Gérard Moussay early 1970’s, they were around 40 000 including Cam inhabitants in the neighbourhood (Phan Ri). Two thirds of this population "follow a religion which was no doubt Brahmanism in the past but it is now only a distant souvenir of the religion coming from India". The last third are the so-called Banis who are descendants of Cam families who have opted for Islam since 14th or 15th century. These two communities have their villages, theirs clergies, their own rites. They don’t get married between them but keeping their relationship (same Cam calendar and some formal occasions). A small part of
Religion in Eritrea report says that less than 1% are Shia. Around 0.9% of local residents follow traditional religions or other faiths. Atheism is low, while participation in religion is high among all ethnicities. All religious groups other than the four officially recognised faiths—the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Islam, and the Roman Catholic Church—must be registered with the government of Eritrea. The government has refused to register any religious group despite some of them meeting the requirements. Judaism is thought to have existed as an important religion in Eritrea and Ethiopia before Christianity became the official religion of the Kingdom