Friday June 22, 2018
A teenage girl forced to leave her family behind and flee Somalia aged just 14 after being threatened by terrorists recounted her treacherous journey to the UK in a heartbreaking documentary.
Fearing for her life after she was accused by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab of touching a man's hand out of wedlock, Mariam, 18, who spoke to Channel 4 cameras for the documentary Britain's Refugee Children, told how she escaped to Egypt, where she remained for four years.
At 18, she paid traffickers to help her make the treacherous trip across the Mediterranean to Europe by boat, as one of 90 people crammed onto the vessel, which capsized after seven days at sea.
Mariam, who was finally rescued off the coast of Italy, told how she had watched her best friend drown as the exhausted refugees attempted to swim for shore - prompting tearful viewers to praise her courage on Twitter.
The programme Britain's Refugee Children sought to highlight the plight of the young who are fleeing war-torn countries like Syria, some of whom make the journey with their families, many of whom arrive alone.
The show followed children arriving in Wales, which has been at the vanguard of British efforts to help the refugee crisis, with every local authority volunteering to take in asylum seekers.
Mariam is still traumatised after witnessing the death of her best friend, who struggled to swim in choppy waters when their boat capsized.
Mariam was rescued after being spotted in Italian seas by a passing helicopter, and she was picked up by a boat and taken to a hospital by a local couple where she recovered.
There she met another trafficker who helped her to make it to the UK, where she immediately applied for refugee status - but faced a near year-long wait before she was granted permission to remain.
Mariam asked that her identity be hidden in the documentary, for fear it could lead to repercussions for her family at home in Somalia.
She recalled how a member of the group had accused her of touching another man out of wedlock, after she went shopping for food at a local market and handed over her money - briefly making contact with the male shop assistant.
'They told me I was "bad", and they say ''we have to kill you'',' she said.
Under the threat of execution she fled Somalia aged just 14 and made it to Egypt, from there she travelled by boat four years later to Europe.
Recounting the journey, she said: 'There were 90 people. And we were in the sea seven days.
'Some people they died with hunger, some people they died with needing drinking water.
Between Italy and Egypt, the boat is broken. I am in the middle of the sea. I can't see any house or trees.'
Mariam wept as she remembered her last moments on the boat: 'I lose that day my best friend. She died when we started to swim.
'That time we are three persons, and I am so tired. I try to swim again, again, again. And I say ''Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up''.'
Following her rescue in Naples, in the documentary Mariam said she had spent over ten months waiting for an answer from the Home Office about her refugee status.
The Home Office initially rejected 68 per cent asylum applications last year - the highest percent of rejections in Europe, double that of Spain, Germany, Sweden, Austria or Holland.
While she waited she had support from Maria, a personal adviser with Cardiff's children's services.
'The challenges we find for them are that they are absolutely petrified,' Maria said.
'They miss their family and they don't know where their mother is and they don't know where their father is, they all mention siblings.
'It's very sad, they are here in the UK alone.'
At the end of the documentary Maria was able to deliver the good news that Mariam had been granted permission to remain in the UK.
'Yesterday I am so worried and today I am so happy. Now I will be staying in the UK and I will say thank you,' Mariam said, sobbing.
The documentary left viewers in tears, with one tweeting: 'Close to tears a few times watching this. So courageous of the young people-especially the unaccompanied young people to take part.'
Another posted: 'What a poignant programme! & a reminder to us all to look after each other, be open minded & empathic.'
'During what is a really ugly week, Channel 4 right now is serving up a well needed dose of humanity,' a third agreed.