Backway No Way Backway No Way

Amie Jobe is a survivor of human trafficking. She was lured into travelling to Cairo, Egypt in a promise for better life. It wasn't fulfilled. She escaped her ‘agents’ (traffickers] and returned to her Mum's town in Kaolack, Senegal before moving to The Gambia a year later. Amie is now helping other trafficked women to settle and integrate into society. She tells her story is this episode of Backway No Way Podcast. For more details on this and other stories visit our website and or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok and Youtube. 

"My 'sponsor' wants to rape me, and all I want now is a ticket to go home" - a desperate plea for help from a Sierra Leonean migrant worker on the run from an abusive boss in Muscat, Oman. 

When she was 21 years old, Adama Turay lost her father - the breadwinner of her family. With a critically ill mother, the family struggled to make a living. When a woman woman offered her a waitressing job in Muscat, the capital city Oman, she welcomed the opportunity.

However, Ms. Turay soon found out that the agent had a different job in mind: domestic slavery. 

"I sat my WASCE (West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination) before I came here in 2019, but I never envisage this is how life was going to be.  My agent told me that I was coming to work in a restaurant and after six months, I'll return and resume my education," she said. 

"They refused to give my first 2-months salary after working for five months. They beat me with a spoon I was cooking with when I asked for the rest of my money," she narrated, crying on the phone to UK-based Gambian Journalist Backway no way campaigner, Lamin Jaiteh. 

Until two weeks ago, the 23-year old Sierra Leonean woman was forced to work at her sponsor's house as domestic servant, working under harsh conditions synonymous to that of slavery. She had to scale a fence to run away from her employer she accuses of having sexually harassed her.   

" My sponsor wants to rape me. He even took one of my keys out of my room door. At night he opens the door secretly. That's why I ran away because I don't want to lose my life here - I jumped from the fence and came out.

" I never allowed him but he kept harassing me. Even if I am ironing the clothes he would just go [come] inside the room without knocking; even if I  am washing [bathing], he'll keep knocking on the bathroom door. Well, that one scared me, and I just want to go back home,"she sobs.

Listen to Adama's story from Backway No Way Podcast on Spotify, PocketCasts, Anchor and many other platforms.

Backway no Way now is working with Advocacy Network for Against Irregular Migration in Sierra Leone (ANAIM) to look for funds to repatriate Adama to Freetown. Follow this link to help get Adama back home in Sierra Leone.

This is a campaign Podcast highlighting stories of irregular migrants from Africa in search of dreams. The so called 'Backway' is a travel phenomenon where African youths embark on dangerous journeys in search of jobs and better lives. These travels almost always ends in tragedy and sorrow. Irregular migrants are often vulnerable to human trafficking gangs, smugglers and exploitative labour practices. Backway No Way campaign podcast seeks to raise awareness by highlighting stories, provoke genuine debates about the causes of irregular migration and suggest solutions to problems and challenges associated with the so called 'backway' situation. Visit our campaign website for more details www.backwaynoway.org