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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ISRAEL HAMAS ERITREAN REFUGEES
HEADLINE: Nightmare Far from Over for Eritrean Refugees Caught in Gaza War’s Crossfire
TEASE: Without Israeli IDs, the return to normalcy is especially difficult for Eritrean refugees, twice displaced and struggling to rebuild their lives as the war in nearby Gaza rages
PUBLISHED: 02/15/2024 at 8:15am
BYLINE: Celia Mendoza
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Ashkelon, Israel
VIDEOGRAPHER: Celia Mendoza
VIDEO EDITOR: Celia Mendoza
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 4:14
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) [[The nightmare of the October 7th attacks by Hamas gunmen and the war that’s followed them is far from over for Eritrean refugees in southern Israel. With no Israeli IDs and limited access to benefits, the refugees - twice displaced - are struggling to rebuild their lives as the war in nearby Gaza shows no signs of ending. VOA’s Celia Mendoza reports from the southern Israeli port city of Ashkelon.]]
((NARRATOR))
Teke Weldhaimanot fled turmoil in his homeland in Eritrea in 2010 only to become displaced yet again last October when his home here in Ashkelon was among those hit by a shower of rockets fired by Palestinian militants in nearby Gaza.
[[RADIO VERSION: He says he was inside his home when the rocket hit and suffered minor injuries throughout his body.]]
((Teke Weldhaimanot, Eritrean Refugee - MALE IN HEBREW))
“I was inside the house. I got hurt here and there, a little bit everywhere.”
((NARRATOR))
Weldhaimanot considers himself lucky that his injuries were not serious. His wife and three sons were at a nearby shelter.
But he says things have never been the same.
[[RADIO VERSION: He says it’s been very hard. He says he feels fear in his body, internal fear. He says he does not feel like going to work. One day he works, he says, and another he does not. Weldhaimanot says he feels the fear inside of him. He says he would like to go to a doctor but does not have health insurance.]]
((Teke Weldhaimanot, Eritrean Refugee - MALE IN HEBREW))
“I feel it’s very hard, what can I tell you. I feel the fear in my body, internal fear. I don’t feel like going to work. One day I work, one day I don’t. I feel the fear inside me. I would like to go to a doctor, but I do not have health insurance.”
((NARRATOR))
The U.N. refugee agency says more than 30,000 refugees from Africa are living in Israel. The agency says the Hamas attack on October 7th and the war that’s followed has forced 1,200 of them to leave their homes.
[[RADIO VERSION: Monim Haroon is an advocacy and partnerships specialist with HIAS Israel, an organization that provides services to asylum-seekers and refugees.]]
((Monim Haroon, HIAS Israel - MALE IN ENGLISH))
“This has been a real traumatizing incident, not only (in) that some refugees’ (family) members were killed. We have two Eritrean refugees (who) were killed by the attack from October 7 and one refugee from Darfur that was killed in Ashdod. So, it has been very difficult.”
((NARRATOR))
That is especially true for parents like Tekie Yemane, also from Eritrea.
[[RADIO VERSION: He says it was really hard for him since he grew up in a country at war. He says he thought he came to a country that was more organized. He says he doesn’t want the war and it’s like nothing changed for him. He says he does not want his children to grow up the same as he did, in war.]]
((Tekie Yemane, Eritrean Refugee - MALE IN HEBREW))
“It was really hard for me. I grew up in a war, in a country at war. I came to a country that was more organized. I thought that was the case. Now you understand, I don’t want the war. It’s like I haven’t changed anything, I don’t want my children to grow up the same way, in a war.”
((NARRATOR))
And also, without access to the type of government aid that’s normally available to Israelis, he says. Like many other refugees, he does not have an Israeli identification document.
[[RADIO VERSION: HIAS Israel’s Monim Haroon.]]
((Monim Haroon, HIAS Israel - MALE IN ENGLISH))
“The evacuation system in Israel, unfortunately it’s related to Israeli ID, but the vast majority of refugees do not have this ID. So, it was hard for them to access the services that (were) provided by the government to evacuate everyone who had been living in those areas.”
((NARRATOR))
VOA received no reply to its requests for comment from Israeli government officials.
The state of Israel was founded as a homeland for the Jewish people, and it recognizes only a limited number of non-Jewish Eritreans as asylum-seekers. The rest it sees as economic migrants living illegally on its territory. The government does not issue IDs to the migrants that would entitle them to many public benefits such as medical care and emergency housing.
For some, like Mengstab Ghebrihiwet who came from Eritrea, this means living as though they were invisible.
[[RADIO VERSION: He says he has received no benefits from the state, and he says it hurts. He says he and others feel like they are rags here.))
((Mengstab Ghebrihiwet, Eritrean Refugee - MALE IN HEBREW))
“We didn’t receive a grant from the state. It hurts. We felt like we’re like rags here.”
((NARRATOR))
Ghebrihiwet worries about the future of his children who speak Hebrew and feel like they are Israelis so much that they dream of serving in the Israeli armed forces.
[[RADIO VERSION: He says he has four children. He says the ten-year-old and the eight-year-old told him they want to be in the Golani Brigade, one of Israel’s most infantry units; they say they want to be paratroopers and fight for Israel. He says the children do not know they are not Israelis.]]
((Mengstab Ghebrihiwet, Eritrean Refugee – MALE IN HEBREW))
“I have four children. The 10-year-old and the 8-year-old told me: ‘We will be in the Golani (brigade). We will be paratroopers.’ They want to fight here in Israel, but they don’t know they are not Israelis.”
((NARRATOR))
Still, after months of war, these parents are grateful to be able to come back to this, the only home their children have ever known.
((Celia Mendoza, VOA News, Ashkelon, Israel))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Ashkelon, Israel
BylineCelia Mendoza
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
