Alasco

full interview

My name is Lloyd Tomei and I am the interviewer for the day. And I’m going to be interviewing … 
Alasco.

Alasco, so my first question goes like this. What kind of housing do you live in? Yeah. What kind of house do you live in?
In Barcelona?

Yes.
Well, absolutely. Like before I was living in the street, then after I go to center, but in the center there, you know, they make a lot of things with me. Not me only, but like, with me, my fellow brothers from Africa, you know. So I decided to leave the center. So now I’m living here in this place – this restaurant, San Pau? Yeah.

Okay. Can you describe this condition of the, of this place that you’re living – your condition?
Yeah. I work here in the restaurant then after, after I sleep. But I, I pay for this place because you know, nothin’ goes for nothin’. So I paid for a place like 350 for a month. Then with food, everything. Yeah.

Who do you live with? Do you live with someone in the restaurant?
Yeah. I live with so many people. But, like, the place where I sleep, I live with only one person. Yeah.

How do you spend your time. You work, right?
Yeah. In the morning, like at seven, I go to school. Then 2:30, the school close. Then I come to house. Then at 5:30 I start to work again.

What are some of the things that brings you joy? What brings you joy?
Well, absolutely is like sometime, you know, I feel joy because of my friends, you know, in the school. And sometimes when we meet, like in some places, to see me friends is make me joy. Because every time I’m like, you know, so boring because of I see so many things with my eyes in Spain here.

How has life been since you arrived in Europe and what are you good part and the difficult part since you arrived in Europe?
Well, absolutely the good part and the bad… For me in Spain here. Yes, I know is very difficult to live, for me, yeah. Because I never knew this in my country. It very difficult because I see a lot of discrimination. You know, I see a lot of things. Even police fight me here without doing anything. You know, I’m not the owner of the restaurant. They asked me to close the door. I told them, “No, I can’t because this is not my job.” If the person take me to court, what will I do? Because of that, they fight me, you know? And even in the center where I was living before, the center people, they fight me. They send me to hospital, Then they talk to the doctors that I’m sick. My head is not good, you know, so they take me to the, to the people that mad, you know. But I told them I’m very urgent. Then I know what I’m doing. You know these people, they lie on me. So they asked me, they call one psychology to ask me at night 24 times. I answer the question the same time. So she said, no, this boy is okay. You people have problems with this boy. You want to lie on me, so since from then they send me back to center. But I didn’t have confidence on them anymore. Then they change me to another center. So when I go there, the same thing. They was talking to themselves now. The center where I come from. Then the new center, they talk to themselves. Then after they make me a problem now. So but I record them. I try to record them, but they didn’t know anything. So now I sue them in court with my lawyer. Then I’m waiting for the result. Even the police. I sued them also.

Describe how you feel the first time going through all these things?
Well, absolutely. Sometimes I feel so sad because I’m not closer to my family is the first thing, you know. And secondly, you know, to see people here who are closer to you is not easy. But sometimes I’m happy because I’m with some of my friends. Like we have group, you know, we go to school together. So this makes me very happy because we make a lot funs, you know?

Yeah. The crazy doctor, he, it makes you feel sad, you know, being away from your family and passing through all the discrimination and everything?
Well, absolutely. You know, sometimes I feel so boring because I’m not with my family. And secondly, I see a lot of discrimination, especially in Barcelona here, because I live in many places in Spain here. But it’s not like this, but like in Barcelona sometimes, like the place where I live, when people see you as a your color – they only think negative about you. When they see your color as a black, you are very they think negative about you. They never want even when you’re not a stealer or thief they don’t care about this. They only think all the blacks are the same because I live here more than three years now.

How could you ever have imagined that you would be able to handle this situation? And have you been able to overcome or survive?
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I survived too from good people like Barcelona Actua. Yeah. They helped me a lot on the, wipe the tears in my eyes because they help me like my parents, you know. They help me a lot and they give me all the opportunity to go to school to do everything. And then after, you know, I was here with some foundation like, [inaudible], one of the Music College who I try to be with them and they helped me a lot. So now I associated with so many people like my grandchildren, nurses, and other things like that. So I try to feel good because when I mingle with good people, it’s made me very happy.

Okay. Um, I would like to ask your past, and I want to know why did you leave your country? Can you describe what happened and when you left Sierra Leone?
Yeah, absolutely. This is very clear because it is on internet. We have political issue in our country. We have the nepotism. What is nepotism? It’s like tribalism. Because this is from another tribe, so we can’t take him to do anything. But when there is bitterness, like when there is problem, they take another tribe to put them in problem. So like in Sierra Leone, we are not in peace. They write it in internet that we are the most peaceful. It’s a lie. I lived there. It’s my country, I will never talk bad against my country. We have political issue. The political issue is like when you are from the North, the South they do not like you. Oh yeah. And there is so many ways how I can describe this type of things. Like sometimes like if you are not the Temene, is one tribe’s ethnic groups.

Mhm.
You know, they can’t take you to work in their place. Or if you are not a Mende because they are the largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone this too. So this discrimination mostly from the Temne and the Mende who if they know that you are from the Northern, the Temne are from the Northern, so they calculate everyone as it Temne from the Northern you know, so like, the reason why I leave my country, you know, we I was with my friends on on May, May 14th like that. April 14th or May 14th like that. So we went to beach. Yeah. Your place called Lake Tumbu. Tumbu. Yeah. So they have some political meeting, but we, don’t know nothing about this issue. So we went to the beach right after we meet a riot at town. They take all the young boys to the prison without no reason. When they see you, they just take you to go to prison without no reason. So like for these like the 29th of April, there was a prison riot, so so many people try to escape, you know.

Mhm.
Yeah. I say children because when you go to the prison you will see children like thirteen years. Ten years.

Oh wow.
Oh, yeah. If you don’t believe in, you can see it or you go to the prison, Sierra Leone and you will see without no reason. And there is no lawyer for you to talk for. There is no lawyer that talk for you and even you do not have any judge. You are only there – even to eat good food. There is no food. Yeah.

How did that make you feel at that time?
Well, absolutely. I feel so sad because I lose my friend during this riot in the prison riot that take place in Sierra Leone in 2020. Yeah, because my friend, they killed so many people there. But they don’t talk about this. The government settled it. And anyone that posted on the internet, they catch you, you will die. You the penalty of this is die. So people see it on the internet. What they said is Corona, it’s not Coronavirus because they want to talk, the prison riot/break thing from, know, but I know the history all this, everything that goes there.

How was the journey to Europe. Is there any experience particularly that was difficult?
Absolutely. There is a lot of experience because I face a lot of challenges.

Of you coming to Europe?
I face a lot of challenges, like when I left Sierra Leone to Guinea, Guinea to Mali, Mali to Algeria, Algeria to Morocco. I return back to Morocco, to Algeria, and from Algeria to Spain here.

You follow through the water.
Yeah.

How was the journey or any particular difficulty on your way coming in you can display?
Well, absolutely. From Mali to Algeria in this Arab country is the most difficult way for me but I try to manage to speak their language, because in the Arab’s world, you know, there are some people that good, but of the 100%, only 10% is good from the Arab because I speak their language. I know what they do. They will laugh to you, then they do hypocrite. Yeah. Yeah. And even this Malian people again they, some of them they are not good. It’s not all of them, because I can’t conclude everyone. But they are not good. They trick black people in Mali a lot. Take your money, do everything there. Even the Arab people also.

Yeah. You know, should you think about this event often? Is there something particularly you think about that makes you feel sad?
Well, absolutely. You know, I blame my, my leaders because we don’t supposed to be here because our country, we have so many minerals, you know. So I’m time I blame my leaders while they are treating. We as if we are animals, you know, because Sierra Leone, we have only 8 million population. We have diamond. We have gold. We have so many things. So why we are still poor and why we are still not making up in our country. So sometime if this happened to me is there are countries who I, I feel sad about is their country because they have right where I leave, my country to go to their country.

Does this situation that you face affects you today?
Sometime. Sometime? Yeah. Like the situation in Spain here. It affect me a lot because even in school I don’t understood like before. Like last year, yeah, I was very good in school, you know. I was the first person in the school there so they give me so many things. They said they congratulate me. But, like this year, it’s like I lose my brain a lot because what happened to me in August 6th, 2020… this 2023 when the police has to make me brutality without no reason – beat me, fight me, reality, you know. So sometime I feel embarrass even in school year.

Can you imagine how you’d have been able to imagine the situation of police brutality? Because we’ve seen cases of other people, like, for instance, George Floyd and everything know what happened and…?
Well, absolutely. You know. Let me say one thing. You know, like the white people I’m talking about especially because my name is here. Maybe they will try to ask me again. They never give right to black people. We never have right. They never treat with the same rights they treat their brothers. Could you imagine, I’m not a worker in the restaurant. It’s just a barrier to buy something. Why a policeman can ask me to close the door? Am I a police? Did I do any police job? I didn’t do police job. I don’t know your law in your country. But because of this, they fight me. They talk everything. Then they sued me in court. Me too. I sue them in court. Because I have my videos, you know? But they never do this to their brother. You will never meet someone, some white color in in the door of a restaurant. They will ask them first. “Who is the owner of this restaurant?” But assume they know you are black. You are not important to them. Yeah, because this, you know, one thing that they did try to do, like in Africa, they said, we have freedom. We do not have freedom. We have freedom because they don’t win then they themselves, they have freedom. But we, we have freedom because they don’t win. You know, how can you say you have freedom in your country but you don’t have freedom of speech? When you speak you go to prison. When you talk about your government, what he’s doing with your mineral, they put you in prison. But in Europe, they do. You can see them in the street when the government don’t do anything good. They go to the street. Nobody older. But in our continent, I say, Africa. When you go to the street, they will kill you with live bullet. It happened in August 10th, 11 in Sierra Leone in 2022. Just watch it on the internet. After that, I did try to lie to people – no, the people go to the street because of rioting. They want to make riot to police, no. You can see police are shooting people live. Yeah.

How are you able to survive or get it? Have you created any kind of strategy, coping mechanism that can handle these difficulties?
Well, absolutely like sometimes…

 Where do you, you find your strengths?
Yeah, I find my strength too from some of my friends that give me good advice and like. They’re good people I’m with in Barcelona. They are like my parents. And I will never forget them because they do a lot for me. You know, they beat a lot of chance for me, you know, for me to be in a good way. Because anything they told me when I was with them, I do it. Yeah. And like for this, sometime I feel nerves. Like at night I don’t sleep sometimes. Yeah, I don’t sleep. When I think about what happened with me in Spain here, particularly like the police and the [inaudible] guard or that fight me in the center, not one time, not two time. So I think sometime, “Ah, Spanish people are not good,” but is only thinking what me I know in any country or any community there are good people, there are bad people. Yeah. Yeah.

So before you, the events that occurred that you left your country, what was your dream? I want answer “that my dream was”.
Yeah, but my dream was very clear because I play for Sierrea Leone 14 or 15 – the time I was in Sierra Leone. I play against Senegal. I play against South Africa. Yeah. And I even have my lessons.

 So like “my dream was…”
My dream was to play football and to study because I was studying and play football.

So when you were leaving home, what was your dream for the future? I want you to answer “my dream that”.
Yeah, okay. My dream was like the first dream I have – I want to be a footballer and study a lot. Yeah. To make my future bright.

So right now, I wanted to say that “I dreamt that”.
Yeah. Like, for now, you know, I lose my dream because of the conditions in Spain. So, yeah.

Conditions like?
I don’t have too much privilege to play football like before. Because in my country I only go to school and I play football, but here I need to pay for, for it, for the place where I sleep. And I have responsibility to buy clothes for myself. Everything. Yeah.

I know what you have been through seems really difficult. And do you feel that you have grown in any way to result in these kind of experience? Has anything at all positive come out of it?
Absolutely. You know, as an African for me. Even if you try to assault me like to do something bad against me – you know I will never give up. Because I know life – there is nothing without reason. Maybe they do to their own reason. They don’t know for tomorrow. Then I think about my future. And I think about my friends. You know, there are so many people that live in Spain here, more than ten years, 20 years. They don’t have document. They face, a lot of challenges sleeping in the street. So I think it’s not only me. Life is a challenge.

Yeah, absolutely. I want to ask this question. Is there anything else that you’d like to do to help people in you better understand the life of refugees here?
Well, absolutely. You know, just that. You know, this is not our, mind like to be in Europe here, know I want to live a better life. Like the time I was in my country is not that everybody leave this country because of both poverty, no. Some people, they are in their country. They live good. But the other thing – let the population know that some migrant they came to Europe because of certain reasons. They need to help migrant. They have reason. They don’t have reason, but they need to help them.

Like refugees.
Like the refugee. Yes. Because a lot of things happen. And, you know, but one thing I want to talk. You know, like as an African, we don’t have good journalist that talk against the the bad leaders in Africa because we have a lot of bad leaders because even you asylum. The people here, the Spanish people, they don’t know anything. They don’t even go to, to search that what happened really in this place, they only caught case because they don’t like you as a black. Is that because we see example from Ukraine when they come here? No interview. They have document, they give them everything. But as a black when you come from Africa, even your country have war. They need to interview. So that’s why I said we don’t have freedom. It’s not only in Spain here. The entire U.S.A., the Western people here. European is not only Spain. I’m not talking about Spain only. You know, they keep on manipulating something against African. And this is not the way. It’s not like before. Now technology so everything – when something happened today, tomorrow, people will see it because of technology. They need to stop that. We are not doing slave trade. Slave trade is is finished – it has finished for a while. You know, everybody need to be in peace. But if they think that because of their color, they need to be peace more than blacks? It doesn’t end well. You can see Africa, what is going on now. You can see Niger, they dread France because of this. Could you imagine? Niger is one of the most poorest countries in the world, but they have so many I know they have so many things to make electricity. France take everything from them. Look at Mali. They have gold. They have so many things. They dread France because of this. When you come to their country, some of them, they teach their children, “Black, we are not good. We are like this.” My friend told me, I have a white friend here. He told me, he said, My father told me before, “Black, you are not good. But I know you now, you are very good.” He told me that. He told me “My family told me never play with blacks. They are not good.” So it’s like they are teaching their children about black people. And we never do this in our continent. We all are welcome them. Well, so I don’t know.

Thank you very much. Yes. Thank you.
You’re welcome.

For sharing this. Yeah. Good interview. Yeah.