No Sat Phone Coverage in Djibouti
 

The government of Djibouti has permanently "cut off" the Thuraya sat phone system.

As most foreign GSM providers (e.g. o2) don't have a roaming agreement either, one is forced to register a Djibouti GSM-card.

Does anyone know how the Sat cut-off is done technically?

Do you know of any other countries with permanent or temporary sat-phone cut-offs?

Technically very easy - a Thuraya handset has a built-in GPS. Your position is transmitted to the service provider as part of your registration when you switch your phone on (that's also how the phone displays your current country). The provider can then decide whether to allow a call based on your country of location.

I don't know about other restricted countries, but Iraq and Afganistan have special rates.