Gambian girl begs migrants not to make Mediterranean crossing

An 11-year-old girl from Gambia who lost her parents and siblings while crossing the Mediterranean in a smugglers’ boat has written a moving letter in which she implores other African migrants not to attempt the dangerous journey.

The traumatised girl witnessed her mother, father, older sister and younger brother die at sea when their boat sank on April 13 after setting out from the coast of Libya.

They were among an estimated 400 people feared to have drowned in the tragedy.

The 11-year-old and other survivors were rescued by an Italian ship and brought to the port of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.

Italian officials said the girl, named Hadizam, sat down to write the letter, in English, of her own volition.

“To cross the sea is very, very dangerous,” she wrote.
“Please, my brothers and sisters, stop coming in this bad way. Please, please and please. I tell you this because I know what I saw and I saw many things that I can never describe.”

She said she had reached “this place called Italy” but that she had lost her entire family in the disaster.
She signed the message: “Your young sister. Goodbye, and thank you for reading this letter.”
The orphaned girl is now being cared for by a Catholic charity, the Pope John XXIII Community, in Calabria.
The sinking of the boat she was on was followed by an even worse disaster, in which up to 800 migrants are feared to have lost their lives.


They were locked in the hold and lower deck of a smuggling boat, which capsized after its captain accidentally collided with a Portuguese-flagged freighter that had been sent on a rescue mission.
The boat’s alleged captain and a member of the crew were among just 28 people to survive the disaster.
They are in custody in Catania in Sicily and are likely to be charged with multiple counts of manslaughter.
European countries, including Britain, are deploying extra ships and helicopters to the Mediterranean to beef up an existing search and rescue operation.
The EU is considering taking military action against the smuggling gangs that operate with impunity along the coast of Libya. More than 23,000 migrants have reached Italy from Libya so far this year. Around 1,750 are estimated to have lost their lives after their boats sank.