It has happened. Nobody has thought about it before, to come to Timisoara-Romania. Eritrean refugees who have been suffering for long, they are now relieved from all the past sufferance and have seen international protection for the first time. It is small transit center, but it hosts very diverse and complicated testimonies of refugees. Nobody can either write or narrate it all. It is very long and complicated; they have cried and suffered a lot. Yet, everything has an end.
The history starts as these refugees plan to escape Eritrea. Fleeing the closed country by itself is a mystery. Very fortunately, and unlike those who remained there, these refugees managed to arrive neighboring Ethiopia or Sudan. The sufferance hardly remained in Eritrea, rather it migrate with them. Yet, the sufferance was different as it was happening abroad. The way to reach Khartoum is unimaginable; to reach there many lives were paid. And the most difficult decision was the plan to cross the terrible Sahara. These refugees buried tens and hundreds of Eritreans in the sandy desert, may God receive their soul. Those who luckily arrive Libyan territory, they were welcomed to inhuman detentions.
The extents of human right violation in Libya are known to everyone, but Eritrean refugees are the witness for it. How many died in Ra’es Jedida? How many suffered in Misurata, Zileten, Garabuli, Zawiyah or Twaisha detention centers? How many innocents were killed in Ganfuda, Benghazi with cold blood? Or how many Eritreans beaten, robbed, or killed with knife in Libyan streets? Nobody has an answer for these questions, except he or she will say a lot of them. At the time of sufferance, all migrant workers and Eritrean refugees cursed Libyans for their cruel habit, and wished to see bad day of Libyans. By the end of the day, the day has really come. Now after all the sufferance of Eritreans in Libya has ended, Eritrean refugees are wishing all the best for Libyans, they forgot everything.
When Libyans start their revolution, another round of sufferance came to Eritreans and all Sub-Saharan immigrants sieged in Libya. The word “MERCENARIES” became headache after a rumor heard that Col. Gaddafi is hiring African fighters to suppress popular uprising. Eritrean refugees could not leave their rooms for food shopping. It was very hard time there. The work of Eritrean and non-Eritrean activists did unbelievable work in trying to evacuating the desperate. John Stauffer of ATDE (USA), Don Mussie Zeray of Agenzia Habeshia (Italy), Elsa Chyrum of HRC-E (UK), Eritrean activists in Switzerland and many others did their best. The work of freelancers, bloggers and journalists was also very helpful. Gabriele Del Grande was among the most hardworking bloggers to open the blind eye in the European frontiers. Many Eritreans, young and enthusiastic activists from Tripoli also did their best in exposing the amount of sufferance from inside Tripoli. Yet, all this trial did very little thing in evacuation of Eritreans from Libya. Thus, Eritrean refugees loss their hope of evacuation and NATO starts aerial bombing. Pushed by this, hundreds of Eritreans died in the sea in desperate trial of reaching Italy. The rest crossed to the west and arrived Shousha camp of Tunisia.
Now, those who had resettlement programs to USA and the Netherlands or other countries got some hope. With the help of the external pressure and the work of UNHCR & IOM in Tunisia, first 30 Eritreans arrived in Timisoara in April 20. Then, many groups followed them and arrived Timisoara Transit Center and they are enjoying some form of freedom under international protection. The work of GTR, IOM and UNHCR in running the camp is evident. With all its drawbacks, the Romanian government is working very hard in meeting the need of the desperate who suffered for more than six years all in North Africa, Libya in particular.
After all, another group of Eritreans are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, thus the Department of Homeland Security will start to screen the refugees as a final stage in the resettlement process. They are hoping the sufferance to end here, and looking very far beyond the Atlantic… it will soon happen!!!