Kwame, a Ghanaian, arrived in Italy two months ago and recounted his journey from Ghana through Libya to Europe with SVTV Africa.
In an exclusive interview with the host of Daily Hustle Worldwide, DJ Nyaami, Kwame revealed that he spent eight months in Libya working to pay agents to ‘push’ (join a boat) him to Italy by crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
“After I arrived in Libya, I worked for three months before attempting to cross for the first time. The first boat contained about 470 people, including Ghanaians and Nigerians. They all died at sea. I was supposed to join that boat, but my instinct told me otherwise.”
Kwame had to pay the agent for the next ‘pushing’ and had his friend sell his car to make the payment. He joined a boat and left the shores of Libya, however, they were arrested and imprisoned by Libyan authorities until he was bailed.
Again, Kwame had to work for months to pay for another ‘pushing.’ Eight months later, he tried again, but tragedy awaited Kwame and 81 other migrants.
“We crossed to international waters, but we passed the Italy rescue team and had to go back. Then we saw two rescue teams; a Libyan team and an Italian rescue team. The Libyan team came to us and began rescuing the kids and women, but the Italian one was two miles away. Immediately, the captain of our boat jumped into the sea, and many others followed.
I had no option but to do the same. I took one of the empty fuel gallons, covered it with the lid and jumped into the sea. The waves drove me away, but luckily, the helicopter directed the rescue team to me. Out of 82, only 21 were rescued by the Italian team,” he recounted.
Speaking about why Kwame took this risk, he mentioned that he was influenced by a friend who used the same sea migration route to Italy. According to Kwame, he was comfortable in Ghana as a truck driver, but his friend convinced him it would take two hours to get to Italy from Libya.
Kindly watch the full interview below;
