It was the first of four near-death experiences for Sahel, now 23. In the following years he would narrowly escape military conscription as a rebel fighter in Yemen’s brutal civil war, before coming close to drowning and then being shot at as he fled to Europe.
It's yet another ‘Guardian’ attempt to persuade their readership that refugees are all genuine, though if you’re buying the ‘Guardian’ wouldn’t you already believe that?
Before the war began, growing up in Yemen had been a dream, says Sahel, whose father was a university professor: safe and friendly, with beautiful landscapes and a gentle climate, “the best location in the Gulf”. That all changed in September 2014, when the fighting started. “I woke up to the sound of bombs,” says Sahel, remembering the first day of Yemen’s civil war, in which more than 350,000 people died before last year’s ceasefire between the US and the Houthi rebel group.
And of course, he wasn't part of any war...
His ambition had always been to start his own business. But it was his work as a part-time photographer and model that would ultimately catch the attention of the Houthis and force him to flee the country.“We were setting up a photoshoot in a park when they came with their weapons,” he says. The soldiers accused him of being a spy and photographing military sites. “They grabbed the camera and even after seeing the photos, still took me to their barracks and started beating me. “They kept telling me that I speak English and that I must be working for the UK and the US and taking photos for them. They told me I should come be a soldier with them. When I’d say, ‘Guys, I’m a civilian, I don’t want to get involved with any of you,’ they would say, ‘No, that means you’re with the enemy. Why don’t you fight with us?’”
So he fled. To another African country? Yes, at first.
In 2023, at the age of 21, Sahel left for Egypt, one of the few countries Yemenis could travel to without a visa. Once there, he says he was repeatedly threatened with deportation back to Yemen. Told that it was only a 15-minute trip from Turkey to Greece, he took friends’ advice to try to reach Europe.After finally making it back to shore, Sahel helped a group of people including his two survivors navigate a five-hour trek across mountains.Friends told him he would never be granted asylum in Europe. “They said the only country that still gives that is the UK.”
More fool us.
In late 2024, Sahel travelled to Calais in France to try to make the perilous journey across the Channel.
His arrival has been a shock – in terms of the weather, and his relief at the welcome he says he has received. “I had gone a long time not seeing people smiling until I arrived in the UK. I felt welcome. You can find humanity and kindness here. I’m not going to be killed. I’m safe.”
Well, not by the State, and peobably not by the British people who have little choice but to tolerate your presence, but your fellow fake refugees do pose a threat.
Legally able to stay and look for work in the UK since earlier this year, Sahel says he can reflect on both his good fortune and his sense of loss for Yemen, which he describes as “heaven in the hands of the devil”.
And so it will remain, if its citizens fail to fight for it.
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