Somali Immigrants Are Not Kidnapped, Will Try Again To The US For A Better Life
JAKARTA - Somali Immigrant Mohamed Abdi Awane has the unfortunate experience of crossing the African plains to find a better life in the West. However, he remains determined to try again to the US despite the US President Donald Trump's tough immigration policy.
Awane is one of 165 Somali migrants who were recently repatriated after being detained in Libya. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said those caught on a trip to Europe faced "unacceptable and inhumane conditions."
Awane traveled more than 5,000 kilometers (km) leaving the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to cross Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan.
Along the way, Awale was kidnapped by a gang of illegal immigrants smugglers near the Sudan-Libya border and taken to the city of the Sahara oasis, Kufra. His family in Somalia received a video recording of Awane's torture from the kidnappers asking for ransom.
"torture becomes commonplace," Awane said, quoted from AP.
If you don't pay, they beat you to the point of fainting. Some people lose their common sense. Others don't survive," he continued.
Unable to pay the ransom, his mother, Hawo Elmo Rage, turned to social media, begging Somalians at home and abroad to help him save his son.
"They told me to send money or they would take their lives," said Rage.
He finally managed to raise $17,000, enough to free his son.
Awane was released from Kufra and put in a car to the Mediterranean coast with other migrants. After their vehicle broke down, the group walked for more than two weeks, facing hunger and dehydration.
"I thought we were going to die there," Awane said.
The group was then detained outside Tripoli, and Awale spent another month in prison in the coastal town of Sirte and two more months in Tripoli custody before being repatriated to Somalia in November.
Awane is one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis who have left their country for more than three decades of civil war. According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, there are an estimated 3.5 million other Somalis like Awane.
Although most Somali refugees live in neighboring countries such as Kenya, according to UNHCR, many people such as Awale are inspired to look for a future in the West. Awale said that he dreamed of moving to the US since he was a child.
"I want him to stay," said Rage.
"But I know he wants a better life. I pray that God will give him a safe future, not the dangerous future he will find," he added.
This year's change in US immigration policy under Trump's administration changed migrant calculations like Awane. Trump banned travel to the US for Somali citizens and 11 other countries in June "so Awale set his sights on Europe.
Awane still hopes that one day he will reach the US, despite anti-Somalia sentiment from the White House and tightening immigration restrictions for Somali residents.
The White House also announced this week that it was suspending all immigration applications for people from 19 countries, including Somalia.
"My dream is America, but I feel Trump has closed the door," Awale said. "Maybe after Trump's term ends," he said.