Deported & Disowned

In Sierra Leone, migrants deported back to their West African homeland have found themselves without family or friends. Just why, as the BBC reports, is a complex story of betrayal and loss.

The BBC interviews migrants who suffered incredible pain and torture in their efforts to reach Europe. Human trafficking. Rape. Near-starvation.

And yet many of these journeys started by the migrants themselves stealing money for their ill-fated journeys.

“At one time, relatives often raised the money to send someone, but there’s less willingness to do that now that stories of imprisonment and death along the route have multiplied. Now, many would-be migrants keep their plans secret, and take whatever money they can, sometimes even selling the title deeds to the family land.”

The article is noteworthy not just for these human stories but for the insight it gives regarding monies being spent by the European International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to return migrants to their homelands as well as “reintegration allowances” once they return.

-KitJ