Yehia's story: Betrayed by the smuggler
When the civil war in Yemen erupted in 2015, Yehia’s parents advised him to flee to Egypt to avoid conscription by one of the warring factions. Having arrived in Cairo via Sudan, Yehia contacted a smuggler who promised to take him across the sea to Italy.
He was taken to the beach near Alexandria with other travellers and boarded a small boat that would take them to a bigger ship out at sea. But the smugglers turned out to be gangsters. They took the boat in another direction, robbed the passengers, and were going to put them ashore when the Coast Guard arrived and rescued them. Yehia was sent back to Sudan. He planned to try to get to Italy again and three years later he met a friendly fellow Yemeni who told him he could arrange the crossing through Egypt. This time, Yehia felt it would be a safe journey because he trusted his compatriot.
“We trusted him because we were like friends. When you’ve broken bread with someone, you can’t forget it. I trusted him, there was trust between us. I mean, we lived together, you know? That’s why we trusted him and went on the second trip.” He says.
In a group of 250 people, Yehia left for Egypt. They were told they would be taken straight to the seacoast but found themselves kidnapped and detained on a farm in the Egyptian desert. They were forced to call their families for ransom and his family had to mortgage their house to pay for his release. Now back in Cairo, Yehia says he would not advise anyone to trust a smuggler, even if he is a friendly compatriot. He is nothing but a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“He says things that aren’t true. It’s only a trap to get money. I don’t wish it upon anyone, not my enemy, not my friend, to fall into this trap.”
