Video

“I thought, I should answer this. It is not a Swedish or a Somali number.”Hodan will always remember that phone call from Libya. Her cousin said he was held in Libya and he needed USD 7,000 to get released. Smugglers are preying on the families of their victims like vultures! 

“I thought, Wow, this man owns that car and he has lots of money. This place is full of money. I should go there and get some.” But Samatar’s dream of an easy life turned into a nightmare. He was totally unprepared for the horrors he would experience on the journey through Libya.

“She said didn’t I know that I was coming to work as a prostitute. I told her I wouldn’t do such a job. I can’t sell myself for money.” Florence was promised a good job in Europe, but the job turned out to be street prostitution. Be aware of the false promises of smugglers!

“They asked me to swear that if I run away from work, then the oath I took would kill me,” says Judith. When she arrived in Italy, she found out that the job arranged for her was prostitution. Smugglers try to ensnare young women with black magic. Spread the message!

“They snatched the baby from my hands. They pushed us hurriedly into a pickup truck.” Watch Vanessa’s heart-breaking story about her horrific journey through Libya to Europe. Don’t believe smugglers’ promises of an easy journey

Khadar’s journey through Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya took him two months and fifteen days. Throughout the journey his parents were worried and had to take out loans to pay his smugglers and traffickers, which put a financial strain on them. The whole journey cost 4,000 USD.

Mehari, an Eritrean refugee, made the difficult journey from Sudan to Sweden.

Listen to Eyob recount his decision to depart the camp and embark on the journey to Europe, through Libya and at sea..

Listen to Deeqa retell her journey from Somalia through Ethiopia and Sudan in the hands of deceitful smugglers and ruthless traffickers.

Dr Amal Ali’s family fled Somalia in 1991. She grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Dr.Ali has always wanted to make a difference, which is one of the main reasons she moved to Oslo to work within the practice and help her community.

Rakia Bihi is a Somali-Norwegian from Oslo. Rakia works at the Leadership Foundation in Norway as an Advisor directing the foundation on several initiatives within the Somali community in Scandinavia.

“We all know the problems in Somalia,” says Mohamed. “There are two problems: fighting problems and clan problems. I left because of these two problems…”