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by Reuters

ASMARA – The last group of national service recruits from Eritrea has been informed that it will not last more than 18 months, according to relatives, hope that the indefinite conscription that requires thousands of young men to escape each month could end

FILE PHOTO: Eritrean migrants are seen on an overcrowded wooden boat during an NGO rescue operation Spanish Proactiva, off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean 29 August 2016. REUTERS / Giorgos Moutafis / Photo File / MANILA BILLETIN

The Horn of Africa nation has introduced a mandatory 18-month national service for 18 to 50 years in 1995, two years after leaving Ethiopia for p in the reconstruction effort after a 30-year war of liberation

Duty consisted of six months of military training, then a year of work on development projects.

But Asmara maintained unlimited service from a two-year border War broke out with Ethiopia in 1998, the dispute dragging after the signing of a ceasefire in 2000. [19659007] Rights group and Western governments claim that there is an indefinite military conscription that forces Eritreans to flee the country. the perilous crossing of the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea to Europe

Tens of thousands of people found themselves in Europe, making Eritreans one of the main groups of refugees and refugees. migrants on this continent

. The consecration ceremony of conscripts on July 13, amid a dramatic thaw of relations with the neighboring giant of Eritrea, gave rise to the hope of seeing it capped.

"Last week, they were told that they will not be used beyond 18 months because the dynamics have changed," said a family member of a conscript who has just To be recruited under cover of anonymity

Afwerki

Historical Agreement
Eritrean Minister of Information, Yemane Ghebremeskel, did not deny the information but said that there had been no official announcement, noting that the rapprochement with Ethiopia was "precocious"

. "Political announcements of this importance are invariably done by our official offices and this has not been done so far, "he told Reuters.

Earlier this month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the leader Eritreans have signed a historic agreement, the end of their "state of war," one of the longest military stalemates in Africa.

Neighbors have agreed to open embbadies, develop ports and resume flights, concrete measure The Asmara government insists that conscription is vital for national security, saying fear the attack of l & # 39; Ethiopia.

The president said at the ceremony earlier this month had a "special significance" because it was happening after Eritrea and Ethiopia made peace.

In Asmara, some people told Reuters that they were waiting for official announcements announcing the end of their duty.

20 years old and I'm proud of the role I've played, "said one resident." But I hope we'll be friends now with our Ethiopian brothers, rather than enemies, and I'll I hope to continue my life. "