Eritrea: BBC World News cameras allowed into Eritrea for the first time

In Our World: Inside Eritrea with Yalda Hakim, Hakim explores how Eritrea has been described as one of the most secretive states in the world. Every year, thousands of people flee indefinite military service and arbitrary imprisonment.

But now, for the first time in around a decade, BBC World News has been allowed to film inside the country.

The authorities want to show off some positive news – they say child mortality is falling, maternal health is improving, and malaria has almost been wiped out. But alongside the gleaming hospitals on show, will Our World’s Hakim gets a glimpse of why so many young Eritreans will risk everything to leave the country?

Our World: Inside Eritrea with Yalda Hakim will air on Friday, 13 March at 22:30; Saturday, 14 March at 07:30 and 13:30; and Sunday, 15 March at 19:30 on BBC World News, channel 400 on DStv.