Selamawit Teklay fled conflict in Ethiopia, but advises others not to risk crossing the English Channel.
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 Lord, 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.
When I started this journey, I said to myself that it can be no worse than what I suffered in Tigray. We've seen terrible things back home.Tens of thousands of people have fled Tigray since November 2020 and are living as refugees in SudanI never thought I would ever leave my country. I never had any desire to. When I used to go abroad for beauty pageants or other work, I always returned home.
Displacement, woe and distress were experienced by every Tigrayan. It happened to me and my family as well.There was heavy bombardment of Mekelle when the war broke out. We were forced to flee our home, and go and stay in a village. My uncle was killed in Aksum city.What I wish for is peace. I don't feel well. I have lost inner peace. If there is peace, everything is there, everything can be resolved.
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