Somalis Brave a Sea of Perils for Jobs Abroad

[Maf Kees]

Found this sad story on Google News. Thought I'd share it with you all. To many innocent people are dying man. There is a silent massacre going on - 1000 reported deaths since last september!

 

Somalis Brave a Sea of Perils for Jobs Abroad

 

Evelyn Hockstein for The New York Times

 

Farhia Ahmed Muhammad, 17, was among 95 boat passengers forced by smugglers to jump overboard during a voyage from Somalia to Yemen.

 

By MARC LACEY

Published: May 29, 2006

 

BOOSAASO, Somalia, May 24 — Luckily, Farhia Ahmed Muhammad knew how to swim.

 

As the rickety fishing boat Ms. Muhammad and 94 other desperate souls took out of Somalia last fall approached the Yemeni coast, the smugglers forced them all overboard into the surging, shark-infested sea.

 

They dared not resist. The smugglers had already shot two men simply because they had begged for water. "There was no request," said Ms. Muhammad, 17. "They just threw us in."

 

It is not at all difficult to understand why people want out of Somalia, with its brutal clan warfare, its life-sapping drought and its dire poverty. In recent weeks, a surge in fighting between Islamists and Somali warlords has left hundreds dead and many more injured in Mogadishu, Somalia's crowded capital, spurring an even greater exodus. But getting out by sea to Yemen, an illegal gateway to jobs in the Middle East, carries risks that rival those on shore.

 

At best, the journey across the Gulf of Aden takes two nights, if the tides are right, the boat engine does not fail and the Yemeni Coast Guard does not intercept the vessel. But it can take a week or more if something goes wrong, or the trip can be aborted halfway through, with the smugglers deciding for whatever reason to hurl the migrants over the side.

 

"We know there are two possibilities: life or death," said Abdi Kareem Muhammad Mahmoud, 21, who fled Mogadishu last week with a bullet wound in his foot and came to the Somali seaside in hopes of reaching Yemen. "We heard we might make it or we might be thrown over and die. I still want to try. After all the danger I've been through, what is some more?"

 

The danger for residents of Mogadishu is huge. Militias linked to the capital's notorious warlords — who, according to a variety of Africa analysts, have been paid by American intelligence agents to track down and capture members of Al Qaeda — have been facing off in recent weeks and months against gunmen hired by Islamist leaders trying to assert control over the anarchic city.

 

The recent violence in the capital is the worst since Somalia's last central government fell 15 years ago, and of the hundreds who have died most have been civilians caught in the cross-fire.

 

But the death toll at sea has been even higher.

 

About 1,000 people have died since September, trying to make the trek from Somalia's northern coast across the sea to Yemen. And that is just an estimate, since nobody really knows how many boats, all of them grossly overloaded, attempt the trek from the shores of the remote Puntland region in northeastern Somalia.

 

The only way to gauge the horrors is to count the bodies as they wash up on shore and listen to the awful tales recounted by survivors.

 

After being forced into the sea, Ms. Muhammad was so sapped of strength she barely got to shore in Yemen, where she stayed briefly before returning to Somalia.

 

Miraculously, everyone else on her boat managed to survive as well, including the six young children aboard.

 

The Somali smugglers are a ruthless lot. They charge $30 to $100 for passage, quite a bit since they pack 80 to 200 bodies into the fishing boats. And payment does not guarantee safe passage, not by a long shot.

 

If the seas get too rough, some passengers might be hurled overboard to lighten the load. If someone dares to stand up during the voyage, a whack with a stick or a gun butt is the inevitable punishment. Unaccompanied women might find themselves sexually molested by the crew in the dark.

 

But it is when the Yemeni Coast Guard appears and the boat owner risks losing his craft that things get even worse. The crew is likely to force all the passengers into the sea at gunpoint. If anyone hesitates, the crew will sometimes tie the hands of the passengers and throw them out, or simply shoot them.

 

"This is as bad as it gets," said Dennis McNamara, the United Nations special adviser for displaced people, who visited Boosaaso this week to urge the local authorities to crack down on what he called one of the world's worst and most overlooked illegal transit routes.

 

The Somali migrants make their way across harsh terrain to Boosaaso, a ramshackle port town. There, they are joined by Ethiopian refugees, who flee political persecution or set off in search a better life in the Persian Gulf states.

 

Those migrants, with others from as far south as Zambia, gather in hovels here by the sea, where they try to raise the money to make the journey.

 

Many had the fare but were robbed along the way. Work is scarce in Boosaaso, so raising enough money may take years and years of labor.

 

"These are the poorest of the poor," said Mr. McNamara, who toured their wooden shacks, which lack running water and toilets and are packed together so tightly that fires regularly rage through the slums, forcing everyone to begin again.

 

If they do raise the money, the migrants seek out a dealer, who whispers to them the location of a gathering spot on the outskirts of the city.

 

As a group, the migrants head for a remote section of beach, where they are loaded aboard vessels under cover of darkness.

 

"It's so dangerous, and there's a real risk of being thrown in the sea," said Batsieva Zerihum of the International Organization of Migration, who counsels the Ethiopian migrants gathered in Boosaaso to abandon their journey and head home.

 

"I talk to them, but everybody wants to try it. There are people who have tried four times and are trying it again."

 

The first time Asho Ali Baree, 34, made the trip, the boat developed engine trouble, and the captain told the passengers to pray.

 

They did, and the boat somehow managed to find its way back to Somalia.

 

She was given another trip across, which made her luckier than another boatload of passengers who set off one night, only to be dropped down the Somali coast four days later and told that they had made it to Yemen.

 

"I was so mad," said Adisu Sisai, 18, an Ethiopian, who lost $50 but has begun trying to earn enough to try again.

 

One of the more horrible tales emerged this year, when more than 100 people died at sea after the crew forced them out of the boat midjourney. A 10-year-old boy named Badesa was kept aboard to clean the ship on its return to Boosaaso. He is recovering from starvation and shock in the hospital. His abductors remain at large.

 

It is an open secret that powerful people in Puntland, including some with links to top politicians, own many of the boats engaged in the trafficking, but they do not seem to be pursued by the authorities.

 

Somalis who reach Yemen are entitled to benefits at a refugee camp there. But that is nobody's goal.

 

The point is to get a highly paid job, anything above $50 a month in this part of the world, and for that they risk their lives.

 

Many find themselves deported, often to a landing strip outside Mogadishu, far from the villages where they began their treks.

 

Another danger lingers along the Somali coast. The police, though largely ineffectual in stopping the smuggling, sometimes arrest the migrants, though the legal basis for doing so remains unclear.

 

On a recent day, the police chief, Col. Muhammad Rashid Jama, paraded three men and one woman onto the grounds of the police station. All confessed that they had tried to get to Yemen.

 

One man, Abdi Ahmed Muhammad, 28, had a bandage on the side of his head, where he said a smuggler had bashed him with a rifle butt. The smuggler had taken his money but then refused to allow him onto the departing boat, he said.

 

The woman, Amal Hussein Ali, 37, said she had left seven children in Mogadishu as she went in search of a job in Yemen to support them. A widow, she faced up to three years in jail, the police said.

 

"Anyone who has a heart will feel pity for her," Colonel Jama said. "I'm like that. But she became a criminal, and I am a Puntland officer safeguarding the Constitution."

 

When United Nations officials protested to the Puntland authorities about the detention of the migrants instead of the smugglers, officials altered their account. The detained people, including Ms. Ali, were smugglers, they said.

 

Crackdowns have put some boats out of commission. But officials say they are hampered by the fact that no explicit local law prohibits trafficking.

 

So the flow continues, fueled by desperation mixed with greed. Mr. Mahmoud, nursing his wounded foot and haunted by so many years of living a nightmare, said he felt drawn to another, quieter place across the sea.

 

"When I look at the sea, in my mind, I think about going away from all this," he said. "I just hope I make it."

 

A camp for migrants in Boosaaso, Somalia. Many hope to escape Somalia's brutal clan warfare, sapping drought, and brutal poverty by sailing to Yemen.

Fishing boats on the Gulf of Aden, the rough and shark-infested sea that Somalis must cross to reach Yemen.

The smugglers are a ruthless lot. If the seas get too rough, some passengers might be hurled into the shark-infested waters to lighten the load. Farhia Ahmed Muhammad, 17, was among 95 boat passengers forced overboard by smugglers.

Many migrants work on the docks in Boosaaso to pay smugglers for a place on a boat. The death toll at sea has been higher than the toll from violence in Mogadishu. About 1,000 people have died since September on the trek to Yemen.

 

 

.

[Didi Kong]

I doubt yemen is the place for a better life and employment. But it is quite sad to see that the only sense of normalcy some of our brethren have is suffering.

[Castro]

The sadness in that child's face is almost as great as the beauty in the background. People in the west pay thousands to spend hours or days in a place looking like that. We spend similar amounts trying to get away from it.

[SOO MAAL]

Jawaaso " waxaan beryaayey ilaahey in uu ii badbaadiyo midka yar xataa, waa ii badbaadiwaayey..."

Dadka qalbigooda jilicsan wareysigaan hadhageysan

Halkan ka dhageyso

[Fiqikhayre]

IF you're really serious about the plight of our fellow Somali people and you feel sympathatic to their struggle and cause, then we've to seriously engage in stopping the on-going hostilities in our beloved capital city of Moqadisho, walaal Farah Bluewow!

 

This people flee their homes because of missiles anti-aircraft artilliary and grenades landing literally on top of their houses, so the first priority is to stop the warfare in the south of the country!

 

In Puntland, this people our people together with the Ethiopians enormously contribute to the economical welfare being of the country as they are committed and hard working labourers, which without we could not survive!

 

This problem has been going on for years, as I can remember once H.E. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad (the current President of Somalia) being questioned about this same issue by the BBC Somali Service, whilst being one of the senior leaders of the SSDF, who controlled the entire North-Eastern region of Somalia back then!

 

He absolutely pointed out, that the SSDF (Puntland) has nothing to do with this tradegy, as they're not aware of a person(s) making business (money) in the dark smuggling people into Yemen or as reported throwing them into the cold Red sea!

 

No one can control the many beaches this people board the boats as their are often remote and inaccessable areas! The people, who are certainly doing such kind of atrocities deserve to be brought before the law, which has happened to a certain extent but more has to be done to save this people going into such kind of dangers trying to cross the sea into Yemen.

 

It's really unfortunate to see Somalis fleeying to Yemen as in the past Yemenis used to come into Somalia in their flocks, as their country was divided and indeed very poor but nowadays it's the other way around! Hundredthousand of Somalis try to go to Yemen in order to go there to one of the gulf states such as UAE or just across the tribal and disputed border between Yemen and Saudi.

 

However I must point out, that the people, who trade in human misery are indeed very well linked up with other local criminals and mafia people, who have their offices in cities like Moqadisho, Hargaisa and Burao! It is very well known fact, that the majority of the Ethiopians come indeed through Somaliland, whereas the other people come from Moqadisho and surrounding areas. This people, although they're not the ones, who profiteer enormously from such kind illegal operations, however they get their shares into bringing this people from Ethiopia across to all the way to Bosaso.

 

We need more cooperations between the security agencies in order to prevent large numbers of Ethiopiasn coming into the country. That has already happened as they used to come through Laascaanood but now they're send back and not allowed to go through to Bosaso, however this people together with their local agents have found new ways such as going through Sanaag, without food and proper water in order to reach Bosaso find work and board one of the many boats, which leave illegally for Yemen!

 

Earlier this Year Al-Jazeera telivision brought this subject up and a new law is currently being prepared by the elected upper house of parliament, in order to make it illegal in the constitution and punishable for anyone, who deals and trades in the smuggling of people! Inshallaah everything will be done to prevent further innocent life from ceasing in the cold water of the Red sea.

 

However one must be said, which is that we've to stop the warfare and hostilities in Moqadisho in order to prevent this people in migrating in the first place!

 

Wabillahi Towfiiq,

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

It is an open secret that powerful people in Puntland, including some with links to top politicians, own many of the boats engaged in the trafficking, but they do not seem to be pursued by the authorities.

Waxaan aaminsanaan jiray qofkii baddaas qariban isku biimeynaayo isla qofkaas asagee jirtaa, oo damiirkiis iyo qorshihiis yahiin wuxuu damcay oo go'aan ku gaaray.

 

Laakiin hadeeba dadka maamulka sheeganaayo saas u dhaqmaayaan, damiirnimadii, Islaanimadii iyo Soomaalinamdii ka tageen, waa wax laga naxo. Ciyaal Soomaali ah bad lagu tuuraayo, hadana dadka maamulka sheegaanaayo heeree iska indhatiraan iska dhaafee xataa la og oo daqliga kasoo galo bas la qeybsigiis daneeyo. Naxariis la'aan heerkaas ee gaartay xataa warbaahintii ugu afka dheeraa caalamka, sida Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Independent, iyo New York Times wariyo u diraan meel geeska adduunkiis ah, kasoo warbixiyaan masiibadaan, kuwii warbaahin isku sheega ahaana meeshaas deganaa iska indhatiraan, then dadkaas maamul isku sheega ah iyo warbaahinta ee kontoralaan wax ee maamul hayaan ayaa iska yar ka ahayn masuqmaasuqnimo iyo xuquuqal insaanka ku tumasho.

 

Hadeeba aaminsan yihiin dadkaan badda lagu daadinaayo koonfur ayee ka imaadeen, so shuqulkeena ma'aha. Waala arki doonaa meelee ku gaaraan waxaas.

 

Another danger lingers along the Somali coast. The police, though largely ineffectual in stopping the smuggling, sometimes arrest the migrants, though the legal basis for doing so remains unclear.

 

On a recent day, the police chief, Col. Muhammad Rashid Jama, paraded three men and one woman onto the grounds of the police station. All confessed that they had tried to get to Yemen.

 

One man, Abdi Ahmed Muhammad, 28, had a bandage on the side of his head, where he said a smuggler had bashed him with a rifle butt. The smuggler had taken his money but then refused to allow him onto the departing boat, he said.

 

The woman, Amal Hussein Ali, 37, said she had left seven children in Mogadishu as she went in search of a job in Yemen to support them. A widow, she faced up to three years in jail, the police said.

 

"Anyone who has a heart will feel pity for her," Colonel Jama said. "I'm like that. But she became a criminal, and I am a Puntland officer safeguarding the Constitution."

Constitution, my #$%&. Masaakiinta iska xirxirta, kuwa dadka badda ku shubana isla magaaladii iyagoo xoriyad ah ha iska socdaan, lacagtooda xaaraanta ahna daarad haku dhistaan, masaakiintana hala qab qabto. Haa, saas axdiga ayaa dhigaayo.

[Animal Farm]

I guess they’re all dying to live, taking great risk to escape Somalia. Once they get to wherever they might be headed, their life is more difficult compared to what they had escaped.

 

I remember a story in the new york times couple of years ago about Somalis in Italy, some of them didn’t even have homes, they slept in empty buildings, and they had nothing to eat and the system wouldn’t help them.

 

The reporter one of the guys, why did he leave his family back in Xamar and whether life is better now, and he replied, I don’t have to worry about a stray bullet killing me.

 

Its not only Somalis that are trying to leave their land, many Africans are doing the same thing.

 

Lets pray that more people will survive their journey into the unknown.

[Maf Kees]

Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar.

 

Let's hope that the joint task force of the US and Dutch navies in the Somali waters extend their patrol to these activities next to piracy. Waa haddii qiimaha nolosha masaakiintaan ay uu la siman tahay gaaladii awalba baddaheena joogeen si ay kheyraadkeena naga boobaan.

 

The brutality of the smugglers is mindblowing:

One of the more horrible tales emerged this year, when more than 100 people died at sea after the crew forced them out of the boat midjourney. A 10-year-old boy named Badesa was kept aboard to clean the ship on its return to Boosaaso.

He is recovering from starvation and shock in the hospital.

His abductors remain at large.

If the seas get too rough, some passengers might be hurled overboard to lighten the load. If someone dares to stand up during the voyage, a whack with a stick or a gun butt is the inevitable punishment.

Unaccompanied women might find themselves sexually molested by the crew in the dark.

[-Lily-]

It's a shockingly beautiful beach. If I was in their position without knowing what I know I would probably do the same. To take flight when your life is in danger is programmed into you by nature.

[Maf Kees]

^Tru, kinda like jumping out the window knowing you'll crash to death to get away from a fire. You just wanna get out.

[Zafir]

It is not at all difficult to understand why people want out of Somalia, with its brutal clan warfare, its life-sapping drought and its dire poverty. In recent weeks, a surge in fighting between Islamists and Somali warlords has left hundreds dead and many more injured in Mogadishu, Somalia's crowded capital, spurring an even greater exodus. But getting out by sea to Yemen, an illegal gateway to jobs in the Middle East, carries risks that rival those on shore.

 

How is it that fighting in Mogadishu effects 17year old living in boosaso?? Or is it one of those sharci raadis stories, am tumaal and all and so forth. I am in no position to judge, but after calculating all the necessary measurements of my trips and the possibilities of me getting raped, thrown to sharks, getting beaten and whatever have you out weighs the possibility of making it to Yemen safe and sound. I would most definitely take the route of safety.

[ElPunto]

Originally posted by Zafir:

quote: It is not at all difficult to understand why people want out of Somalia, with its brutal clan warfare, its life-sapping drought and its dire poverty. In recent weeks, a surge in fighting between Islamists and Somali warlords has left hundreds dead and many more injured in Mogadishu, Somalia's crowded capital, spurring an even greater exodus. But getting out by sea to Yemen, an illegal gateway to jobs in the Middle East, carries risks that rival those on shore.

 

How is it that fighting in Mogadishu effects 17year old living in boosaso?? Or is it one of those sharci raadis stories, am tumaal and all and so forth. I am in no position to judge, but after calculating all the necessary measurements of my trips and the possibilities of me getting raped, thrown to sharks, getting beaten and whatever have you out weighs the possibility of making it to Yemen safe and sound. I would most definitely take the route of safety.

^You have it totally right

[Castro]

^ I don't see you two packing up with a sign on your luggage that screams "Bossasso or bust!". Don't judge these people (our people) until you've walked a bloody mile in their shoes. Bloody momma-brought-me-to-Canada-coz-Afweyne-killed-my-uncle niggas. :rolleyes:

[J.Lee]

^Bada bim, bada bum

 

Laakiinse Niggas? War ileen balaayo.

 

Ma anigaa mooday mise inanka wuu PMS kareenayaa? [Rhetorical question weeye ee ka socda].

 

Wacdaraha adduunka

waxaa laga wareestaa

ruuxi wax garadee

[Castro]

^ Nice afro atheer. Once in a while I like using the word "nigga". It really sums up how I feel about someone (of any race or color) like no other word can.

 

PMS? LOL.