Anita (26)
“One day I will be that lawyer who fights for what’s right”
In 2017, the then seventeen-year-old began her journey. She arrived in Libya and lived for two years in the home of a "madam," who mainly had her do her cleaning. Once she had saved enough, she was able to rent a room. "I was in Libya for five years; it was better there than here. Because I could work there. I earned about 900 Libyan dinars (about €165) a month. I was lucky I was never arrested by the police."
"We heard there were few crossings in Libya. That's why I went to Tunisia. I lived in the camp at kilometer marker 30 on the road to El Amra. I went on a boat three times, but we were stopped each time. The last time, we were almost at our destination, but the engine stopped. We called the coast guard ourselves."
Life in the camp was exceptionally difficult, says Anita. "IOM came once to provide some blankets and toiletries. But now we're not receiving any help from any organization." According to Anita, there's a strong sense of community in the camps. Anyone who has something shares it with others. Collaboration is essential for survival as a group. At the same time, people regularly die from disease and lack of medical care. Then someone calls an ambulance to come and collect the body.
Anita has experienced several police raids. "During a massive raid with bulldozers, about fifty officers use pepper spray and electric shocks to keep us from running away. They take children from their mothers and place them in orphanages. Every time the police dismantled and burned our tents, we rebuilt everything. Because we have nowhere else to go."
Anita begs with two other women in front of a supermarket in Hamman Sousse. "One day I will stand in court and say, Objection, my lord."
Yet, Anita left the camp because she had become pregnant by a friend who had helped her before. She found shelter in Hamman Sousse. “We sleep eighteen people to a room that only really fits nine. I have a small mattress for my child, but the rest sleep on the floor. There's no running water in the house. We have to walk a few kilometers before we have water to wash ourselves. Some don't have money to sleep inside. They're staying in a camp somewhere by the sea. The police arrested five people there yesterday. We haven't heard from them yet, and we don't know where they are.”
To earn money, Anita begs on the streets. "Every day I need 70 dinars (about €20) for rent, food, diapers for my child, and to save some money. But last week, all the money I'd saved was stolen by someone from the group. Every day, you encounter good and bad. I often get something from a woman who visits the supermarket here. Older men only give money in exchange for sex. But I don't do that. What hurts me most is the daily discrimination. I've been refused boarding buses more than once. Even when people give us something, they try not to touch us, as if we have a disease."
A few months ago, she registered with the IOM in Tunis to return home and realize her dream. "I never had the chance to study, but I always wanted to be a lawyer. That would have been possible in Sierra Leone, if someone hadn't convinced my mother that I should make the journey to Europe. People never fought for me, and I want to do that for others. I want to fight for what's right. Even though that's not possible now, I know that one day I will become that person. That helps me keep going. I have to stay strong for my child and for my passion. One day I will stand in court and say: Objection, my lord."