“People in Chad have dreams like me. Someone like me has had a difficult life and wants to study. His family is poor, broken by life in Chad and that's why he leaves and goes to Libya. Then you’ll face difficulties in Libya, on the way to Libya and when you reach Libya.” Says Issa.
He left with a group of other people. They had a difficult journey through the desert, and when they arrived in Libya, Issa’s apprehensions were confirmed when the smuggler took out a gun and demanded money. Some who could not pay immediately were threatened with being sold as slaves. Then another smuggler took over and promised to take them from Sabha in southern Libya to Tripoli. He said the journey would take just a few days, but it took almost a month. The smugglers had to make sure that the road ahead was safe, and they were constantly stopping in the desert for one or two days. They had to change cars 14 times. In Tripoli, Issa went straight to the beach the smuggler’s boat would leave from.
“There were 65 people on the boat. The boat was 12 meters long. You can’t imagine the danger! This person is sitting here, and that person is sitting there. There is a big danger and any false movement would mean the end.” He recalls.
When morning broke, they were far out at sea. They sailed for three days. The smugglers had only given them three bottles of water and some dates to share and soon they were suffering badly from hunger and thirst. They had started to despair of ever arriving but were finally rescued and taken to Malta. Issa says this was a journey he would never do again and will never forget.
“Thank God I arrived, thank God, but the exhaustion and the things that happened I won’t forget in my whole life. All this I’ve written down in a notebook. I wrote everything for my children. Those who come after me will read this notebook.”
