'I'd rather face death in Somalia than be destitute in Hong Kong', says asylum seeker
Rather the threat of death than meagre existence as an asylum seeker, persecuted newsman says
An experience of the worst in humanity was not what Ibrahim Mohamed Hussein expected when he touched down in Hong Kong eight months ago, fresh from persecution in Africa.
On his flight to the city, the Somali journalist was clutching desperately at a remote hope of seeking asylum protection.
Now Hussein, 36, just wants to return to his war-torn homeland in two weeks. A man hardened by life-threatening risks reporting on the front lines of East Africa, he has chosen not to put up with any further "destitution" in the city he had once hoped to call home.
"I begged [for Hong Kong] to let me become a refugee," the former director with Somali broadcaster Universal TV says. "But it's not easy here. I've tried going two days without eating anything.
"If I will starve to death here, I would rather go back to Somalia and die at home."
Hussein has already cheated death once - after he was kidnapped by Islamist insurgents in Somalia's capital Mogadishu in 2009. Only a last-minute phone call to relatives secured his release with an US$18,000 ransom.