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Peace, 17, a Nigerian migrant from Benin City, Edo State. Ash Gilbertson VII Photo
Ash Gilbertson VII Photo
THIS MAN TOOK me to his house and made me his house girl. I said to my aunt, ‘He’s older than my dad’, but she said: ‘It you don’t marry this man, I will poison you.’ That’s when I escaped. I didn’t bring anything, just my shirt and the clothes I was wearing.
This is the voice of 17-year-old Nigerian girl Peace – who was orphaned in 2012 when her parents died in a car accident.
Her aunt tried to marry her off to a 40-year-old man so Peace fled from Benin City Nigeria. She went first to Niger and was smuggled from their across the desert to Libya.
So many people died in the desert. We saw dead bodies, skeletons.
When she reached Sabratha in Libya she was locked for weeks in a windowless house while they waited for transport to Italy.
Our Libyan handlers wouldn’t let us out. There was no water, no change of clothes, not enough food.
There was fighting outside, I could hear shooting, and I was scared all the time.
After a treacherous journey across the Mediterranean in which several passengers drowned and Peace had to sit “with dead bodies”, she finally made it to Italy.
She is now awaiting an asylum hearing – but is not sure that the horrors of her journey were worth her escape.
I wish my friend had told me this is how difficult it is. I would have continued suffering in Nigeria.
Peace’s story is just one of the thousands of refugee and migrant children trying to escape poverty and war in search of a better life.
The children’s plight is highlighted in a new UNICEF report, entitled Danger Every Step of the Way.
Over 7,000 children have already made to crossing to Italy from North Africa in the first five months of the year.
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UNICEF say that over nine out of 10 of these are thought to be unaccompanied.
Many are fleeing war, famine, poverty and abuse and much face great adversity to make it as far as Italy.
Some are sexually abused and exploited by smugglers and many die along the way. Italian social workers told UNICEF that a number of young girls were pregnant when they arrived in Italy.
Others are forced to work like slaves and live in cramped, dirty conditions as they try to make their way to a better life.
For Ibrahim (17) from Afghanistan, he made the journey to flee the war in his country and to fulfil his main goal in life:
All I want is to learn how to read and write … That’s my number one priority.
Along his journey he was robbed and left for days without food or water. Now in Greece, he was asked what advice he would give to children thinking of making the journey.
I would never advise anyone to do what I did. So many children die or suffer terrible injuries along the way – I saw it myself. The journey was far too dangerous.
UNICEF says that 235,000 migrants are currently in Libya awaiting passage to Europe and that tens of thousands of them are children.
“It is a silent and desperate situation- out of sight and out of mind,” said Marie Pierre Poirier, UNICEF special coordinator for the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe.
We urgently need to protect these children from all types of abuse and exploitation by those taking advantage of the situation to exploit their dreams.
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These stories are terrible and assuming that these things were always happening to people how did they deal with it before Merkels invitation? Where dis they go to escape ‘persecution’ for the last 100 years ?
It is naive to think that Europe can accommodate *everyone* that appears with an unverifiable story looking for asylum.
The World Gives Aid to Africa WRONG Africa Aids the World, Find out Why.
Africa, the receiver of $30 billion in annual monetary handouts, is not only making nothing from the aid it receives but it actually loses $192 billion to the rest of the world within the same time frame.
How, you ask? Research published recently indicates that current practices within the continent tend to favour wealthy countries. These practices include tax dodging, the repatriation of multinational companies’ profits with their unjust trade policies, the costs incurred from climate change and the exodus of skilled workers. This means, basically, that if you take into account the money coming in through aid, investment and remittances ($134 billion), Africa is left with a $58 billion annual loss. To put this into perspective, the money that Africa loses each year is over one and half times the amount of additional money needed to deliver affordable health care to everyone in the whole world!
As you can see, it is Africa that is aiding the rest of the world – not the other way round.
Until this problem is solved and this money is reinvested, creating employment in Africa this problem will prevail..
Watch short film: http://www.myafricanow.com/aid-to-africa-from-world/
Look’s like Peter want’s to go back to the good old days of christiandom. Quoting some sick joke of a poem, or maybe I’m reading to much into his comment… Correct me if I’m wrong.
The notion of “unverifiable stories” is false. Any asylum seeker needs to verify their situation as deserving of refugee status before being granted asylum. There are significant issues with the refugee system in endless appeals etc. The system in many countries is in need of swift and final decisions. Currently it almost encourages spoofers. It seems some seem intent on peddling falsehoods without recognising what the real issue is.
Teene…gimme a break…i dont even troll…my reference was to the colonial period attitude that saw the white sahib as all powerful,all knowing…when the africans looked to their colonial masters for munificence,baksheesh,alms etc…
Which African’s would these be now, and which colonial master’s Peter ?
Frankly, I have no idea what your are saying.
Stop quoting that horrible poem, Thanks, Unless that’s not what your were doing, Great.
Tony..if what you say is true…why did Ireland have 12k asylum seekers – most of whom were successful – from the 7th richest democracy on the planet….most of whom go “home” every year for 4-6 week holidays yet arrived here with no passports?…asylum is a gift and easily obtained..
Hey Peter, I’ve been here since the age of 12 as an asylum seeker with my family of four, I’ve never been back to North african. Have you sources to prove what you are saying?
Peter in order to make this a genuine discussion you’ll have to give actual numbers on granted refugee status. You’ll also have to state over what period and what country of origin you’re referring to.
Right..
I think these problem’s needed to be treated at source at conception, since that didn’t happen, throwing open the gate’s is the worst possible thing, for everyone. I think we agree on this?
You can’t use Google? At least you have the decency to withdraw although I suspect you did search and found that the numbers you presented are in the realm of fantasy.
The answer to to the third worlds problems would appear to be, according to the liberal left/feminists/and one worlders, is to bring every one who wants to come to Europe here and provide them with housing, education, medical care, social welfare and lots and lots of smiles and goodwill. Then maybe they won’t call us racist. Maybe. We’ll be broke, a welfare state a thing of he past, our cities like downtown Lagos but we won’t be racist and that is the most important thing. Believe every story you ever hear from every migrant or you lack compassion or worse, you’re a racist. Suspend disbelief at every turn or risk being called a racist. If a 25 year old tells you he’s 13, you’d better believe him or you’re a racist. If a Muslim migrant treats his social workers with contempt, don’t judge, it’s cultural imperialism and you’re a racist. Suck it all up because we Europeans are bad people who deserve to be culturally annihilated and pay all the bills too while we self destruct.
Like too many people you are playing the way card to play. You are taking sound bites and editorialising them to suit your incorrect statements. We need to look after ourselves and our futures but we also need to look after those less well off than we are. It’s not a matter of all or nothing it takes a little more thought and critical thinking to work towards a solution that suits everyone. Taking the easy route, as you have done, simply ends up in racist rhetoric and creates a discourse of fear in society
@nick. I don’t agree. Poor Africans DO need our compassion. But the boats have to be stopped and Africans have to be encouraged to fix their problem on their home turf now or the migration north will never stop. That’s not good for Europe or Africa. And Africa need good governance and trade, lots of trade. That’s where we need to focus our efforts and resources. Bringing millions to Europe as economic dependants isn’t the answer. Helping them build sound institutions and infrastructure is.
And Marg do you have any idea how much effort is being expended to do exactly what you suggest and bearing in mind how long it took us “to fix (the) problem on (our) home turf” how long will it be before that happens. In the meantime of course the most motivated most determined to get ahead will by hook or by crook overstay visas, travel to a neighbouring country, avoid paying or pay depending on employer taxes or social security to evade deportation, get politicians back home to lobby for them, get sympathetic lawyers to plead their case in court and all the while watch politicians and others mouth off about how illegal immigration is killing the country and we should build walls and exclude people. Yay. I think I just described another group of hardworking immigrants determined to make a better life for themselves. Oh I know they are different, special, contributing members of society, nothing like our lot.
Africa doesn’t have the ability not resources to fix the problems themselves. They need help and education. They are crippled with debt and corruption. If we do nothing then things won’t change
Nick, firstly it is too easy to generalise about “Africans”. It is a vast continent composed of many different tribes and nationalities. Many African nations do have the resources to manage their own problems but they are so poorly run and administered that they cannot. They are also endemically corrupt on a scale we would find impossible to really imagine. Secondly your proposition while well intentioned is almost colonialist in nature. The poor incompetent Africans must be helped by us. Almost “little black baby” terrorist there Nick. Patronising in the extreme.
We cannot make Africa “good”. They can only do that themselves. Our current policies are damaging and achieve little except to further enrich corrupt African despots. Even those we aid resent us bitterly and oppose modernity, oppress women and persecute minorities and the LGBT community.
It is enough to make one despair. The main purpose of aid appears to be to decrease our colonialist guilt and to “do good” however ineffectual the results. Depressing really.
@marg I’d love to hear a comprehensive solution from you. One that takes everything on balance. Balance never seems to be a part of your posts, just labeling of “bleeding heart lefties” and pretty much anti immigrant regardless of facts. Even when direct questions are asked as they have been on other threads, you seem to resort to reflection and flaming. Cue “what questions did I not answer?”…. which is just another reflection.
How about … Human rights are very poor in Saudi Arabia and some people need protection which the United Nations could provide if they were deployed there.
So everyone who was wronged in Africa should be looked after in Europe. I don’t think so… The main driver of Brexit is immigration and I think many Irish would agree.
@Teenenyantoon “asylum should be given to anyone that needs it.” I dont think .Europe cant take anyone in africa who “needs” asylum . What about the rest of the world ?
Many countries have plundered Africa, encouraging corruption. Should we all be expected to open the doors? No, of course not. But there is a historical responsibility that has so far been fed with patronising “aid” that does little except allow many “aid” organisations to sustain themselves far more than actually help.
Ireland didn’t colonise a blade of grass or a grain of sand in Africa. We should be exempt. Africa should be grateful for the Irish for all their generosity down through the decades, often when we were poor ourselves.
As Europeans we are privileged to live in a western world economy with western world benefits. If only we could stop bickering with each other, work together and show some cultural maturity we could potentially do some good for these nations in the world that are less well off. It’s such a pity people are too selfish to look past their own front doors!
@nickallen Your a dreamer . All the money these countries receive in aid runs in the billions every year . If they were given trillions not much would change . Sometimes these people have to take responsibility for there actions and make a life and good society for themselves and stay in their own country . You could also look at it another way that these people pay smugglers alot of many to get here for a better life and its a shortcut . When they should stay and build their own countries up or else the circle countinues .
@neilmcdonough Ah Neil the man with all the solutions NOT . The population of Africa is 1.111 billion . How many of these people would you like to see make it to europe ? How many of the 1.111 billion could europe take before we turn into a third world country or go bust ?
Perhaps if our wealth hadn’t been built on their exploitation, or if we had shared it out more equitably, we wouldn’t be in this mess? I actually agree that we cannot now solve anything by inviting in all the worlds poor but maybe if we don’t start looking for solutions beyond building walls then we are all, rich and poor alike, in very deep trouble. I have yet to hear any solutions, and I fear that maybe there isn’t any due to the atavistic human nature, but one thing is for sure, just closing the door on the worlds poor and reverting to nationalistic insular far-right politics is not amongst those solutions. Sacrifices will have to be made to our privileged comfortable western lifestyles, some kind of compromise is going to have to be made between rich and poor if this world is not going to be destroyed. Whatever we end up doing, we have to start somewhere, and a good place to start would be to recognise our own societies responsibility for creating the situation.
I don’t think this is a case of karma Neil, Generations of Europeans’s have tried to right the wrongs of days past, Africa just need’s to get ride of the human evil that is religion. It is definitely holding people back, Specially women.
This article is also about a Nigerian child, Bonded in sexual slavery. which is probably what awaits her here. These smugglers are ruthless in what they do, Obviously no nation should tolerate illegal immigrating but it has to be humane, our response to it.
I don’t see how an African being sold into sexual slavery by Africans to Africans is Europe’s problem.
It only serves to make these groups even less desirable as immigrants, illegal or not.
How did Peace a 17 year old girl manage to gather the funds to cross N Africa and the Mediterranean by just fleeing with a shirt on her back? I highly doubt the boat people ferried her to Italy free of charge. Sounds like a cock and bull story.
Lovely to see so much humanitarian concern in the comments section of the journal. I am so glad that this does not represent the vast bulk of decent Irish people but only a fringe of the dysfunctional section of our society… and yes I am part of that fringe.
You and me both. It’s an easy we to get red thumbs. All you have to do is show some semblance of mature thinking or show some compassion and watch the red thumb count rise
As we all know, the revenue model of news media is through the sale of advertising. To maximise revenue from ad sales you need to demonstrate to potential advertisers how valuable your readers are. I think it can be seen from the lack of advertising on here what advertisers think of the quality of the journal’s readers. (Present company excluded)
A German on the radio earlier described the far-right as over-simplificators, offering simple solutions for a complex world too difficult for those who prefer to have their thinking done for them. Much like radical Islam, it offers a black and white world of goodies and baddies. I think this is a sad fact of life and reminds me of the photos and films of laughing and smiling young men on their way to the horror and slaughter of the trenches. We underestimate this at our peril. I once heard that humans profess to love peace and life, but the evidence is that humans love war and death even more. I have young boys, and I’m worried for their future the way things are going. The keyboard warriors here will be the last to assume the responsibility for their hateful rhetoric, but I believe in kharma. You might say that what goes around, comes around, and we’re in a sorry state if so called ‘enlightened’ Europe is still only a short step away from barbarism. Of course, it will be the Muslims fault for the usual suspects.
Of course Marg, did you not know that only nutters are regular contributors to online comments sections. I read about a study to that effect in the Daily Mail just this morning.
“A German on the radio earlier described the far-right as over-simplificators, offering simple solutions for a complex world too difficult for those who prefer to have their thinking done for them. ”
Must have read Marg’s comments here. It’s like she’s taking it from Ann and Barry’s big book of geopolitics and diplomacy.
I just can’t get my head around what the African union and Arab union get up to all year. My heart breaks for these people. Nobody deserves this as a so called life!
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