Obstacles
Harrowing + Risky
The journey is hard, especially for those who take the path to Europe through Libya. Even those who wait patiently at refugee camps (sometimes for years) are targets of assault and violence. And yet, many have no choice but to learn how to be resilient and keep looking forward, with the dream of safe haven at a country that may one day be willing to accept them.
45,172
migrants have died since 2014[39] (at least)
27,482
have drowned while attempting to cross waterways since 2014[39] (at least)
5%
of recorded deaths by IOM were caused by violence. [39]
100%
of people interviewed by MSF in a population of 721 displaced people rescued off the Mediteranean Sea had been held captive.[37]
Abduction
Abuse
Assault
Beating
Burning
Captivity
Death
Detention
Drowning
Enslavement
Exploitation
Extortion
Hate Crimes
Kidnapping
Killed
Looting
Murder
Neglect
Ransom
Rape
Robbery
Sexual Violence
Shooting
Slavery
Starvation
Torture
Trafficking
Violence
"18,292 unaccompanied child migrants went missing in Europe between January 2018 and December 2020 – equivalent to nearly 17 children a day. In 2020 alone, 5,768 children disappeared in 13 European countries. According to the data available, 90% were boys and about one in six were younger than 15. She said unaccompanied children were among the migrants most vulnerable to violence, exploitation and trafficking. “Criminal organisations are increasingly targeting migrant children,” said Toscano, “especially unaccompanied ones and many of them become victims of labour and sexual exploitation, forced begging and trafficking.”
Source: Nearly 17 Child Migrants a Day Vanished in Europe since 2018 (The Guardian 2021)
"Instead, they were held in warehouses for as long as 18 months. Each day, they were forced to call their families, who transferred thousands of pounds to Goitom or Habtemariam in order to save their lives. The longer it took to pay, the more they were abused and beaten. Some said their friends were killed or died from medical neglect. In court, victims said the two traffickers forced captives to play football matches against
each other and shot at players who missed goals."
Source: 'Cruel’ trafficker accused of torturing refugees found guilty in Ethiopia (The Guardian 2021)
"Ella was locked in a room in her captor’s family home, a “nice house, with electricity and lights”. Both girls were raped. The ransom set was half a million Eritrean nakfa, or more than $33,000 (£23,852). Each day, men would beat and assault her [...] She’d try not to cry or whimper, which made the men hit her harder."
Source: Captured, raped, ransomed: the kidnappers preying on Eritrean refugees (The Guardian 2018)
"Based on more than 100 interviews with [Afghan and other] refugees and migrants, the testimonies “tell of extortion, robbery, physical violence, threats of deportation and police dog attacks”. In one instance, a group of around 10 refugees were beaten and had their belongings, including money, confiscated by officers after witnessing “a police officer holding a gun to a refugee’s forehead, while others lay on the ground, apparently unconscious”."
Source: Refugees in Bulgaria Extorted By Police (2015)
"18 of 41 patients in Nuevo Laredo who had been sent back to Mexico to wait for U.S. asylum processing told MSF they had recently been kidnapped. MSF found 78% of almost 3,700 patients in Mexico who sought mental health care in 2018 and 2019 showed signs of exposure to violence, including assault, sexual violence and torture. Some patients said they had been kidnapped in Mexico for long periods for forced labor, sexual exploitation or recruitment to work for criminal groups."
Source: Migrants raped and trafficked as U.S. and Mexico tighten borders (Reuters 2020)
"The fatal shooting of two Eritrean men in Libya has raised concerns about overcrowding in a UN facility for refugees there. There have been other shootings of refugees or migrants in Libya recently. Alarm Phone, a hotline service for migrants in distress, reported on Saturday that a migrant had been shot by the Libyan coastguard and his body thrown into the sea. In September a Sudanese man was reportedly shot after resisting being taken to a detention centre. He had been among a group of 103 migrants whose boat was stopped at sea by the Libyan coastguard while attempting to cross the Mediterranean."
Source: Two Refugees Killed After Leaving Crowded UN Facility in Libya (The Guardian 2020)
"The tragedy was confirmed late on Thursday by the volunteer rescue vessel Ocean Viking, which found dozens of bodies floating in the water northeast of Tripoli. It had been in distress since Wednesday morning, the NGO said in a statement. IOM spokesperson, Safa Msehli, told journalists in Geneva that the victims had been on board a rubber dinghy for two days before it sank in the central Mediterranean. More than 500 people have drowned on the so-called Central Mediterranean sea route this year according to IOM - almost three times as many the same period last year. "
Source: Libya Shipwreck Claims 130 Lives despite SOS Calls (UN 2021)
"A Libyan smuggler had detained the girl and was demanding extra fees. Mesmer pleaded with him to let her daughter go. As he brandished a gun and threatened her, the truck departed with her three youngest children. [...] sold them as sex slaves. For two weeks, Abu Telha raped the 14-year-old girl across the hall from her mother. Mesmer’s agony was compounded because she did not know if her other children had survived their journey through Libya or had made it to Europe."
Source: Mother and 14-Year-Old Daughter Routinely Raped in Libya (Reuters 2016)
“Exposed to physical violence [by] smugglers and the military. They were raped or sexually abused [...] kicked in the abdomen [...] burned in the genital area [...] raped several times with the shaft of a Kalashnikov.”
Source: Rape, abuse and violence: Female migrants’ journey to Libya (Al Jazeera 2020)
“On November 19, Eritrean forces arrived in the town of Hitsats and indiscriminately killed several residents. They occupied and pillaged the town and took over the refugee camp. Some refugees took part in the looting, contributing to community tensions. Clashes between the militia fighters and Eritrean soldiers ensued in and around the camp, lasting several hours. Nine refugees were killed and 17 badly injured. Several refugees said the militia fighters robbed them of the few possessions they carried. A 33-year-old man said 20 Tigrayan militiamen stopped him along with his cousin, his cousin’s pregnant wife, and their children: “they told us to go back to our camp. Then they stole everything we had with us. But we were alive, and so we were relieved.” Two refugee women said that Tigrayan militia fighters raped them, along with four other women, when they escaped from the camp. A 27-year-old said that she and her 17-year-old sister were raped."
Source: Ethiopia: Eritrean Refugees Targeted in Tigray (HRW 2021)
"The [Eritrean] soldiers had lists of names. The 20 or more who complied were detained, said more than a dozen witnesses, one demonstrating how the men’s elbows were pinioned behind their backs. They were held for two days at a church building in the camp, then loaded onto trucks by Eritrean soldiers and driven away, the witnesses said. Reuters has confirmed the names of 17 of the men. Their families haven't heard from them since. 7,600 refugees are still missing. The refugees interviewed by Reuters spoke of killings, gang rapes and looting both by Eritrean soldiers and Tigrayan fighters. In Shimelba, a witness said they stole UNHCR’s solar panels. UNHCR said both camps were destroyed. On Dec. 9, Eritrean soldiers shot dead four refugees and two Tigrayan civilians at Shimelba and dumped the bodies in a trench, said two witnesses – an aid worker and a refugee."
Source: Eritrea's army exacted deadly vengeance on old foes (Reuters 2021)
"When migrants arrive in these Mexican cities near the border, they’re the targets of a vicious criminal business that kidnaps them and can torture them for weeks, extorting thousands of dollars of ransom from their relatives over the phone. Those who are kidnapped know that if they don’t pay, the outstanding balances can end in death. The criminals tortured some of the abducted migrants with blows all over their bodies to pressure the families who must pay the ransoms. Women were often repeatedly sexually abused by one or more kidnappers, said a woman who was raped, as well as several people who witnessed the crimes."
Source: Migrants returned to Mexico describe horror of kidnappings, torture, rape (NBC News 2021)
‘
1,400
migrants died in the Mediterranean Sea between January and September 2021[38]
100%
of women interviewed by MSF in a population of 721 displaced people rescued off the Mediteranean Sea had been exposed to sexual violence.[37]
5%
of recorded deaths by IOM were caused by violence. [39]
78%
of almost 3,700 interviewed by MSF in Mexico showed signs of exposure to violence, including assault, sexual violence and torture.[41]
Based on what we've seen and heard expressed in political rhetoric recently, some seem to think that the displaced "have it easy." Fact is, many don't. What they do have is resilience and strength in the face of the obstacles they face. They endure what they do with dignity and the drive to keep moving forward despite the challenges. What they deserve is our respect and admiration, and an opportunity they rightly earned through their relentless pursuit of a better future.
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