A new study for the European Parliament published on 21 January 2026 warns that transnational repression has become a “growing and under-recognized threat” inside the European Union, documenting surveillance, intimidation and coercion of exiles by foreign governments and calling for stronger legal and policy safeguards across the bloc. The report, prepared for the Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, urges EU institutions and member states to adopt a common definition of transnational repression, establish centralized monitoring and data collection, and create clear reporting channels and focal points for victims within national administrations. The Eritrean government is named as one of the perpetrators of transnational repression.
Among the communities highlighted by human rights organizations as particularly exposed to such tactics are Eritrean refugees and diaspora groups living in Europe, who face pressure both from Eritrean state structures and from party-linked networks operating abroad.
Inside Eritrea, the human rights situation remains severe. In his 6 May 2024 report to the UN Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker said conditions “continue to be dire,” citing indefinite compulsory national service, enforced disappearances and widespread arbitrary detention, often incommunicado. Independent media have been shuttered for more than two decades, while freedoms of expression, association and movement are tightly restricted, contributing to continued large-scale flight from the country.
According to Babiker and other UN experts, this domestic climate is mirrored by evolving patterns of control beyond Eritrea’s borders. Their findings describe a toolkit of transnational repression that includes surveillance of critics, threats and harassment at demonstrations, pressure on community organizations, social isolation of dissidents, and the strategic denial of consular services. Families in Eritrea can face loss of food vouchers or other basic support if relatives abroad are seen as disloyal, creating a deterrent to speaking out even in European democracies.
Financial measures play a central role. Since the 1990s, Eritrea has imposed a 2% “Recovery and Rehabilitation Tax” on citizens overseas. Research in several European countries shows that key consular services, including passports, ID documents and property papers, are often conditioned on proof of payment, with non-compliant individuals denied assistance. The 2017 study by Mirjam van Reisen, Wendy Busse, Paul van Soomeren documents reports of pressure, intimidation and threats linked to the tax, including fears of reprisals against relatives who remain in Eritrea.
International bodies have begun to respond. UN Security Council Resolution 2023 (2011) called on Eritrea to stop using extortion, threats of violence and other illicit means to collect taxes abroad and urged states to hold accountable those enabling such practices. The UK Joint Committee on Human Rights has urged closer monitoring of foreign-state harassment on British soil, while the European Parliament has called for targeted sanctions, better coordination between law enforcement agencies and dedicated mechanisms to support human rights defenders facing cross-border repression.