three chapters outline the factors pushing people into exile and the specific mechanisms through which people were forcibly moved. Chapter 2 traces trafficking routes to the Sinai, the manner of abduction and the actors involved. It locates the trigger in a government policy that forbade citizens from earning incomes outside government; and in national service, a policy that was mandatory, unlimited and largely unpaid. People fled by all means necessary for survival and stability. However, many were kidnapped or smuggled, in connivance with Eritrean commanders, either within Eritrea, across borders or in refugee camps in Sudan and Ethiopia. Chapter 3 delves deeper into the case of Asmara university students. Following protests against bad governance, students were rounded up, detained and tortured, creating a state of fear among youngsters. They tried to flee yet many landed in the hands of kidnappers and smugglers who sold them. Beneficiaries of the trafficking industry included military officers, government officials, Rashaida militia, organized traffickers and smugglers. Chapter 4 provides details of how refugees, in their journey through Libya and Egypt, fell into the hands of Isis fighters who unleashed on them practices of organ harvesting, beheading, forced conversion and forced marriage.

Chapter 5 documents the plight of unaccompanied minors, who, while escaping forceful conscription, were kidnapped, smuggled or abducted for ransom or sale. They were subjected to forced labour, extortion and sexual violence, and, in some bizarre situations, they were forced to become torturers themselves. Chapter 6 dwells on how female Eritrean refugees at all stages of their displacement suffer sexual assault, exploitation, extortion and discrimination, while Chapter 7 examines the mental and physical torture of victims of Sinai trafficking. Chapter 8 focuses on the collective trauma suffered by Eritreans who were made to share, through digital networks, live torture sessions. For the purpose of maximizing ransoms, the excruciating suffering, helplessness and humiliations of victims in the Sinai were transmitted through mobile phones, social media and satellite radio broadcast to friends and families.

The rest of the book outlines the international response to these atrocities and explores the relationship between the international community, the Eritrean diaspora and the state. Chapter 9 reviews the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea (COIE). It documented atrocities committed by the Eritrean government and accused it of committing a ‘crime against humanity’. While the report was rejected by the government, many Eritreans hail it as an important testimony. Chapter 10 explains how Eritreans in the Netherlands, numbering over 20,000, have lived in constant fear of the home government, due to warnings, pressure, the punishment of families back home, disappearances, suicide and murder attempts. Fear of the long arm of the Eritrean state explains why refugees have remitted the 2 per cent tax to the government despite their opposition. Chapter 11 shows how Atlantic Council, a US-based think tank, was hired by the government to sway public opinion through propaganda publications. Chapter 12 examines interventions from the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the EU, exploring the frosty relationship between Asmara and the international community, and with a president who refused all entreaties to stop human rights violations. The book argues that these interventions failed due to the international community's poor understanding of the situation. AU and IGAD policies targeted human trafficking without addressing the causes of the migration in Eritrea. Chapter 13 finally identifies prosecution as a means of punishing traffickers for their crimes and offers practical suggestions.

All chapters are empirically informed and arranged sequentially. The criminal usage of digital technology comes into bold relief. Through the accounts in the book, a picture emerges of a government deliberately engaged in trafficking and extortion of its citizens. Officials in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Israel have also contributed to the tragedy in various ways. Despite these strengths, one would have expected a chapter on the place of Eritrean civil society as well as an extended explanation of the background and agenda of Atlantic Council. Nevertheless, this fascinating book should be read both by those interested in understanding the Eritrean state and by those concerned about the need for empathy, justice and the prevention of such crimes elsewhere.