2021-12-11
25 分钟This is in conversation from Apple News.
Today.
I'm Shemitah Basu.
Every weekend, we're taking you deeper into the best journalism on Apple News.
On September 13, 2019, Aliyu Khande left his home in Guinea Bissau.
His farm yield wasn't what it used to be, affected by shifting weather patterns, likely because of climate change.
He felt like he was failing to provide for his family.
So Aliu set off on a dangerous journey to Europe with €600 in his pocket, a couple pairs of pants and shirts, a Koran, and a leather diary.
Like so many migrants who came before him, he traveled to Libya, where he found a human trafficker who.
Who arranged for a boat to take him and others across the Mediterranean.
The boat was just a rubber dinghy, 40ft long, carrying 130 men, women and children.
So imagine an intensely crowded boat, crowded so much that you couldn't straighten your legs.
There's no official captain.
There's no crew.
There's just one guy controls the outboard motor.
Another guy is holding the compass and handles directions.
Then there's a third guy whose job is arguably the most important on the boat.
He is also responsible for protecting this one plug that if you pull, the whole boat will deflate.
The threat of danger is heavy and real.
If too many people lean in the wrong direction, the whole boat could capsize.