by
Chiara Iacuzio

Recorded:
20 April 2022

Published:
5 August 2022

Meet Touré.

31 years old and from Togo.

He did not want his photo taken to protect his identity. His name has been changed to protect his privacy.

To reach Europe, he crossed three countries: Togo, Benin, and Equatorial Guinea.

In Togo, besides running a small grocery store, he was the spokesman of a political party whose leading principles conflicted with those of the local dictatorship. During a party conference, there was an unexpected raid by the local police. He was badly beaten and still has a scar on his leg from where he was kicked by a military boot. He had no choice but to escape the country in 2014.

Initially, he emigrated to Benin. From Togo, Benin was easy to reach by car, and his ID card was sufficient to cross the border. However, even if Benin was a more democratic country than Togo, the two countries share a history of economic partnership that never made him feel safe to stay.

After two weeks of hiding at a friend's home, Touré left Benin by boat. He crossed the Gulf of Guinea to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. Upon arrival, he went to the police station to seek asylum because he was undocumented. But instead of receiving protection, he was arrested and brought to jail.

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Most of the people in the shared cell, he said, were also undocumented immigrants. The local police would conduct weekly raids in places suspected of housing those who were undocumented. Police would break in and arrest and incarcerate these people.

“You did not do well self-reporting at the police”, the other prisoners told Touré, “But you could post bail if you got the money.”

Before embarking on the boat journey, Touré made sure his money was kept safe. He rolled it in a plastic bag and kept it hidden in his underwear. After four days and four nights spent in an overcrowded cell, Touré paid the equivalent of 300 Euros to get out of prison. He also paid a police officer to put him in touch with a Togolese man, who was referred to him by his former cellmates.

“You know, where there’s a dictatorship, there is corruption,” Touré said, “so I paid, and I got out. I got out of prison, but I did not feel free.”

Posting bail in a corrupted system didn’t mean he was secure either: police could arrest him at any time thereafter. Over the next six months, he found shelter with the Togolese man; hiding and unable to work, he took the needed time to create a plan.

He was put in touch with a man who knew people at the Embassy that could provide Touré with a visa. The first step was obtaining a residence permit.

A residence permit was his light at the end of the tunnel, Touré said. But again, the only way to get it was through unlawful back channels, so he paid for a fake residence permit. His family was, luckily, able to send him money for support, and sent the passport he left behind the night he escaped Togo. A residence permit then allowed him to get a Visa to Spain. Finally, he thought he would have a chance for a better life.

He reached Spain by airplane. At the time this story was recorded, Touré had not seen his family for seven years. It has been seven years since Touré abruptly escaped Togo, and six years since he landed in Europe.

He came to Europe “because democracy is a fundamental right, and I want and deserve to live in a democratic country where I can speak without being persecuted – where I can be free.”

Touré is 38 years of age now and living in Bologna, Italy, where this story was recorded on 20 April 2022.

Touré is an amazing human being.