{"id":7965,"date":"2016-12-27T21:49:03","date_gmt":"2016-12-27T21:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/?p=7965"},"modified":"2016-12-27T21:49:03","modified_gmt":"2016-12-27T21:49:03","slug":"meron-estefanos-runs-one-woman-refugee-hotline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2016\/12\/27\/meron-estefanos-runs-one-woman-refugee-hotline\/","title":{"rendered":"Meron Estefanos, who runs a one-woman refugee hotline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/9842d696ce51c6a1dfcb011c8e0382f2fae26e4e\/90_0_427_534\/master\/427.jpg?w=300&amp;q=55&amp;auto=format&amp;usm=12&amp;fit=max&amp;s=0e1f6d9a928cbeb807f0b20111cf35b2\" alt=\"Meron Estefanos\" width=\"180\" height=\"225\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201c2016 has been one of the worst years for Eritrean refugees, which means it\u2019s also been one of the worst years for me,\u201d says Meron Estefanos, who runs a <a class=\"u-underline\" draggable=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2015\/oct\/29\/eritrean-refugee-radio-hotline-erena-winter\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">refugee hotline<\/a> from her house in Sweden.<\/p>\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline6\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline6 ad-slot--rendered\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline6\" data-test-id=\"ad-slot-inline6\" data-name=\"inline6\" data-mobile=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|fluid\" data-desktop=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|620,1|fluid\" data-google-query-id=\"CLmhgtaqldECFYaNaQodgn4IeA\">\n<div class=\"ad-slot__label\" data-test-id=\"ad-slot-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/59666047\/theguardian.com\/world\/article\/ng_9__container__\" class=\"ad-slot__content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Eritrean, who readily gives her mobile number to anyone who needs it, says she has taken more distress calls about kidnappings, deaths at sea and illegal deportations than ever before.<\/p>\n<p>The activist\u2019s phone rings day and night and she also presents a weekly show, Voices of Eritrean refugees, on Radio Erena from her kitchen table, offering practical advice for Eritreans navigating the asylum process in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the calls she fields in the summer are from Eritreans on boats that get into trouble in the Mediterranean. \u201cThey are screaming and crying, but the most important thing is for me to get their coordinates so I can pass them on to the coastguards, many of whom have got to know me now,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>Estefanos then follows up every hour to check that a rescue mission is under way.<\/p>\n<p>This year changes in the refugee policy in Sweden, a popular destination <a class=\"u-underline\" draggable=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/openmigration.org\/en\/analyses\/5-things-everyone-should-know-about-eritrean-refugees\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">for Eritreans<\/a>, have meant she has dealt with more queries about rules and regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Sweden has stopped giving permanent asylum, making it much harder for <a class=\"u-underline\" draggable=\"true\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/06\/22\/world\/europe\/sweden-immigrant-restrictions.html?_r=0\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">families to be reunited<\/a>. \u201cIt has gone from having one of the best refugee policies in the world to one of the worst. It\u2019s really sad,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Estefanos has been <a class=\"u-underline\" draggable=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2015\/aug\/18\/eritrea-death-threats-tolls-united-nations-social-media\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">repeatedly trolled<\/a> by regime supporters, has received death threats and was nearly kidnapped when she travelled to the Sinai to try to stop fellow Eritreans being tortured. But none of that has deterred her. \u201cThe trolls are my motivation: the more they insult me and threaten me the more I want to do,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>This year has also brought some positive developments. Estefanos\u2019s \u201chigh point\u201d was when the UN called for the Eritrean government to face the international criminal court for crimes against humanity. She celebrated the ruling in Geneva with thousands of other anti-regime campaigners.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Maeve Shearlaw in London<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201c2016 has been one of the worst years for Eritrean refugees, which means it\u2019s also been one of the worst years for me,\u201d says Meron Estefanos, who runs a refugee hotline from her house in Sweden. Advertisement The Eritrean, who readily gives her mobile number to anyone who needs it, says she has taken more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.1359999999999998987476601541857235133647918701171875,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3000000000000000444089209850062616169452667236328125,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.67849999999999999200639422269887290894985198974609375,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92000000000000003996802888650563545525074005126953125,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.84999999999999997779553950749686919152736663818359375,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.1999999999999999555910790149937383830547332763671875,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.90000000000000002220446049250313080847263336181640625,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.270000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.020000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.4699999999999999733546474089962430298328399658203125,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meron Estefanos, who runs a one-woman refugee hotline - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meron Estefanos, who runs a one-woman refugee hotline - UNITED ERITREA MEDIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201c2016 has been one of the worst years for Eritrean refugees, which means it\u2019s also been one of the worst years for me,\u201d says Meron Estefanos, who runs a refugee hotline from her house in Sweden. 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