“We failed to reach Europe” now our families disowns us

“I was so happy to come back, but I wish I had not,” says 28-year old Fatmata from Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Fatmata left Freetown hoping to reach Europe. Her journey was treacherous. She was forced into sexual slavery for six months as a wife of a Tuareg nomad who seized her in the Sahara desert. She managed to escape but was recaptured by traffickers who held her in their own private jail in Algeria. She and other migrants managed to escape, and her journey back home began. But there was no welcome when she returned and she is yet to see her mother and her 8-year old daughter.

Fatmata’s story is typical of many of the 3,000 Sierra Leoneans who have returned in the last two years after failing to reach Europe. Many have been disowned by their families.

Read their stories via BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-50391297#