Photo Credit: Refugees International
04/24/2008

Reaching the relative safety of northwestern Ethiopia for those fleeing Eritrea takes an unnecessary economic, physical, and psychological toll on hundreds of men, women, and children every month.

One asylum seeker told RI she sold her dowry for 30,000 Nakfa (just under $2,000) to hire a ‘guide’ to assist her, only to be abandoned when they reached the border of Sudan. Practically penniless, she eventually found a sympathetic villager who helped her find another smuggler who, in turn, later tried to exploit her. Neither she nor her young child who witnessed the event has yet recovered from the trauma of the experience.

Another asylum seeker took the bus to a town near the Eritrean border and then walked for two days and nights. Every time she heard Eritrean soldiers during her trek, she hid in fear. Later, she and another person joined together and paid a ‘guide’ to help them through the landmine riddled border areas. Having survived the crossing and her first interaction with Ethiopian guards, she was subsequently challenged by another official and forced to pay a substantial sum to avoid sexual assault.