Washington (SD) – Voice Of America’s the Showcase Program featured some of the Somali young men who were drafted into the army and went to Eritrea last year for training, the recruits confirmed that they are currently facing a critical situation.

Some of the young people interviewed on the program described the dire living conditions in the camps, confirming the death of other trainees.

“We are living in a sub-human conditions, we are forced to build houses, farming, we were last trained in September, we have been enslaved ever since.” said one of the young men who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The frightened young interviewees said the outgoing president Mohamed Farmajo had only visited them once in the camps, with their hosts threatening them not to report their problems to the President.

They called on the Somali leadership and people to get them out of the difficult situation in Eritrea.

The parents of the young men who are being trained for the Somali army have been protesting recently demanding the return of their children to the country.