A child who fled Cameroon with his family 15 months ago, before being separated at sea, was finally reunited with his family thanks to the intervention of the Maltese authorities.
The boy, who is only 12 years old, was forced to leave Cameroon with his mother and sisters after their home was burnt down. They eventually made a gruelling trip to Libya.
The boy described a harrowing journey where he witnessed violence and human trafficking while being held for ransom in several Libyan camps.
The Agency for Welfare of the Asylum Seekers (AWAS) and the Office of the Ombudsman were instrumental in the process of the reunification, Times of Malta has learnt.
Mauro Farrugia, CEO of AWAS, said the family had left Cameroon for Nigeria where they stayed in a UNHCR camp for almost two months, after which they proceeded to travel to Libya.
The child describes his family having been “sold” upon their arrival. For several months they were kept in a house with no windows overcrowded with strangers.
With not even a slither of sunlight, the boy witnessed torture on a daily basis and saw men and women being bought for work like cattle.
The family were held for ransom and were only let go once the boy’s grandmother in Cameroon had paid for their release.
The family went on to live on the fringes of Tripoli until his mother found smugglers who agreed to give them a passage.
They were taken away and kept in another house for two weeks until his mother paid for their release. The boy says he is not sure how his mother managed to acquire money. This time, the family was transferred to a centre in Tripoli close to the sea.
Here, the boy said, there was no abuse but the cramped living conditions were housing over 300 people. He often found no place to sleep and outbreak of disease was regular and unyielding.
He remained in the centre until they acquired access to a boat heading to Europe last winter.
The boy remembers running with his family under the cover of darkness, but it was only once he was out at sea that the shock set in – his mother and sisters were nowhere to be found on board.
Confused, the boy realised he arrived in Malta while the rest of his family were put on another boat which ended up in Spain.
Mr Farrugia said when the boy was examined by the health services and interviewed in-depth by AWAS he did not know where his mother was. However, after some months he approached his social worker saying his mother had made contact.
AWAS launched a reunification request through the Dublin regulations while the Spanish authorities also initialled one on behalf of the mother.
The Office of the Ombudsman, Mr Farrugia said, was instrumental in facilitating the process as they had received the request for reunification from their Spanish counterparts.
The reunification process is usually lengthy, as it involves DNA testing to eliminate the possibility of human trafficking.
The boy’s DNA was found to be compatible at the end of June and by mid-July he was accompanied by an AWAS social worker to Spain where he was finally reunited with his mother and sisters.
Expenses were paid for by the Dublin Administrative Office.
Both the boy and his mother have applied for asylum and are being offered psycho-social support in relation to the trauma they had suffered while in Libya.