Activists in Somalia have launched the social media campaign #DontBuyDeath

As hundreds of Somali people died by drowning trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea while fleeing from Egypt to Europe, a group of activists from Somalia has launched the #DontBuyDeath social media campaign to increase awareness on the risks migrants take when seeking refuge in Europe.

Abdunir Mohamed Ahmed, activist and journalist from Mogadishu, explains the social endeavor:

“We were consoling the family and praying for the deceased. We wanted to raise the public awareness of youth, because most of the people emigrating to Europe nowadays are using social media and they are seeing beautiful pictures from Europe and America and that will tell them that is a better place to live and this is a better life. They are buying death because they are paying at least $10,000 to get to Europe. That money could be invested in the country and could establish small businesses. And at the end of the day, some of them are going to die and be washed away by the Mediterranean Sea.”

People are currently fleeing from Somalia, as terrorists attacks by al-Shabab have killed 14 people in Mogadishu and 20 people at a local beach resort.

Despite dangers in the country, Ahmed hopes that #DontBuyDeath social media campaign will convince its nationals to remain in Somalia and build a life with any means, rather than die in the Mediterranean Sea.