My Story

Real Life with Missi is a podcast series in which migrant women share
their experiences to raise awareness on irregular migration and its
consequences.

Host Missi is a Ghanaian returnee, survivor, and advocate for fair migration and gender equality. In this first episode, she shares her ordeal of being
trafficked to Kurdistan and Iraq from Ghana, and how she managed to
escape.   

A Migrant-Rights.org production

Transcript

Hello wonderful people. The name is Missi and I am the host for the Real Life with Missi Podcast. Today we have this wonderful, strong woman joining us with an intriguing experience on her migration. Well I'm talking about myself. One may ask how did the Real Life with Missi came about? Let me elaborate. I have always had the zeal to do something to help Mother Nature and my fellow women. I am a returnee, survivor, and currently an advocate for irregular migration and gender equality. And this is my migration story. Growing up in a less privileged family, there was nothing to write home about. Life was really difficult and challenging for me. I had to go through the numerous trials that one can never imagine. Well, that's a story for another day. But in all, I never gave up and I put myself on the line for my family, praying and hoping that things will be better someday.  

To abridge my story, I was later smuggled illegally into Iraq. I saw how my African sisters were physically and mentally abused, including myself. We were sexually harassed emotional torture, and even subjected to forced labour on an empty stomach moving us from one place to the other. I ended up with one military family, all efforts to escape proved futile because the security was really tight. One night, I was being moved from the house and this time I had to refuse. I later managed to escape and it was one hell of an experience being stranded in one's country and not knowing where to go or who to turn to, the language barrier. Well, one old woman came to my aid and helped me locate the nearest police station. I narrated my ordeal to them, and they agreed to help me. So we were on our way to the US Embassy when the policeman phone rang. He immediately answered. After that he did a U-turn. I asked him, why are you making a U-turn, sir? I pleaded with him not to go back but rather take me to the US Embassy. The man said ma mishkula, indicating there was no problem. The story gets intense. I'm getting a bit emotional. Let's go for a quick commercial break. We'll be right back. 

There was this fateful day I met this man who promised me a job opportunity in Kurdistan with a good salary. The man also said that everything was legit. I was a bit sceptical about the whole thing. After all, it was the first time hearing of the country Kurdistan. The man told me that he had a sister there who was living life and she was doing okay, and that there was nothing to worry about. Well, thinking about it and looking at the condition wasn't welcoming, and how things are difficult, so I had to later agree. And all was set for me to travel to my host mom, as the job requires me to be a live-in au-pair. My flight was on the 18th and I arrived at the Erbil International Airport on the 19th. A man came to pick me up instead of my host mom. My passport was confiscated on that very day. I was thinking my host mom might have sent the man to pick me up at the airport. Probably she was busy or something, but only for us to arrive in one house and I was asked to go upstairs and put my luggage down in one of the rooms. I had the shock of my life. I saw some of my African sisters lying down helplessly. I was so curious to know where those women were from. I later find out that some of those women were from Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and so on. Lying helplessly in that room. I didn't realize what I have gotten myself into. My phone was seized. But fortunately for me, I had the second phone which I hid carefully. 

Welcome back lovely people. The story continues, the man made a U-turn and head back to the police station. And there I saw the family I was trying to escape from. You can imagine what happened next. Before this, I had already sent numerous emails to different entities seeking for help. And these include the criminal investigation department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, legal and consular bureau, Seed Kurdistan, Erbil Public Affairs VFS global and many others. Some reverted to my mails and said I was out of their jurisdiction and that I should contact local authorities. Well, all hope was lost for me as I didn't know what to do again. But I later receive an email from one woman who was from the IOM. She said they received my email from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they wanted to help me. A lot happened, but we finally arrived on the day where the officials were supposed to come get me. The family forcefully moved me out of the house, as if they got a hint about the officials coming to get me. That means the IOM and their officials came to the house and couldn't see me. I don't know what happened there. But I later ended up in a military man's car. I didn't realize that this is the end for me. And I have to fight back. I had to do everything I can to stay alive and to tell my story. So we were on the highway, and I started to grab the steering wheel of the car. The car was moving to the left and to the right. The military man has no choice than to step on the brakes, that’s the car breaks, I turned to my right and pressed on the unlocked button and the car open. And I quickly run out of it, running on the streets of Zayoona like a mad woman. I didn't know what to do. My mind totally went blank. I didn't know who to turn to. But I later recalled the US Embassy where the policeman previously wanted to take me, I managed to locate the embassy. 

A lot happened. A whole lot happened. But I was later repatriated back home. It hasn't been an easy journey for me. I was mentally not fit as in, on the first of October, there was a serious fight between the Iraqis and their government. There where gunshots as I was at the shelter, awaiting my repatriation, you could hear gunshots, you could hear people screaming for help and all that. I witnessed a whole lot of terrible things. It's not something that I would wish for someone to see. I was mentally not fit. It took time for me to accept whatever happened to me. Not fully healed. But I wanted to raise awareness on this to save life. So many women, so many people travel to these countries. not knowing they're being deceived. I would want you to judge with my story. You think I deserve whatever happened to me? Do you think I deserved being harassed? Do you think I deserve being tortured? Or do you think I deserve being physically abused and working on an empty stomach without food? Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.   

Welcome back my lovely listeners. The story continues. There was a time I had to drink from the washroom. They had water, but wouldn't give me and I had to drink from the washroom just to survive. This is a lady who had dreams and aspirations. I have dreams of going back to school. I have dreams of returning and taking care of my family.  I was deceived.  I was lied to. What the man said was literally different. How was I supposed to know that I travelled with a visit visa? As everything was written in Arabic. I want to raise awareness to let people know for them to have a thorough research on their journeys when they want to embark, make sure they travel through the right channels. Real Life with Missi is a program designed to reach out to both the young girls and the women out there, for us to come together as one and share our migration stories. In order to enlighten us, to educate, and to motivate us. Most importantly, encourage us to become the better us.  We shouldn't be afraid to say no, we should be confident.  And be able to ask for help whenever we need it. On a scale of one to 10, young women and young girls go through tough times in life. What men do and go free, women will do that and have to face critics and stigmatization. Why do we even travel to unfamiliar countries in search of greener pastures? Let's get educated. Let's get informed on internal and external migration issues, with inspiring stories from our amazing women whom I will be interviewing on our next episode. Their life challenges and their migration experience, and in all how they overcame.  

Before I end today's podcast, I would like to end it with a quote from António Guterres. I don't know if I got the name right. But he says we can't deter people from fleeing for their lives, they will come. The choice we have is how well we manage their arrival and how humanly. Special thanks to my sponsors, Migrant-Rights.org for their immense support and making this possible. Thank you and stay tuned for the next episode of the Real Life with Missi podcast. Until then, au-revoir!