http://www.tv2.no/a/7538462
Yemane (56) of Bømlo have lived 25 years at asylum centers
Yemane Teferi longest at asylum centers in Norway. He does not get asylum, he wants to die at the center Bømlo.
Torbjørn
Brand Eggen
Saturday 24 October 2015
At a reception center a few kilometers from Mosterhamn Bømlo in Hordaland met TV 2 Yemane Teferi (56) from Eritrea.
Since 1990, he has lived in refugee centers in Scandinavia. First 8 years in Sweden, before he in 1998 went to Norway and applied for asylum.
56-year-old holds the sad record to be the longest in reception centers in Norway.
- Today it is exactly 17 years since I came here for the first time in 1998. Then I had hopes and dreams of a life in freedom to work, have my own residence, live by Norwegian laws and regulations. Instead I have ended up under house arrest in Norway for 17 years without having done anything wrong, says Teferi to TV2.
He shows the little room on the reception where he lives with another applicant. From the toilet sounds constant sound of running water.
- It has been so for three months, they will repair not. The trickling water from a pipe all the time so I need to empty a small bucket every hour. I can not sleep properly because of the sound. I also do not know who lives here, they come and go all the time. I'm only in my room when I sleep, otherwise I like best to be outdoors when the weather permits. When I go for long walks, it helps in loneliness, thoughts and feelings, he says.
- I will die in Bømlo
Teferi belongs to a group of asylum seekers who are sitting for years on receipt after receiving a final rejection. Two years ago there were 5700 people in Norway who had received a final rejection, but was still in the country. The most famous of them is Mullah Krekar.
Teferi claims he will be prosecuted if he returns to the homeland. As recently as May this year sent a UN commission determined that Eritrea has one of the world's worst regimes where s ystematiske, comprehensive and serious human rights violations taking place.
Norway has not made any attempt to send Teferi back and they have no exchange agreement with Eritrea. Yemane think he will end his days in the Norwegian soil.
- I will live and die on Bømlo. I am old and have lost all hope. Who would hire me now if I would get to stay? I see that Norway provides many from Eritrea residence permit, but not to me. I do not understand why. Whatever happens I do not care anymore, I finished and lost, he says.
Left home at age 15
Teferi says that he left Eritrea at age 15 in 1974 after he participated in a rebel group fighting for that country should secede from Ethiopia, which they then lay under, and become independent.
- I was warned that something was going to happen to me, so I fled to neighboring Djibouti. I took right at sea and in the early 80s I jumped off while the ship was in Italy. There subsisted myself as a driver without a passport or a valid residence permit before I in 1990 took a train to Kiel and boat to Sweden and applied for asylum there, he says.
- Why have I waited in vain for 25 years?
Since he has lived for over 20 different refugee centers in Sweden and Norway. At Bømlo he has lived in two rounds, most recently since 2012.
Teferi has not hidden the fact that he initially spoke the truth or lacked documentation. He has proved impossible to document his correct identity.
He says he gets 68 cents per day for subsistence, food and clothing. Existence of his described as nitrist. Every day he stands up to nothing.
- I live here, but do nothing. I do not go to school, can not work, can not do anything. I am angry, sad, sorry and have lost my mood. I often ask me why this has happened to me, why I've been in house arrest for 25 years in Scandinavia. Why? Why? I hate myself now and say that I'm an idiot. I could have done something else, why have I waited all these years in vain? Human rights and democracy does not exist for me, it's just words, he says.
Better in prison than at reception centers
Yemane has gone some rounds with immigration authorities in Norway before his final rejection in 2007. The authorities believe he does not satisfy the criteria for being granted asylum or have a need for protection.
Some Norwegian friends on Bømlo, antiracist center and a lawyer he helps to keep your spirits up and continue their fight for asylum in Norway. He eyes a faint hope for reconsideration, but is bitter at the system and politicians.
- Someone who kills a man in Norway gets maximum penalty 21 years in prison, while I who have not done anything wrong has served 25 years in house arrest in Scandinavia. Those who are in prison in Norway get good food and free medical care, I have to clear me on cheapest oatmeal every day. When they have finished serving unleashing a while I never escapes, he says.
No confidence in politicians
After 17 years in Norway he knows the system well, so well that he had lost confidence that politicians can influence his destiny. Not even Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
- I have nothing I'd told her. I know she will not undo anything they must convert it to everyone. I know there are many like me, who have been denied and is paperless. Many are ashamed and feel that they beg from those who pay taxes. No politicians are talking about me who have lived in refugee centers in Norway for 17 years, but I can not return to Eritrea, when I arrive in jail and be killed, says Yemane Teferi.
So far this year 2,150 persons claiming to be from Eritrea gained processed an application for asylum and protection in Norway. Of these, 1,933 received asylum applications granted. In addition, 13 granted asylum on humanitarian grounds, while 35 people have been rejected.
http://www.cdn.tv2.no/images/?imageId=7540385&width=480.66435986159&height=270.16651950841&x=0&y=0&cropw=100&croph=99.92337164750957&digest=0f7e5a9c06
http://www.cdn.tv2.no/images/?imageId=7538547&width=974.07675906183&height=556.46725491086&x=0&y=0&cropw=100&croph=99.99781778505182&digest=a377d4374e
Image:He shares a small room with one other applicant.He has lived for 25 years in the reception centres in Sweden and Norway.
(Software translation)
Received on Sat Oct 24 2015 - 04:44:05 EDT