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Eritrea 🇪🇷
Taxed Until the Grave – Eritrea Won’t Let You Be Buried at Home‼️
“If you didn’t pay 2% diaspora taxes while you were alive, why do we need your dead body in Eritrea?” Isaias Afwerki.
The Eritrean government has long enforced a controversial 2% diaspora tax—often called the "recovery and rehabilitation tax"—on Eritreans living abroad, requiring payment of 2% of their income as a condition for accessing consular services, property transactions, denial of burial, or even basic rights tied to the homeland. Non-compliance, or criticism of the regime, frequently results in severe repercussions, including the denial of burial rights in Eritrean soil for deceased diaspora members. Reports from Eritrean exiles and investigations in countries like the UK describe cases where families were unable to repatriate bodies for burial unless back payments of the tax were settled, sometimes amounting to thousands of pounds, forcing them to bury loved ones abroad against their final wishes. This practice extends beyond mere financial enforcement; it serves as a tool of transnational repression, often linked to requirements like signing "regret forms" for those who fled illegally or withholding permissions for regime critics, members of banned religious groups, and others deemed non-compliant—highlighting how the government weaponizes even death and cultural rites to maintain control over its diaspora.
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