Stories of survivors

“If someone sees me on the road, maybe he will kill me. You can’t go in, you can’t go out,”

For *Nirvan from Nepal, being rescued marked the end of a staggering 14-month journey across six countries, and the first moment he felt his life was no longer in danger.

Xidig, 27, is from Somalia and describes the situation in his country: “Every morning there is no peace, there is no food, there is no knowledge, no school, no respect, no medical [care], you know? […] Al Shabab killed my father, so that’s why I’m always scared, I’m always afraid of Al-Shabab…there is no life in Mogadishu.”

Syed, a 35 year-old man from Pakistan, spent five years in Libya including two years in detention in complete isolation. During these two years he suffered torture and sexual violence. 

Kosey* was nearly 24 years old when he was rescued by the Ocean Viking on the October 30, 2024, along with 24 men in the Maltese-Tunisian Search and Rescue Region, following an alert by Alarm Phone (a hotline for boats in distress).

Yamal, Visca, and Joseph are 16, 17, and 17, respectively. The three are Somali and met in Libya after fleeing violence and extreme poverty. They were rescued the night of February 23, 2025 near an oil platform in the Libyan Search and Rescue Region.