People smugglers 'target Eritrean asylum seekers'

 

Last Updated on Thursday, 22 August 2013 05:42 Written by Beyene Weldegiorgis, SBS Thursday, 22 August 2013 05:24

• Asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan await processing at the Italian port of Siracusa.

An SBS investigation has found asylum-seekers from Eritrea, in the Horn of Africa, are paying people-smugglers thousands of dollars to get them to Australia.

By

Beyene Weldegiorgis, SBS

Many thousands of Eritreans have been fleeing their country in recent years.

United Nations officials have said it's a result of brutal government repression, including extra-judicial killings, disappearances, and torture.

Many of those fleeing are young people wanting to evade what seems like their country's endless national military service.