'On the first round when some of my Tigrayan compatriots tried to cross the Channel, the boat sank.' Ethiopian beauty queen Selamawit Teklay reveals her harrowing journey before seeking asylum in the UK.
A famous beauty queen from Ethiopia's war-wracked Tigray region, Selamawit Teklay, has described her harrowing ordeal crossing the English Channel to seek asylum in the UK.
She told BBC Tigrinya's Line Tsigab why she would advise fellow would-be migrants not to attempt the dangerous crossing: We waited for smugglers to come. Different ones came. We negotiated payment. They carry migrants at night to escape the police.Thousands of migrants have made the dangerous crossing so far this yearThank God, they were rescued by lifeguards. Those of us who didn't cross heard the bad news. We were shocked. But we didn't have any other option. We had to go where we intended.We boarded, en masse, a small boat. We were only allowed do what the smugglers told us.
I wept for myself, I wept for my people, and I wept for my parents. My parents didn't know I was coming to this country in this way. Then in November 2020, the civil war that has claimed thousands of lives broke out. We have lost a lot because of this war. It has caused famine, rape and unspeakable suffering. Bank accounts in Tigray have also been frozen, and no-one can get their money.Selamawit Teklay , who had a successful business in Tigray, says she never imagined she would have to flee her home
When I aspired to be a model, my parents used to tell me to focus on my studies. However, my craving for modelling conquered me.
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