Documentary «Freedom» tells Shewit Tekie’s journey to integration in Switzerland

Shewit Tekie fled Eritrea alone at age 13, survived three months imprisoned by human traffickers in Libya, and endured a nearly fatal Mediterranean boat crossing before reaching Switzerland, 20min reported.

Her ten-year journey from an unaccompanied minor facing deportation to a fully integrated landscape gardener paying taxes in Geneva is the subject of the new documentary film «Freedom – Le Destin de Shewit», which is now screening in Swiss cinemas.

From Human Traffickers to a Geneva Arrival

The journey to safety took more than two years. After leaving Eritrea, Tekie initially worked in Sudan for nearly two years to fund the next leg of her route. She then entered Libya, where traffickers detained her for three months.

Following her release, she boarded a boat across the Mediterranean Sea that nearly sank before landing in Italy and traveling north to Geneva. At 15 years old, she arrived in Switzerland seeking security and self-determination.

Reflecting on her childhood departure, Tekie noted she left before she could understand much of the world. Asked if she would make the journey again knowing what she knows now, she acknowledged the severity of the ordeal.

“The journey is really hard and risk-filled and the first years in Switzerland were really an agony,” Tekie told 20min. “But now, that I work as a landscape gardener, have a salary, pay my taxes and am integrated into society, I really find Switzerland a great country.”

The Seven-Year Wait for an Arbeitsbewilligung

Despite reaching Swiss soil, Tekie faced repeated asylum denials that left her future uncertain for years. Without a residence permit, she faced the constant threat of deportation and a strict prohibition against working.

“I say this sentence when my asylum is denied for a second time,” Tekie said regarding a line in the documentary where she remarks that the situation was not the life she wanted. “Because of this refusal I was totally blocked: I did not have the right to work, one forced me actually to stay on social welfare, and at the same time I could not go to another European country, as it would send me back to Switzerland.”

She spent seven years fighting for a work permit. During that period, she was unable to pursue her goal of learning the language and earning a living.

“The life that I wanted was to learn the language and a profession to be able to start working and earn my living,” Tekie told 20min. “I wouldn’t have imagined at all that I would have to struggle for another seven years to get a work permit.”

Integration Changes for Newer Arrivals

The lengthy administrative hurdles Tekie faced differ from current federal policy following the enactment of the Swiss Integration Agenda on May 1, 2019.

The federal government and cantons established binding targets and processes under the agenda to integrate refugees and temporarily admitted persons into the labor market and society faster than was possible during Tekie’s initial years. The framework includes early language support, individual skills assessments, and targeted guidance.

Under current regulations, recognized refugees and temporarily admitted persons are generally permitted to work throughout Switzerland, provided the employment is reported to the competent cantonal authority. Weekly stays outside the residential canton are permitted under specific conditions, though a permanent change of residential canton remains subject to authorization.

Today, Tekie lives independently with her own apartment and employment.

“It was hard, I had to fight a lot, but today I can say that I have become the free woman that I wanted to be,” Tekie said. “I can make my own decisions, I have a job, an apartment, I am completely autonomous and independent.”