We saw dead bodies washed ashore two to three times weekly

A Libya returnee, Gloria, has narrated how she and other migrants constantly saw dead bodies washed ashore while waiting to enter a boat heading to Europe.

She said: “The wave always brought dead bodies to the shore. On the average, the sea could wash ashore dead bodies like two to three times in a week.  It is the guys that also want to cross that used to bury them. I always feel very sad each time I see such but it was not enough for me to give up.  I was always crying when some of the dead bodies were buried. I was staying by the sea side then before I entered boat to cross the sea. The corpses were always buried by the sea side.”

In spite of her heart wrenching experience she had had by the sea side, Gloria still burned with the desire to get to Europe by the same deadly route. “I entered lampalampa (rubber boat). The experience on the sea was scary.  We were on the sea for about two days.  When I urinated in the boat, it was like blood. I don’t know the cause.

“ We were almost getting to Italy when Libya Coast Guard came and started shooting in to the air and asked us to enter into their boat. They took us to prison and kept us there for three months. 

It’s not an experience I want to have again. If anyone tells me he is going to Libya, I will discourage him. It’s too risky.”