Hello
My name is Mebrak Habteselassie I am 27 years old refugee from Eritrea. I
came to USA when I was 13 years old as a refugee. I want to tell you how it
feels to be Eritrean refugees or the life of refugees in USA and out side of
USA as Eritrean refugees.million people?refugees and internally
displaced?had fled their homes because of war, persecution, and human rights
abuses more than one million Eritrean refugees languished in exile abroad,
more than half of them in urban slums and rural refugee camps in Sudan
Eritreans that lived in Ethiopia were also expelled in 1998 when full-scale
fighting broke out again. In 2000 Eritreans had been permanently
disabled,hundreds of thousands dead. A third of the population was
displaced, a third of those people being children. Now many Eritrea are
asylum seeker in Libya,UK Eritrea is currently among the top
refugee-producing nations in the world. Fleeing the country is truly a last
resort because the conditions facing refugees abroad are appalling and the
punishments inflicted on asylum seekers who are forcibly returned are
terrible, including torture and death. The Eritrean government considers
leaving the country without a valid exit visa a crime, and absconding from
national service is viewed as tantamount to treason.
Leaving Eritrea is not an easy undertaking. As described above, heavily
patrolled borders, mine-fields, and a shoot-to-kill policy make escape from
Eritrea difficult. Despite this, thousands of people are leaving the
country. The majority of refugees end up in Ethiopia and Sudan in
overcrowded refugee camps. An increasing number try to make it to Europe via
Sudan and Libya. They face difficult conditions crossing the Sahara and risk
detention and extortion at the hands of Libyan and Sudanese police. Those
who elect to take another route to Israel or Egypt run the risk of being
forcibly returned without having their asylum claims assessed, as a recent
2008 wave of returns from Israel to Egypt and Egypt to Eritrea has
demonstrated (see below).[278] Many others have risked hazardous crossings
of the Red Sea to get to Yemen around 600 Eritreans were crossing into
Ethiopia every month at least 10,000 Eritrean refugees arrived in Sudan more
than 3,000 Eritreans entered Italy, the main entry point for Eritrean
asylum-seekers to the European Union The problems facing those who decide to
flee Eritrea do not end when they cross the border. Indeed, their problems
are only beginning. Despite the terrible human rights record of the Eritrean
government, Eritrean refugees are often forcibly returned without regard to
their rights under international refugee law and in spite of standing UNCHR
guidance that even rejected Eritrean asylum seekers should be provided with
some form of alternative protection instead of being forced to return home
Currently most refugees who flee Eritrea to Sudan either settle in refugee
camps in eastern Sudan or transit onward within the country or to other
countries in search of a safer and more stable existence. Those not in camps
in Sudan are extremely vulnerable to abuse, in particular extortion and
forcible return by the Sudanese authorities?Sudanese security services have
links to Eritrean security agents Even getting to Sudan is hazardous for
Eritreans. Asylum seekers