(C) OpenDemocracy
This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Migrants returned from Libya say UN has 'forgotten' them [1]

[]

Date: 2023-11

Appiah Stephen left Ghana to look for work in Europe after a mining company took over some of his farmland. The horrors of exploitation, kidnappings, detention and a dangerous sea crossing from Libya prevented him from reaching Europe. He was supported to return home but says he's now right now back where he started. We spoke to Appiah in Ghana as part of our series on X. An explanation of how we produced this interview can be found at the end.

Raphel Ahenu (BTS): Welcome. Could you start by telling us about yourself?

Appiah Stephen: My name is Appiah. I’m 39 and live with my wife and child.

I’m a farmer. I grew maize and vegetables until a mining company took over some of our land. It was hard to make money with the cropland we had left, so I tried rearing animals instead. But that ended in disaster. Many of the birds died from disease, and when I tried to sell the rest there was no money to be made. All the markets in the area are flooded with cheap, imported frozen chicken and turkey tail. It’s impossible for local farmers to compete.

I felt I had no other option but to start over somewhere else. I have always wanted to travel. My classmates in school used to call me the ‘British man’ because I would say I was going to live in London with the Queen and could do a good British accent. But as an adult my main hope was always to go to mainland Europe.

Raphel: How did you pay for your travel?

Appiah: I had no money after my crops failed and birds died. And the prices people offered for my farm equipment were so cheap that I may as well have given them away for free! Fortunately, when times were good, I supported my wife to start working as a seamstress and she saved some money from that. She lent me some money and I took out a loan to pay for the rest of the journey.

Raphel: Was your wife supportive of you leaving Ghana?

Appiah: She was very worried. There were a lot of campaigns against making these journeys at the time. There were billboards everywhere with images of people dying in the sea. It was on my mind as well. I kept asking myself, what if I don’t come back alive? But at that point I was so broken that travelling seemed like my only option.

I told my wife that if God wills it, I will make it there alive and be financially better off. And then maybe I can bring her and our son to live with me in Europe. I was aiming for Italy, Germany, Holland, Spain or Belgium.

Raphel: Why did you decide on those countries?

Apphiah: I felt as if Europe owes me money, because that’s where the cheap turkey tail and frozen chicken comes from. They’re not the whole problem, of course. Our government’s at fault for allowing it to flood the market, and ordinary Ghanaians are somewhat to blame for buying it. I can understand why they do it. Life is hard and there’s a lot of poverty here. People won’t buy my high-quality chickens if there is a cheaper option, even if they want to. But I still felt that Europe owed me money.

Raphel: So to get to Europe, you decided to first head towards Libya?

Appiah: Yes. I travelled through Niger with six other people. We were all relying on the same contact. The journey was very tough: we ran out of water and had to drink our own urine for two days. You don’t dare urinate in the sand when you don’t have water. We also had security problems on the way. People see travellers as easy targets and often try to take their money and possessions. But eventually, we managed to get to Libya and started making plans for the crossing from there.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/migrants-returned-libya-say-un-iom-forgotten-them-ghana/

Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/