Tragedy on Lake Turkana: Mothers Mourn Daughters Lost to Smuggling

As the grim reality of human smuggling unfolds around Lake Turkana, the story of Senait Mebrehtu serves as a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers faced by migrants. After losing her daughter Hiyab in a tragic lake crossing, Senait's journey highlights the negligence of smugglers and the desperation of families fleeing Eritrea.

As the evening light dimmed over Lake Turkana, mourning enveloped Senait Mebrehtu, who mourned the loss of her teenage daughter, Hiyab, who tragically drowned while attempting to reach Kenya via a precarious new smuggling route. The Eritrean mother, who found asylum in Kenya three years ago, felt compelled to visit the site of her daughter's death, laying flowers into the lake's greenish-blue waters.

Senait had managed to flee religious persecution by arriving in Nairobi with her younger children, leaving her older daughters behind due to fears of conscription. Urged by her girls to reunite, she turned to smugglers, paying for their risky journey from Eritrea through Ethiopia before ultimately attempting to cross Lake Turkana, a route becoming increasingly popular among traffickers.

A female smuggler confirmed to the BBC that Lake Turkana has turned into a significant crossing point and referred to it as the "digital route," highlighting its recent popularity in the smuggling network. These traffickers, primarily moving vulnerable individuals fleeing countries like Eritrea and Ethiopia, now take advantage of heightened border patrols by utilizing the treacherous waters of the lake.

During Hiyab’s crossing, the vessel crammed with over 20 migrants capsized, leading to the death of seven people, according to Osman, a fellow migrant. "The cause was pure negligence," Senait lamented, emphasizing the reckless practices of smugglers. Reports of migrants' bodies found floating in the lake cast a shadow over the thriving human trafficking operations that prey on desperate families.

Within the ongoing crisis, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, reported a staggering 345,000 Eritrean refugees escaping military conscription and oppressive regimes in East Africa. The current political instability in neighboring Ethiopia and Sudan has exacerbated the flow of refugees seeking safety and opportunity.

In her heartbreaking narrative, Senait calls upon others to reconsider sending their children with smugglers, drawing attention to the dangers present in the journey. The female smuggler, reflecting on the dire situations of the migrants, expressed a conflicted morality over her role in facilitating such risks even as she benefited financially.

Ultimately, Senait Mebrehtu remains a grieving mother, scarred by the loss of Hiyab amid widespread peril. "May God heal our land and deliver us from all this," she intones, speaking on behalf of countless families facing perpetual hardship.