Refugee Bah, lands in Rhode Island

 

By Ryan D. Murray

 

 

 

KINGSTON – Omar Bah started out interviewing people in The Gambia. Now he is the one being interviewed all over Rhode Island. Bah, a refugee, escaped from a government that was going to kill him.

 

Bah grew up in the poor areas of The Gambia, located in Africa. He used to walk miles without shoes just to get to school. There was little opportunity to go to school.

 

Bah has always been passionate about knowing what is going on in the country he resides. At the time he was living in The Gambia, food was scarce for a lot of people, and there were few hospitals.

 

Bah read a lot of books in Irish and British literature that made him want to grow up in a country that would provide him with opportunities. 

 

The president in The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh is Muslim, the majority religious party in that country. The other 10 percent is made up of Christians, Catholics, and Animists.  Jammeh is accused of arresting and torturing people. Bah wrote international stories highlighting Jammeh's actions and his disapproval of it. Bah became recognized, despite knowing that it would put him at risk to be arrested or killed. 

 

“I think the government system sets the agenda of the media,” he said. "After six years of journalism in The Gambia, the most unexpected happened. In my country they started shooting at people, shooting and killing journalist in The Gambia. And that changed the game.”

 

No matter how brave Bah was, he was not willing to be killed. “I had to go missing forever or die, so I embarked on an escape journey,” he said.

 

It was a very tough afternoon for Bah on Monday, May 29, 2006. He was 26 years old when he rushed out of his office and went to Serekunda, the biggest city in The Gambia. At one point, people at his workplace were calling, telling him not to go near the office because people had already started going there looking for him.

 

“Coworkers called me to explain to me that there were soldiers that were actually ripping apart the ceilings to see whether I was inside hiding inside the office,” he said.

 

Bah’s friends recommended that he go to the American Embassy for protection, but he wasn't able to because of the distance. Instead, he chose to try and leave the country. It was the biggest risk for Bah, but it was the best opportunity for him.

 

Since it was really late that Monday night, Bah decided to leave the country at that time. He had to cross ferries and bridges to make his escape.

 

Bah encountered many soldiers when he crossed a bridge to get to Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. He managed to get into a minivan despite other vehicles having soldiers searching them to find Bah. 

 

While Bah was seated in a minivan with 14 other passengers, a soldier carrying a gun searched the van. The soldier demanded everyone in the van to show their ID. He explained that he was looking for somebody. Bah was sitting in the back of the van, and was the last passenger to be checked. When the soldier pointed his torchlight and gun at Bah, he recognized him.

 

"The soldier was so scared that the gun he was holding was shaking," Bah said. The soldier had been a schoolmate of Bah’s ten years earlier. With that, the soldier asked the van to leave.“So that is how I saved my life,” Bah said.

 

Bah would not release the name of the school or soldier who helped him, saying that the man is still living in The Gambia and Bah does not want to put him at risk. 

 

From there, Bah went to Senegal, the closest country to the Gambia. It was easy for him to navigate because The Gambia and Senegal speak the same languages.

 

Three days after Bah’s arrival in Senegal, The dictator of the Gambia was on TV and he again announced Bah as a “Wanted Person.” Bah’s pictures were plastered on the newspaper, radios and the TV.

 

This caused the Media Foundation For West Africa, and the Institutional Federation For Journalists to come together and help Bah move out of Senegal. They wanted to help because they felt he was too close to The Gambia, and that he could be easily reported and brought back.

 

“At least six people took me to the airport to make sure that I was safe,” Bah said. “It was just a scary moment.”

 

After spending 11 months in Ghana, Bah was moved to America, after the American Embassy located in Ghana, picked up his case.  Bah suspects the stories that he wrote about an attempted coup by the Gambian military were what angered the Gambian leader.

 

The chief along with some of his friends in the military tried to overthrow Jammeh but failed; only the chief survived. When the president of The Gambia comes to America for the yearly United Nations meetings, Bah still uses his freedom of speech to protest against the Gambian leader. Last year when the dictator came to New York in September, Bah, along with twelve other Gambian refugees, protested outside of his hotel.

 

Bah now lives in Providence, Rhode Island. He assumes that he was sent to the smallest state in the country because he was from the smallest country in Africa.

 

Since coming to Rhode Island, Bah has joined many organizations that advocate for the rights of refugees. Among the concerns of Bah are settlement services, healthcare, and housing.

 

Bah has been in America for six years. He is mostly identified now as an activist more than a journalist.

 

Bah has not spoken to the soldier that helped him to escape. “I know who his friends are, and I know how to get to him, I have to thank him personally,” Bah said.

 

Due to the nature and popularity of the story, he has decided to write a book about his experiences. It is called Africa’s Hell on Earth and it was published in 2014. 

 

Bah will be giving the Annual Christiane Amanpour Lecture on Global Journalism at URI in Kingston on March 27 at 7 p.m.