My Sister is Flying to Israel

A 12-year old Eritrean boy talks about his hopes for reunion with his older sister.

A boy in the sixth grade with lanky limbs and a goofy smile, who knows English well was now my “pupil” for the next 40 minutes. He seems excited by something. We sit across each other. He, tapping his leg and looking out the window. Me, trying to engage him back in the same blue workbook we have been working in all semester.

“My sister is coming in a few days.” He says.

He tells me how his 15-year old sister Arsema is in a plane traveling to Israel from Eritrea. Eritrea is a small country bordering the Red Sea, Ethiopia, and Sudan. Tigrinya is the official spoken language.

Most of the children who attend Haglil Elementary School in South Tel Aviv are African refugees. Their families are on 2A5 conditional release visas.¹ These visas are renewable every three months. But since the Israeli government has not clarified their official rights, most holders of 2A5 visas live in constant threat that their protection will be revoked.²

The children at Haglil school are vibrant, curious, and smart. They come from places like Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Ukraine. The way the Eritrean kids understand the conflict in their home country is reduced to a rivalry with Ethiopia. And yes, while that is true, there has been long conflicts between both countries, their ethnic similarities reveal that Eritrea and Ethiopia are really at war with themselves.

“She’s flying from Ethiopia to Israel.” He goes on.

When Arsema was three-years old his parents left her with her grandparents as they escaped from Eritrea. A year later, safely in Israel, their son was born. Now, as the oldest at the elementary school, with all the bragging rights and novelty, he tells me about his long lost sister who he has only seen on video calls.

His sister is presumably flying from Ethiopia instead of Eritrea because it is easier to access Israel this way. I’m not sure. I wasn’t ready to challenge his story. However, for most Eritrean asylum seekers in Israel, no one is taking a plane. The most common migration pattern is by foot. I fear that this boy’s sister has a dangerous and challenging road ahead of her.

In order for Arsema to successfully arrive in Israel, she must break a series of rules. Imbedded in this rule breaking is a sheer will for survival and freedom. Life in Eritrea is fraught with indefinite military conscription and forced labor, unlawful, prolonged, and abusive detentions, denied religious liberty, and what you can imagine, a life denied of basic human rights.³ The first broken rule is leaving the country without an exit permit. To legally leave Eritrea, Arsema must receive an issued exit permit by the Eritrean authorities.⁴ Since the Eritrean government is likely holding most of their citizens against their will, one can imagine that for the thousands of asylum seekers, these exit permits are not issued. So, the exit strategy is by way of human trafficking and smuggling.

After being smuggled out of Eritrea, Arsema will most likely arrive in a refugee camp in eastern Sudan. However, since 2013 the number of people registering in eastern Sudanese refugee camps has drastically decreased.⁵ Fear of being kidnapped by traffickers leads many to avoid eastern Sudan entirely. So an alternate route is possible. Arsema can land in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. There, life in the camps is restricted. Arsema will not be able to leave, she will not have access to work, and largely no opportunity for self reliance. Her quest to Israel wages on.

The most dangerous part of her journey will be crossing the Sinai peninsula. Egyptian forces are not too welcoming when it comes to their African neighbors. They are known to shoot and kill Africans if they are spotted at the border.⁶

Once Arsima arrives in Egypt, Bedouin smugglers are paid anywhere from $350-$7,000 to transfer Eritreans from the Sinai into Israel.⁷ She will then arrive at a detention center, also know as the Saharonym prison, and will await her release to Be’er Sheva. From there she will get a free bus ticket to Tel Aviv.⁸

Eritreans and other African refugees choose Israel as their destination because it is a democratic country that has some hope for advancement. Their reasons are just like any other immigrants. They want financial security, access to education, and safety.

A lot of Arsema’s journey will be fraught with possible threats of kidnapping, rape, and extorsion. And for a 15-year old girl it seems like an impossible undertaking. Whether she is actually in a plane en-route to her brother may be a fantasy created by parents wishing protection.

I chose to not name the boy of this story because as he was answering my questions he made sure to emphasize that his story is not unique. Most people from his country have the same plight. But what I remind him, is that most 12-year old’s in other countries don’t have even the slightest concept of war. But, he is right. Everyone in his community in South Tel Aviv share a collective trauma of migration. His anonymity is reflective of many children born from Eritrean refugees in Israel. It is reflective of the demographic of the children at his school, and it largely summarizes their own stories. Despite their hardship, kids are kids. And, most kids don’t want to do English homework.

My time in South Tel Aviv revealed a richness to me. My hour morning commute was on the number seven bus. Often dozing off, or encountering the same morning crew of passengers, I made my journey from the wealthy district of North Tel Aviv, to the southern district comprised largely of African refugees. There, I saw Shuk Ha Tikva, which would become my favorite “grocery” store. It is the local market of the community. Shuk Ha Tikva sells significantly less expensive produce than its neighboring markets in different parts of Tel Aviv, which made it one of my most frequent after school destinations.

On my way to work I would see mothers carrying their babies on their backs, woven around them with brightly patterned scarves. I would see small children riding on the handle bars of bicycles as their dad’s steered them towards the direction of school. And although I knew their stories were riddled with hardship, I also saw that they were rich in other things. Rich in strength.

1. Feinstein International Center, African Migration to Israel- Debt, Employment and Remittances, January 2011, Rebecca Furst-Nichols and Karen Jacobsen.

2. Feinstein International Center, African Migration to Israel- Debt, Employment and Remittances, January 2011, Rebecca Furst-Nichols and Karen Jacobsen.

3. Human Rights Watch, Eritrea Events of 2021, February 17, 2022.

4. Human Rights Watch, “I Wanted to Lie Down and Die” Trafficking and Torture of Eritreans in Sudan and Egypt, 2014.

5. Human Rights Watch, “I Wanted to Lie Down and Die” Trafficking and Torture of Eritreans in Sudan and Egypt, 2014.

6. Human Rights Watch, Sinai Perils- Rights to Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Egypt and Israel, November 12, 2008.

7. Human Rights Watch, “I Wanted to Lie Down and Die” Trafficking and Torture of Eritreans in Sudan and Egypt, 2014.

8. Human Rights Watch, “I Wanted to Lie Down and Die” Trafficking and Torture of Eritreans in Sudan and Egypt, 2014.