Asylum seekers returned to Eritrea against their will

Eritreans fleeing fighting in Khartoum have told the BBC they are being forced back home against their will.

Nearly 126,000 Eritrean asylum seekers and refugees live in Sudan, most having escaped political persecution and compulsory military service

An Eritrean woman who was heading by bus to Kassala says she never made it to the city in eastern Sudan, which is about 415km (260 miles) from Khartoum and where there is a large Eritrean community.

She told the BBC her bus was stopped on Monday at a security checkpoint before Kassala and all Sudanese passengers were forced to disembark.

The Eritreans on board were then transported without their consent to the town of Arbata-Asher on the Sudan-Eritrea border, she says. There, officials are taking her details and insisting she cross the border into Eritrea, a one-party state and a highly militarised society.

This account has been backed up by others.

An Eritrean living in the UK said his younger sister, who had been in Sudan awaiting her asylum papers to move to Canada, was among them.

Many Eritreans in Khartoum are there without the correct paperwork and are now fearful for their future.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

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