Each month hundreds of men, women, and children flee Eritrea as a result of grave violations of human rights committed by the Eritrean government. The brutal violence inflicted on migrants during their journeys has been documented in several reports. This paper, based on 134 qualitative interviews conducted with Eritrean individuals in Israel and Ethiopia, sheds light on the role of borders in this abuse. Among the interviewees were victims of kidnapping, torture, extortion and captivity for up to a year in extortion compounds in Eastern Sudan and the Northern Sinai desert.