![The refugee beaten and conscripted into Putin's war machine The refugee beaten and conscripted into Putin's war machine](https://cdn.magzter.com/1588175420/1722559301/articles/yqV51SU5U1722580750661/THE-REFUGEE-BEATEN-AND-CONSCRIPTED-INTO-PUTINS-WAR-MACHINE.jpg)
Elmi flew to Russia and then travelled overland to Belarus, from where he aimed to cross into Poland, often considered a safer route to Europe than the Mediterranean. But instead Elmi suffered months of hardship. He recounts being beaten up by border guards, forced to spend weeks living in a forest and watching a young Somali woman in his group die from lack of medical attention.
Elmi thought his decade-long history of journalistic work and the threats he had received at home would be sufficient to make a claim for asylum. In 2010, he was forced to flee his home town in Beledweyne region when it was taken over by the jihadist group al-Shabaab.
In 2015, there was an al-Shabaab raid on the town where Elmi lived, his former wife Muna said. "I was pregnant and feared for my child," she said.
"I saw some people leaving the town and left with them... I didn't think my husband survived the attack." She lived in Nairobi, before travelling to Norway and then Germany, where she and her son received refugee status.
This story is from the August 02, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 02, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![Bring it on home Led Zep's first biopic Bring it on home Led Zep's first biopic](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1994228/cwWCyC6eC1739527274768/BRING-IT-ON-HOME-LED-ZEPS-FIRST-BIOPIC.jpg)
Bring it on home Led Zep's first biopic
How were the famously interview-shy rock gods persuaded to take part in a film about their early success with the band telling their own story?
![Dead souls Dead souls](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1994228/VhA8nwtQw1739527695718/DEAD-SOULS.jpg)
Dead souls
The Nobel laureate bears witness to Korea's traumatic past as one woman's quest is told through haunting, harrowing imagery
Object lesson
An expat couple curate their lives by plants anc Radiohead LPs in this deliciously pessimistic chronicle of Berlin life
![Legacy of violence Legacy of violence](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1994228/V9S8Aamd61739527891320/LEGACY-OF-VIOLENCE.jpg)
Legacy of violence
A seething and erudite-but flawedindictment of the west's role in the creation of Israel and everything that has flowed from it
![The right are wrong on climate-why is the UK following their lead? The right are wrong on climate-why is the UK following their lead?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1994228/m-RmJUS8d1739526496610/THE-RIGHT-ARE-WRONG-ON-CLIMATEWHY-IS-THE-UK-FOLLOWING-THEIR-LEAD.jpg)
The right are wrong on climate-why is the UK following their lead?
If you care about the world we are handing on to future generations, the news last Thursday morning was dramatic.
![Power pointe Power pointe](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1994228/yjoK-gNIw1739527390894/POWER-POINTE.jpg)
Power pointe
Ballet has always been more than just a job for Carlos Acosta. And as director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, he is trying to make it bigger than ever
Borders can't contain the devastating, destabilising crisis engulfing Sudan
As Sudan approaches its third year of civil war, the dynamics are shifting.
![Heroes to villains Heroes to villains](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1994228/1fXPV8KQj1739526894889/HEROES-TO-VILLAINS.jpg)
Heroes to villains
With 13 Oscar nominations, Emilia Pérez's cast and crew should have been flying high. Then came a social media scandal and a fearsome backlash
![Bukele's rise Strongman who became the darling of the right Bukele's rise Strongman who became the darling of the right](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1994228/OBh-j6afd1739517423232/BUKELES-RISE-STRONGMAN-WHO-BECAME-THE-DARLING-OF-THE-RIGHT.jpg)
Bukele's rise Strongman who became the darling of the right
Five hours after being shot in the belly, a Haitian accountant sat in a Port-au-Prince emergency room pondering how his homeland might be saved.
![Trump is fuelling lethal fantasies of driving people from their land Trump is fuelling lethal fantasies of driving people from their land](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1994228/VtQdz1rm61739519916128/TRUMP-IS-FUELLING-LETHAL-FANTASIES-OF-DRIVING-PEOPLE-FROM-THEIR-LAND.jpg)
Trump is fuelling lethal fantasies of driving people from their land
The shock and awe continues and it only gets more shocking and more awful.