Hello migrants, perilous journey via Libya to Europe unworthy risk

Bamidele Ademola-Olateju

Bamidele Ademola-Olateju: warns migrants


By Bamidele Ademola-Olateju

The journey from Nigeria to Tripoli in Libya is called the central route. People have different reasons for fleeing their countries. Some people think they’ll find a better life in Europe, others just want to get away from a war zone. The curious thing for all who have chosen to dare the Sahara is that, they all felt they have no other option. For Nigerians who embark on the journey to Libya, it is mainly for economic reasons. Libya serves as a portal to the Mediterranean and the promise of a safe haven in Europe. For those who made it into Europe, those who died in the desert, those who drowned in the Mediterranean, those sold into slavery and those who braved it or found their way home, Libya is purgatory. It is the deadliest undertaking of a lifetime.

The North African migrant route is a slave market tormenting hundreds of young Africans bound for Europe, via Libya. The journey starts in Kano through Agadez in Niger Republic, a distance of about 700 kilometres. Right from the Nigerian end of the border, border officials exploit them at checkpoints. In Niger, the Nigerien gendarmes take over. That is nothing, as Nigerians long accustomed to suffering do bear it. The real horror of the journey starts manifesting at Agadez. Recollections from migrants with whom I have spoken, the migrant road network ended at Agadez; the rest is an ocean of endless sand dunes!

The real suicidal desert trip to Libya is from Agadez and it is only on Mondays. Agadez is a slave market where humans are haggled for like merchandise. At this point, migrants begin to have a feel of what awaits them. Hundreds of young men and women from the ECOWAS sub-region are sorted into groups of 20-30 into double-cabin pick-up vans for the trip to Libya. Migrants are advised to hold on to a stick tied to a rope in the cabin, to stop them from falling off during the bumpy ride. The rotting bodies of those who fell asleep or died of exhaustion and were thrown off, litter the distance between Agadez and Qatroun.

Between Qatroun and Sebha in Southwestern Libya is the home of kidnappers. Several male migrants from a dozen countries including Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia are kidnapped, sold into slave labor for $200-$500, forced to join the militias or get killed. Migrants who fall into the hands of smugglers face malnutrition, sexual abuse and even murder. Women are forced to marry bandits, terrorists or sold as sex slaves to owners of brothels. Many are raped repeatedly. Those who still have support to fall back on at home can buy their freedom if their families can wire funds between N500,000 to N1,000,000 in ransom to desert warlords or militia groups.

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If you get to read this, don’t journey through the desert. Don’t look to sail the Mediterranean in a rickety boat. Traveling through the Sahara desert as economic migrants is a perilous and unworthy risk. The Sahara is unforgiving. It has retained it state of nature, where might is king. The journey will drag you through several layers of hell with AK-47 assault rifle constantly in your face.

In 2021, 3,077 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. As at April 2022, 478 have died. These are the number of recovered bodies. Many were lost to the dunes of the desert and the depths of the Mediterranean Sea and never recovered. The costs of this journey of desperation in human and monetary terms to Africa is huge. Migrants set out without the faintest idea of the torture archipelago that awaits them in Libya. They have no idea of the vagaries of the unforgiving desert and the perils of crossing the Mediterranean in fishing boats overloaded with hundreds other migrants. Along the journey, they become commodities to be bought, sold and discarded when they have no more value. Those who made it to the beaches of the Mediterranean in Libya pay $250-$400 for smugglers who ferry them in commercial fishing boats too old to sail and not worth the new engines in them or in flimsy polyurethane dinghies hardly suitable for crossing a river, much less a vast sea.
I was told some Captains have not even been to Italy before and some have not captained anything! Every day, I get email and calls from people seeking advice on a variety of life’s struggles. This story, this account, is from the real life experiences of two men and a woman who made the journey to Libya. One of the men made it to France, the lady and the other guy made it to Italy. All three watched their co-travellers die! They are all nursing serious psychological wounds which I cannot reveal for reasons of privacy.

It is important to understand that the journey to Europe does not end when migrants get ashore. Many end up in Lampedusa, Italy. It is noteworthy that Italy is in a crisis of its own. With its own citizens leaving to find work in northern Europe. You may think you can move and look for work in other European countries, not so fast bro. The Dublin treaty says refugees must remain in the country where they landed. I had to address this again for three reasons. One, as Ondo State Commissioner for Regional Integration and Diaspora Relations, people ask me all the time to facilitate their “japa” process. Two, I handled the case of a lady who left her one year old to go to Libya yesterday. Three, every intending migrant tell me they will rather die trying, than stay to face a future that does not exist. I don’t know if I can stop them. All I can do is to lay the perils of the journey bare. That said, with the help of NIDCOM, NAPTIP and IOM, the lady enroute is from my constituency, she will be “caught” and sent back.

Finally, I will like to state it here unequivocally, it is a perilous journey for which many perish for a chance at freedom and dignity. We all know the harsh realities in Nigeria. We know economic opportunities and social mobility for young people has become a mirage. Personally, I know, understand, appreciate and share the feeling of not having a future to look up to. I get the despondency but please, if you get to read this, don’t journey through the desert. Don’t look to sail the Mediterranean in a rickety boat. Traveling through the Sahara desert as economic migrants is a perilous and unworthy risk. The Sahara is unforgiving. It has retained it state of nature, where might is king. The journey will drag you through several layers of hell with AK-47 assault rifle constantly in your face.

And to us in leadership, we must commit to working harder, to stop feeding our young men and women to the Sahara and the Mediterranean. We must think anew, plan anew and look for creative ways to solve our economic problems. We can’t continue to ignore this youth bulge and pretend we are okay. We are not okay! We must embrace selfless leadership, embrace new thinking that can create jobs and give opportunities and hope for young men and women in this land. May God help us think beyond ourselves and work for the present and the future

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