Kojo

Kojo*, a 20-year-old from Ghana, was rescued on November 6, 2024, along with 37 other people. They were found in a rubber boat in the Maltese Search and Rescue Region. 

*Name changed to preserve privacy.

“In my country, if you disagree with the party who holds power, they threaten you, they go after you. I was part of a group called Freedom Fighters. We demonstrated against the government, because life conditions are terrible, there is no work.

One day, our leader got killed. On the day of his burial, police came to disperse us in the cemetery, but we stayed there, so they shot at us, and they killed several people. My mother pushed me to flee the country for my life.

I went through Burkina Faso and Niger, but there is no work there, so I ended up in Libya where there is work. I ended up staying there three years between working, being detained and tortured, paying off my liberations from the detention centers.

At one point, I decided to try and cross to Europe, as I saw no other option. I was intercepted four times by the Libyan Coast Guard, having to work several months each time to afford the next crossing. On my fifth time, I was rescued by the Ocean Viking.