Eritrea
Warnings and insurance
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides advice about risks of travel to help British nationals make informed decisions. Find out more about FCDO travel advice.
Areas where FCDO advises against travel
Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against FCDO advice.
Within 25km of Eritrea’s land borders
FCDO advises against all travel to within 25km of all Eritrea’s land borders. The land borders with Djibouti and Ethiopia are closed. Eritrea’s land border with Sudan is operational in response to the conflict in Sudan and people are crossing the border in both directions.
Find out more about why FCDO advises against travel.
Support for British nationals in Eritrea
Consular support is severely limited in parts of Eritrea. If you’re in Eritrea and you need urgent help (for example, you’ve been attacked or arrested, or someone has died), call the British Embassy in Asmara on +291 1 202 838. If you’re in the UK and worried about a British national in Eritrea, call 020 7008 5000.
British-Eritrean dual nationals
If you are a British-Eritrean dual national, the Eritrean authorities consider you to be an Eritrean national. This applies if you hold identity documents issued by Eritrea’s Department of Immigration and Nationality, including out of date documents. The British Embassy is unable to offer consular assistance to dual nationals in Eritrea. Embassy staff will be unable to gain consular access to you if you are detained by the Eritrean authorities.
Before you travel
No travel can be guaranteed safe. Read all the advice in this guide and any specific travel advice that applies to you:
Follow and contact FCDO travel on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also sign up to get email notifications when this advice is updated.
Travel insurance
If you choose to travel, research your destinations and get appropriate travel insurance. Insurance should cover your itinerary, planned activities and expenses in an emergency.