General Discussion

Surya Gayatri

(15,445 posts) Mon Apr 20, 2015, 07:21 AM Apr 2015

'I just want to be human': This is the heartrending cry of a Mediterranean migrant

Teenage boy tells story of desperate migrant boat journey to Italy

A Palestinian boy who fled Gaza has told his harrowing story of being kidnapped, beaten, imprisoned and starved in his battle to reach Europe

“My family is in Gaza, it is a small family. I have a mother and father and a little sister, who is two years younger than me. My brother died during the last conflict. My father is very ill and can hardly walk; he has a tumour on his hand. My cousin was killed by a sniper."

“I left Gaza because of the war - you cannot walk 200 hundred meters without knowing if a bomb will go off. All around me was war and death, I wanted to change my life, I wanted to find a new life. I haven’t been able to go to school for years, I only studied for two years. I only know how to write my name."

“I saw someone who had his nails ripped from their fingers. My family gave the kidnappers the money. We were set free. We stayed in Lebanon for two months. We were very scared of armed groups. The women living in the refugee camps were threatened a lot and some were violated."

“The traffickers had guns and if you talked they said they would throw you overboard or shoot you. He always threatened us with their guns. The trip to Italy took 13 hours. Two times the boat had problems and stopped."

Interview conducted by Sarah Tyler of Save the Children in Lampedusa, Italy, February 2015.

Read more of this first-hand account:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/i-just-want-to-be-human-teenage-boy-tells-story-of-desperate-migrant-boat-journey-to-italy-10189052.html

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My heart weeps for this desperate 17-year-old who had to grow up too fast.