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I left Ghana to farm in Italy. I was exploited in both places [1]

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Date: 2023-11

Kojo Afreh was a farmer and miner in Ghana before he decided to travel to Italy. He hoped that by finding work abroad, he could support his family and eventually marry the mother of his child. But his journey didn’t go to plan. Kojo is one of six migrant workers who told us about their experiences of migration for this series. An explanation of how we produced this interview can be found at the end.

Raphel Ahenu (BTS): Hello Kojo, thank you for meeting me today. Can you tell me about yourself?

Kojo Afreh: I’m 27 years old. I have a child but am no longer with the mother. I come from a family of maize farmers, and that was what I was doing for seven years before I travelled.

My farm was small – I never had the money to invest in something bigger. I was also working in galamsey (small-scale, illegal mining) in order to supplement my income from the farm.

Raphel: Why did you decide to leave Ghana?

Kojo: Hardship! I was really struggling. I never had enough money. Galamsey mining is dangerous as well. Bad accidents happen and sometimes people lose their lives. My parents were always worried about me.

My lack of finances was having a big impact on me. The mother of my child couldn’t marry me because of it – her parents didn’t think I could take care of her even though we had a child together. This situation was so sad and frustrating to me. I decided I had to change something.

Down in the mining pits, all people spoke about was going overseas. Lots of people were leaving the area, so I decided to join them. I asked my older siblings and parents to help me with the trip, and they put some money together for me. It wasn’t exactly a loan, but they expected me to return the favour by helping them out once I was settled in my new life. They told me not to forget about them when I got there.

Raphel: What was the journey like?

Kojo: I joined a car going through Burkina Faso to Niger. One man in the group had travelled that way before and knew where to go. That was good, since it meant we didn’t have to pay anyone to take us.

Then we had to get out and trek until we got to the edge of the Sahara Desert, where we were met by a pickup truck. There were about 30 people in that car. We each had to bring enough drinking water and food for the journey. Once we ran out, that was it.

It’s a dangerous route: the desert is scorching hot and so windy. There are no trees for miles. It’s like walking on the sea: there’s simply nothing there.

Finally, we made it to Libya. I stayed with a group of Ghanaians for about five months, where I did all sorts of jobs to make some money for the boat crossing. Then the opportunity came to leave Libya and we got on a boat crossing to Sicily.

A lot of things happened on that journey, but I can’t talk about them. They’re too painful.

[END]
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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/i-left-ghana-to-farm-in-italy-i-was-exploited-in-both-places-migration/

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