{"id":57149,"date":"2026-01-13T14:55:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T05:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=57149"},"modified":"2026-01-13T15:45:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T06:45:52","slug":"vomk-report-381","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2026\/01\/13\/vomk-report-381\/","title":{"rendered":"ERITREA: LONG-TIME CHRISTIAN PRISONERS AMONG 98 RELEASED IN DECEMBER"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”57181″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea is reporting that Christians, including some who had been held for longer than ten years, are among the 98 prisoners who were released from military facilities in the country of Eritrea in November and December.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The releases, which were confirmed by a local C<\/span>h<\/span>ristian contact and by family members of the freed prisoners, took place\u00a0<\/span>in groups\u00a0<\/span>throughout\u00a0<\/span>the months of November<\/span>\u00a0and December<\/span>, according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Hyun Sook Foley<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201c<\/span><\/span>On December 11, a group of\u00a0<\/span>36\u00a0<\/span>prisoners were released,\u00a0<\/span>including 20 women<\/span><\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0says Representative Foley<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>The majority in this group were\u00a0<\/span>members of\u00a0<\/span>C<\/span>h<\/span>ristian\u00a0<\/span>churches banned in Eritrea.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”57185″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that in\u00a0<\/span>May 2002, Eritrean authorities ordered the closure of all non-Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran churches<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201c<\/span><\/span>Since\u00a0<\/span>then, Christians from banned churches have been arrested and imprisoned\u00a0<\/span>with open-ended sentences,\u00a0<\/span>without being formally charged or tried.<\/span>\u00a0Most of the leaders of the evangelical churches have spent more than two decades in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u2018<\/span><\/span>shipping container prisons<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and are still there to this day.\u00a0<\/span>That\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0why Eritrea is rightfully called the \u2018North Korea of Africa\u2019 and is continually ranked as one of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Voice of the Martyrs Korea is one of several persecution watchdog organizations around the world which have for years conducted letter writing campaigns on behalf of Eritrean Christian prisoners. She says that while none of the prominent Christian leaders were included in this latest round of prisoner releases, her ministry\u2019s local contact confirmed that some of the Christians who were released had been held for more than 10 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”57152″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley prays with an Eritrean widow. Her husband died while he was imprisoned for his faith in Eritrea.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that Christian prisoners are not\u00a0<\/span>permitted<\/span>\u00a0to have any contact with their families.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201c<\/span><\/span>Their families are not allowed to visit them or to bring food to them,<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0says Representative Foley.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>If a prisoner becomes sick,\u00a0<\/span>they are not\u00a0<\/span>given any medical care, and their families are not notified.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”57153″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”(From file) Shipping containers in a desert in Eritrea. Christian leaders have been imprisoned in such containers for more than two decades.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that no reason for the releases has been given by the Eritrean government, but that poor health of prisoners has often been the motivation for past releases.<\/span><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative\u00a0<\/span>Foley<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s Voice of the Martyrs Korea organization partners with its Voice of the Martyrs sister missions to provide support to the families of Christian prisoners.\u00a0<\/span>She<\/span>\u00a0says that\u00a0<\/span>while the release of prisoners is always good news, it creates\u00a0<\/span>a new set of challenges for local Christians<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201c<\/span><\/span>Helping prisoners recover from years of serious illness is a major\u00a0<\/span>long-term\u00a0<\/span>need when they are released,<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0says Representative Foley. She says family members can be reluctant to care for released prisoners.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>A few years\u00a0<\/span>ago<\/span>\u00a0t<\/span>here was an Eritrean Christian who had\u00a0<\/span>been detained for 11 years<\/span>, who\u00a0<\/span>was disowned by family members when he was released\u00a0<\/span>from prison\u00a0<\/span>and tried to return home<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>That<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0because m<\/span>any families and landlords refuse to provide housing or help to ex-prisoners\u00a0<\/span>because they worry that the government will punish them.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]C<\/span>h<\/span>ristians around the world to write Christians in prison for their faith in Eritrea. She says that currently five Eritrean Christians are in prisons where letters can reach them. The names and addresses of these prisoners, as well as what to write and how to send the letters, can be found at https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/prisoner-profiles\/<\/a><\/span><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”57181″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea is reporting that Christians, including some who had been held for longer than ten years, are among the 98 prisoners who …","protected":false},"author":1959,"featured_media":57182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57149"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57274,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57149\/revisions\/57274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}