Two “Swedes” charged with blackmailing Eritreans
Two Swedes who allegedly sought to profit from the kidnapping of Eritreans in Egypt faced charges Wednesday in a district court outside Stockholm of blackmailing exiled Eritreans in Sweden. According to the indictment, Rasmi Almasri, 21,
Two Swedes who allegedly sought to profit from the kidnapping of Eritreans in Egypt faced charges Wednesday in a district court outside Stockholm of blackmailing exiled Eritreans in Sweden.
According to the indictment, Rasmi Almasri, 21, and Hussin Mohamed, 18, demanded that a Swedish-Eritrean woman pay them $33,000 (25,500 euros) in January and February, or a relative of hers living in Egypt would be murdered.
The Swedes relayed the demands of kidnappers in Egypt to the woman, whose relative was later killed, according to the TT news agency TT.
“In the event that the ransom sum wasn’t paid, the Eritrean man was to be killed and his organs removed from his body,” the prosecution said in the indictment.
According to the United Nations, Eritreans fleeing their authoritarian homeland are easy targets for human traffickers in the Sudanese desert, who abduct, exploit or kill them.
The United Nations, which runs a refugee camp on the Sudan-Egypt border, estimates that 80 percent of new arrivals leave the camp within two months for Khartoum, Egypt, Israel or further afield in search of better economic opportunities.
Source – AFP
Berhane G Negus June 13, 2013
Sad, indeed very shocking news. I hope a day will come when we will not hear such inhuman deeds befalling our compatriots.
By the way how come the criminals are identified as ‘Swedes’. First time I hear that a ‘Ramsi Almasri’ or a ‘Hussin Mohamed’ are Sewdish names. They are not. Call a spade a spade, like the Eritrean-Swedish woman is rightly identified the criminals should also be identified as Swedish-……. Perhaps one is trying to be politically correct but we should realize that whether you are born in Sweden or naturalized you will always remain a hyphenated Swede. Out of curiosity are these Eritrean Swedes or Swedes from another country?
Of course the bottom line is that because of greed another poor innocent Eritrean youth has been murdered.
Kiflom June 13, 2013
It is a good news.I appreciate the Government of Sweden for its vigilance. There are still a lot who have used the passport of Sweden as a cover and Sweden as a shelter.Included are terrorist groups from the Horn and Asian countries. Eritreans, Sudanese, Ethiopians and others from the so called Arab countries are still there. Some of them have been to Afghanistan and other training centers of terrorist organizations. Sweden keep it up and clean your house.
Kombishtato June 13, 2013
Another heart breaking news article of an Eritrean who went to an Egyptian hell with his two daughters.
Anguish for Eritrean refugee over daughters’ Sinai fate
Deutche Welle, June 11, 2013
Eritrean refugee who calls himself Mulugeta is speaking out for the first time since he arrived in Tel Aviv after surviving a torture camp in Sinai – one of hundreds of refugees who managed to pay his way out.
Mulugeta is a quiet man. His voice is low and his eyes are sad, but he is pleasant as he forces a smile under his thin mustache. He works from dawn until dusk as a janitor. He lives in a men’s shelter in Petach Tikva, just a short distance from Tel Aviv, and he prays for the safety of his daughters.
It had taken nearly two weeks for Mulugeta to come forward but now he is ready. He is one of hundreds of refugees who managed to get out of a Bedouin torture camp in Sinai.
The African Refugee Development Center (ARDC) in Tel Aviv reports that tens of thousands of refugees have come to Israel from Eritrea and Sudan. Those coming from torture camps in Sinai are more difficult to calculate. Arriving outside the compound where Mulugeta lives, Wuldu, a translator, leads us to a nearby bench where we can sit and talk.
Mulugeta is from Eritrea. In 1987, at the age of 15, he entered the army and would go on to fight for freedom and for his country. Eritrea gained dependence from Ethiopia in 1991. He is 40-years old now, and last year, in July, when his daughters turned 15 and 17, he decided he wanted to take them out of the country. He hoped for a better life and education for his girls; he had hoped to take them to Europe.
For full article:
http://www.dw.de/anguish-for-eritrean-refugee-over-daughters-sinai-fate/a-16870454
Genet June 13, 2013
What nationality are those two men. “Two Swedes” is not telling us any thing. Are they Eritrean-Swedes? are they Arab origin-Swedes? They are also very young. Are they working for somebody else? Can we have more info about this please?
Genet
ማሊሻ June 13, 2013
ኣብ ታሪኽ ዓለምን ፣ ኣብ ነዊሕ ዛንታ ሰብን ብጭብጢ እተረጋገጸ ሓቂ እንተሎ እዚ እዩ። ዝኾነ ይኹን ሕብረተሰብ ወይ ህዝቢ ፣ ንሕሉፍ ናይ ዘመናት ታሪኹ ዝጸልእ ፣ ውርሻኡ ዝንዕቕ ፣ መረበቱ ወይ ትውልዲ ዓዱ ዝኽሕድ ፣ ቋንቋታቱ ብባርዕ ዘልምስ ፣ ቅርስታቱ ዘፍርስ ፣ ባህልታቱ ስርዓቱ ዘድፍር ፣ ደቂ ሩባኡን ጎዶቦታቱን ዘየኽብር ፣ ይትረፍ መሪሕነት ክጭብጥን ሃገር ክኣልን ፣ ናይ ገዛእ ርእሱ ሉኣላዊት ሃገርን መሬትን ውን ከቶ ኣይግበኦን እዩ።
እዚ ከምዚ ዓይነት ነፍሰ ሙት ፣ ሕልና ዕሩብ ፣ ኣእምሮ ዕሱብ ጉጅለ ወይ ጭፍራ ፣ እንትርፎ ከም ጊላ ከዳሚ ወይ ዓብድ ናይ ባዕዲ ፣ ብናይ ገዛእ ርእሱ መንነትን ኣብራኽን ደው ክብል ብፍጹም ዝሕሰብ ኣይኮነን ።
Yohannes Mehari June 13, 2013
We’re proud of our history and identity. What you the Ethio-Tigreans are doing to our country and youngsters together with the Arabs is on the other hand unforgiveable, you’ll regret it. You have distorted our opposition parties and divided our people.
josef June 13, 2013
Call them Swedish passport holders Egyptians.
Kabbire June 13, 2013
Thank you for the link,
What a horror. The pain many Eritreans are going through in the land of the bastard Arab Egyptians has never been recorded in the modern Eritrean history.
You read this and you wonder, what the hell were the bastard Arab politicians saying on live TV last week in Cairo, when they said “we have to employ the Eritreans …” against Ethiopia? The bastard Arabs said this while the most heinous crime is taking place in an Arab Egyptian sovereign land against young Eritreans.
Mengistu once said “nqewnal” ንቀውናል ንዕቕ ኣቢሎምና . We, the “proud” Eritreans laughed at him. Whose turn is it to laugh or cry now for the Arabs are ንቀውናል ንዕቕ ኣቢሎምና.
Never in the history of my fore fathers have the bastard Arabs treated my great grand parents the way the Arabs are treating Eritreans now.
How did Eritreans get into this mess of Arab slavery? How did we end as slaves and Arab slaves everywhere.
I wrote this after reading this Deutche Welle report, read and judge:
Look the crimes committed by the Sudanese police on Eritreans who kidnapped an entire family and handed them to the Egyptian Arab Bedouins:
http://www.dw.de/anguish-for-eritrean-refugee-over-daughters-sinai-fate/a-16870454
Harrowing stories
Captives were often left lying in the dirt for days or weeks, he said. The traffickers used stones, chains, or branches from a tree to beat victims on their legs, back and even his head, Mulugeta explained. The pain was excruciating, but after a while, he admitted, he didn’t even feel it, his body was numb and it all became a blur. He often went in and out of consciousness. Then I asked him, as tenderly as possible: “Were you ever raped?” Wuldu struggled translating the question. Mulugeta stared at the city lights for what seemed to be hours, though it was only a couple of minutes. Finally Wuldu turns to me exasperated. “How can he talk about these things? What can he say? His concern is not for him. He worries for his daughters.” Mulugeta pulls out a tissue and begins to dab his eyes.
His upper body bent over, he stumbles when he tries to speak. Wuldu continued waving his hands in the air. “What could he do? He doesn’t remember much about the beatings.” Mulugeta said if wanted to see his daughters, the traffickers would bring the girls to him and rape them in front of him. There was nothing he could do. They cried for him, but he was forced to watch as they screamed and were violated, stripped and beaten.
The traffickers demanded $30,000 for each of them. The translator explained that many people in Mulugeta’s community in Eritrea raised the funds and gave them to his wife. When she sent money, the traffickers told him: “If we let one of the girls go, we don’t know if she will make it out, she might get taken by someone else, so you go – and send us the money. Your daughters will be safe here.”
Mulugeta arrived in Tel Aviv in November last year – forced to abandon his daughters. He was released after three months along with four others and brought to Israel where they were left out on the street. He says he is comfortable at the shelter. There are many men there who have gone through similar experiences. Wuldu expresses his admiration for Mulugeta. He often seeks his advice, his comfort and they pray. Mulugeta is grateful to the Israelis for giving him somewhere to say. “I want to give thanks,” he said