Eritrean men are being threatened
with jail unless they marry more
than one wife, reports say. A statement allegedly issued by
the government of Eritrea is
reportedly ordering men to marry at
least two wives due to acute
shortage of men caused by
enormous casualties suffered during the civil war with Ethiopia. Over 150,000 soldiers were killed
during the Eritrean-Ethiopian war
between May 1998 to June 2000, a
situation which drastically reduced
the male population in the tiny
Eritrea nation of just 4 million people.
In the statement written in Arabic,
the government gave the
assurance that it will give financial
support to the polygamous
marriages. “Based on the law of God in
polygamy, and given the
circumstances in which the
country is experiencing in terms of
men shortage, the Eritrean
department of Religious Affairs has decided on the following .” *First that every man shall marry at
least two women and the man who
refuses to do so shall be
subjected to life imprisonment with
hard labour. *The woman who tries to prevent
her husband from marrying
another wife shall be punished to
life imprisonment
