Although many displaced people are able to return home in Eritrea, tensions along the border with Ethiopia remain and there are still thousands of Eritrean refugees in Sudan. They are extremely vulnerable to abductions and trafficking. Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has warned of the ongoing problem of trafficking of Eritrean refugees in a recent visit to (north) Sudan, which receives thousands of Eritrean asylum seekers every month.

Mr. Guterres spoke of a “criminal network of smugglers and traffickers” who are exploiting the desperate situation of thousands of Eritrean refugees, many of whom are attempting to reach Israel.

This criminal network, which is active in at least Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt, kidnaps refugees for a ransom of up to $10,000. If this ransom is not paid, the refugees are sometimes “killed for the traffic of organs” in Egypt’s Sinai desert, Mr. Guterres has stated.

To tackle this problem, which until now has gone unnoticed by the international community, UNHCR has asked for $2 million of funding to work with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Sudanese authorities.

Two days following this announcement, Sudanese authorities announced that they captured “a network of people smugglers”, who had been running an operation smuggling Eritrean refugees to Israel. Four Eritrean refugees were found with the people smugglers, along with weapons, satellite telephones and false documents, highlighting the professionalism of these criminal groups.

However, despite the recent Sudanese effort, it is believed that hundreds of Eritreans are still being held in the Sinai by Bedouin gangs, who are taking advantage of the political situation in Egypt to escape prosecution and profit from the desperation of Eritrean refugees.

IRT works on sustainable development projects in Eritrea with internally displaced people (IDPs) from the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict. These IDPs were displaced for many years and are now trying to return home and rebuild their lives. IRT aims to help them get back on their feet. Go to IRT's Projects in Eritrea for more information.