--- description: Refugees meet trouble in Egypt and Sudan title: Africa: Eritrea Refugees Enslaved & Tortured, Human Rights Watch Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Report: Eritreans Enslaved and Tortured in Refugee Camps by [Maddy Fry / London](/author/maddy-fry/) ## Maddy Fry / London Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2014 1:48 PM CUT by [Maddy Fry / London](/author/maddy-fry/) ## Maddy Fry / London Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2014 1:48 PM CUT Tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees have been found languishing in camps in Egypt and Sudan over the last decade, where many were kidnapped and subjected to rape and torture by traffickers, according to a new report. The Human Rights Watch report out Tuesday says refugees from the small African country have been targeted by traffickers aiming to extort money from themselves and their families, according to the [_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/eritreans-enslaved-traffickers-sudan-egypt-torture-camps "undefined"). State security forces in both Egypt and Sudan have frequently aided the perpetrators, according to Human Rights Watch. Since 2004, more than 200,000 Eritreans have fled their home country—often with the help of traffickers—in a bid to escape poverty and political repression. Even after many had paid traffickers the money demanded, the refugees would still sometimes be sold to different groups of traffickers, according to the report. Others have been forced to work as builders or indentured servants. \[[_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/eritreans-enslaved-traffickers-sudan-egypt-torture-camps "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6440/report-eritreans-enslaved-and-tortured-in-refugee-camps/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6440/report-eritreans-enslaved-and-tortured-in-refugee-camps/"},"headline":"Report: Eritreans Enslaved and Tortured in Refugee Camps","datePublished":"2014-02-11T13:48:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:22:10.038Z","description":"Refugees meet trouble in Egypt and Sudan","url":"https://time.com/6440/report-eritreans-enslaved-and-tortured-in-refugee-camps/","keywords":["Africa","torture","Refugees","Sudan","Egypt"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maddy Fry / London"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6440/report-eritreans-enslaved-and-tortured-in-refugee-camps/","name":"Report: Eritreans Enslaved and Tortured in Refugee Camps"}}]}] ```