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(Insidesomalia.org)-Sharifa Mohammed Ali, one of many Somali refugees exposed to the abuses of smugglers.
The horrible war-torn conditions in Somalia have forced many people there to flee their homeland in search of a better life elsewhere. Many of these refugees face incredible hardship in their attempts to escape the strife in Somalia, especially the women, who are often exposed to abuse at the hands of the smugglers who promise to take them to a better place.
Sharifa Mohammed Ali is only one example of such a story. Sharifa is 25 years old, but she looks younger than her age. She and her sister both married Yemeni men from Mukallah; she has one daughter and her sister has two children. She came to Yemen with her mother and sister and two children whose parents were killed in Somalia. They do not know what happened to their husbands after they left Somalia.
The family decided to escape to Yemen from the horrible situation in Somalia after their father was killed there. They paid $80 each and $20 per child for smugglers to take them.
In the middle of the sea, late at night, the Somali smugglers tried to rape Sharifa, but she fought them off with her family. The smugglers threw them into the sea along with the innocent children. The boat was carrying 150 Somali refugees, some of them who also did not allow the smugglers to rape Sharifa, but who ended up facing her same fate at the mercy of the sea for their support.
“We tried to swim and hold the children above us. We were in the sea one full night and half of a day. We were so tired that we lost all hope of life and surrendered to our fate,” they said.
Sharifa with her family, who survived a day and night in the open sea.
A Yemeni fish boat appeared and rescued them. “We thank Allah for saving our life,” they said, with eyes full of tears. The Yemeni boat took them to coast, where the army and UNHCR cars took them to Maifa’a Refugee Reception Center in Maifa’a district of Shabwa province. It was their fifth day there.
“We are very comfortable here, but we want to go to the Kharaz camp because many Somali refugees are there. We will be very happy there,” they said, hoping to be transferred as quickly as possible.
German Ambassador Klor-Berchtold, who gave the Maifa’a Refugee Reception Center last Thursday a donation that provided buckets for each refugee containing blankets, bed sheets, dates, T-shirts, soaps, veils for the women and other personal effects for females, handed out those buckets to some of the refugees, wishing them health and a good life, passing on his hopes that they would find good homes in Kharaz camp. Klor-Berchtold also checked on another Somali refugee who had minor injuries resulting from hitting rocks when he was thrown into the water by his smugglers.
The German donation totaled $75,000. The Ambassador expressed his hopes that donations such as this one from his country would help all the refugees find good health and a better life.
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