Hargeisa, Somaliland - Outside his two bedroom
house made of tin in the heart of Hargeisa, capital of the breakaway Somaliland
region, Kosar Dhool cuts an exhausted figure burdened with events far heavier
than his slim frame can bear.
The father of five has been receiving phone calls from his
son, Hamza, who has been captured and held for ransom by human smugglers in an
unknown location in Libya.
"He called to say they are going to take out his
kidneys and sell them for money if I don't pay the $2,100 ransom," Dhool
told Al Jazeera, sitting on a plastic chair under a tree that barely provided
shade from the boiling midday sun.
Hamza, 18, is a bright high school student with much promise
ahead of him. He is well-liked in his neighbourhood and everyone here is in a
state of shock at his capture.
For the past two years, Dhool had been working extra shifts
to save up enough money to send Hamza to university in the hope he would then
be able to help the family support his younger siblings.
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