The story of an illegal immigrant.. who escaped from the hell of Libya to be homeless in Europe
The stories of illegal immigrants are full of tragedies and sorrows. They are in a state of escaping from the hell of a life they live to another "unknown" hell, and at other times, the escape is the end point rather than the starting point.
Youssef K. is a young man who fled Libya in search of a better life in Europe, but the reality was different from dreams. Since his arrival in Europe at the end of 2016, Youssef K. has been living in an illegal immigration journey that started from Libya, in catastrophic and difficult conditions. He spends his days stranded among the streets or in public parks, or under the roofs of abandoned houses, away from the eyes of the police.
Youssef's (21-year-old) journey that he started from Libya led him to 3 European countries, where he arrived at the first stage in Italy, where the police arrested him and detained him for weeks, but he managed to escape with some other migrants, and he was forced to go to the street and sleep there without eating and drinking. For several days, before traveling to Germany on the train, to end up in a refugee center, Youssef did not want to stay in Germany, and did not feel comfortable there, so he decided to continue his trip to the Belgian capital, Brussels, where he lived in harsh conditions without shelter, he was forced to sleep in Street temperatures sometimes drop to below zero, or he sleeps on the ground under the roofs of abandoned and dilapidated houses, or sleeps sitting on a bench in public transport stations, his ears always apprehensive so as not to fall into the hands of the police.
Youssef told Al-Arabiya.net: "I was not alone, we were in the dozens, immigrants of several nationalities, we disperse during the day in search of food provided by charities, to meet when the night falls, and we often meet in public parks, we use the benches to sleep Or we lay down cardboard boxes, and some of us have covers they got from volunteers.” Youssef is well aware that what he is doing is illegal, but all he is doing is pursuing his dreams and clinging to his ambitions to find work and live safely and legally. Life with high spirits."
After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Youssef was subjected to assault and beatings by armed militias because of the color of his brown skin and his identity, so he decided to emigrate and risk his life and search for his future away from this new painful reality in his country, but he was also subjected to cruelty and insult to smugglers and their gross exploitation, Where he was held for several days in a detention center with hundreds of other migrants until it was time for his flight.
Despite these tragedies and the harshness of living in Europe, which he risked his life to reach, Youssef is preparing these days for a new adventure that will lead him to another European country, where he revealed that he would like to move to Britain, and has great hope of obtaining an asylum card and residence papers that end the life of homelessness he lives About two years ago.