My flight to Egypt
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My name is Joseph. I was born in December 2000, in small village called Aligidir. Now I'm in grade 5 at the CAWU-Learning Center.
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I left Eritrea on 20/05/2017 because there is no freedom. It is not possible to find a job in Eritrea without first serving in the National Service. Once you serve in the National Service they tell you what to do for years to come. You cannot just get out of this. When I became 16 I was made to join to the National Service forcibly.
My father served in Eritrea for 15 years as a soldier. He used to build different constructions with almost nothing to be paid. We were a poverty-stricken family and finally my mother fled to Sudan in 2013 illegally, thinking she would work abroad and be able help us. But, unfortunately after she left Eritrea we had no information about her where abouts and we don't know where she is. My mother left us with my grandmother as my father was in the National Service. When he heard that my mother fled, he reported to his leaders to let him come home, however, they did allow him to do so. At last, he was forced to desert them because we were with our elderly grandmother which was very difficult for her to take care of us. Then, when he deserted the National Service, he arranged to flee Eritrea because, he was sure that the government security agency would follow him and arrest him as he left them without their permission.
We managed to go to Sudan on 20/05/2017. I was with my father and brother (2004) and sister (2006). We escaped to Sudan by foot from our village through the highly guarded border. This area is mountainous with forests. In normal circumstances this would be around four hours walking but we saw several security guards and repeatedly had to hide to make sure they would not see us. Because of this it took around eight hours before we had crossed the border. We had put ourselves in a serious risk since if we would have been caught we would have been imprisoned and would have to pay a hefty fine of 250.000 nakfa (14.100 Euro) per family. This trip was dangerous. There are people continuously searching for escapees and they charge you a lot of money if they catch you or hand you to Eritrean authorities. There are also wild animals in the forest like wolves and hyenas.
We stayed in Sudan for about three months. However, during our stay, we encountered a lot of problems like racism. They were insulting us for being Habash [Habasha is the local name for Ethiopia]. Eritrean security officers in civilian dress are searching for escapees and try to bring them back to Eritrea. We also had to stay out of the hands of the Sudanese security. If they would catch you they would blame you for illegally entering the country, confiscate your ID and put you in prison. Getting out is only possible after paying 2000 Sudanese pounds (around 30 Euro) per person. It was a filthy life. It was clear that we couldn't stay longer in Sudan. We decided to leave Sudan and managed to head to Egypt through the vast Sahara putting our life at risk.
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There are brokers in Khartoum who help you to find a car to take you to Egypt. Our family would have to pay 1500 US$ upon arrival in Egypt. My father had transferred this money to an Eritrean friend in Egypt since he knew that it was too risky to have such money in his pocket in Sudan. These brokers do not accept any other currency. We first went to Atbara and from there went through the desert with a four-wheel drive. After about four hours, we were caught by Sudanese soldiers and we were taken back to Khartoum and put in prison with lots of persecution and torturing. They would hit and beat us and left us with very little food. We had enough water. They asked us for 600$ to release the family. We did not have that money and therefore had to stay here for three months. We tried for a second time to get into Egypt. We had two cars each holding around 15 people. We had five drivers for both cars and were driving day and night. We went through the sand dunes and would hide for a couple of hours to escape the security and continue again. We did not have much too eat and had insufficient water. It took around five days to reach Assuan. This is where he had to pay the money. They would not let anyone go without payment. In Assuan we took a third class train to Cairo. Once in Cairo we went to the UNHCR office for registration.
I am living now in Cairo with my father and my two siblings. We are living in great poverty. My father is working selling and buying belts on the streets. However, we are being supported by the UNHCR financially. They paid us in 2019 980 EgP per month for the entire family. This increased in 2020 to 1200 EgP per month. We pay 1000 EgP per month in rent. We are sometimes not able to pay our rent and have no money to feed ourselves. In spite of all these problems, I try to work hard and my father encourages me to study hard as he knows how important good education is. I started education at the St. Joseph learning center in Zamalek. I studied here for two years and was doing great.
I have a dream to become a medical doctor. I highly and kindly request you to help me studying. At last, I would like to tell you how I'm curious and keen I am to study biology since this will help me to fulfill my dream.