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A hazardous journey

一次危险的欧洲之旅

Most Ghanaian migrants trying to reach Europe via Libya go through Burkina Faso to Agadez, Niger. From there they join others from West Africa and other areas who are fleeing conflict and persecution.

大多数加纳人试图通过利比亚途经布基纳法索，尼日尔的阿加德兹再抵达欧洲。在那里他们可以与来自西非及其他地区试图逃离冲突与迫害的人们同行。

With the services of middlemen, they travel on overloaded trucks in convoys and part of the way on foot through the Sahara Desert to the Borkou region near the Libyan border. It’s a death-defying experience. Many die from exhaustion and dehydration.

在中间人的帮助下，他们坐在车队超载的卡车上离开了，但有一部分路是要徒步穿越撒哈拉沙漠到利比亚边境附近的波尔库地区。这是一种极度危险的体验。许多人死于筋疲力竭及严重缺水。

Twum recalls the human traffickers and their extortionate demands for money. Also unforgettable was the sight of many lifeless bodies abandoned in the hot Saharan Desert. “Some were leaning on the rocks, they looked like they were sleeping, others were buried in the dust,” he recalled.

特武姆回想起人贩子以及他们的敲诈勒索。同样让人无法释怀的是炙热的撒哈拉沙漠上随处可见无人认领的尸体。“有些躺在岩石上看起来像是在睡觉，其他人则被灰土掩盖。”他回想到。

Three of his fellow travellers died. “They couldn’t continue the walk. When that happens, we try to encourage them, but after a while you have to leave them, because if you’re left behind you’ll lose your way, and you’ll soon die,” he said. “These were people I knew, we travelled together from Nkoronza. I called their families later from Tripoli to inform them.”

他的三个同伴都死了。“他们走不动了，开始我们还试图鼓励他们，但是过了阵之后，我们不得不丢下他们，因为如果你落后了就会迷路，不久也会死去。”他说，“我知道这些人是同我们一起从卡罗扎过来的”后来我到了的黎波里，就打电话通知了他们的家人。

Twum’s story is all too common in the Brong Ahafo Region, with echoes across Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries.

特武姆的故事在布朗阿哈福地区非常普遍，在加纳各处及其他撒哈拉以南的非洲国家也有许多类似的例子。

During the 2011 Libyan crisis and the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, more than 18,000 Ghanaian migrants in Libya were evacuated, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) office in Ghana. The actual number of returnees, however, could be higher as some migrants managed to get out of Libya on their own before the crisis worsened.

据国际移民组织驻加纳办事处所说，在2011年利比亚危机及穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲被推翻时，利比亚有超过18000的加纳移民被疏散。某些移民在危机恶化之前就设法离开了利比亚，否则实际被输送回国的人会更多。

The majority of the returnees were sent back to the Brong Ahafo Region, from which they came, according to the IOM, which supported the Ghanaian government in evacuating its stranded nationals.

就国际移民组织所说，大多数人被送回了布朗阿哈福地区，也就是他们的家乡。疏散滞留公民一事得到了加纳当地政府的支持。

For many families in Brong Ahafo, having a relative in Europeconfers prestige and the prospect of remittances. “Every household hopes to have someone in Europe,” says Walter Kwao-Anati,the director of migration at Ghana’s Ministry of the Interior.

对于布朗阿哈福地区的许多家庭来说，能在欧洲有一个亲戚是很光荣的事情，也意味着可能收到汇款。加纳内政部移民局局长沃尔特卡沃阿纳提说，“每家都希望能有一个人在欧洲。”

In some cases, he adds, “There iscommunity supportfor relatives to leave, because your family will be looked down upon if no one has left for Europe.”

他又补充到，“大家都希望亲人离开，因为如果家里没有人去欧洲会被看不起。”

And there is also the expectation of financial support to the family back home, which helps to improve the family’s living conditions. According to the African Development Bank’sAfrican Economic Outlook2015 report, remittances, at $64 billion in 2015, remain the most stable and important single source of external finance to Africa.

当然他们也希望亲人在从欧洲回来后能给家里资金援助，以改善家里的生活条件。据非洲发展银行经济展望组织报道，2015年的汇款额为640亿美元，仍旧是非洲唯一最稳定最重要的资金输入途径。

But beneath the veil of perceived prestige are bigger national development issues. Kwao-Anati admits that in the case of Ghana, “Poverty is one of the major reasons why people migrate in search ofeconomic opportunities.”

在所谓光荣的面纱下是更为重要的有关国家发展的问题。卡沃阿纳提承认，就加纳来说，“贫穷是人们之所以选择移民从而寻求经济机会的主要原因之一。”

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