"Hey you, ferenji. How much you want to take me to Italy? ". A soldier watches a fellow soldier, spitting on the ground a leaf qat (plant with amphetamine-like properties consumed to deceive hunger and fatigue) and laughs. It is to Agarfa, a village of a few thousand people in the province of Bale, 450 km from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to preside over the show on migrants organized by the Italian non-profit organization within the CCM campaign on the risks of irregular departures information. Ferenji in Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia) mean alien, and the alien in this case is me. A few meters away Mohammed, the local imam, asking to take the floor. "Of four children - she said choking back tears - I do not know anything. Disappeared. I warned them not to go. " Around women hide behind the veil, many weeping bitterly. The Mohammed phrases here are like boulders.
While the EU seeks a solution together with the Tripoli government to stop the flow and seal the route of the Mediterranean, in Bale the issue of migration is on everyone's lips. Who wants to leave, who has relatives in Europe, US or the Arab countries, who blocked them in reception centers in Libya, those who attempted the journey and has been rejected and who cries somebody who does not have it done. According to UNHCR geographical location and geopolitical developments in Africa (Addis Ababa Horn is considered the only stable capital of the region) have helped develop the migration phenomenon in Ethiopia and from 2015 estimates speak of a flus know is growing output (about 740,000 Ethiopians living outside their country, of which 8000 in Italy, a source IOM) both incoming (Ethiopia is the country that hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa, more than 670 thousand people , crammed in refugee camps on the border with Eritrea, South Sudan and Somalia). In this context, the Bale is one of the areas with the highest rate of emigration.
Ethiopia, traveling among migrants who dream of Bale Europe
On bajaj (also called tuc tuc) whizzing between the nearby cities of Robe and Goba stand out images of Balotelli. No matter that the former Blue was born in Palermo and has Ghanaian roots. What matters is that the black skin, and that was successful. "The people leave because there is no work," says Abdulkadir Gazali, 39 years, five sons and three escape attempts in Saudi Arabia ( "I have always bounced back," he says).
Apparently starting is simple, just pay. Mr. Waldayese, in charge of immigration at the Department for Social Affairs of the Bale province, said that "reaching an Arab country roughly 400-600 euro costs." For Europe, the price goes up to 4000 euro. Totally illegal, of course. "Young people - explains Waldayese - scrape together the money by selling animals or working in the fields." No coincidence that the greatest exodus period after the coffee harvest, in the first months of the year. In some cases, the relatives themselves to finance the whole thing. Or who has already accomplished the feat, without fail. Yes, because if some do make many more you lose track. Disappeared. Swallowed by the sea. Killed by thirst in the desert or massacred barrel by traffickers. Here they call them "dallala". Despite Ethiopia threaten the death penalty, finding one is quite simple.
The cri network terminal anywhere comes up in the most remote villages. How it works: a "broker" puts the aspirant migrant contact "dallala" in Addis Ababa, which makes him have the documents and based on where he wants to go find him another contact on site. For the Arab countries the stages are Djibouti, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. A Obock, fishing town on the northern shore of the Gulf of Aden, one of the migrants was a millionaire business. For those who want to reach Europe the process is more complicated. >From Addis Ababa "dallala" organize the trip to Metema, on the border with Sudan, where migrants are entrusted to other dealers for the crossing of the desert. They will then be the Libyans to bring them up to the Mediterranean coast where smugglers and lay li in boats for between paid of hope.
"In Bale - says Stefano Bolzonello, project leader of the CCM - try to minimize the causes of irregular migration through awareness-raising actions, like the show to Agarfa. Also along with COOPI (non-profit organization with headquartersin Milan, editor's note ) ince ntiviamo the development of micro-enterprises to increase employment opportunities for young people. " Radiya Abadar, 28, is one of the girls who could enjoy the project: "In 2010, I migrated to Kuwait - he says -. I was told that you made good money. I ended up being a servant to 100 euro per month. I changed four families: all the same. Passport seized, beatings and no freedom. They called me kaddama , slave. "
*Google Translation
