Eritreans wait in vain for change after peace with Ethiopia

ASMARA, Eritrea: Eritrean taxi driver Mihreteab recalls brimming with hope in July 2018 when his country reached a peace agreement with neighbour and longtime foe Ethiopia. But a year and a half later, that hope has given way to disenchantment.

"I don’t see any changes so far. People are still in jail and life is the same," he said while waiting for passengers on a main avenue in Asmara. Like other ordinary Eritreans who spoke to an AFP journalist during a rare visit to the famously closed-off country, Mihreteab asked that his full name not be published.

On the streets of the Eritrean capital, he was far from alone in feeling disillusioned. "I like my country and I think you are also enjoying your stay. However, life is still the same for me," said Tekie, a small trader who sells home appliances at a market in the city centre. Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a deadly border war beginning in 1998 that claimed nearly 80,000 lives before a stalemate took hold in 2000 and lasted nearly two decades.