A mother's journey: escaping violence to build a safer future

“Everything that I do, I do it for my daughter. Sara is five years old. She was so afraid in Libya, in jail, especially whenever she saw a police uniform.”

This is what Saba [1], a 26 year old woman from Eritrea told us hours after she was rescued by Oyvon, MSF’s rescue boat. Saba told us about the numerous violent incidents she had already experienced in her short life.

She was born in Eritrea and moved to Sudan with her family at the age of six. There, she enjoyed a relatively good life, but two months after the war broke out, in April 2023, she had to flee to Libya. In order to survive and provide for her daughter, Sara worked as a domestic worker, but she was often not paid her full wage, or on time.

In jail, there is no respect for anyone, and everyone is mistreated. Men are beaten and women are raped. Saba

In Libya, Saba attempted ten times to flee, in search of a future for herself and her daughter. Each time they attempted to cross the Mediterranean by boat, they were intercepted by the Libyan coastguard and thrown in detention.

"In jail, there is no respect for anyone and everyone is mistreated. Men are beaten and women are raped. I had the opportunity to speak to UN representatives, but they didn't help us. If the UN were doing their job properly to protect people, I wouldn't have risked my life trying to leave Libya by sea,” Saba explained.

On Sunday, 16 November, Saba and Sara were finally rescued by an MSF team operating on the Oyvon vessel, following yet another attempt to escape the abuse they were suffering from. They were among 27 people who had been lost at sea with no food or water for almost two days. Despite many of them feeling seasick, they were able to take a break from the horrors they had witnessed and receive the care and attention they needed.

“Now, we’re safe. My daughter can finally go to school, and we can start building a new life, far from violence,” Saba concluded.

[1] The names have been changed to protect privacy of people