Médecins Sans Frontières - BROL Full testimony

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB146197

Date taken / Date Recorded 11/01/2023 1:28 PM

Country Mediterranean Sea

Commissioning section MSF-NETHERLANDS

Photographer / videographer / producer Mohamad Cheblak

Copyright MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available yes

Editor's rating ★★★ (F)

Video format h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 16m59s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 2.26 GB

Additional Information / Shotlist # Timecode Text
00:00-00:01 I’m from the suburbs in Eritrea
00:05-00:11 From Eritrea, I left with my mother, when I was child, to Sudan
0:12 – 0:15 I was around three or four years old
"0:16-0:19
" I left from Eritrea to Sudan, where I lived
0:21-0:28 Originally, we the Arab Eritreans, who live in the suburbs
0:31-0:39 We would have many of us migrating to Europe, only few
0:41-0.48 And my mother, took me to Sudan to save me from military service
0:49-0:55 And in Eritrea when you are 8 or 9, they take you to the military barracks
0.56-01:09 And after the government took my father to an unknown place and fate, my mother feared the same would happen to me
01:10-01:15 She took me and fled by smuggling to Sudan
01:18-01:22 I lived around 12 or 13 years in Sudan
01:23-01:30 But since I was 14 years old, I started to think about
01:29-01:33 Passing through (borders) and move ahead
01:34-01:39 And I never thought the road would be this risky and tough as it is
01:41-01:46 I thought I would simply pass across Libya and then to Europe
01:47-01:49 I never expected it would that hard
01:52-01:58 When I was in Sudan, I was the only one for my mother, I had no siblings
02:01-02:05 And even I don’t know where my mother’s extended family live inside or outside Eritrea
02:07-02:12 In Sudan, I worked in a restaurant and other jobs
02:13-02:15 And was living with my mother and were eating together
02:16-02:19 Then I started moving in Sudan towards more distance areas
02:20-02:24 I moved to Khartoum, and worked and lived in a restaurant
02:26-02:28 Then I moved towards another region called Dongola, in the north
02:29-02:31 Then from Dongola I moved towards “Al Muthalath”, at the borders
02:34-02:36 Where I worked in a coffee shop and in gold mining in the mountain
02:38-02:46 And then I paid money for an intermediator to take me to Kufra
02:47-02:51 And I would work there and see if live is better there
02:52-02:56 And I would assess I move forward or go back to Sudan
02:57-03:00 Once I paid for the intermediator, and we went to Kufra
03:01-03:05 Once we crossed to Libya, things changed
03:06-03:13 When I paid for the intermediator, the deal was he would pay the Libyan smuggler
03:15-03:18 The smuggler told me that he didn’t receive any money
03:19-03:25 And I have either to work for him or get tortured here, or I pay
03:26-03:34 I told him I don’t have any relative living in Europe or America or Sudan
03:35-03:38 To send me money to pay for you, I have no one
03:39-03:40 He replied, alright, then you work for me
03:41-03:43 I work in feeding the livestock, fixing the farm
03:44-03:46 One day he would provide me with food, the second nothing
03:47-03:48 One day he would be respectful, the second nothing
03:50-03:55 I suffered in this situation for 3 months, and then I fled away
03:56-04:07 We, Eritreans, we live in Libya, hiding
04:09-04:11 We stay inside our houses, we rarely go out
0414-04:16 If we go out, and they recognize us as Eritreans, we would be kidnapped
04:17-04:22 Kidnapped, and jailed in a room, for exchange of ransom
04:23-04:31 They ask us to pay ransom money in U.S. Dollars
03:32-04:40 Thinking that we have family in Europe who are willing to send 2,000 or $3,000
04:43-04:50 I was kidnapped twice, and manage to escape from them
04:53-04:59 Upon kidnapping me, then put me in “Makhzan” (translates to Storage: often narrow overcrowded room where people are kept before they are smuggled)
05:01-05:04 Myself, and other kidnapped people, in a “Makhzan”
05:05-05:09 And this Makhzan, is even smaller than this room we are sitting in now
05:10-05:13 Smaller than this room we are sitting in, with a small window
05:14-05:16 In the morning, they offer you a small piece of bread
05:18-05:24 Small piece of bread to eat in morning, and there is a jerry can for water
05:26-05:32 The water tastes like desalinated, bitter water
"05:33-05:36
" "Inside there is a bathroom and we sleep next to each other on the floor
"
05:37-05:38 Every person laying on one side only
05:40-05:45 There would be between 70 and 100 person living there
05:45-05:51 The smugglers would not have a limit to number of people
05:52-05:53 They just keep bringing people in
05:56-06:00 Outside the makhzan, a Libyan guard sitting, with a rifle
06:01-06:03 Men who were with me inside the Makhzan
06:05-06:09 They managed to open the metallic ceiling
06:11-06:20 the guards had been smoking and drinking since sunset
06:21-06:24 And around 2 a.m., we managed to escape
06:25-06:27 We escaped and went in different directions
06:28-06:29 Some went west, some went east
"06:30-06:33
" I went to a place where Sudanese people live, and started working
06:35-06:43 In an area where many migrant workers stay
06:44-06:45 You would wait for work, but it’s up to your luck
06:46-06:54 You might work for someone in cleaning their farm or home
06:55-06:58 They might pay you, they might not pay you
06:59-07:00 And kick you out, claiming they cannot pay
07:01-07:05 But also you would work for kind people who will pay you
07:06-07:07 Or sometimes the workers themselves give you money
07:08-07:14 And I kept working like that, someday I eat, other I don’t
07:16-07:20 I managed to save enough money to pay a smuggler to take me out
07:23-07:25 But the money I had cannot even take me to Tripoli
07:29-07:34 Once they received the money, they promised me to leave on a said date
07:36-07:39 And on that date, as we were going to Tripoli
07:41-07:44 We were arrested, in the dessert
07:45-07:49 After arrest, we were taken to another Makhzan
0750-07:58 This Makhzan was completely full
08:00-08:03 Rape, beating, and humiliation were everywhere
0804 It was a militia
08:05-08:07 I stayed in this makhzan for around 15 to 20 days
08:08-08:12 And until the day I left Libya, I have witnessed torture and beating
08:13-08:18 Some would pay money, but this makhzan was mostly Eritreans
08:19-08:23 You would see in bare eyes beating of people, including myself
08:25-08:29 I was tortured, you can see the traces on my body
08:30-08:35 And they tied my hands, and put a hot metallic rode against my skin
08:37-08:39 My chest is full of torture scares
08:40-08:46 They would kick you with the rifle, or place a matalic rode that was heated on fire
08:48-08:50 And put it on your chest
08:51-08:54 They force you to call your family for help
08:57-09:05 The torture I was subjected to, would push to call my family to send ransom money
09:07-09:12 And after 15 days of torture, an old man from these smugglers
0914-0916 Who was around 80 year old, an old man
0917-0918 And when he saw me in this state, he felt petty
0924-0932 He told them, this man is so weak, and he will die
0934-0937 If you continoued the torture
0938-0943 Then other people who had paid their ransom money, gathered extra money and paid for me
0944-0947 They put me in a car, and dropped me in Tripoli
0958-1004 And there I found a group of Sudanese, which I stayed with
1008-1009 In Libya, torture follows you inside and outside prison
1012-1014 Or in the farms, or in the Makhzan
1019-1027 Even in the farm at night, they would put a gun against your head
1028-1031 And take all the money you have, and beat you at the end
1032-1035 They force you to call your family
1037-1039 Torture when they force you into the Makhzan
1040- 1047 And starve you, and beat all of your body
1051-1053 If you spoke up against mistreatment, they will beat you more
1056-1058 Or they keep you inside the Makhzan for longer time
1100-1103 They feed you spaghetti mixed with sleeping drugs
1104-1107 And in the morning you would find the man next to you dead
1109-1110 And the man behind you had been tortured
1111-1114 And when you go to bathroom, you would find a man cleaning his wounds
1115-1116 And you would drink the bitter water next to him
1118-1124 And while you’re drinking or eating, someone is throwing up next to you
1125-1137 In the morning, my friend who had been daydreaming about going to Europe, was dead
1138-1139 And I covered his body
1140-1143 Torture has many shapes in Libya
1147-1152 In the dessert where you see women bring raped in front of you
1153-1155 And you cannot talk or move
1158-1203 Even though the girls are your nationals, who had come through Sudan as well
1206-1209 And if you attempted to help, they would threaten you with gun or beat you with a stick
1213-1218 On the boat leaving Libya, I was ready to die at sea
1219-1225 And not get captured by the Libyan coast guard and brought back to torture and ransom money
1226-1227 To be tortured and humiliated
1228-1231 At sea, the rubber boat was moving up and down
1234-1237 And one man saw a fishing boat far away
1238-1240 And screamed that those are Libyan coast guard, everyone panicked
1241-1245 People started throwing up, wishing to die at sea
1246-1250 And not go back to Libya to be tortured
1252-1258 Before taking the sea, they put us in a Makhzan away from the shore
1301-1304 You cannot talk, open your mouth or move
1308-1311 They put us all 70 people in a small room
1314-1316 We sit next to each other tightly
1317-1321 And then one by one they took us out into a car
1322-1325 We were stacked on top of each other inside the car
1327-1330 They took us to another Makhzan closer to the shore
1331-1335 A walking distance away from the beach
1337-1339 At night they took us out in groups of 10 people
1342-1348 They made us carry the rubber boat
1350-1352 And put it together in the sea
1354-1358 We jumped into the boat and recited the “shahada”
1359-1403 We relied on God, and sailed away
1404-1407 The waves were taking us ups and downs
1412-1418 But, despite that, we had no fear
1420-1422 But when that man shouted it’s the Libyan coast guard
1423-1427 Everyone panicked and threw up
1429-1433 I personally wished to die at sea and not go back
1436-1443 Libya is not a normal country, I'm not sure people there are humans
1446-1450 The way you are beaten, it’s abnormal
1454-1459 God has put some mercy in humans
1501-1506 They beat us with all force, and anger, mercilessly
1507-1509 As if you committed a murder against them
1514-1515 Libya … (sigh)
1516-1521 Now, even though I'm on MSF ship
1522-1526 I'm feeling safe, at the same time, I'm not relieved fully
15:29-1533 Because I'm still in sea, and afraid to go back again
1534-1537 To Libya
1538-1540 I cannot wait to reach Italy, and touch the ground
15:41-15:46 To start forget about all what I have lived through in Libya and Africa
15:47-15:51 At sea, till now, I'm not feeling safe
15:52-15:55 I am in between two places, we will reach or not?
15:57- I hope we will arrive safely, and get over Libya
END: CUTAWAYS

BROL Full testimony - Ochek, 21 from Eritrea

BROL Full testimony - Ochek, 21 from Eritrea