Escaping Eritrea - Transcript

Editor’s note: FRONTLINE has updated the film and transcript to reflect the correct location of Wi’a prison camp. Two translations have also been updated for clarity and accuracy.
NARRATOR:
Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Our investigation began here in the winter of 2016. A group of refugees had just escaped neighboring Eritrea. They were part of a mass exodus, half a million and counting. Thousands of them unaccompanied children.
MAI AINI REFUGEE CAMP
TOMAS:
[Speaking Tigrinya] We came through where there were a lot of landmines. We were only thinking of escaping to here. Although we knew the mines were there, we didn't think about them. We were just worried about soldiers seeing us. I had tried to escape before. I was caught. They beat me to a pulp, saying, ''You're the one who led them. You're the one who knows the way. Who are you working for?'' If I go back they will either kill me or take me to Nakfa [prison].

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