{"id":101,"date":"2016-02-12T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T13:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2016\/02\/12\/amecea-stop-indifference-act-now-ca\/"},"modified":"2016-05-03T09:40:31","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T09:40:31","slug":"amecea-stop-indifference-act-now-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2016\/02\/12\/amecea-stop-indifference-act-now-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"AMECEA: \u2018Stop the Indifference; Act Now\u2019- A call from Justice Peace and Caritas Heads of Departments from the region"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nThis is one of
\nthe case studies that had been presented in the AMECEA Caritas, Justice and
\nPeace consultative forum by Bekele Moges \u2013 Caritas Director Ethiopia. <\/i><\/b>The
\nstudy reminds us the immense work ahead of us and the need to bring about
\ndignity in the people of the region and especially the youth.  We call upon the Justice and Peace workers
\nand the Caritas workers in the region to engage with national and regional
\ngovernments to bring dignity to the migrant, improve the standards in the
\nprisons and most importantly provide opportunities for the youth in their
\ncountries to reduce the preying of the innocent by traffickers. This, is only
\none case out of the millions of cases that have ended up wrongly.  Let us
\nstop the indifference and act now.<\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nHabtamu Petros <\/b>is the
\nyoungest son in a family of six children. He has five siblings.He was born in
\n1985 of Mr. Petros Sugebo and Mrs. Woltemariam Ergete who live in the Hadiya Zone at
\nMassena village located 24 kilometers from the Zonal Capital Hosanna Town. <\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAll the children in the family were sent to school but could not
\ncontinue with their education after completing the eighth grade save for
\nHabtamu. Habtamu commenced his studies with the encouragement of his father up
\nto completion of the University preparatory class. He did not make it to a
\npublic university and was therefore forced to join a private university where
\nhe paid a tuition fee of 15 USD per month. He graduated with a Diploma in Laws.
\n<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAgriculture is the source of livelihood in Hadiya Zone.His family supported
\nhim in his education through agricultural production and also marketing of
\nlivestock such as sheep and goats.  In
\nthe region, families subdivide the land to accommodate their sons when they start
\nfamilies and this was not any different from Habtamu\u2019s family. The family had,
\nby the time of his graduation allocated half (0.5) hectares of land to his
\nelder siblings out of their total three (3) hectares.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nHabtamu graduated from University in 2009. During this time the family
\nhad one oxen and one cow. His graduation gave hope to the family to change
\ntheir livelihood. The family decided to sell their cow and buy graduation attire
\nand organize celebration for him.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAfter graduation Habtamu failed to secure a job and could not be able to
\nestablish self-employment since he did not have a concrete idea and no startup
\ncapital. He eventually started getting frustrated and had a sense of guilt for
\nexhausting the family assets.  His conversation
\nwith family and friends painted a rosy picture of cars and big buildings and
\nshops in the zonal town, Hosanna, and its surrounding. Also in towns that
\nbelonged to people who had gone to South Africa with their families. He
\neventually was lured to thinking that his dream solutions lay in travelling to
\nSouth Africa. The continuous peer influence, the push factor of being jobless,<\/i> unrealistic promises and
\nhopes and <\/i>the persuasion
\nof the brokers of human traffickers made him reach the decision to migrate to
\nSouth Africa through the illegal means. <\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nHe convinced the family members to send him to South Africa so that he
\nwill work and change his<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/i><\/div>\n

and their lives. The family was easily convinced since
\nso many youngsters had left from the neighboring districts and villages.  <\/i><\/p>\n

\nAfter getting the blessing of the family the search for money to pay to
\ntraffickers went on for a month. The amount of money required by the broker to
\nbring him to Johannesburg in South Africa was roughly estimated to 3000 USD. This
\nwould cover \u201cconsultancy\u201d fees only and other costs such as internal travel
\nexpenses up to the boarder of Ethiopia stand the rest would be paid by the
\nmigrant. Two (2) months was the timeline given by the broker to arrive in
\nJohannesburg.  <\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWith some contribution from close relatives, the selling of the only
\noxen and leasing part of their farm (one hectare for 10 years), the deal with
\nthe brokers was finalized and preparation to start the trip was completed. The
\ndate to reach to the Ethiopia Kenyan Boarder to Moyale town (600 km away) was
\nfixed.  The mobile contact number of the
\nagent in Moyale was given to Habtamu and he set off by taking a bus to Hawassa
\ntown about 150 kilometers from Hosanna. 
\nHe took another bus from Hawassa to Moyale the next day in the evening.
\nHe found the contact person and stayed in a hidden location in the outskirts of
\nthe town. <\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nHe remembers the first reception of the brokers at Moyale was attractive
\nand very good. \u201cI found about 145 youngsters in that hidden smuggling
\ncamp\u201d.  At about 2:00 a.m., which was 5
\nhours after meeting the agent and staying in the camp they were told to rush to
\na lorry. All of them were loaded on the truck and had to seat on each other.
\nThey were driven to Embu<\/b> in Kenya.
\nThey reached to the first destination after 18 hours.  In Embu, they were made to stay in the forest.
\nNo food or drinks were served.  From
\nthere on they had to travel on foot<\/b>
\nduring the night and sleep during the day times. They were told to take only
\nthe river course or depression along the valley. They were not allowed to
\nfollow the roads. After two days they reached \u201cNairobi<\/b>\u201d where they were locked in a big room where most of the
\ntravelers to South Africa stay waiting for their turn. Here they were served
\nwith bread and water. After one day of stay in the Nairobi \u201cconfinement\u201d camp, they
\nwere all loaded onto a closed 40-foot container. After being driven through the
\nnight once again they were left in a forest in a place he does not know. One
\nnight in a bush and he was lucky to be on the first group of five to be driven
\nto Taveta<\/b>, on the border of Kenya
\nand Tanzania. <\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nFrom there they walked to Tanzania and yet again they were taken in the
\nbush where no one could see them. Food was scarce and they received a piece of
\nbread from the guards once every 24 hours. 
\nBy now, the target date for reaching Johannesburg had passed. He started
\nto lose hope. His clothes were torn as they kept running through the bushes. During
\nthis time the migrants were regrouped in smaller numbers. The group of Habtamu
\nwas driven by a truck to a place called \u2018Bagamoyo<\/b>\u2019
\nnorth of Dar es Salaam, after which they walked to the border of Tanzania with Malawi.
\nWalking was done strictly at night with resting being done during the day in
\nthe bushes. It took them 20 days on foot to reach to the border. They were again
\nplaced in an open dormitory (bush).  By
\nnow, the number of those who had died on the way was five (5). From the border
\nthey walked to Central Malawi to a place he refers to as Mphomwwe<\/b>. <\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThis is where the journey to the \u201cpromised land\u201d for Habtamu ended.  On the date he does not remember at about
\n11:00 a.m. the camp was raided by Malawian police.  They were remanded for two weeks at the end
\nof which they were arraigned in court. 
\nOn the same day a verdict of six months imprisonment was given. The six
\nmonths stay in the prison was very tight. After six months they were told that
\nthey were free but they could not go anywhere as the Malawi government could
\nnot take them to the Ethiopian border. The Ethiopian Embassy to Malawi resides
\nin Nairobi and no one was able to negotiate on their behalf. Habtamu and his
\nfellow migrants remained in Malawian jail for two years and two months.  His ordeal in prison is painful from lack of
\nmeals common to him in Ethiopia to lack of proper sanitation facilities. He
\nlost his self-worth. He remembers hope in the form of assistance from the
\nCatholic Church in Malawi who provided soap and sugar for them in prison.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nEventually, the Red Cross helped repatriate Habtamu and his fellow prisoners
\nfrom Ethiopia to the Kenya Ethiopian border to Moyale.  Here they had to wait for family members to
\ncome and collect them since they did not have money or decent clothes. Habtamu
\nmanaged to call his brother and informed him of his predicament. The brother
\ncame to pick him and brought with him some clothes and also funds to travel
\nhome. Despite the failure, the illusion and expectation of the family they
\nappreciated the safe return of their son.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOnce Habtamu returned home he was determined to try again to reestablish
\nhimself.  This time round he wanted to
\ntry self-employment opportunities, which he was not able to actualize before
\nhis migration. He went to the local vocational training on welding for six
\nmonths. While being trained he worked for free in a garage to develop his
\nskills.   After his completion of the
\nskill training he was employed and started working at one of the welding garage
\nin Hosanna town.  He worked there for 3
\nmonths. He saved some money and started his own work.  As he was young, of good character and
\nintegrity he received a loan from local lenders at an interest rate of 10% in
\norder to buy welding and grinding machines. He bought two secondhand machines,
\nrented a small house and started to produce steel doors and windows. He has
\nhired two young assistants who like him, had attempted the South African trip.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nHabtamu regrets for the time he spent in attempting to cross to South
\nAfrica. He said he was misled by the false promises for a better life by the
\nbrokers. He did not know that the trip would be so grave, challenging and
\ndangerous. Now, he is convinced that hard work and exploitation of the minimal
\nopportunities at home country is better than the fantasy life expected in the
\nunknown country. He advises fellow youngster not to attempt the suffering he
\npassed through. His belief now is that \u201cif death is the only choice better to
\nhave it sudden and peaceful than gradual and painful\u201d.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
<\/i><\/div>\n
\nBy Antony Mbandi; Justice, Peace and Caritas Coordinator -AMECEA<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is one of the case studies that had been presented in the AMECEA Caritas,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1512,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101\/revisions\/1512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}