An Eritrean man stands in Rome, representing one of the largest migrant groups entering Europe, second only to Syrians. These individuals face numerous challenges as they escape oppressive circumstances back home.
Livia Borghese/CNN
An Eritrean man in Rome. Eritreans make up the second largest group of migrants — after Syrians — reaching the shores of Europe.
The Reasons for Migration
Eritreans are not fleeing traditional warfare; rather, they are escaping a system of indefinite military service, a situation that human rights advocates label as a form of enslavement.
Eritreans are not fleeing war, they are refugees from open-ended military service — a system that human rights activists describe as official slavery.
Personal Accounts of Migration
CNN International correspondent Ben Wedeman (L) with Benjamin, an Eritrean migrant in a park in Ponte Mammolo in northern Rome. He was one of a very few migrants in park who would agree to an interview.Benjamin had been in Italy for about eight days after making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean from Tripoli in Libya to Lampudesa, Italy. “I was vomiting from the time I got onto the boat,” he remembers.
