He was searching for his sixteen-year-old nephew, who had disappeared while trying to reach Saudi Arabia through one of the most dangerous migration corridors in the world.
Every year, tens of thousands of Ethiopians travel this route, crossing arid stretches of Ethiopia and Djibouti, the Gulf of Aden and war-torn Yemen.
Many are fleeing conflict, displacement, poverty or climate crises.
Others are swayed by false promises spread by traffickers who profit from desperation. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the eastern route has become increasingly violent, marked by kidnappings, extortion and systematic abuse.
Jamal rests in a migrant shelter in Djibouti.
Jamal’s nephew was one of those kidnapped. Kidnapped in Yemen, the boy’s captors demanded a ransom. The family paid, but the boy was never released.
So Jamal followed him and went to look for him.
“I had no choice,” he says. “My brother didn’t have any more children. I had to go after him.”
In search of the traffickers
In Yemen, Jamal deliberately put himself in the path of traffickers, hoping they would take him to the same place where his nephew was detained.
The plan worked. He was reunited with the boy, although he pretended not to recognize him to avoid suspicion. As Jamal began planning his escape, he helped other captives escape. Before he could escape, he was caught.
The punishment was immediate and brutal.
Jamal was forced to witness other captives being beaten, mutilated and burned.
Jamal receives treatment for his injuries at a migrant shelter in Djibouti.
Then it was his turn. His captors wrapped his feet in plastic and set them on fire, again and again. The burns left permanent damage, affecting the way he walked, slept, and lived the memory of that night.
His escape occurred only because clashes broke out between rival trafficking groups. In the midst of the chaos, Jamal and his nephew fled.
Clothes believed to be discarded by migrants lie in the Djibouti desert.
After months in Yemen, surviving by washing cars to earn enough money to leave, Jamal finally arrived in Djibouti. There, he was referred to an IOM Migrant Response Center in Obock, where he received medical care for his injuries and psychosocial support to begin processing what he had endured.
For the first time since her ordeal, she says, someone asked her not only where she came from, but also how she was coping.
Today Jamal is preparing to return to Ethiopia.
He still hasn’t told his mother what happened. Even now, his concern is for her, not himself.
“She saw me leave in good health,” he says. “I’m worried she’ll see me like that. I’ll have to explain it to her gently.”