The chance of making it to Sudan was probably about 50:50. Lots of people don't make it. At the time, there was a shoot-to-kill policy for deserters. I took the risk. I said to myself that I would rather die trying to escape than to die a slow death in Eritrea. Weeks later, I made it. I made it across the border and handed myself in to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camp and the Sudanese authorities, and I was granted refugee status to stay in Sudan. 