A journalist who has just launched a radio programme for African migrants is urging fellow Somalis not to risk the dangerous trip to Europe that claims hundreds of lives every year.
Although the radio programme is recorded in Malta, it is uploaded online, and potential asylum seekers can listen in from wherever they are, including Somalia and Libya.
“Our first programme was about migration in the Mediterranean and the many deaths of asylum seekers.
“We interviewed a Somali man who recounted the difficult ordeal he went through in Libya before managing to make it to Malta,” Ahmed Nuur Ibrahim told this newspaper four months after the launch of African Media Association Malta.
“Asylum seekers don’t know how dangerous the journey is and we are urging them not to risk their lives. Migrants who have made it to Malta, like me, have seen women drown and men die of thirst. Some of us have even come face to face with kidnappers on our way here.
People flee because they see migration as an opportunity to stay alive
“People flee because they see migration as an opportunity to stay alive, so they need to know that they are still risking their lives if they leave their country,” he adds.
Mr Ibrahim knows the perils of this journey that thousands attempt every year. He fled Somalia after 10 years of working in media when 18 of his fellow journalists were killed.
He was kidnapped by smugglers in the desert, jailed and only reached Malta in 2013 on his second attempt to flee Libya by boat.
The 27-year-old spent five “stressful” months at the detention centre in Ħal Far and he now hopes to reach out to fellow asylum seekers through the radio.
When African Media Association Malta was launched at the end of last year, Mr Ibrahim spoke from a rented room, which was bare except for a donated table and three mismatched chairs. Four months on, the room is better furnished but Mr Ibrahim is still in need of recording equipment and volunteers.
Equipped with a small hand-held camera, a voice recorder and a laptop, the young man is leading the NGO and its first project – Somali Media Malta – which is supported by EEA funding, through SOS Malta, and the US Embassy.
Consisting of African journalists in Malta, the association has a website, a Facebook page and audio programmes uploaded to an online radio site.
Through the three outlets it informs migrants in Malta how to apply for asylum or a residence permit and how to sustain themselves financially.
“We also want migrants to understand why it’s important to integrate and work with the Maltese. This is our second chance at life so it’s important to do our bit and build a life here.”
Since announcing his new venture as a journalist in Malta, Mr Ibrahim has become a point of reference for the migrants who feel lost once they are let out of detention.
The biggest headache, he says, are the basics. So while it is now easier to apply for a residence card, it takes months to actually get one. Since migrants cannot work, rent housing or apply for any service without an ID card, they usually end up improvising housing with friends and borrowing money from other migrants to survive, he says.
However, even those with an ID card find it hard to earn money legally. Mr Ibrahim says he knows of a migrant who worked for six months without being paid.
“A lot of migrants want to contribute and pay taxes in a regular manner but can only do this if certain loopholes are addressed.
“There are people who have been here for years but have not yet managed to obtain citizenship. We want to speak in the voice of migrants and be a link between the Maltese and the migrant community.”
African Media Association Malta programmes can be accessed via www.blogtalkradio.com/africanmediamalta and more information is available at http://africanmediamalta.com/