Chica Camara fled Sierra Leone but his 10-year-old son was caught and now faces the threat of violence and torture

One night in March, a packed dinghy was afloat in the Mediterranean. Thirty metres ahead was a rescue ship but giving chase was a Libyan coastguard vessel. If it reached the boat it would send its passengers back to Libya and into militia-run detention centres. So they paddled harder, using their hands and feet.

Among them were a father and his 10-year-old son, Chica and Alfonsine Camara. The dinghy crashed into the rescue ship and dozens were thrown into the sea, Chica among them. He looked around frantically for Alfonsine, who had been at his side since leaving Sierra Leone. He screamed as he saw him on the dinghy, now drifting dangerously towards the Libyans.

In a matter of seconds, the fates of a father and son were decided – one human drama among the thousands on the perilous sea routes to Europe.

Camara arrived a few days later in Palermo onboard the rescue boat, the MSF Aquarius. He had made it to Europe. Alfonsine, he believed, was in Libya.

“It was terrible,” Camara told the Guardian. “My son and I left Sierra Leone because I wanted to give him a better future, far from the violence and poverty in my country. And now I find myself here, while he’s in Libya. If Alfonsine is not with me, then our journey was worthless.”

Camara began to search for his son, with the assistance of volunteers at his welcome centre in Sicily. In August came a glimmer of hope: the International Organization for Migration (IOM) had located Alfonsine in Libya. It feared for his life if he stayed there, and could not guarantee his safety for long.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A rescue operation in the Mediterranean in August. Photograph: Guglielmo Mangiapane/SOS MEDITERRANEE / HANDOUT/EPA

The majority of migrants who have arrived in Italy in recent years have been granted humanitarian protection status, which is valid for two years and entitles them to a residency permit and enables them to work. But Camara does not yet have legal status as a refugee so cannot apply for a family reunification with his son.

In the meantime, a bill has been pushed by the far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini that would remove key protections for people like Camara and could lead to deportations.

According to the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, the bill, which passed a confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday, could turn 130,000 asylum seekers currently living in Italy, into illegal immigrants by 2020.

Flavio di Giacomo, the spokesman for IOM Italy, told the Guardian: “IOM workers in Libya are following the case. Unfortunately, the boy has no mother and perhaps no one else who can look after him in Sierra Leone.

“His father’s [case] will be heard by the refugee commission in early 2019, and as long as he remains an asylum seeker, he cannot apply for family reunification. It is a complex case, and the IOM is following it closely. We are searching for the best solution for the boy and to resolve this case as soon as possible.”

Camara is concerned for his son’s life. He is well aware of what can happen to migrants in Libya. “Violence, torture,” he told the Guardian. “And to think that Alfonsine is still there kills me every day.”

For over a year, the Libyan coastguard, supported by Italy, has been patrolling the waters and stopping boats from leaving Libyan shores for Europe. Under the terms of the deal, Italy agreed to train, equip and finance the coastguard.

Amnesty International estimates that about 20,000 people were intercepted by the coastguard in 2017 and taken back to Libya.

Italy’s collaboration to stop migrants has been harshly criticised by human rights groups, amid allegations that it has led to grave human rights violations against those who want to cross the Mediterranean, including torture and slavery.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Italy’s far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini. Photograph: Ettore Ferrari/EPA

The Camaras appear to be victims of the agreement, which is now facing a legal challenge. In May a lawsuit was filed in the European court of human rights alleging that Italy’s work with the Libyan coastguard has subjected people “to inhumane conditions, beatings, rape and starvation”.

In Palermo, volunteers working in the welcome centre where Camara currently lives are doing everything they can to help his family reunification request.

“If Chica’s application is treated as a normal case, then he must first obtain refugee status. Then he’ll have to secure a stable and legitimate job and demonstrate that he can support his son. And years could go by before he’d be able to embrace him again,” said Fulvio Vassallo, an asylum law expert at the University of Palermo.

“Italy needs to make all attempts possible to ascribe special status to his family reunification request. A humanitarian corridor needs to be set up. The child needs to be evacuated as soon as possible from Libya.”

In his attempt to give his son a better life, Camara now risks losing him forever.

“I will never forget the look on my son’s face when the Libyans intercepted the dinghy. I can still hear Alfonsine screaming for help. I will never find peace without him. Without my son, my life has just no meaning.”