Why is it Dangerous to be a Christian Orphan in Eritrea?

To better understand the dangers of being a Christian orphan returned to Eritrea, I gathered information at Voice of the Martyrs website.

Although I've heard personal accounts, I wanted to hear the official US Government take on religious freedom in Eritrea. It is confusing for me, as a Westerner, to hear that some religions are legal in Eritrea while other people of faith are persecuted.

VOM website directed me to the US Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report 2008. It explains that in 2002 the Eritrean Government "closed all religious facilities not belonging to the country's four principal religious groups: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of Eritrea, Islam, and the Roman Catholic Church."

The report on Eritrea is 8 pages long. This portion was interesting to me:

"Forced Religious Conversion

There were reports that police forced some adherents of unregistered religious groups held in detention to sign statements to abandon their faith and join the Orthodox Christian Church as a precondition of their release. These individuals typically faced imprisonment and/or severe beating until they agreed to sign the document. Reports indicated that these individuals were also monitored after they signed to make sure that they did not practice or proselytize for their unregistered religion.

There were no reports of forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States."

I recommend that you go to and read the report for yourself:
http://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108367.htm

The report helps you understand the dangerous back story of this True-life story of Orphans Abandoned in Eritrea.

Voice of the Martyrs: www.persecution.com