Eritrea: Identification documents, including national identity cards and birth certificates; requirements and procedures for obtaining and renewing identity documents, both within the country and abroad (2009-August 2013)<\/p>\n
1. National Identity Cards<\/p>\n
The UK Border Agency’s Country of Origin Information service indicates that, according to information obtained by the British Embassy in Asmara in 2010, citizens over the age of 18 must have a national identification (ID) card (17 Aug. 2012, 111). The agreed-upon minutes of a presentation given to the UK Border Agency on 16 February 2012, by David Bozzini, a political and legal anthropologist at the University of Applied Science in Geneva who specializes in Eritrea (Bozzini 7 Aug. 2013), likewise indicate that the identity card is issued to individuals over the age of 18 (UK 17 Aug. 2012, 112).<\/p>\n
Sources indicate that the national ID card is issued by the government department responsible for immigration (ibid., 111, 112). According to the minutes of David Bozzini’s presentation, the identity card is blue and is issued by the Immigration Office, which has branches in all Zobas [administrative regions] (ibid., 112).<\/p>\n