Testimonial from Shagarab camp 2

“I arrived in Sudan just a month ago. My experience in the hands of the traffickers was a nightmare, I was beaten, hands and legs cuffed, deprived of water and food until my parents paid the ransom.

I travelled in a group of two boys and three girls and it took us almost three days to reach the border. Traffickers and smugglers normally prey along the border and are holding several people for ransom and rape women and girls.

I used to believe, I will have personal freedom, which I yearned for long time, and at some point, I would be able to work and support my family. However, none of these has come into fruition. I am still in the camp, it depresses me to see people still in the camp for decades, who are not able to work and venture out of the camp.

It did not took me long to realize, things are much complicated than I thought/planned. I am not ready to live the rest of my life in the camp; I prefer die trying than die in the camp.”

Eritrean refugee in Shagarab, Sudan