By Alhaji Haruna Sani
The Executive Director of the Advocacy Network Against Irregular Migration (ANAIM), Sheku Bangura, has received over sixty migrant returnees at his 3E Baibureh Road office, Ferry Junction in Freetown.
While giving a word of courage to the frustrated female deportees, Bangura called on the Sierra Leone Government, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and World Hope International (WHI), among other aid organisations, and individuals to come to the aid of the young women who are traumatised.
“These women have suffered the blunt of irregular migration; most of them were recently released from prisons where some spent over a year for no just cause which have left them frustrated,” he pleaded.
He called on all to come to their rescue and help resettle them in order to avert them from falling into prey of drug abuse which is currently a serious concern in the country.
Bangura said after spending huge sum to embark on the risky journey, all of the migrants returned empty handed and their families and societies rejected them outright.
Sharing her tiresome experience with Concord Times, Haja Conteh who was a certified wielder and bid weaver said she was motivated by her maternal aunt who had travelled to Kuwait and was doing well, “but my own travelling was rather ill-fated and have plunged me in regrets.
Conteh said she spent nine months in prison, out of the two years six months she spent in Oman. “I was reported by my master to the police after I felt sick and could no longer effectively perform the house chores including car wash and farm work I used to do. I was arrested and imprisoned for breach of contract according to the police,” she lamented.
For Emma Fofanah, she was a successful fish monger until she was deceived three years ago by her friends who lured her into the journey that turned her into a mere slave..
Most of the returnees shared similar ordeal with this medium and called on government and other organisations to come to their aid.
“Upon our return, our parents, husbands, friends, neighbours, and the society in general have rejected us, we needed help now than ever before, so please come to our aids,” most of the women wailed.
