A/HRC/41/53 Eritreans who cannot obtain an exit visa to resort to smuggling networks, exposing them to trafficking, exploitation and abuse. 66. According to various sources, in February and March 2019 a daily average of 250– 300 persons crossed into Ethiopia from Eritrea. Based on the information received, approximately 30 per cent of those who crossed during that period were national/military service conscripts. Many of those attempting to cross without an exit visa rely on “escorts” or smugglers to evade border control and avoid formal border crossings. 30 67. Ethiopia has maintained an open-door policy for hosting refugees. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the adoption by Ethiopia of a new refugee proclamation in February 2019, which strengthens the rights of refugees in the country and facilitates their local integration.31 Among other things, the new regulations seek to expand the country’s “outof-camp” policy, allowing refugees to secure work permits and business licences, have access to land, pursue studies and live outside camps. As of the end of December 2018, Ethiopia was hosting approximately 173,000 Eritrean refugees. 68. In late January 2019, the Sudan announced the reopening of its border with Eritrea. However, Eritrean nationals seeking to cross into the Sudan still require exit permits. The flow of migrants and refugees into the Sudan has continued during the reporting period, although the number of those crossing has decreased. The Special Rapporteur has received reports that smuggling and trafficking networks remain active along the Eritrea-Sudan border. In November 2018, the Sudanese authorities indicated that a joint force had freed over 80 Eritrean victims of human trafficking in eastern Kassala State, including around 50 women, who had been held for several weeks and subjected to abuse and extortion. 69. The Special Rapporteur remains deeply concerned about the situation of Eritrean migrants and refugees stranded in Libya. In a joint report issued in December 2018, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and OHCHR described the desperate conditions experienced by migrants and refugees during their transit through and stay in Libya and the “unimaginable horrors” to which they are subjected, in particular while in captivity. 32 After clashes erupted around Tripoli in early April 2019, many refugees and migrants were trapped in detention centres without access to food, water or basic supplies. Humanitarian agencies intervened to secure their urgent relocation away from the areas of active fighting. 70. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur received testimonies of Eritreans who were held captive by various armed groups and militias in Libya and who reported being subjected to forced labour, torture and beatings while in captivity. The Special Rapporteur also received information about cases of Eritrean women and girls who were subjected to sexual exploitation and forced prostitution by armed elements; some had children as a result of rape. Several sources indicated that unaccompanied boys and girls making their way through Libya are at a heightened risk of sexual violence and exploitation by different armed actors, in particular while in detention. 71. Eritreans also risk being kidnapped by traffickers and armed elements, who then torture them to extort money from relatives or sell them to other groups. This practice has become systematic and, in recent years, has been documented in various countries in the Sahel.33 Traffickers and armed elements prey on Eritrean migrants and refugees because they expect to receive large ransoms through diaspora networks. The Special Rapporteur 30 31 32 33 The testimonies of individuals who have left Eritrea in recent months suggest that the costs paid for these smuggling services vary widely. Some who arranged to travel from Asmara with the aid of smuggling networks have reported paying several thousand United States dollars. In some cases, family members in the diaspora have paid the smuggler once their relative has securely exited the country. In other cases, individuals have made their own way to the border and hired local “escorts” to help them cross over, reportedly paying them sums ranging from 50 to 80 United States dollars. Refugees Proclamation (No. 1110/2019). United Nations Support Mission in Libya and OHCHR, “Desperate and dangerous: report on the human rights situation of migrants and refugees in Libya”. For example, in Chad, Egypt, Libya and the Sudan. Between 2009 and 2014, Bedouin tribes regularly kidnapped and tortured Eritreans at prison camps in the Sinai desert in Egypt to extract a ransom from relatives. 15