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Backway No Way

Backway No Way

By Backway No Way

Stories of irregular migrants from Africa in search of dreams. The so called 'Backway' is a travel phenomenon where African youths embark on dangerous journey to travel abroad in search of jobs and better life. These travels almost always ends in tears and sorrow. They are often vulnerable to human trafficking gangs, criminals and exploitative labour practices. Backway no way podcast seeks to raise awareness by highlighting stories, and to provoke genuine debates about how the push and pull factors associated with irregular migration from Africa can be adequately addressed.
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Amie Jobe: A Gambian woman tells her story about human trafficking and what's like to be a black woman in an Egyptian cell

Backway No WayFeb 11, 2021

00:00
26:13
Amie Jobe: A Gambian woman tells her story about human trafficking and what's like to be a black woman in an Egyptian cell
Feb 11, 202126:13
Migrant Abuse: Victim makes desperate plea for help to return home to Sierra Leone

Migrant Abuse: Victim makes desperate plea for help to return home to Sierra Leone

"My 'sponsor' wants to rape me, and all I want now is a ticket to go home" - a desperate plea for help from a Sierra Leonean migrant worker on the run from an abusive boss in Muscat, Oman. 

When she was 21 years old, Adama Turay lost her father - the breadwinner of her family. With a critically ill mother, the family struggled to make a living. When a woman woman offered her a waitressing job in Muscat, the capital city Oman, she welcomed the opportunity.

However, Ms. Turay soon found out that the agent had a different job in mind: domestic slavery. 

"I sat my WASCE (West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination) before I came here in 2019, but I never envisage this is how life was going to be.  My agent told me that I was coming to work in a restaurant and after six months, I'll return and resume my education," she said. 

"They refused to give my first 2-months salary after working for five months. They beat me with a spoon I was cooking with when I asked for the rest of my money," she narrated, crying on the phone to UK-based Gambian Journalist Backway no way campaigner, Lamin Jaiteh

Until two weeks ago, the 23-year old Sierra Leonean woman was forced to work at her sponsor's house as domestic servant, working under harsh conditions synonymous to that of slavery. She had to scale a fence to run away from her employer she accuses of having sexually harassed her.   

" My sponsor wants to rape me. He even took one of my keys out of my room door. At night he opens the door secretly. That's why I ran away because I don't want to lose my life here - I jumped from the fence and came out.

" I never allowed him but he kept harassing me. Even if I am ironing the clothes he would just go [come] inside the room without knocking; even if I  am washing [bathing], he'll keep knocking on the bathroom door. Well, that one scared me, and I just want to go back home,"she sobs.

Listen to Adama's story from Backway No Way Podcast on Spotify, PocketCasts, Anchor and many other platforms.

Backway no Way now is working with Advocacy Network for Against Irregular Migration in Sierra Leone (ANAIM) to look for funds to repatriate Adama to Freetown. Follow this link to help get Adama back home in Sierra Leone.

Feb 10, 202117:16
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Feb 10, 202101:24