How journey to French island turned deadly for Somali beauty salon owner

Beauty salon owner Fathi Hussein’s family in Mogadishu is mourning her tragic death after an ill-fated journey to the French island of Mayotte.

Her attempt to migrate using smugglers ended in catastrophe, leaving her family grappling with unanswered questions.

Fathi’s stepsister, Samira, revealed in an interview with the BBC that Fathi left Somalia's capital on November 1, flying to Mombasa, Kenya, before embarking on a perilous journey across the Indian Ocean.

Her family expressed confusion over her decision to undertake the dangerous trip, noting she was a successful businesswoman in Mogadishu's Yaqshid neighbourhood.

Samira disclosed that Fathi had kept her plans secret, confiding only in a younger sister after paying smugglers with earnings from her beauty salon.

However, 14 days later, reports from survivors reached her family, revealing that Fathi had died from hunger during the harrowing two-week ordeal after refusing to eat raw fish or drink seawater.

According to survivors, Fathi died in one of two small boats that had been abandoned in the Indian Ocean, adrift for about 14 days.

"We were told by survivors that she died from hunger," the 26-year-old's stepsister Samira said as quoted by the BBC.

"People were eating raw fish and drinking seawater, which she refused. They [the survivors] said she started hallucinating before she died. And after that, they threw her body into the ocean.”

24 lives lost

The smugglers had reportedly left the overcrowded boats with more than 70 passengers stranded. Fishermen off Madagascar’s coast rescued 48 survivors, but 24 people lost their lives, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Survivors recounted that the migrants initially boarded a large boat in Mombasa. However, when the vessel supposedly developed mechanical problems, the smugglers transferred them to two smaller boats, assuring them the journey to Mayotte would take just three hours.

Instead, it turned into a two-week ordeal that claimed Fathi’s life and those of others.

Some survivors believe the smugglers intentionally abandoned them at sea after receiving their payments.

Samira described the ordeal as an act of betrayal, adding, "They [the smugglers] had no intention of taking them to Mayotte."

IOM official Frantz Celestin highlighted the risks migrants face on the route, noting that this year has been particularly deadly for those attempting the crossing.

Celestin said migrants often transit through Comoros or Madagascar before embarking on the final leg to Mayotte.

Khadar Mohamed, a Somali who survived the same route last year, also shared his terrifying experience.

After fleeing Somalia due to threats from the Al-Shabaab, he spent 14 days in a boat owner’s house in Madagascar before being taken to the ocean alongside other migrants, including Somalis and Malagasy nationals.

The journey to Mayotte, often costing around $6,000, is falsely advertised on platforms like TikTok as a safe passage aboard large boats. However, victims’ families report the use of small, unstable fishing boats, locally known as "kwassa."

Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, has pledged to assist survivors and facilitate their return home.

Meanwhile, Fathi’s family reported a suspected smuggler in Mogadishu, but despite his arrest, he was released on bail.

For Samira, the grief remains unbearable. "I wish she could have told me why she decided to go. She didn’t even say goodbye. Now, I’m left with so many questions and so much pain," she said.

Fathi’s death highlights the growing dangers faced by migrants pursuing better opportunities, with many paying the ultimate price for their dreams.