Somalia

Maryam is a young Somali woman who lost her family in the civil war. She was facing many problems and difficulties and decided to travel to Europe. She reached Egypt, and in Alexandria she boarded a smugglers’ ship.

Six Somali men experienced a difficult journey getting to Europe. Some were imprisoned, and most of them lost friends in the Sahara. Despite having made it, they do not feel it was worth the struggle or the money.

“The most important thing for me was to meet someone who told about his experience of travelling with smugglers.” At an event in Hargeisa young Somali victims of human smuggling tell their peers about their experience. Watch the story!

Originally from Mogadishu, Halima has been through a great deal during her journey to Europe. And despite her eventual arrival there, the last seven years have seen her traveling between different countries seeking asylum without any success.

“Some friends of mine had travelled with smugglers. They told us they had a nice life over there. That’s what made me forget my sweet life, forget my beloved mother, also forget my beloved family, that’s why I left.”

Abdirahman thought he would easily get to Europe through Libya but his dreams were brutally crushed.

Abdirahman was living in Hargeisa, Somalia when he started getting jealous of his friends who had gone to Europe. They were telling him that life there was wonderful, and he wanted to join them. With some other youths, he contacted a smuggler who arranged for their trip through Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya. In the beginning, the journey was easy and the smugglers friendly and helpful.

Sagal is a young Somali woman who fled her homeland because her family demanded her daughter should be circumcised. She refused. She says she is an educated woman and does not want her children to go through what she had been forced to endure as a child.

Foosiyo is a single Somali mother sharing the same fate with so many other Somali mothers: her son was captured by traffickers in Libya who demanded a huge amount of money for his release. But Foosiyo is not just any common Somali woman, she is a famous poet and social activist and is fighting back. She established a group of parents whose children were kidnapped on the way to Europe.

Liban Mohamed thought the journey would be short and easy. Instead he ended up in a torture chamber in the desert. Watch his story!

“People were drowning as the boat was sinking. People were dragging each other down. Some were stuck on the boat, others were clinging to each other.” Mohamed was one of only 50 who survived when an overloaded boat with 600 onboard sank on the way from Libya to Europe. Watch his story!

“The journey had a huge impact on my life. It’s not something you can easily forget. I faced a lot of things that I didn’t expect, beating, robbery and pain. I saw a lot of suffering that I hadn’t even imagined before. Things I had heard about but thought were lies.”