Refugee Somalis encounter abuse by smugglers [Archives:2008/1130/Last Page]
February 18 2008
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Somalis are being raped and killed by the smugglers paid to transport them to other countries. The notorious failed state in the Horn of Africa has been facing increasingly dire political and humanitarian conditions for the past 17 years. During this time, many Somalis have illegally crossed the Gulf of Aden seeking refuge in Yemen.
Since Somalia began experiencing political problems in 1991, approximately 2,500 to 3,000 Somalis leave their homeland every month, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Nearby countries such as Yemen have provided safe haven for refugees fleeing instability and violence in Somalia.
Nearly all Somalis enter the country from Yemen's coastal areas by paying smugglers to ferry them by boat. During their flight to supposed safety, many refugees are abused, raped or even killed by the human traffickers whom they pay to transport them to Yemen.
Sharifa's story
Approximately 140 Somalis escaped their country via a smuggling ship last week, with the price for the three- to four-day journey being $80 for adults and $20 for children.
Last week, at midnight, three Somali smugglers approached Sharifa Mohammed Ali, 19, who had her small daughter with her. She feeling they were going to rape her. “The three smugglers asked me to go with them, but I refused,” she recounted.
Following this refusal, they attempted to take her by force and began beating her. As this was happening, her mother and sister screamed for help. “Other male refugees stood up to the smugglers and fought with them,” Sharifa said, “The result was that the three smugglers were thrown overboard by the other Somali refugees.”
Swimming for their lives
Sharifa's mother explained that because of this fight, the other 30 or so armed smugglers aboard threw all of the refugees into the southern coastal – women, men, children and the elderly – to fend for themselves in the water.
“We were thrown into the sea and spent all night swimming,” Sharifa's mother recounted, adding, “Many Somalis died of fatigue from swimming, as well as from the cold water.”
After Sharifa and her family spent all night in the seawaters, a Yemeni fishing boat chanced upon the refugees and took whoever was left, depositing them on the Yemeni coast. Sharifa was unaware of where in the country she was.
The Somali refugees walked around without any specific destination until military vehicles found them and brought them to the Mayfa'a Refugee Reception Center in Shabwa governorate.
The center can accommodate between 800 and 1,000 refugees, offering them food, medicine, clothing and a safe place to sleep for a few days. From there, refugees can decide whether to apply for residence at a refugee camp or fend for themselves in Yemen's larger cities. Sharifa's family spent nearly a week at the center.
Why are Somalis fleeing their country?
Sharifa's family is from the town of Karan in Mogadishu, Somalia. During the war with Ethiopia and the Union of Islamic Courts, Sharifa's father and 25-year-old brother were killed by members of the Ethiopian army, which her family claims took their land and possessions by force as well.
Sharifa and her family faced a sad choice: remain homeless in Somalia and be subjected to more violence or make the perilous journey across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and try to start anew. The family felt they had no other choice but to enter Yemen illegally with the help of the smugglers.
“What can we do now? We have no place to go. We can't even have a respectable life,” Sharifa's mother lamented.
Another victim of smugglers
A 19-year-old Somali youth was beaten by his smugglers during his journey to Yemen. “I was working as a farmer in Mogadishu, but because of the war and the dangers that all Somalis are facing, I decided to come to Yemen to save myself and attempt to change my life for the better.”
The youth pleaded with his smugglers to take him to Yemen for $40 – all he had left of his savings. The trip usually costs $75 to $80.
As their boat neared the Yemeni coast, the smugglers insisted he swim the rest of the way to shore. When he refused for fear of drowning – a fate shared by many Somali refugees – the smuggler beat him.
“They fought with me and beat me with a stick and a butcher's knife in an attempt to throw me into the sea,” he recalled, “Finally, I fell into the water and was injured when I hit some rocks while I was trying to swim.”
Yemeni military found him on the beach and took him to the Mayfa'a Center. Once he recovers from his injuries sustained from the beating and the rocks, he'll leave the Mayfa'a station for Al-Kharaz Refugee Camp in Lahaj governorate.
Each one of these Somali refugees says they just want to have a good and safe life in Yemen and they look forward to finding work here. They also hope that one day peace will replace war in their homeland.
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