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Philemon Semere

Bedouin loot barbed wire near a police checkpoint on the Egyptian border with Israel on the Sinai Peninsula.

An Eritrean refugee endured brutal torture. But he may find hope on a ranch in California

Conflict

Philemon Semere has a harrowing story to tell. For seven months, the Eritrean refugee was held captive in the middle of the Sinai desert for a huge ransom. He managed to be set free last year after his family paid some of the $25,000 his captors demanded. Now, an American woman is offering him a place to stay and work — on her remote ranch in California.

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