Khalid al-Amin is one of the lucky ones who survived the treacherous journey. Last year on October 3, more than 300 Eritreans drowned when their boat sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa as they were trying to make their way to Europe.
He told Al Jazeera with the lack of basic rights and oppressive rule in Eritrea, he saw the risky journey across the Mediterranean as the only way out.
"As Eritreans we are dead regardless. We are doomed if we stay, and we risk death if we leave. Without freedom you are dead," said Amin, 39, a refugee among thousands of Eritreans who embarked on the dangerous voyage across the sea.
He now resides in Sweden after he escaped to Libya via the Sudanese desert and then to Italy by boat.
"Dying is better than a life serving an authoritarian and dictatorial regime," Amin said.