"A Young Warrior's Tale of Courage, Torture, and the Battle for Refuge"
All the pain that the Somali Ali Abdi Omar experienced as a child and a young man awakens, as he fled from the furnace of war in Somalia to Libya and then Belgium in a grueling and unbelievable journey. His cousin, Sakada, who is kidnapped in Libya, endures the same horrors he suffered there during the years of captivity, while he searches for a way to rescue her by raising the $10,000 ransom demanded by the human traffickers. Despite his relatively stable life, he is haunted at night by nightmares of the tragedies he lived through there, mixed with the ongoing pain of his cousin.
A Departure in Darkness
In 2016, Ali, a 19-year-old from Somalia, embarked on a harrowing journey that would take him through a dangerous route from Qoryoley (123kilometres south-west of the capital city Mogadishu and 23 kilometers west of the coastal city of Marka) to Brussels that lasted for 2 years. His escape was fueled by the tragic death of his father, killed by the Al-Qaeda-linked armed group Al-Shabab for refusing to collaborate with them.
Ali was just 12 when his father, was recruited by group Al-Shabab, and killed by them because he could not reconcile himself to their ideology and actions. When they come to tell Ali’s mother that her husband has died and that it is now the eldest son, Ali, to take his father’s place, she begs for a postponement.
Ali said to his mother that he would prefer death to joining the Al-Shabab group. ‘’I don’t want you to work for them either, I’d rather die’’ said Ali’s mother to him.
The next morning, she wakes Ali early and allows him to flee.‘’I’m never going to see this land again”, said Ali while he was leaving his land.
Ali’s journey began with a heart-wrenching departure from his homeland, leaving behind 10 siblings and his mother, fleeing from the threats of Al-Shabab, where he navigated through Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya driven by the promise of reaching the supposed European paradise.
He took the bus to the capital, Mogadishu. At the central bus station, he met with a human trafficker named Mohamed. He took him to a house where Ali was pleasantly surprised to reunite with four familiar faces from his village – Amina, Mohamed, Khadra, and Ashim, all destined for the same journey. The joy of this unexpected reunion manifested in warm embraces and camaraderie as they stood shoulder to shoulder. Ali’s happiness soared at the prospect of sharing this challenging journey with familiar companions.
‘’If the police arrest us, you will say I am your uncle. I trust you, everything I tell you, you do’’, said the smuggler Mohamed to Ali.
Horror in the Desert
The five friends were crammed into the back of a car and left for Nairobi with others on the same night with a new trafficker leading them. They weren’t stopped by police along the road who asked them to continue their journey.
After 3 days of running, they stopped at night and 2 new traffickers were waiting for them. Then they had to cross the border.
On the second night, Ali and his friends were very tired but they were forced to take drugs from the human smuggler to continue their journey. Amina vomited and couldn’t continue walking. ‘’Leave me here’’, Said Amina to the group, and the trafficker hit Amina with his stick, and then Ali Carried her on his back and the smuggler behind them to lash them if they stopped.
‘’We were forced to take drugs a lot of times by the smugglers’’, Said Ali.
Ali and his friends had to walk through the desert for three nights. During the day they sleep. Then they cross the desert in jeeps, three days without food and water, three days of survival. On the third night, they had to run as there was a car waiting for them at 7 am to take them to Al-Koufra.
Tortures in Al-Koufra
Libya, the gateway to the European paradise, unfolded a nightmarish chapter for Ali. Upon reaching Libya, he found himself locked up in a kind of warehouse, together with other 400-500 migrants in the clutches of a merciless human trafficking network led by the infamous Walid.
Locked in a hellish warehouse in Al-Koufra (south-east Libya, 1,712 kilometers from Tripoli) Ali and his friends endured daily torture, forced drug consumption, and relentless hunger became their grim reality.
‘’ Where are the 5 new ones?’’, asked smuggler Walid in Arabic while a Somali guy was working for him was translating what he said. Walid continues talking to Ali and his group ‘’ You’ve already walked and gone through so much, and there is still a long way to go. I am here to help and no one has helped you like me, and no one can help you like I can. Everything here is mine; thanks to me, you will get to the sea. You will leave for Europe thanks to me. You are mine’’.
Walid asked Ali and his group to pay 6000 USD as this was a debt for bringing them to Libya and then they had to pay 3300 USD to cross the sea to Europe. They were threatened if they didn’t pay, they would face torture.
In these warehouses, you could often be sold to other smugglers and Libyan police. When the Libyan police arrest you, they sell you back to Walid, Abdelsalam, Kidane…etc.
When the migrants arrive in the warehouse they become like a bird in the cage and can’t flee from the smugglers’ hands, then the smugglers sort them according to their nationality and for each nationality, there is a price.
The next step in this torture journey is to call your family to pay the ransom to the smugglers. ‘’If you pay, I won’t hurt you’’ says smuggler Walid to the migrants.
Ali gave The Somalian guy who works for Walid his mother’s number to call her. Ali asked his mother ‘’ You have to pay, Mom $9300. You have to pay, Mom’’. The mother affirmed to Ali that she will pay but she needs time.
The warehouse has a schedule to call the families to ask for the payment. at 6 am, it’s the call then at the time of the call, the migrants have to stand in line, all sitting on the floor, and Walid enthroned in front. when it’s your turn, they give you a phone, you learn to call your family, and during this, Walid hits you and you scream, you cry, and the rest of the migrants watch.
At 2 p.m., it’s the call and the migrants have to stand in line, Walid enthroned in front. You have to look ahead. During your call with the family Walid hits you and the migrant screams. Then one of Walid’s men replaces him to start beating the migrants so that their families hear their screams while they are on the phone.
At 8 p.m. that’s the call time and since Walid isn’t there, it’s the same thing of torture and beat.
“The treatment of Somalis sets them apart from others. They are often detained for monetary gain, whereas individuals from places like Guinea are subjected to exploitative practices, turning them into de facto slaves and forcing them into labor.”, Ali said.
While he was beaten and screaming, Ali was begging his mother to pay the sum to the smuggler Walid.
‘’ We were living on a piece of bread and a glass of water a day. The torture would only stop if the family paid.’’ Ali
Europe could be a curse for the migrants If a migrant declared that he has a relative in Europe he would be a treasure for the smugglers. ‘’If you say that there is someone in Europe to pay for you, then they will think you are rich, so you should never say that you have someone who is in Europe. I know people who paid 14,000 Euro I know people who paid 15,000, 16,000, 17,000 Euro. I saw someone at the sea who is paid three times. ‘’said Ali.
During their stay in Walid’s warehouse, they were forced to take drugs. ‘’ you smoke the drug he wants you to smoke, and you will smoke whenever Walid wants you to smoke because you are Walid’s’’, said Ali.
Smugglers like Walid wouldn’t let migrants go out of their hands without making a big profit from them. ‘’ if you speak too well or if you speak Arabic, he’s going to make you work for him like a translator. if you don’t pay, he’ll make you work.’’
Ali recounted an unsettling episode involving a Somali newcomer who arrived later, proficient in Italian. Struggling financially, the boy stayed among them for a few months. However, fear eventually gripped him, and he sought to avoid potential torture. To protect himself, he claimed proficiency in Italian, stating, “I speak quite well.” Tragically, he found himself coerced into a distressing role – serving as a translator for others and, shockingly, being compelled to inflict harm upon fellow Somalis.
Love amid Hell
During Ali’s stay in Walid’s warehouse, he met with Leila, a 12-year-old Somali girl. Amid unimaginable suffering, Leila and Ali cling to their love, their bond a fragile ember in the desolate landscape of war. Leila’s confession, a plea to be remembered if she doesn’t survive, hangs heavy in the air. Ali, torn between love and a desperate yearning for escape, pours his emotions into a cappella song, a beacon of hope amidst despair.
As their friends, one by one, manage to flee, the weight of their impending separation crushes Ali. He grapples with an agonizing choice: stay with Leila in the hell they know, or embark on a perilous journey towards an uncertain future. Leila, understanding his yearning, begs him to wait, her love laced with the bitter truth of their dire situation.
“How is that possible?” Ali cries, his voice thick with despair. “Someone who says ‘I love you’ asks you to stay in hell?” The cruelty of their circumstances lays bare the impossibility of their situation. Love, a powerful force, is rendered impotent against the relentless grip of war.
Seven months in this dehumanizing prison have taken their toll on Ali. The physical wounds inflicted are raw and painful, a constant reminder of their captivity. But the deeper scars, the emotional torment, fester silently, poisoning their spirits. “Nothing is important here,” Ali declares, his voice echoing the hollowness that has consumed him.
Leila’s Plea paints a poignant portrait of love struggling to survive in the face of unimaginable hardship. It is a story of sacrifice, desperation, and the agonizing choices forced upon those caught in the crossfire of war.
After almost a year, Ali’s mother could secure the money by selling their piece of land to pay to release her son, but Ali was mistreated until the last day. His mother’s desperate payment secured his release, leaving without Leila, a goodbye, or even his shoes. Then started his next step of the journey to Beni Walid but the scars remained.
Identifying the Perpetrators
Ali’s experience with the notorious smuggler Walid also known as Tewelde G., Welid sheds light on the complexities of human trafficking. The network’s demand for money and the subsequent torture Ali endured expose the ruthless nature of these criminal operations.
The intertwining of the smuggling network with Libyan authorities adds another layer to the grim reality faced by migrants.
Walid who faces a trial in the Netherlands at the moment was known among the migrants coming from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Walid’s name was mentioned many times by several migrants and refugees whom I interviewed. Walid is a smuggler on the top chain of human trafficking between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia along with other smugglers like Abdusalam. Jaber and Kidane.
Walid, Kidane, Jaber, and Abdul Salam’s network demands money from migrants. Those who cannot or do not want to pay end up on one of the farms where he holds migrants until the ransom arrives. Because migrants have to call on smugglers for their crossing again, some end up in captivity several times.
‘’As soon Walid sees a very black man, he immediately takes him as a slave’’, says Ali.
Often migrants accept travel expenses with the promise to repay them by working in Europe. This practice was documented by the UN and the NGO Save the Children. Nigerian women are known in this way to become prostitutes in Europe. Sexual exploitation has usually already started on its way here.
“Once at destination, the debt is converted into a form of forced prostitution for a period of up to three years or more,” a UNICEF report said.
In 2021, five members of a Nigerian gang were sentenced to several years in prison for their involvement in the illegal transfer to Belgium of young Nigerian girls who were then forced into prostitution.
Allegations of collusion between Libyan authorities and human traffickers loom large, echoing the sentiments shared by a multitude of migrants I have encountered over the years. A prevailing belief among these individuals is that the Libyan authorities are intricately entwined with these illicit networks, further exacerbating the perils faced by those in search of refuge.
The Perilous Sea Voyage
Ali’s journey continued to Beni Walid, Tripoli, and the coast of Libya. He is taken to Bani Walid, back through the desert, with about 50 others in a pick-up. He ends up in a similar warehouse to the one in Al Koufra. From Bani Walid, they are taken through Tripoli to a village near the coast. There they are intercepted, but Ali can escape from the police.
They spent the night in a shelter by the sea, where he heard the waves lapping. He walks 3 hours from the house, together with about 100 others, through a swampy landscape to the sea.
The Mediterranean Sea became the next battleground as Ali, along with over a hundred others, faced the treacherous task of walking through a swamp to board a small boat. The Mediterranean crossing was marked by cold nights, cramped conditions, and the constant fear of capsizing.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2023 was the deadliest year for migrants with almost 8,600 deaths. The Mediterranean route remains the deadliest for migrants, with at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances. This marks the highest death toll recorded in the Mediterranean since 2017. The Central Mediterranean remained the busiest migratory route in 2023, with more than 157,479 detections reported by national authorities in the first 11 months. This is the highest total on this route for this period since 2016.
While in 2024 the Central Mediterranean route has recorded a significant downward trend in recent months. For the January-August period, this migratory route saw a 64% drop in crossings to 41,250 till 13 September. Nevertheless, the Central Mediterranean remains the most active migratory route to the EU.
When they arrive at the sea, they wait in a long line and walk to the boat that is a little further in the water. The water reaches above his waist. Ali and most others can’t swim. It’s a small boat, they sit on top of each other like sardines. With that small boat, the smugglers take them to a larger boat and leave them alone from there. Two Egyptians take the helm of the boat, others scoop the water out of the boat. It’s night and very cold.
Arrival in Malta and the Refugee Realities
After a week at sea, On August 10, 2018, they heard a helicopter, and a little later the SOS Méditerranée appeared and rescued 116 people. They will stay on the boat for a few days, until they can dock in Valetta, Malta. There, Ali is cared for and ends up in a shelter. He occasionally goes to a Somali restaurant in the area, where he meets someone who will eventually take him to Brussels.
Rescued by SOS Mediterranean, Ali arrived in Malta, only to be confined to what can be described as detention centers. The harsh reality of refugee life in Malta unfolded, exposing the challenges faced by those seeking freedom.
From Malta to Brussels
Ali’s fate took a turn when he connected with Abdi Aziz, a fellow clan member, who became his lifeline in Malta. This connection paved the way for Ali’s journey to Brussels.
In a small Somali restaurant buzzing with lively chatter and the sounds of the Arsenal vs Everton match, Ali, fresh out of the Marsa internment center, reconnects with fellow Qoryoley native Abdi Aziz. Their brief exchange, a mix of greetings, clan identification, and practical concerns, quickly turns towards escape. Abdi Aziz, sensing Ali’s yearning for freedom, proposes a risky solution: a forged passport leading to a Ryanair flight in January 2019.
‘’ I’m going to get you a passport, a person who looks like you, you have to wait’’, said Abdi Aziz to Ali.
Despite his fear of flying, Ali is desperate to leave the harsh reality of life in Malta. With Abdi Aziz as his guide, navigating YouTube tutorials and airport procedures, they embark on a daring journey.
Abdi Aziz assured Ali that he would be before him at the airport and Ali had to do like him.
He boarded the plane with a mix of anxiety and anticipation. The plane takes off, carrying Ali’s hopes, dreams, and resilience forged through friendship and cultural connections, transcending borders and echoing the universal human quest for a brighter future.
From the Depths of Despair to a New Life
Arriving in Brussels at the age of 14, On 23 January 2019. Ali’s journey continued with artistic expression through dance and theater workshops. His encounters in Belgium became an anchor, offering glimpses of hope amidst the challenges faced by unaccompanied minors.
Ciska, the adoptive mother of Ali, reminisces about her job in February 2019. As part of her job, she organized dance and theatre workshops in the observation and orientation center for unaccompanied minors. ‘’Ali and about ten other boys participated in a performance where they shared their deepest emotions with the audience’’, said Ciska. They talked about how much they miss their mothers, recited poems, and showcased their dancing talent.
Ali's Journey
A year later, Ciska invited Ali and a friend to a theater internship in the neighborhood. They stayed over and are happy to be back in Brussels. Ali does not feel well in the center of the deep Ardennes and is enjoying Ciska’s quiet apartment. They were supposed to come back during the Easter holidays. The coronavirus crisis decides otherwise.
Ciska shared that Ali’s shelter was seeking temporary accommodations for young people, and he inquired if he could reside with her for a brief period. Due to the persistent COVID-19 health crisis, Ciska and Ali mutually agreed on a permanent arrangement for him to live with her through the Foster Care program.
Advocating for Change
As Ali settles into his new life in Brussels, his story serves as a poignant reminder of the resilience of the human spirit. Ali’s journey calls for a reevaluation of migration policies, shedding light on the urgency to address the root causes and offer support to those seeking refuge.
Ciska sees Ali as a hero and the most courageous and sensitive boy. Idealistic too, because he wants his story to be told, for those who can no longer tell it. He wants as many people as possible to know that there are still many children like him; young people who are now undertaking the same dangerous journey, who walk for days in the desert, who are at the mercy of smugglers, who are stuck in the hell of Libya and waiting to get on a rickety boat to cross the Mediterranean.
Ali’s story is a mirror reflecting the human cost of migration and the need for reform in the European policies. The journey narrates not only personal struggles but also the systemic challenges that push individuals like Ali into perilous journeys.
Under European laws, thousands of migrants continue to cautiously navigate their paths toward the imagined European paradise, driven by a hope obstructed by the dangers of drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, dying in the desert, or falling into the hands of smuggling networks along the way. Alternatively, they may find themselves heading toward even more dangerous networks and harsher routes of human trafficking.
