Ayman* has chosen this name despite not being a muslim, he said it was the only way he could survive in Libya without facing even more discrimination for being a christian, on top of a so-called “migrant”. A survival tool in a very young lifed marked by a constant search for safety. A childhood and youth denied by multiple conflicts and violence: from having to escape the turmoil in South Sudan as a child, to the civil war breaking out in neighboring Sudan and, finally, to the difficulties of life in Libya and the crossing. A very tall young man, Ayman was squeezed into a 3-meter-long rubber boat along with 13 other people, completely lost and going in circles, in International waters off the coast of Libya. Wew it not for the Ocean Viking, his fate would have probably been death.
Here’s his testimony:
“I’m 20 years old. I was born in South Sudan, where my parents served in the army. When I was two years old, we moved to my father’s place in a city called Renk, but his income wasn’t enough for us, so my mother sold firewood on the street to help feed the family.
We lived like this until 2013, when the political situation in South Sudan deteriorated and in 2014 my family fled to Sudan as refugees. I grew up in a refugee camp there for nine years, relying on NGOs like the IOM for food such as maize and lentils.
In 2023, war reached Sudan too. My parents, were aging and were jobless and couldn’t support all four of us children, and there was no safety left as “refugees.” So I left for Libya. When I arrived there, I did not have enough money to travel to the north of the country. It was Ramadan. I found a man transporting goats by truck and offered to help him in exchange for a ride north. We travelled in that truck for five days. My job was to make sure the animals remained standing and did not lie down during the journey.
I spent three hard years in Libya, facing strong racism against Black people and scraping by on irregular day jobs. People of different nationalities would gather under a Bridge, and Libyans would come looking for one or two workers for cleaning or other temporary jobs. We earned around 20 dinars a day, but the work was never regular. You might find a job one day and nothing the next.
I attempted the crossing four times. The first attempt failed when the rubber boat took on water and we turned back.
The last time we left Libya, we departed at night. The person navigating the boat told us to sail towards Tunisia and then turn north. We entered Tunisian waters and encountered the Tunisian authorities. They told us that we could not stay there. They said that either we moved on or they would take us back, so we continued.
We then realised that we were Heading towards Lampedusa. But the waves became very high, and the GPS was not working properly. We got lost. We spent two nights on the boat before you rescued us.
Now we are going to Italy. My dream for the future is to study, play basketball and support my family”.
Photo: Maria Giulia Trombini/SOS MEDITERRANEE
