That’s why the recent tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea, where thousands of would-be refugees have drowned seeking to reach Europe’s shores, are calling urgent attention to a seldom-mentioned crisis: the quiet catastrophe in Eritrea.

The most shocking moment came on April 18, when a boat cramped with 1,000 desperate people left the lawless coast of Libya. About 900 of them drowned when the ship capsized. It was no surprise that many of those on board came from Syria, where a civil war provides more than enough reason to flee. But a large number of the dead came from Eritrea, a small country in East Africa that is neither at war nor suffering from a natural disaster.

In fact, people are fleeing Eritrea, with a population of just 6 million, at a greater rate than almost any other country. In 2014, more Eritreans sought refuge in Europe than people from any other state besides Syria, and the numbers are growing. U.N. figures showed the number of Eritrean asylum-seekers tripled last year from 2013. And so far this year, there is no sign that the tragic death toll in Mediterranean waters is persuading Eritreans that they should stay home.

Eritrea is an example of a once-promising story that turned disastrous. And its people, by their decision to flee, are giving an urgent warning to an international community whose ability to respond to crises is already overloaded.

As in several other African nations, what started as a successful war of independence—in Eritrea’s case from neighboring Ethiopia in 1993—degenerated into a one-man dictatorship whose increasingly oppressive ways are pushing the population to seek an escape.

The hero of the 30-year guerrilla war with Ethiopia, Isaias Afwerki, took power after independence and was chosen as president by the national assembly following the country’s last election in 1993. Since then, he has consolidated power and suppressed any form of opposition.

Afwerki is hardly the only man leading a one-party government in an impoverished country. That alone would not be sufficient to explain why Eritreans are risking their lives at such high rates to flee.

Eritrea’s level of repression is uniquely extreme.

Incredibly, Eritrea has been singled out as a “success story” by the U.N. Development Program for its supposed progress in reaching development goals, such as reducing maternal and infant mortality rates. Whether or not the statistics to back those claims are true, it is a travesty to call Afwerki’s fiefdom a success.

A report released this week by the Committee to Protect Journalists names Eritrea as the most censored country in the world, ranking above second-place North Korea. And there is much else that is wrong with the country, although, in fairness, many of the problems involving poverty and lack of political rights are not unique to Eritrea.

But there is one aspect of the Afwerki dictatorship that explains Eritreans urge to flee better than any other: its universal conscription practice.

It all started with an innocent-sounding plan to have all citizens serve the country. The “National Service” law enacted in 1995 required all Eritreans, men and women, to spend 18 months doing military service and development tasks. The 18-month term gradually started stretching until, in 2002, the period of service was officially made indefinite. In essence, the National Service has become an institutionalized system of almost perpetual servitude to the government.

While the recent surge of refugees is the result of worsening conditions at home and the new availability of passage to Europe resulting from the chaos in North Africa, it is the system of mandatory, universal, potentially lifelong conscription that explains why so many Eritreans want to leave.

Conscripts are generally members of the army, and the government justifies the forced conscription as a security measure for a country that could face war again. But the “soldiers” work in all manner of activities, including infrastructure construction, mining, farming and, in the case of women, domestic service for government officials.

Recruits are brutally mistreated. The U.N. rapporteur has described “punishment amounting to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as detention in inhumane conditions,” saying those practices are not unusual but rather “appear to be the norm, even for trivial cases.” For women, sexual violence is routine, and those who resist face even worse punishment. According to U.N. investigators, “many conscripts serve in the military for most of their lives for a paltry salary,” and those who try to escape as deserters face horrific punishment.

Meanwhile, detainees, whether for desertion or other, often minimal infractions, face grim justice. Arrested and tried without due process, they are held, according to the U.N. report, “in underground prisons or in metal shipping containers, in extreme weather conditions.” They are subjected to torture in a system where human rights groups say there is a complete “absence of any semblance of rule of law.”

For those who manage to see an end to their military service, there are few prospects for a better life. The military dominates the economy, and the private sector barely exists.

Eritrea has largely escaped the headlines and the international community’s wrath. International organizations have not completely ignored Eritrea’s abuses. The U.N. Security Council has enacted two separate sanctions resolutions, and the U.N. human rights body appointed a dedicated rapporteur. But the country has ranked low on the list of priorities for diplomats and human rights activists.

Eritrea brought attention to itself with reports that it provided support to Somalia’s al-Shabab militias, something the regime denies. But the swelling numbers of refugees are forcing the international community, and Europe in particular, to pay more attention to what is happening within the country’s borders.

The destitute, desperate would-be refugees are pushing the deeds of a ruthless and dangerous dictator higher on the list of global concerns. Europe, in particular, will find it increasingly difficult to ignore the plight of the Eritrean people and the ruthlessness of a government willing to go to such extremes to hold on to power.

Frida Ghitis is an independent commentator on world affairs and a World Politics Review contributing editor. Her weekly WPR column, World Citizen, appears every Thursday. Follow her on Twitter at @fridaghitis.