“We were in a van full of other people being driven at full speed across the desert. Whilst going at full speed, we were detected by Sudanese Bedouins or what I think were “magafe”/ smugglers. The bus started to swerve dangerously. All of a sudden, I heard loud shots and bullets tearing through the bus. And then screams, deafening screams.
Out of the approximately 30 people in the car, at least 20 were slumped over, bloody. ALL LIFELESS. Even the driver was leaning over the steering wheel, shot in the head. I will never forget what I saw. I saw this after waking up covered in blood and surviving the bus that had flipped over numerous times.
Only four people survived that day. I was one of them. As soon as we escaped the car wreck, we were rescued by some Sudanese who, without any medical attention, drove us back to Ethiopia and handed us over to the Ethiopian border authorities who then contacted our friends and family and later transferred us to jail in Addis Ababa. I was in Jail for over two weeks before being taken back to the place I once was before and where I am now, Awbarre Refugee camp. After all of that, I still want to go to Europe but in a much a safer way.”
Somali Refugee from Awbarre Camp.