During the last decade, thousands of refugees have escaped from the Eritrean dictatorship and headed towards Israel. On their way through the desert, many have been kidnapped and held in torture camps by Bedouins. They are then forced to call their families and beg for ransom.
This week, the Graduate Institute presented a film on this issue, “Sound of Torture”, followed by a debate with Meron Estefanos, Eritrean journalist-activist and protagonist in the film.
The event was organised by the Institute’s Global Migration Centre and Human Rights Watch, with the support of the Dutch and German missions to the UN in Geneva.
The award-winning documentary shows the true story of an Eritrean radio broadcaster who interviews refugees held hostages in Sinai. Meron Estefanos, Swedish-Eritrean radio host, broadcasts her weekly programme from Stockholm, when she talks to hostages in the camps while recording their appeals for help.
The debate following the film, moderated by Professor Vincent Chetail, included Meron Estefanos, as well as Janice Marshall, Deputy Director of International Protection at UNHCR, and Gerry Simpson, Senior Researcher and Advocate at Human Rights Watch.
We talked with Meron about her experience of making the movie and the issues it highlights.
What are the film’s messages to the international community?
There is so much injustice going on in the world and everybody who watches the film tells me that they haven’t heard about this issue before. That’s why I am glad to show it to the world through the film.
Although there are a few reports relating to it, such as the one from Human Rights Watch, their outreach is limited so the general public is not aware of the problem. The international media doesn’t really have an interest in showing Eritrea, as they usually focus on other, more well-known, African issues. This is the main reason why I became a journalist, because Eritrea was never in the media and I wanted to show our problems to the world.
For you, what is the European Union’s role in helping refugees?
Nobody wants to be a refugee. People leave countries such as Eritrea to flee the military dictatorship and its problems, for example, or for political and other reasons. The fact is that behind the huge numbers of refugees that the EU and the European media publish everyday, there is always a story, a human story.
The EU should certainly do more. When we see a European getting kidnapped, there’s always a solution a couple of months afterwards. This is not the case with my people or other Africans.
I myself did pay the ransom for my cousin in order to free him. But this shouldn’t be a matter of money. These are crimes against humanity and should be treated as such by the responsible organisations and governments.
I hope the EU could give them not only asylum but also protection, health and mental care. After all, the survivors went through this hell. There are lots of resolutions but it’s not enough as long as these people continue to suffer without proper help.
What is the hardest part of the movie for you?
Having a cameraman following me everywhere for three years was certainly hard, but the movie is a reality documentary and as such the hardest part is the true story itself. Every time I watch it, even today, I cry. Sometimes I need to leave the room where it is being shown.
What do you hope the audience will take away from this film?
I hope that everybody who watchesd the movie becomes an ambassador. I hope that they write to their political representatives and ask them to help stop the kidnappings in Africa, like in Sudan, for example, where today the issue is most presentacute. This is my hope.