A Nigerian who gave birth on a warship after the Italian navy rescued
her from a migrant boat has said that “Italy is better than Libya and
Nigeria is the worst.”
She told Reuters on Monday her new daughter would have a better life in Europe, explaining why she risked the dangerous voyage.
Francesca
Marina, named after St. Francis and the Italian navy, was 3.37 kilos (7
pounds, 7 ounces) when she was delivered aboard the Bettica naval
vessel in the Mediterranean a week ago. Once ashore, she suffered from
seizures and was put in intensive care.
A week on, both Stephanie
Samuel, the 24-year-old Nigerian mother, and Francesca Marina have
recovered. Doctors at the Sicilian hospital said they would probably be
transferred to an immigration centre for families with small children in
a few days time.
The story of the migrant baby born aboard a navy
ship captured international media attention at the end of one of the
busiest weekends for sea crossings from Libya to Europe this year, in
which about 6,800 were rescued and dozens are said to have drowned.
Samuel
worked for two years in Tripoli as a housemaid to save money to pay
smugglers for the trip, but then the boat she set off in with about 90
others stalled after only three hours at sea.
By the time they
were picked up by the Bettica off the Libyan coast seven hours later,
she was unconscious after suffering epileptic seizures and had gone into
labour.
“I didn’t expect the baby, you know, but she just like,
she just came,” Samuel said. “I just wanted to leave Libya. Italy is
better than Libya and Nigeria is the worst.”
About her daughter, she said: “God decides, not me … but I believe she will have a more good future in Europe.”
So
far this year more than 30,000 people have reached Italy by sea from
North Africa, mostly Libya. More than 170,000 came last year. The
Interior Ministry has said 200,000 might make it to Italy’s shores in
2015.
While many are political refugees like Syrians, fleeing
civil war, or Eritreans, escaping forced military conscription, others
like Samuel are economic migrants in search of a better life.
She
said her husband, who is still working in Libya, was ready to risk the
sea crossing to be with his daughter and wife as soon as he could afford
to pay smugglers who demand up to $1,500 for passage on an overcrowded,
rickety boat.
culled from PM Newspaper
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