{"id":2792,"date":"2015-07-17T00:58:43","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T00:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/?p=2792"},"modified":"2015-07-17T00:58:43","modified_gmt":"2015-07-17T00:58:43","slug":"first-risky-step-in-an-eritreans-journey-to-europe-by-emmanuel-igunzabbc-africa-tigray-ethiopia-1-hour-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitederitreamedia.com\/blog12\/2015\/07\/17\/first-risky-step-in-an-eritreans-journey-to-europe-by-emmanuel-igunzabbc-africa-tigray-ethiopia-1-hour-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"First risky step in an Eritrean’s journey to Europe By Emmanuel IgunzaBBC Africa, Tigray, Ethiopia 1 hour ago"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n
\"People<\/figure>\n

A 20-year-old man from Eritrea is nursing serious leg wounds after being shot twice by people he says were Eritrean soldiers stationed near the border with Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

“Even after I fell down, I could hear the bullets whizzing past me,” Weldab tells me from a clinic bed in Mai-Aini refugee camp in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

“I was lucky that I escaped. There were 10 of us in total; I don’t know what happened to the rest of my friends.”<\/p>\n

This was the young man’s second attempt to leave his homeland.<\/p>\n

He walked for most of the journey. Many of the refugees I met walked, mostly at night to avoid being detected.<\/p>\n

Some told me they paid traffickers between $100 and $700 (\u00a365 and \u00a3450) to show them the way.<\/p>\n

Others said that relatives in Europe have been known to pay the traffickers directly.<\/p>\n

They would be taken by car part of the way and then shown the “safest” route by foot.<\/p>\n

Although there is no war or famine in Eritrea, it accounts for the second largest number of asylum-seekers arriving in Europe, after Syria.<\/p>\n

\"null\"
Weldab was shot while trying to cross the border from Eritrea to Ethiopia<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Weldab, who did not want to give his full name, had paid a fee to go to Europe the first time he tried to flee.<\/p>\n

But it went wrong at the border with Sudan, when he was arrested on the Eritrean side and spent three weeks in police cells.<\/p>\n

He told me that back home he only dreamt of two things: Playing football and going abroad – because he wants to avoid being conscripted into the army.<\/p>\n

The UN has witnessed a huge rise in the number of people crossing from Eritrea into Ethiopia in May and June.<\/p>\n

In just two days I saw nearly 500 refugees coming through dozens of illegal routes on the heavily guarded border.<\/p>\n

Like Weldab, most are young people wanting to avoid conscription, which is compulsory after finishing school for both men and women.<\/p>\n

It is supposed to last two years, but if not picked to continue their studies after this time – people can be forced to stay in the army until their 40s.<\/p>\n

Many of the refugees are women, some carrying babies on their backs.<\/p>\n

\"null\"<\/figure>\n

Eritrea – key facts<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"null\"<\/figure>\n
    \n
  • \"null\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    In one of the Ethiopian military camps that we visited, a section had been turned into a temporary shelter for those arriving.<\/p>\n

    Women and babies shared a few mattresses laid down on the floor of a structure made from wood and corrugated iron.<\/p>\n

    Outside in the scorching sun, more women sat in groups under the shades of trees.<\/p>\n

    Army deserter<\/h2>\n

    Some young men covered their faces with their clothes and hands as we approached them, too afraid to be filmed.<\/p>\n

    “They won’t talk to you,” one elderly woman carrying a baby told me through an interpreter. “They are all scared.”<\/p>\n

    \"null\"
    It took this army deserter a day to reach the border<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"null\"
    During the rainy season this bridge spanning the Mareb River is one of the key crossing points<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \"null\"
    Refugees are picked up by UNHCR lorries from the border and taken to a screening centre<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Sitting next to the woman was a man in military camouflage, who said he had deserted the army after he was not allowed to leave despite being diagnosed with a serious ear problem.<\/p>\n

    “How could I continue serving under such pain?”<\/p>\n

    He left his wife and seven children behind and walked to the border with his gun; it took him just a day because he knew the area well.<\/p>\n

    “It is a tough choice as I don’t know if I will ever see them again. But I know they will understand; it was a matter of life or death. At least here, they will know I am safe and alive.”<\/p>\n

    He joins more than 150,000 Eritrean refugees living in Ethio<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A 20-year-old man from Eritrea is nursing serious leg wounds after being shot twice by people he says were Eritrean soldiers stationed near the border with Ethiopia. “Even after I fell down, I could hear the bullets whizzing past me,” Weldab tells me from a clinic bed in Mai-Aini refugee camp in Ethiopia. “I was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","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":"\nFirst risky step in an Eritrean's journey to Europe By Emmanuel IgunzaBBC Africa, Tigray, Ethiopia 1 hour ago - 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