“They told us the road is easy, from Sudan all the way to the Libyan desert. They bought us clothes and shoes. We didn’t know then what we know now, that’s why we trusted them.”
They soon found out that the friendly smugglers were wolves in sheep’s clothing. When they entered the desert, their attitude changed. They became brutal and violent. Women were abused and raped. People died of hunger, disease, and exposure to extreme heat. When they were handed over to Libyan smugglers, the situation became even worse. They were detained under abominable hygienic conditions and tortured to force their families to pay a ransom.
“They hammered nails into your head so you started bleeding and then they’d just leave you there. Women and men were treated the same. The only difference was that the women were abused. They’d take them away and keep them for three to four days. They beat them mercilessly. Many young people died of electric shocks.”
After having paid, he was allowed to continue the journey but was kidnapped by another gang who demanded more money. Having survived that ordeal, he finally arrived at the seaside where he had to wait in a disease-infested camp for passage across the sea. When he was offered a boat, it was an inflatable dinghy and the engine stopped after 16 hours at sea. They were rescued by a Libyan ship and taken back to shore. Abdirahman did not want to give up and made another attempt, but this time they were caught by the Coast Guard and brought to detention in Libya. Now Abdirahman felt that he had had enough.
“That’s when I decided to forget my ambitions for Europe. After all the abuse, pain, and suffering I wanted to return home and start working there. In the beginning, I had loved the idea of Europe but now I hated it. Because of all the suffering and obstacles I had met on the way, I discarded the idea.”
He and other travelers were repatriated and he was relieved to get back home to his family. He is warning those who are planning to take the smuggler route to Libya that it is a nightmare. He would not wish that journey upon a loved one, not even his most bitter enemy.