The Public Ministry of Guinea-Bissau is investigating a case involving 36 young people who wanted to go to Spain by canoe and paid about 500 euros each to the agitator, a judicial source told Luse this Friday.
The young men, most of whom were from Guinea-Conakry and living in Guinea-Bissau, were recruited in Bissau for the opportunity to take a canoe trip to Spain after paying 350,000 CFA francs (about 500 euros).
The trip for this alleged illegal emigration scheme will start from the Guinean island of Bolama, a government ministry source told Lusa, who said the recruiter of the youths had gone missing.
Assimu Ba, one of the candidates for the trip, explained that he paid money for the fundraiser on November 24 and asked to wait until the day of departure, which “in the end did not happen.”
“We stayed there on the island of Sao Joao, in Bolama, for eight days until the authorities found us, arrested us and took us to Bissau,” said Ba, who now just wants his money back.
The young man explained that the situation in Bolam “was very difficult” in the days of waiting to leave for Spain by canoe due to a lack of food for everyone there.
“We only ate once a day,” Assimu Ba explained.
Prosecutors are trying to find the youths’ recruiter but believe he may no longer be in Guinea-Bissau because he is a foreign national, the same source said.
Aboubacar Doumboya, president of the Guinea-Conakry community in Guinea-Bissau, lamented that these young people had been “deceived once again” but said this was a result of the situation on the African continent, which “cannot offer better living conditions” to its citizens.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.