Exile at all costs for many young
France24, France - August 30, 2007
Sitting side-saddle on the back of a moto-taxi whizzing through the Ugandan capital, Zelalem breathes in lungfulls of freedom after parting with most of his savings and risking his life to sneak out of his native Eritrea.
"I want to be able to make plans and choose my own life," says the 27-year-old.
His perilous flight from Eritrea started with a 2,000-dollar (1,500-euro) fee. It was paid to a smuggler who spirited him through the border with Sudan, a huge sum for Zelalem who earned around 100 dollars a month as a bank employee in one of the world's poorest countries, still recovering after long years of war.
He remembers every minute of his terrifying journey out of Eritrea, hidden in the back of a pick-up van driven at breakneck speed by the smuggler. "It was going so fast that it felt like we were flying."
Zelalem, who requested to use a pseudonym, was not allowed a suitcase and had only a few hours to bid farewell to his country, knowing he may never see it again.
"I didn't tell my mum when I left. She would have worried," he recalls.
Eritrea -- one of the most hermetic countries in the world -- imposes heavy punishment on any of its nationals who attempt to leave the territory illegally ...