Interview Subject
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Contributing Organization
TSOS
Home Country
Somalia
Description
When Momo was only nine years old, he returned home to find his parents and his six sisters and four brothers had been killed in their own home. Sometime after that, he and his uncle left Somalia together to live in Yemen. He stayed in Yemen until he was sixteen, but when things became unsafe there, he moved to Libya. He had hoped to get on a boat in Libya to go somewhere for a new life, but he was thrown in prison instead. He was harassed and told to ask his family to send money so that he could be released. But Momo had no family to help him out, so he spent seven months in prison. He witnessed injustices like rapes, kidnappings, and killings in Libya, and even suffered great abuse himself. He was beaten so badly by Libyan soldiers that he spent three months recovering in the hospital.
When he arrived in Italy in 2011, he had no money and no way to return to his home. He came over with two hundred people. However, he and five others left for Sweden where he stayed for six years. He moved back to Rome and has been there eleven months. There has been nowhere for him to go in Rome. He has received food and blankets from people, but he lives and sleeps on the streets.
Momo wants a home, family, and educational opportunities. He has made many friends in Rome and serves others who are struggling like him. He wants to see justice done for his people. He has worked hard to learn French, English, Arabic, and Swedish so that he could work, make a life and help others.
Document Type
Interview
Interview Date
10-3-2017
Interview Location
Rome
Included in
Digital Humanities Commons, Diplomatic History Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Human Geography Commons, Immigration Law Commons, International Relations Commons, Islamic Studies Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, Oral History Commons, Photography Commons
