a study of irregular migration through europe to britain

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Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship 2010

A better life?

A study of irregular migration

through Europe to Britain

Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi



Contents

1. INTRODUCTION

6. FRANCE

3. GREECE

2. BACKGROUND

4. ITALY

7. CONCLUSION

5. SPAIN

8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Why I chose to write about asylum and migration for my WinstonChurchill Travel Fellowship

Some context. Why write about immigration and why now

Greece is the main entry point for irregular migrants travelling to

Europe. What happens when they get there?

What happens to migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea once

they get to Italy?

Hundreds of migrants heading to Europe are trapped on Spain’s

tiny enclaves bordering north Africa. Why?

What happens to irregular migrants in France trying to smuggle

themselves int Britain?

A summary of my ndings and conclusions

A list of thanks and acknowledgements

1

3

7

20

29

38

46

56



a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship to sup-

port my research into these questions.

Doing my initial research for the project I

realized that indeed the European Union had a

role to play in helping Britain manage immigration.

In fact, for 20 years the European Union has been

moving (very slowly) towards a Common EuropeanAsylum System to better manage the continent’s

handling of refugees and irregular migrants.

One of the major developments of this was

the Dublin II regulations rst mooted at a meet-

ing of EU bureaucrats in Dublin in 1990, and later

revised in 2003. The idea was to create a pro-

cess to determine which European Union coun-

try was responsible for an asylum application

made in Europe. Under these rules the state of

entry takes responsibility for processing an ap-

plication. So when an asylum seeker enters theEU, his or her ngerprint is taken in the coun-

try of entry and stored in a database. If the asy-

lum seeker tries to restart an application in a

country other than the one he or she entered,

they are sent back to the country of entry.

The authors of Dublin felt that whichever

country someone sought asylum in would re-

ceive more or less the same treatment because

all EU countries could at least provide a fair and

humane asylum system aligned with the princi-

ples of the European Convention on Humanrights and the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The EU has since created many direc-

tives trying to harmonise standards of process-

ing asylum and immigration applications, creat-

ing best practice and providing protection for

those not protected by the refugee convention.

The documents setting out these various di-

rectives are certainly noble in aspiration. The

decision in the late 1990s, for example, to cre-

ate an area of “freedom, justice and security

in the European Union” was too include non-EU citizens, because to deny them freedom

would betray Europe’s “liberal tradition”.

And yet many European countries fall far

short of this tradition; Britain has opted out

of several asylum standard directives.

The latest phase of the EU’s ambition to

INTRODUCTION

At the start of this century Britain

was faced with an explosion in the

number of people migrating to its

shores. Most came to work or study,

while others ed conict or persecution.

Though the numbers have since eased,

the lasting effect has been a palpable sense of public unease with immigration. Politicians

have repackaged this hostility into a series of

policies, which have served only to hurt the

most vulnerable of the migrant groups: asy-

lum seekers and undocumented migrants.

This group is often overlooked in po-

litical debates about immigration, which tend

to focus on numbers and myths. The silence

means many live in abject poverty; are left to

languish for months and even years in im-

migration removal centres; are subject toeconomic exploitation, and are denied suf-

cient legal redress for their grievances.

What has struck me is the dispar-

ity between the discussion being had by politi-

cians and the media, and the miserable real-

ity of life for those increasingly marginalized

by what was once one of the most liberal

and welcoming societies in the world.

Even more puzzling is trying to recon-

cile the images of sub-Saharan Africans drown-

ing in the Mediterranean and Chinese mi-grants freezing to death in trucks entering

Britain, with the political rhetoric about bogus

asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.

As a journalist I felt that the media

should play a more responsible role in its re-

porting of immigration. The right questions to

ask seem obvious to me but are never asked.

Why do people risk their lives to get to Brit-

ain? Who are they? Are there too many of

them and if so what can be done about it?

And, because Britain’s borders extend acrossthe European Union, is this a British phenomenon

or a European one? Why did so-called ‘illegal’ im-

migrants enter Britain without papers? How does

policy towards irregular migrants affect asylum

seekers who also travel without papers?

It was for this reason I applied for

“

”1



it needs to better understand why people trav-

el, develop ways to work with source coun-

tries and exercise fairer foreign policies.

And for ordinary British people, hearing

such stories, instead of the relentless scare-

mongering from the tabloids, might lead to a

better understanding, particularly in communi-ties where there is a real fear of immigration.


September 2011

INTRODUCTION

create a common system is scheduled for com-

pletion by 2014. The effect would be that which-

ever EU country an asylum seeker makes an

application to, they would receive a similar

standard of treatment. However, one MEP I in-

terviewed admitted that this was a long way off

and the deadline was unlikely to be met.With my Winston Churchill trav-

el fellowship, I decided to get away from

the bureaucracy of Europe and the super-

cial debate in the UK and speak to migrants

themselves to answer my questions.

In January and Ferbuary 2011 I spent

two months in France, Spain, Italy and

Greece. I interviewed undocumented mi-

grants, asylum seekers, NGOs, govern-

ment ofcials and border police.

I chose to visit Spain, Italy and Greece be-cause of their position as border countries to

the European Union and thus the most popu-

lar entry point for irregular migrants. I picked

France because it is here that many migrants

end their journey and try to enter the UK.

I decided to focus on asylum seekers and

migrants entering Europe irregularly, who are

the people dened in popular discussions as ‘il-

legal immigrant’. I focus on both asylum seekers

and migrants. While they leave their countries

for different reasons, in Britain, and across Eu-rope, they are treated similarly by authorities un-

til one is granted full refugee status. They also

complete the same migration routes and use

the same entry points into Europe. Throughout

my report where I refer to ‘migrants’, ‘irregular

migrants’ and ‘asylum seekers’, I am talking of

those entering the country without papers.

One of the aims of my project is to con-

tribute to political and cultural debate on immi-

gration in a way that the media has thus far failed

to do. To that end I have written my report upin a journalistic style as series of feature articles.

I hope my research will shed light on the mo-

tives and experiences of irregular migrants jour-

neying through Europe to get to the UK. This is

important for the UK in many ways. If the govern-

ment is serious about plans to control immigration,

“

”2



LET’S TALK ABOUT

IMMIGRATION

“The new army of global migrants is not the conscious, politicized international working class

that Marx imagined in the 1848 Communist manifesto. Nonetheless, there is a sense in which

‘globalization from above’, driven by powerful countries and transnational corporations, is now

being paralleled and to a degree subverted by ‘globalization from below’, driven by the enhanced

mobility of labour.”

Migration and its Enemies: Global Capital, Migrant Labour and the Nation-State Robin Cohen 2006

SHEER MOHAMED TANHA is ecstatic. “I

am in UK. I am in Manchester,” he says over

the phone in his perfect English, spoken

with a thick Persian accent. It is an aston-

ishing feat. To reach Britain, Sheer Mohamed has

deed the Taliban, mountains, rivers, Europe’s high

tech border patrol, Calais’s unrelenting migrant

police and the UK Borders Agency (UKBA). I rst

met him living in some woodlands just outside

Dunkirk where he waited with other asylum seek-

ers for the chance to stow away to Britain.But Sheer Mohamed won’t make it into

any record books; hundreds of thousands of mi-

grants and asylum seekers make similarly dan-

gerous journeys each year, all drawn to Europe,

and many to Britain. Mostly they are driven by

a burning desire and hope for work, freedom

and success. Borders, immigration caps and

points-based skills systems mean very little to

them.

Most have idealized Britain not

just as a land of opportunity, but as a place

where liberty, justice and decency prevail. As one

Eritrean asylum seeker sleeping rough in Calais

put it: “It is better for me to go to England, even

when they reject me, they treat me well.”

But back in the UK, the mood is very

much against this sort of hospitality. In a re-

cent Ipsos MORI poll 71% of Britons said thereare too many immigrants in the UK, 62% said

immigration had made it harder to get jobs

and 76% felt immigration had placed too much

pressure on public services. For many Brit-

ons immigration is a major concern even in-

uencing the way they vote in elections.

The dramatic increase in migration to Britain

BACKGROUND

3



since the mid-nineties explains some of this

concern.

According statistics from a European

Commission report on migration to the UK,

net migration between 1997 and 2006 was

around 1.6 million, peaking in 2004 at 244,000

with the enlargement of the European Union.This gure does not include those seeking politi-

cal asylum.

The report also shows that asylum appli-

cations to the UK shot up from 46,015 applica-

tions in 1998, mainly from Serbia and Montene-

gro, Somalia and Sri Lanka, to 84,130 in 2002, with

nearly 15,000 of these from Iraq alone. Asylum ap-

plications have been steadily falling ever since; in

2010 there were just 22,085 applications. To put

these numbers in context, South Africa alone re-

ceived 222,000 asylum applications in 2009.But context, facts and gures do not fea-

ture in public discussions about immigration.

What drives the anti-immigrant sentiment in one

of the most charitable nations in the world?

Politicians play a role, who are in turn inu-

enced by partisan campaign groups and the press.

Opposition politicians use immigration as a tool

to whip up anti-government sen-

timent during elections. It is the

bread and butter for far right

parties like the British Nation-al Party, whose agship policy

is to stop all immigration.

Moderate parties use it to

illustrate how the government

of the day has failed to keep the

country safe and secure. Hence

the evocation of the bogus asy-

lum seeker and the illegal im-

migrant; both are criminals and

seek to invade the country.

However, the debate hasbecome more nuanced in recent

years and questions are being

asked about the cultural and socio-

economic effect of immigration on

white working class Britons.

There is a growing consensus

in centre-left politics that immigration

has played a role in pushing down wages

for the low skilled and imposed unwant-

ed cultural changes in communities.

Several senior labour politicians have

blamed the party’s defeat in the 2010 election on

their failure to grasp the importance these issues.In opposition, the party is working hard to

distance itself from its perceived image as ‘soft’

on immigration. An inuential thinker within the

party, Maurice Glasman, recently told the Daily Tel-

egraph: “Britain is not an outpost of the UN. We

have to put people in this country rst.”

I

ndeed Britain is not an outpost of the UN.

According to UKBA, Britain gave ref-

uge to just under 5,000 asylum seekers in

2009. This amounts to barely one percentof the 15 million refugees worldwide.

Though asylum seekers and migrants who

enter the country irregularly make up a tiny

proportion of migration to the UK, this is the

group that resonates most with the public.

Most often the public are fed

stories about asylum seekers who

have committed a heinous crime

but cannot be deported to a war-

zone or despotic regime, these

then come to symbolize theproblem with immigration.

But when they are left to

make up their own minds, most

Brits are less hostile to migrants.

The Institute for Public Policy

Research found that in areas with

high immigration people were less

likely to vote for the far right anti-

immigrant parties. And when an

irregular migrant made it through

to the nal stages of the populartalent show X-Factor, a national

media campaign was launched to

stop her being deported.

This illustrates the big-

gest problem with immigra-

tion in Britain: perception.

Whatdrives anti-

immigrant

sentiment

in one of

the most

charitable

nations inthe world?

4



The issue of immigration and its effect on

British society has been chopped and changed

till its suits the agenda of those discussing it.

Rarely are facts and gures used in their prop-

er context; rarely are immigrants properly de-

ned, rarely do we ask pertinent questions.

In Britain the failure to ask the right questionshas created an information decit about the most

vulnerable groups and how they treated not just in

Britain, but as they make their journeys here.

It took nearly 10 years, for example, before

politicians agreed to end the detention of children

for immigration purposes.

Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister

and leader of the Liberal Democrats, called the

detention of children for immigration pruposes

“state sponsored cruelty” and promised to stop

it. And there is plenty of evidence to show thedamaging effects on the children involved.

Medical Justice, a charity of independent

doctors supporting people in immigration remov-

al centres, found that children held in these cen-

tres experienced serious psychological harm. The

charity assessed 141 cases between 2004 and 2010;

the children involved spent an average 26 days in

detention. Symptoms included food refusal, in-

creased anxiety, self-harm, bed-wetting and per-

sistent crying. Three girls attempted suicide.

Another issue rarely discussed is the in-creasingly long periods adults are being kept in

immigration removal centres. As of June 2011,

2,685 were held in immigration removal cen-

tres across the UK according to Home Ofce

statistics; it is UK Border Agency (UKBA) pol-

icy to hold people for the shortest time possi-

ble to facilitate removal. But there are a num-

ber of people who cannot be removed. Stateless

people, for example, refused entry to their

countries of origin. Many languish in detention,

which costs the government around £40,000 ayear, according to the independent monitoring

board at Harmondsworth removal centre.

As of June 2011, 143 people had

been in detention for one to two years,

and 74 had been held for two years or

more, according to Home Ofce statistics.

“A big gap in the whole of the European

system,” says Jean Lambert, the Green Mem-

ber of the European Parliament for London,

“is what do we do with people who don’t have

refugee status whose claims don’t meet the

standards either for that or humanitarian pro-

tection, but who cannot be returned becausethe country they should be going back to

wont recognise them. What do you do you?”

JOHN, (not his real name) an African man

in his late twenties, has been in immigra-

tion detention for nearly two years.

In 2010, the UK Border Agency made a

cursory attempt to deport him. The authori-

ties in his home country refused to accept him

and so he remains, locked in limbo. Prior to hisincarceration, John worked illegally, without pa-

pers, in a food-packing factory. He worked hard

and was promoted to quality control.

But with promotion came the stress and

misery of living a life of deception that became

too much. In the end, he tried to leave Brit-

ain with a false passport, seeking a fresh start

elsewhere. He was caught, imprisoned for 12

months and then sent to an immigration removal

centre where he has remained ever since.

“I’m coping by the grace of God, oth-erwise I would have gone mental by now. And

two people have died in space of one month,

because they could not cope,” he says.

Suicides in removal centres and hunger

strikes do not make the front pages, but the

death of Jimmy Mubenga did. A father of ve liv-

ing in Britain since 1994, Jimmy died while being

deported to Angola in 2010. He was accompanied

on a ight from Heathrow by two private securi-

ty guards. According to the Guardian newspaper

Jimmy was forcibly restrained by three securityguards and was shouting that he could not breathe

before collapsing and losing consciousness.

For years charities supporting immigra-

tion detainees have accused the private securi-

ty rms employed by UKBA of using excessive

force when deporting people from the country.

5



With Jimmy’s a death came an oppor-

tunity, the Home Ofce is now conduct-

ing and inquiry into restraint measures used

during deportations and removals.

Another issue is access to legal advice for

asylum seekers seeking citizenship. The British

government’s austerity plans includes large cutsto legal aid, which will make it harder for asy-

lum seekers to get proper representation.

On top of that in the last year, the two ma-

jor charities providing free legal advice for refu-

gees and immigrants have led for administration

leaving tens of thousands without representation.

Recently the Law Society, a body represent-

ing solicitors in England and Wales, wrote to UN-

HCR complaining about the treatment received

by asylum seekers and their representatives at

the UK’s Asylum Screening Unit in South London.In a letter published in the Guardian, the Society

said: ”In recent months [we have] received re-

ports of asylum seekers who are nding it increas-

ingly difcult, if not impossible, to register their

claim for asylum, or who experience what ap-

pear to be quite unnecessary difculties ...”

One of the biggest concerns is the fast track

system introduced by the previous government to

deal with the massive asylum backlog they inher-

ited and the inux of cases earlier in the decade.

Fast track means that asylum seekers with sim-ple cases are detained from start to nish of the

application process to make it easier to deport

them soon after a decision if necessary.

According to Detention Action, a Lon-

don-based NGO, the government’s fast

track system is in need of reform. In a re-

cent report on the issue, the group says:

“The UK is one of the few coun-

tries in the world which detains

people from the moment they claim

asylum to the minute they are re-

moved from the country. UK gov-

ernment policy now states that from

arrival at a detention centre the

asylum process should take 22 days.

“In contrast, the evidence that

Detention Action gathered

from detainees shows over half of

the people they interviewed were

detained, mostly without access to

legal advice, for two weeks, and onequarter were detained for 3 weeks

before the asylum process had even

started..”Most asylum seekers struggle to navigate

these hurdles. Osman Rasul, an Iraqi Kurd, cap-

tured the British media’s attention by throwing

himself off a tower block in Nottingham last year.

He had lost legal aid to continue his asylum ap-

peal, still unresolved since his arrival in 2001.

There have been three suicides at immigration re-

moval centres across the UK this summer.

What happens once they leave the sys-

tem? Many rejected asylum seekers or immi-

grants without papers live in destitution or

work for rogue businesses for little money.

In February 2011 Oxfam reported that

large numbers of refused asylum seekers were

living in extreme poverty. It is against the law for

them to work so many are exploited by employ-

ers, sometimes receiving as little as £1 an hour.

Oxfam blames the government’s asylum poli-

cy for their destitution and exploitation.

Only during the asylum process does the

British government provide most asylum seek-

ers with accommodation and food vouchers

worth around £35 a week. But it is also ille-

gal for them to work during this time, increas-

ing the chances of them living in poverty.

SHEER Mohamed Tanha is now being held at

an immigration removal centre. The plucki-

ness that set him apart from his friends in a

muddy eld outside Dunkirk is wavering and

he sounds tired. He could soon be a plane back to

the war torn country he wanted to escape.

If we look back on his journey through

Europe and nally to Britain, has he been

treated fairly? And should Britain’s response

to the plight others like Sheer be different?

6



WE AREHERE

AND

WE AREHUMAN

MOHAMMED SULTAN arrives inGreece early one cold January

morning. His hazel eyes are sad and

downcast, his feet and trousers cov-

ered in mud and he can barely stand upright.

In faltering English, he asks softly, “If I go to

the police station, will they deport me?”

The 38-year-old left his wife and children

in Palestine, and paid nearly $2,000 to get to Eu-

rope. The plan now is to nd work, start a new

life, so they can eventually join him. It sounds

simple, but on a chilly morning in a sleepy vil-lage in northern Greece crawling with border

police and the air heavy with Greece’s econom-

ic woes, it seems impossible. How much fur-

ther will this weary man’s hope take him?

Mohammed and his friend Ahmed crossed

the River Evros, which divides Greece and Turkey,

the day before in a tiny inatable boat with eight

Greece is like a big concentration

camp for irregular migrants and asylum seekers, according to one

politician I interviewed in Athens.

It is such a terrible comparison,

could there really be any truth in it?

7



other people. Having dodged Frontex, the Eu-

ropean border police, the two men walked for

miles through the night, across the sprawling

farms that back the river, following the railway

line till they came to the village of Soui.

They are not alone. Straggles of people

shufe through Soui’s deserted streets, hun-

gry eyes downcast, hugging themselves against

the winter chill, searching for Athens. Their

muddy feet give them away. Locals say many

migrants pass through their villages usually

very early in the morning or very late at night.

“There are lots of immigrants passing through,

but they create no problems for us,” says local

butcher Raphael. He is more concerned about

the economy. “There are no jobs. Every day

shops get closed. People have no money.”

Yet a few streets away Ersham is blissfully

unaware of this.unaware of this. “We want to

work, we want freedom, we want a nice life.”

That is why he left Layounne, another deserted

village, in Morocco. “We are poor people,” he

says when asked why he left home. The 20-year-

old is euphoric; he hasn’t slept for two days,

his feet are caked in mud but he cannot stop smil-

ing. His two friends are more cautious, they look

older, and less certain that the most difcult part

of their journey is over. The three are trying to

use water collected in a small puddle to clean

their shoes and trousers. A baker opens up his

shop nearby and looks unsurprised at the scene.

Speaking in French, Ersham says they must clean

their shoes to prevent the police from catching

them and sending them back to Morocco.

MOST European countries think there

are too many migrants knocking at

the door, but Greece has the stats

to back up its complaints. Between

75-90% of migrants entering the European Un-

ion in 2009 came through Greece. According to

Frontex, the EU’s border patrol, this is up from

50% the year before. Greece’s citizen protection

ministry reported that 95,000 entered the coun-

try from January to September last year.

The Greek government’s response has been

to focus on its 206km border with Turkey, which

includes the River Evros and a 12.5km strip of

“ We want to work,

we want freedom,

we want a nice life.”

Ersham, 20

8



land, where 47,000 migrants entered in 2010.

George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minis-

ter, has mooted the idea of a fence on the

land border to stop people getting in. The

UNHCR and other NGOs have condemned

the idea, fearing it would incur huge human

costs and hurt genuine asylum seekers.But the human cost of crossing the bor-

der between Greece and Turkey is already high;

45 people died trying to cross in 2010. Often

smugglers crowd inatable boats with people

and send them across the River Evros. They

aren’t given life jackets and many drown if the

imsy boat bursts. Others die from the cold and

sheer exhaustion from their journey. In the rst

two weeks of this year alone the frozen bod-

ies of four young African men were found.

Georgios Salamagkas, a formidable man witha heavy moustache and a penchant for cigarettes,

heads up the police directory of Orestiada, a city

in Northern Greece just a few kilometres from the

border. His ofcers have felt the pressure as the

number of migrants entering this tiny area explod-

ed from 3,500 in 2009 to 36,000 last year.

The role of the Greek police is to con-

trol immigration but often they are forced to

rescue desperate migrants trying to cross the

border. Salamagkas remembers last summer

when he sent rescue teams to 42 migrants hud-dled on a tiny island on the River Evros, aban-

doned by people smugglers. As they waited the

water rose around them, some tried to climb

trees for safety. Others had cell phones and

called relatives, who then called the police. Re-

ceiving those calls was terrifying, he says.

Salamagkas has pictures of frozen bodies

being shed out of the river. “They drown in the

river to cross the border to reach a better life. You

feel sad about the drowned people but you also feel

anger for the trafckers who do not take the meas-ures to keep human life safe. If they put them in life

jackets they would be safe, it costs just €3.”

Partly to blame for the problems in Greece

is the government’s failure to cope with the in-

ux of asylum seekers and migrants over the past

decade. But also to blame is the sudden change in

90% of irregular

migrants and

asylum seekers enter the European Union

through Greece

migration routes, a result of Italy and Spain making

deals with countries in North Africa to stop mi-

grants reaching their shores. This has meant mi-

grants from sub-Saharan Africa, north Africa are

joining those from the Middle East and Asia, and

choosing to enter Europe through Greece.

Reluctantly the European Union (EU) hastaken some responsibility for Greece’s porous

borders. In October last year Frontex, an inde-

pendent body responsible for managing the EU’s

borders, sent 175 ofcers from all over Europe

to “increase the control and surveillance lev-

els at Greece’s external border with Turkey”.

What does this mean on the ground?

FRONTEX patrols in Greece are stationed

along the border with Turkey, while ofc-

ers patrol the border villages waiting forclandestine migrants. One Greek police

ofcer is relieved Frontex have been sent to

help. They have made her job considerably less

hazardous. “Imagine on this road of 12km, 400

people trying to cross the border. Imagine it

was only two or three patrols [each patrol has

eight people] to guard the border line,” she says.

“Imagine the job they have to do inside of the

immigration station. Fingerprints, pictures, nd

the countries … it was a little bit difcult.”

The Frontex operation is slick; policemenin military observation towers monitor the area

with thermal vision cameras. If they see any mi-

grants, they radio ofcers on the ground. They are

reluctant to talk on the record about their work,

and say very little about the politics of their situ-

ation. How, for example, can distinguish between

9



the asylum seekers and ‘unwanted’ migrants?

One Frontex ofcer explains that if any

migrants are spotted, they are “prevented”

from crossing. How? “Just by being there,” he

replies. So the EU’s border security is there to

frighten away people trying to enter Europe il-

legally. But what if they aren’t afraid? The ofc-er shrugs. He adds: “They stay and they try to

convince us to let them come here to Greece.

It is not our job to let them come through. Our

job is to prevent them from coming here.

“If they touch Greek soil and as a result Eu-

ropean territory, then the only thing we can do is

to arrest them. The orders are specic, there is

no violence. And they usually don’t run. As long as

they are coming to Greece, they don’t want any-

thing more, they just stand there and you tell them

follow us and they follow. It is very simple.”

THE European Union is rooted in a

commitment to liberty and justice,

every EU directive relating to immi-

gration and asylum reminds members

states of their shared commitment to the 1951

Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol. The

following excerpt is from a European Coun-

cil report on meetings held at Tampere in 1999,

where ofcials rst agreed on the need for a

unied approach to asylum and immigration.

“Our job is

to prevent them

from coming

here.”

Frontex patrol ofcer

in Greece

how the migrants are treated

if the tussle at the border ends

in their favour, and they man-

age to set foot on Greek soil,

they are bundled into a Fron-

tex four by four and dropped

off at the nearest town.

As the sun rises over one

such town, Nea Vyssa, several

Frontex ofcers and Greek

police, wait, drinking Greek Nescafe and watching for

muddy-footed migrants.

Also up early is Mr Four-

glias, who has run Nea Vyssa’s

bakery for 35 years. He has

plenty of stories about the

Discussing freedom of move-

ment it said:

“This freedom should

not, however, be

regarded as the exclusive

preserve of the Union’s

own citizens. Its very ex-

istence acts as a draw to

many others world-widewho cannot enjoy the

freedom Union citizens

take for granted.

“It would be in contradic-

tion with Europe’s tradi-

tions to deny such freedom

to those whose circumstances

lead them justiably to seek ac-

cess to our territory.”

Increasingly the EU’s approach to irregu-

lar non-EU migration betrays these principles.

Lumping together immigration and border secu-

rity in practise means that keeping Europe safe is

equated with stopping migrants getting in.

This in turn has led to the criminalisa-

tion of migrants. An asylum seeker, for ex-

ample, becomes a criminal the moment

they enter Europe without papers.

In the words of Andrew Geddes, a migrationexpert and professor of politics at Shefeld Uni-

versity: “There may well be other consequences

of the focus on reinforcing territorial borders, as

efforts to tighten external frontier controls may

make it increasingly difcult for asylum seekers to

enter the territory of EU member states.

“This is in turn risks creating the previously

unknown category of the ‘illegal asylum seeker,

because the only routes of entry will be those

rendered ‘illegal’ by member state policies.”

In Greece this criminalisation dictates

10



bedraggled migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan,

and sometimes Somalia, that turn up intermittent-

ly in the village square, in a neighbour’s garden or

hidden in abandoned buildings. “They come here

wet and ready to die. They come because they

think will nd something better,” he says.

A few hours later, a windowless vanparks up next to the Frontex coach with the

rst migrant of the day. The driver releases a

bewildered young man, who says he is from

Palestine. His ngers are pink from the bit-

ing chill of northern Greece’s winter. Under-

neath his jumper, his chest is bare and his trou-

sers are held together by a piece of rope.

After being searched, he is sent on the

coach. A few times a day, depending on the

number of people to make it across the bor-

der, the Frontex coach delivers them either toan immigration reception centre in Filakio.

Greece’s reception centres can detain mi-

grants and asylum seekers for up to six months

when they rst arrive in the country. There are cen-

tres all over the country, but people who cross at

the border are usually sent to Filakio or a police cell

in one of the small villages along the border.

HALF a mile down the road from a police

cell holding migrants in the village of

Tychero three brothers sit huddled un-der an old bus shelter. The shelter offers

little relief from the icy cold, but two of the brothers

manage to smile, pleased at their freedom.

Rubbing his pink ngers together and shiver-

ing in his thin trousers and jumper, the eldest broth-

er Wahwdmure explains that they come from a

poor family in a small village in Pakistan. They left

home to nd work in Europe and arrived in Greece

three days before, after a long, difcult journey

through Afghanistan, Iran and eventually Turkey.

After crossing the River Evros they walkedfor hours until they were arrested and taken to

Tychero police station. “Tomorrow we will go to

Athens, inshallah,” says 23-year-old Wahwdmure,

beaming. His youngest brother Shafqatrehman, is

stony faced, his eyes red, tired and full of suspicion.

They are reluctant to reveal their nal

11



Using medical data collected while work-

ing in several centres in northern Greece (in-

cluding Tychero), MSF Greece found that more

than 60% of diseases they diagnosed were as

a result of centre conditions such as over-crowding, poor hygiene, water and sanita-

tion problems, and lack of ventilation.

Ioanna’s boss, Reveka Papadopoulou went

so far as to call it a “medieval hellhole”.

“Men, women, babies, families [and] pregnant

women are detained under miserable conditions

that have no precedent in ‘civilized’ Europe,” she

wrote in an open letter to the prime minister.

“Médecins Sans Frontières meet these peo-

ple in the countries of their origin and crossing

-Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Morocco...We know rst-hand the entire ‘desperate’ journey

they make to escape the brutality and misery and

it is with unspeakable grief that now we see our-

selves forced to help them in our own country.”

destination, but their perfect English and lack

of Greek suggest they have not arrived.

Approaching the police station where

the three brothers were held, Wahwdmure’s

stoicism seems incredible. The stench of urine

hovers before you even enter the building. A

menacing, armed security ofcer guards the

cells, adamant that Greece’s reception cen-

tres are banned from the public, an order thathas come straight from the government.

Outside, however, at the top of the build-

ing, a strip of thick rusted bars reveals the young

faces of the inmates. They call out excitedly at the

sight of possible visitors. “Take the photos,” they

yell. The guard storms out ending all communica-

tion; a string of insults in broken Greek ring out

from behind the bars: “Malakas, malakas!”

Last year conditions in receptions centres

deteriorated so badly that the Greek govern-

ment allowed Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)to intervene providing much-needed health and

hygiene care for people detained. MSF’s doctors

were aghast at what they found. “No human being

should be subjected to such treatment,” says Io-

anna Pertsinidou, MSF’s emergency coordinator,

who worked in Evros, for several months.

“Every day we are seeing people who are

obliged to stay for weeks or even for months

in extremely overcrowded and squalid cells,

without the right to go out in the yard … while

the heating often does not work, leaving mi-grants freezing in sub-zero temperatures. In

one of the detention centres, the toilet often

does not work and excrements ood sections

of the cell where migrants live and sleep.”

At Tychero police station more

than 100 men, women and children were

held in cells designed for 35 prisoners.

More than 100 men,

women and children

were held in cells

designed for 35prisoners

12



“It makes me sad. The rst

day is always sad, but the second

day is better because they set-

tle in. They have nobody to help

them. If sometimes a mother

needs milk for her baby, we give

them money.

I don’t know why these people

come to Greece. Where will

they live and sleep? How can they

go to Athens? There is always

someone in Athens telling them

to come. There is no work for all

these people.”

Reception centre guard, Greece

WHEN released from the recep-

tion centres migrants are given

a piece of paper in either Greek

or English which says they must

leave the country within one month. The ones

who have no money are released onto the

streets, where they rely on the kindness of vil-lagers for food and directions to the nearest

city bus station in Alexandropolis. At the Filak-

io reception centre, the inmates with money

can buy a bus ticket for €65 to Athens.

On the afternoon of a big release from Filak-

io, around 50 migrants from the Congo, Afghani-

stan, Senegal and Iraq desperately try to squeeze

themselves on a coach bound for Athens.

Away from the connes of the reception

centre the hope that bought them to Europe re-

turns. Everyone is happy and they are expecting

better luck in Athens. Hadim, 30, from Senegal,

is able to laugh as he remembers the horror of

crossing Evros on an inatable boat with 20 other

people. “Man, if you laugh, the boat will fall. Don’t

laugh, don’t laugh,” he says. Hadim paid a smuggler

in Istanbul $100 to help him get to Greece.

Uhmert, above, an 18-year-old Af-ghan, is less jubilant; he found the journey dif-

cult and at times regretted leaving his fam-

ily. Why did he leave? “You know why our

country is not good for living,” he replies.

He paid out a total of $6,000 to various

smugglers as he made his way across the Middle

East to Europe. His young face looks suddenly

tired when another Afghan says he paid $2,000.

The smugglers take what they can get. Hadim

simply said he had no money, so the smuggler in

Turkey was happy with his $100, while Uhmertpaid $1,500 at this stage of his journey.

This is not the end of Uhmert’s difcul-

ties. He and the others will join the tens of

thousands of migrants already in Athens with-

out papers. He might escape to another Eu-

ropean country, but a wave of anti-immigrant

13



In effect Greece receives around 80,000

irregular migrants a year, processes very few

of them and prevents them from leaving.

More than 250,000 “illegal” asylum

seekers and migrants live in and around Ath-

ens, according to the Red Cross. Many sleep

in the city’s grand squares and picturesque

parks, others seek shelter in abandoned build-

ings. The lucky ones pay to rent rooms.

Conditions vary, for example, in one placea group of 70 people share around 80sqm. They

pay daily (€3), weekly (€10) or monthly (€70).

Others talk of 20-30 people sharing one or two

rooms.The ats are usually in the most run down

parts of Athens, hidden away from the glitz of

shops and café bars of the city’s central district.

C hristos Neradzakis’s detached house

backs a series of undulating elds lead -

ing to the River Evros. His daughter Chris-

tine lives close by in a two-storey house heconverted for her. Over the years both have

witnessed hundreds of migrants making the

journey from Turkey. Most of the migrants

want to go to police because who they ex-

pect to get their papers and enter paradise,

Christos says. Like many villagers from local

Greek border towns, illegal immigration is

huge part of their lives. They often feed and

clothe the more desperate migrants.

feeling across the continent means it is un-

likely he will be able to settle unless he is

one of the few given refugee status.

While economic migrants form part of

irregular immigration to Greece, the major-

ity of immigrants come from Afghanistan, Pal-

estine, Somalia, Iran and Iraq. People fromthese places have a strong claim to asylum.

Yet the number of asylum seekers recognised

as refugees in Greece is less than 1%, the low-

est in the European Union. The inference is

that there are many genuine asylum seekers

who the Greek system is not recognising.

Compounding this problem is the Euro-

pean Union’s Dublin II regulation. Under the

Dublin system, asylum seekers can make only

one asylum claim and that must be in the rst

EU country they enter. On applying for asylumtheir nger prints are taken and stored an EU

wide database. If an asylum seeker has had his

ngerprints taken in Greece, but leaves for Brit-

ain and tries to register there, he will automati-

cally be deported back to Greece where he will

have less chance of being granted asylum.

This problem is exacerbated by the fact

that more migrants are entering through Greece.

Up until a year or so ago, border countries such

as Spain and Italy dealt with most asylum applica-

tions from people who entered Europe ‘illegally’.But since Spain and Italy made special agree-

ments with North African countries, who prom-

ised to guard Europe’s borders from Africa, it is

almost impossible for migrants to enter Europe

across the Mediterranean. Instead they travel via

Turkey and enter Europe through Greece and

their chances of asylum are diminished.

AFTER being released from recep-

tion centres, migrants have one

month to leave the country. Un-less they know someone in Greece

already, it is nearly impossible for them to

access a lawyer to help appeal the permit

and make an application for asylum.

If they do nd out how to make an applica-

tion, the place to do it is a centre on an industrial

14



In one such area, 24 people from Iran and Af-

ghanistan share a few unfurnished rooms. The din-

gy at is on the third oor of a grey block of ats on

a faded street near Victoria Square, a tense ghet-

to shared by immigrants and poor Greeks.

There are no beds or even mattresses; they

all sleep on a tatty rug covering a wooden oor.Once a week they can use the shower and there is

a kitchen, though they have very little to eat. Two

young women sit crossed-legged on rug, adjusting

their headscarves shyly, they tell their story.

Like many Afghans in Greece, they have

tried to start afresh in countries closer to home.

Both women and their families lived in Iran for

years before trying their luck in Europe. They

recount the familiar tale of discrimination and

poverty for Afghanis in Iran. Esmarael, 25, and

her husband sold everything they owned and leftthe country with their three children. The tough-

est part of her journey was the seven-hour walk

through mountains in Iran and to the border with

Turkey. It took 15 days to get to Greece.

Having been in Greece for ve months Es-

marael feels trapped and is desperate to leave.

She and her husband can’t nd work, they have

no social assistance from the Greek government

and their applications have joined a queue of

thousands, some who have been waiting years

for a decision. Until a decision has been madeon their application, they cannot leave the coun-

try legally because they have no papers. They

paid their life savings to people smugglers and

have no money left. It is better to die there than

come here, she tells people back home.

Farida, the older of the two women, says

her family never intended to stay in Greece.

The smugglers put them on a boat from Tur-

key, which was supposed to take them to Italy.

After 16 hours oating aimlessly in the Aegean

Sea, the boat began to sink and they were res-cued by Greek coasts guards and taken to one

of the Aegean Islands. Four people drowned.

Farida’s voice cracks, and she begins to cry

and words tumble from her mouth. She is the

picture of despair. She gestures towards her

The

toughest part of

Esmarael’s journey

was the seven hourwalk through

mountains in Iran9-year-old son, a silent sweet-faced boy with

dark circles under wide eyes. He is ill, but eve-

ry day he must go out and sell cigarette light-

ers. “That is the best he can do now.”

“We don’t have any more hope forour lives. The best hope is for our

children, even though they don’t have

any hope because they are so depressed

living here.”

Farida, Iranian refugee living in Athens

15



Farida’s story is one of nearly 70,000who are waiting for the Greek government

to make a decision on their case. Some get

so desperate that try to leave the coun-

try with whatever papers they have or with

fake ID. Most fail and are sent back.

O

NE breezy evening, in one of

Greece’s open squares, a crowd

of Afghani men and boys gath-

er talking animatedly.

News has just come in that 22 – that’sthe ofcial number but sources here say it is

closer to 60 – Afghans went missing after their

boat (carrying more than 200 people) hit dif-

cult conditions sailing from Corfu to Italy.

Hamid, an Afghani who has a family friend

on the boat, is depressed and angry. “I don’t

know what to do. We came together here [from

Afghanistan]. His family said take care of my son.

He was a young boy aged 18 years,” he says.

“There are many problems, security, war… lots

of problems [in Afghanistan]. Because of that Icame here to this horrible country. I wanted to

stay in Iran. [But they] never accept us.

“Then I came to this stupid country.

There is many problems here especially for

families.” Hamid has been living in Greece for

three months with his wife and two-year-old child.

THE Greek government adopted a “stu-pid mentality” where they didn’t want

to be seen as a country sympathetic

to refugees, argues Spyros Rizakos,

who runs an NGO in Athens. At the same time

they did not want be seen to be breaking inter-

national and European covenants protecting the

rights of refugees. So they only processed cases

from countries they could easily reject.

The situation may seem dire, but there is

hope. Earlier this year the European Court of

Human Rights’ ordered Belgium to pay a ne forreturning an Afghan asylum seeker to Greece.

This follows moves by several European countries

including the UK, Sweden and Ireland to stop

returning asylum seekers to the country.

Meanwhile, Greece’s socialist government

has drawn up a new asylum law, taking asylum

and immigration out of police control and setting

up a new asylum ofce. There will be a commit-

tee specially trained to screen asylum applicants

and the UNHCR and other NGOs will be per-

mitted to sit in on asylum interviews. The lawabolishing right of appeal on asylum claims has

been scrapped. And there will be a 3-6 month

time limit on rst instance decisions.

Having worked in asylum and refu-

gee issues for a decade and struggled to

keep his organisation aoat, Spyros is cynical.

16



Working with a small team from his small,

sparse ofce downtown Athens, he regular-

ly receives calls from the airport to help mi-

grants returned to Greece under the Dublin

II regulations. Their most recent case was a

torture victim returned from Hungary.

Spyros thinks the new law is ambitious and

expensive, which means it could take years to put

in place. “Under the present situation and from

our experience we doubt if these plans will be re-

alised. We are very worried and skeptical.“We need practical solutions that can be

immediately applied and then we can see other

more ambitious plans. But what we have is ac-

cess blocked, the system not working, reception

conditions very bad. [The government] should

nd ways to address this situation immedi-

ately, to address this humanitarian crisis.”

But the asylum crisis in Greece is not a

national issue, it is European. If the EU wanted

to force Greece to change things, they could,

but they are more interested in keeping peo-ple out, thinks Spyros. He points out that the

EU very quickly managed to force the govern-

ment to implement a tough, unpopular aus-

terity budget at a time of high unemployment,

if they can do that, “How come they can-

not do the same for the asylum system?”

“The EU managed to force the government

to implement a tough, unpopular austerity

budget at a time of high unemployment, if they can do that, how come they cannot do the same

for the asylum system?”

Spyros Rizakos, lawyer in Athens working with asylum seekers

17



Greece is better than Senegal

Cheikh Gadiaga, 26, nds life tough in Greece. “There are some people [migrants]

here who have never worked. It is very hard here; I think there other countries better thanhere. But we can’t leave, because we don’t have papers.”

Cheikh ew to Turkey from Senegal and then crossed the border into Greece, telling patrol

police that he was from Somalia. “They ask where are you’re from. You say another country

so they will not deport you.” Cheikh, a trendy-looking man wearing jeans, a snug t-shirt and

a sparkly scarf loosely draped round his neck, says he is in Greece to earn money to help his

family back home. “Senegal is a poor country. There is no work.” He barely makes a living

selling fake designer bags, which he buys wholesale from “Chinese people”. Some days he’ll

make money, others a loss. He hates it. “Anything is better than my work,” he says.

Every day he is stopped by police. He proudly shows off his ID, a shabby pink piece of paper

allowing him to work but giving him no permanent status or visa. Cheikh wants to leave

Greece and join friends who are working in countries like Italy and Spain. “I want to leave

to go to another country because it is not easy to work here. I have asked for a visa. Every

day I try. It is very hard. I will keep trying.”

W E THOUGHT WE WERE GOJNG TO SWITZERLAND

Yasmin left Iran for Europe with her Afghan husband and their two young

children. They walked for days through the mountains in Iran, always fearing

capture and deportation. From Turkey they crossed the River Evros to Greece,

where they were arrested and spent a month in a reception centre. They paid

a Greek man €4,000 to “organise” their trip from Iran. Yasmin hopes to nd

him in Greece because they don’t know how to get to Switzerland, which is

where he promised to send them.

Yasmin says she has no problems with her country and doesn’t want to

claim asylum. But as she is married to an Afghan, life is difcult in Iran. She

hopes her husband, a teacher, will be able to study and teach in Switzerland.

Her family have been given a deportation order to leave Greece within onemonth.

PROFILE

18



OUTSIDE the Greek ministry for

citizen protection around 20

armed police ofcers formed two

semi-circles around 15 Afghani

men, women and children preventing them

from leaving a small area of pavement.

Ten of them were blue-uniformed ordinary

ofcers with at caps, riot shields, sneers and

cigarettes – they formed the inner circle aroundthe Afghans, stopping them from leaving the tight

space. The outer ring was made of 10 riot ofcers

in green khaki and wearing helmets with shields

and carrying guns and canisters of tear gas.

The Afghans are asylum seekers caught up

in Greece’s notoriously slow asylum system. They

were on their way to a meeting with the minis-

ter to present their demands: that their applica-

tions for asylum are looked at. The 15 represent

a group of about 100 men, women and children,

some who have waited years for a response.Since November the Afghans have set up a

small protest camp outside Athens University in

Leoforos Panepistimiou, a busy street forming part

of a popular shopping district in Athens. On 29 De-

cember 2010 six of them sewed their lips together

and went on hunger strike. They are desperate.

There are very few jobs and most live hand to

PROFILE

mouth. Without papers, they cannot leave

Greece legally to look for work elsewhere.

A ministry ofcial arrives and says the minister

will speak to ve representatives. Three Afghans,

Petros Konstantinou, an Athens politician, and a

representative from a doctors union go inside.

The Afghans left look tired, but hope-

ful. Reza is there with his wife and children in-

cluding a 6-month-old baby daughter. “We

want to show that we are human and we

are here in Greece,” he says wearily.

But Sam, a condent 25-year-old Af -

ghan in a Nike hoody with a sticker say-

ing ‘asylum is my right’, says, “We are not

afraid [of the riot police] because we were

in a bad situation in Afghanistan.”

After three hours, the ve return with

nothing. The minister did not show up. In-

stead two senior ofcials told them to

come back at the end of the month.

The hunger strikers look crestfallen and tired.

Two of the strikers are whisked to hospital.

Afghan protest against Greece’s asylum chaos

19



TROUBLE

INPARADISE

All that stands

between Africanmigrants and

Europe is the

Mediterranean Sea.

What happens

when they turn up

on Italy’s shores?

20



BY EARLY January 2011 everyone

had left Lampedusa. Life for the

sleepy Italian island’s 6,000 inhabit-

ants would return to normal. Once

again the only visitors were moneyed tour-

ists, rather than destitute Africans.

One of the charities to leave was MédecinsSans Frontières, who decided to close its of-

ce after the island went from receiving nearly

40,000 migrants in 2008 to barely any in 2009

and 2010. The 850-place migrant holding cen-

tre, once bursting with 1,800 people, stood

closed. Islanders said it closed after inmates set

re to it during riots during the summer. If any

migrants make it to the island they are shipped

immediately to holding centres in Sicily.

Before the silence, people from all over Af-

rica entered Europe through Italian and Spanishislands in the Mediterranean, despite the thou-

sands who drowned at sea before them.

A laudable aim of the European Union’s

asylum and immigration system is to build bet-

ter partnerships with the countries whose na-

tionals try to enter Europe irregularly.

The dramatic drop in migrant numbers in

2009 and 2010 were a direct result of the Ital-

ian government’s decision to create a special

partnership with Libya. The Friendship Treaty

between Libya and Italy was signed in 2008.As part of the agreement Libya promised to

stop all asylum seekers and migrants getting

to Italy. The Libyans, one of the few coun-

tries in the world not signed up to the refu-

gee convention, were chillingly efcient.

“When we came to Libya I thought that we

were free, but we were not free,” says Abdarrazaq,

a 26-year-old Somali refugee living in Sicily.

The softly spoken economics gradu-

ate left his home in Somalia and travelled

to Italy via Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya.It took 10 days to cross the Sahara desert

into Libya in a 4x4 car with 29 other frightened

migrants all fearful of being caught without pa-

pers. On arrival in Libya things got worse.

“We were put under house arrest.

There was a man who captured us and said

if you don’t pay $600 you die.”

While unprepared for the violence, Ab-

darrazaq knew he would need a lot of cash for

bribes. One of Somalia’s middle class, Abdarrazaq

was not rich enough to escape Kenya like many

wealthy Somalis do, but as a teacher he earned

enough to save for his journey to Europe.Abdarrazaq insists his prisoners were not

ofcials or policemen. “All Libya [is] like that. They

capture the people and they say to you if you don’t

pay the money, you stay here, in his house. In this

house there is a family. This is normal how they do

it because they get money from the people.”

The Libyans who caught his group beat

them until they agreed to pay up. “One per-

son, one man got his leg broken. He refused to

do what they say. Then nally he paid $400.”

Before nally escaping Libya in a boat to Italy,this episode was repeated once more. Abdar-

razaq was also captured and beaten by po-

lice ofcers, imprisoned for three days until he

handed over $1,000. More than a month later

he was nally able to leave Tripoli on a boat

bound for Italy carrying around 300 migrants.

“When

wecame to

Libya I

thought that

we were

free, but we

were not

free.”

Abdarrazaq, a 26-year-old

Somali refugee living in Sicily.

21



Like manyItalians,

Tunisians

have been

fed a false

image of

Italy

Abdarrazaq’s story tallies with UNHCR

reports on Libya’s brutal treatment of migrants

and with stories recounted by other migrants

who travelled through Libya. One young Eri-

trean refugee working for Caritas in Calais re-

fused to discuss the “horric stories” that from

his time in Libya. Those without cash to briberogue ofcers and smugglers, are left to languish

in Libyan jails or abandoned in the desert.

Though Muammar al-Gadaf has been de-

posed, it is unlikely his policy of pushing back

migrants and asylum seekers crossing Libya on

their way to Europe will end. The Libyan Na-

tional Transit Council has promised the Italian

government that once stability has returned,

the ‘push-back’ of migrants will resume.

But while Gadaf’s vengeful prom-

ise to ood Europe with Africans has notcome to pass, the Arab Spring has impact-

ed migration to Europe in other ways.

One week after Tunisia’s former presi-

dent Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ed

the country, a trickle of Tunisians

began arriving on Lampedusa island.

forcing the centre back to its former over-crowd-

ed state. Many migrants sleep on the streets be-

cause there is nowhere else for them to go.

Struggling to cope with numbers the Ital-

ian border police sent some of the earlier arriv-

als to the mainland by plane causing a stir among

commuters at Lampedusa’s tiny airport.The airport is small, almost claustropho-

bic, about the size of a corner shop. On one side

are two check-in desks, on the other is a security

barrier and a metre from that is the door leading

to the plane. So when an ofcer from the Guardia

di Financa, Italy’s coastguard, enters the airport,

claps his hands three times and ushers in 32 Tuni-

sians, all of Lampedusa’s commuters fall silent and

openly gape at the men in astonishment.

The Tunisians are quite young, in their

late teens or early twenties, and carryingsmall plastic carrier bags with their belong-

ings in. Two policemen herd them over to

check in. They look exhausted, red eyed and

hunched over; some appear relieved.

The pilot of the plane explains that the refu-

gees will be own to Palermo and then taken to a re-

ception centre in Porto Empedocle in Sicily.

The rst boatloads car-

ried around 30 or more young

men, all looking for work.

Like Gadaf, Ben Ali hadmade various pacts with Italy

over the years, one of which was

controlled immigration. Now he

was gone there was little to stop

the country’s ambitious and un-

deremployed young men seek-

ing their fortune in Italy.

Initially determined to keep

the holding centre closed, the

coast guard shipped the Tunisians

immediately to Sicily by ferry ormade them stay in local hotels,

which were empty of tourists be-

cause of the time of the year.

In the weeks following this

report, at least 5,000 Tunisian

refugees arrived in Lampedusa

It is the rst time in all his years y-

ing to and from the tiny island that

he has carried “boat people”.

Under the surly gaze of theguards, one of young men ex-

plains in faltering English why he

left home. The social turmoil fol-

lowing Ben Ali’s departure, he

says, and because there is simply

no work. And the “police are vi-

olent”. I am not happy, he adds,

my family are in Tunisia.

The general view among

the men is that they will work in

Italy. Under Ben Ali it was dif-cult for many Tunisians to leave

the country and most couldn’t af-

ford papers to do so legally.

According to Mauro, a

Lampedusan resident, many Tuni-

sians have a rose-tinted view of Italy.

22



If a migrant’s claim is refused, he has ve days to

leave Italy. If after this time, he is caught again by the

police, he is arrested and given a prison sentence

for staying in the country illegally. On comple-

tion of the sentence, the migrant is deported.In July 2009, the government drew up a

new immigration law giving Italian doctors the

authority to report migrants without papers to

the police. Prior to this it was illegal for doctors

to refuse treatment to immigrants without pa-

pers. The new law meant doctors could refuse

When he last visited Tunisia, he was

surprised to discover the dominant pres-

ence of Italian culture, on television and in

shops. Like many Italians, he says, Tunisians

have been fed a false image of Italy.

ONCE in Italy asylum seek-ers and migrants are held in

an immigration holding cen-

tre while their case is looked

at. The main centre at Porto Empedocle is

where the Tunisians have been taken.

The immigration holding centre at Porto

Empedocle is an unassuming building with tiny

windows surrounded by barbed wire. Adjacent

is a large ferry port and rows of yachts set

against the brilliant turquoise of the Mediter-

ranean. Smartly dressed Italians and ship work-ers drink espressos and eat miniature eclairs at

luxurious coffee bar. It is a hot day, but there

are no inmates in the centre yard, only three

large ferocious dogs patrolling the gates.

to treat irregular migrants and instead, call the

police.

“This law is moving towards creating a sense of

fear of immigrants,” says Sandra Voutsinas, a social

worker, working with immigrants in Palermo.

“Health belongs to everyone – if we don’t

cure immigrants when they are sick they cancause problems also to us. The point is that health

is not just important for the single person but for

the community. So an immigrant without leave of

stay must have the right to be cured in Italy.”

The doctors were vocal in their op-

position to the new rules and that sec-

tion of the law was revoked.

However, Sandra argues that are many

other restrictive aspects of the latest immigra-

tion law making life even harder for immigrants in

Italy. Immigrants without leave to remain in Italycannot marry an Italian nor can they register any

children they have, though there is a special status

– not full Italian citizenship – for under 18s.

“My personal opinion is that it is a terrible

system,” says Sandra. “There are too many laws

concentrated in the last 10 years on immigration.

[It is] as is Immigration is the most terrible prob -

lem of Italy, like maa. They are concentrating

too much on immigration as the hugest problem

in our society. Whereas unemployment and ma-

a, and other things are more important.”But a charity ofcer managing support for

refugees in Agrigento reckons Italy’s asylum and

immigration have actually improved in recent

years. “Italy has a good system because it has

been going for 10 years. It used to be it took

longer [to process immigration applications]

but since the law of immigration in 2002, they

introduced 10 commissions to manage immigra-

tion. There are two in Sicily and asylum seekers

wait one or two months for a decision.”

Still, life for asylum seekers given leaveto remain in Italy is tough. Abdarrazaq spent

eight months at an immigration holding cen-

tre, after that he was given subsidiary protec-

tion. The protection means he can stay legal-

ly in Italy for three years. If after that time his

country is deemed safe, he will be deported.

23



Abdarrazaq says other migrants tell him to

leave Italy for a country with more concern for

human rights and more opportunities. He refuses

to listen, preferring to settle in Italy, even though

he nds it difcult. “Some people enter a coun-

try, they say, ‘We will understand how it works

and we will not run to another European coun-try. They understand and they get a work.”

Not everyone is so sanguine. Irregular mi-

grants living in Sicily say Italians employers often

mistreat them, paying them very little or in ex-

treme cases not at all. A migrant might be paid

€35 for 10 hours of farm work or some earn

as little as €20 a day usually working for small

businesses or doing housekeeping work.

Samuel Quanson, a Ghanaian musician liv-

ing in Palermo had one employer, an Italian law-

yer, who did not pay him for three months work.Samuel worked on the lawyer’s estate, feeding

and caring for his dogs and other pets. Eventu-

ally Samuel’s old boss promised to pay his wages,

even offered to take him into to the bank.

Instead he dropped Samuel off at a train sta-

tion and never

came back.

S am u e l

had no idea

how to nd

the largecountry es-

tate some-

where in Sic-

ily’s rolling

valleys and

meadows, so

begged till he

had enough to

pay for a train

fare to Paler-

mo, Sicily’scapital and a

hub for irreg-

ular migrants

and asylum

seekers in

the south.

Samuel’s

employer, an

Italianlaywer, refused

to pay him

for the three

months he

spent working

at his country

estate in Sicily.Samuel left

with nothing

If not, his protection would be renewed for

another three years. “Always three years,

three years, three years”, he says gloom-

ily at the prospect of a transient future.

On his release, the centre’s guards told Ab-

darrazaq to go and nd his people in Rome. “I

was like a blind person, I have no family there. Itis not like in Africa, in Africa you can sleep on the

streets because of the weather. But the weather

doesn’t allow you to sleep these streets.”

Luckily Abdarrazaq does not have to sleep

on the streets just yet. He was taken in by Pro-

gretto Tarik, one of several government fund-

ed hostels for refugees across Italy. Progretto

Tarik, based in Agrigento a quiet city in Sicily,

takes in newly arrived refugees, teaches them

Italian and gives them somewhere to sleep for

six months. “When they nish six months theyhave to make integration into society and look

for work. If they can nd work, they can manage

their life,” says Emilio, head of the charity.

“Their life in Italy is not easy. Particularly in

Sicily, there is no work, but in the north it is bet-

ter. We can help immigrants by giving them more

chances. Right now … six months … is not enough

for someone to come from Africa or another con-

tinent, and he doesn’t know anything about this

society. In six months he cannot integrate.

“I would change it to one year at least.During that one year we have to give them

a chance to learn something important that

they could work if they get out today.”

Emilio let Abdarrazaq stay an extra six

months so he could complete a computer

course. Now he is on his own. Abdarrazaq’s

grand plan for survival is to stay legal.

Having witnessed compatriots move

from one European country to another, start-

ing and failing to overcome mountainous strug-

gles in each, he plans to nd work in Italy.“I have studied the language, I have stud-

ied some vocational to work. And I am hoping

to get another profession. If I get another pro-

fession or if you study something, you will learn

how to work, but if you not study anything and

say you look for a work, you cannot get it.”

24



“I stood there crying.

What am I doing? I had a job,

I had a nice place in Africa.

From that to living like a refugee.”

Samuel, 30

A

T rst glance Palermo is dark and

unwelcoming. Italians rush about

awkwardly weaving in and around

the downtrodden migrants selling

tat on street corners. At night women traf-cked from sub-Saharan live out their night-

mare as the city looks the other way.

But beneath the surface Palermo is a mes-

merising mix of grim city life, with dark, dank,

narrow streets, and spectucular architectural

remnants of Italy’s history, set against a post-

card perfect picture of swooping valleys and a

glossy emerald sea. Slap in the middle of this is

a growing community of migrants without pa-

pers, trafcked women and asylum seekers.

There is that recognisable sense of im-

possible hope and ambition frequently found

in immigrant communities. Despite nursing a

burning desire to get to London, being home-

less and earning only the odd €20 here and

there xing laptop, Samuel is positive about life

in Palermo. “I like Palermo, tourists come here

every day, Chinese, Americans. I feel at home.

On Saturday I go to the club in the

streets. In the summer I go to the beach and

take my drums and everyone is happy.

“But I cannot take my band everywhere. Some

people like blacks and some people hate blacks. I

cannot go too far outside Palermo. If you go out-

side Palermo where there is no blacks, they can

be racist. But if you go to the market here, every-

one is from Africa. We speak our language.”Yet Samuel admits that he was shocked by

the poverty among immigrants living in Paler-

mo. When he rst arrived in the city, he had to

sleep outside a crowded refugee shelter.

“I stood there crying and thinking what

am I doing? I had a job, I had a nice place in

Africa, my house, my car. From that to liv-

ing like a refugee. It was sad. I cried a lot.

“I see my brown friends from Africa, Mo-

rocco … how they live – like refugees. Wow. The

place [shelter] is doing a good thing but there isno space for people to sleep. So I slept outside.

When it rained they gave me a plastic cover.”

ACCORDING to Centro Astralli Paler-

mo, a charity working with refugees

and irregular migrants, 40% of the mi-

grants living in Palermo do not have

papers. Centro Astralli is staffed by a team of

tireless volunteers who provide a range of servic-

es – from making breakfast to teaching Italian and

IT lessons – for irregular migrants, who do notexist as far as the government is concerned.

But giving these invisible people just

enough to survive seems only to prolong their

limbo.Many enter Europe seeking work, once

they arrive they are confronted with a bar-

rage of information on how to seek asylum.

25



“A human

being

without

hope is dead.

Even if the

conditionsin Europe are

terrible

because we

don’t offer

immigrants

anything,

at least weoffer them

hope.

They can

dream

for something

better here.”

Sandra, social worker, Palermo

Seeking asylum can quickly be-

come the sole option for migrants enter-

ing the continent without papers.

As a result once they are refused asy-

lum, there are few legal options open if they

want to stay in Europe. This leaves them vul-

nerable and open to unscrupulous employ-ers, trafckers and criminal gangs. Could what

they left behind be worse than that?

Sandra thinks so. “In reality they don’t live

in good conditions in Europe. But there the pos-

sibility that at least something will happen here.

Hope in their country is less than here.

“Even if they live here in welcome cen-

tres, everything that we offer them, which is

nothing at all, but there is one hope at least

that something can change, or someone they

meet, something can happen here. Wherethere it is quite impossible that something

can happen. Nothing happens there.

“Eritrea, Sudan, Nigeria, they have problems.

There is too much corruption. If you are rich you

stay rich, if you are poor you stay poor. Nothing

will happen. So having one brother or one sister

living in Europe for a family in Africa means a lot be-

cause they have hope that something can happen.

Even if he gets a document, it is something.

“A human being without hope is dead. Even

if the conditions in Europe are terrible becausewe don’t offer immigrants anything, at least we

offer them hope. They can dream for some-

thing better here. It is something. If I were them

maybe I would have done the same thing – it is

human to try to look for something else.”

26



EUROPE’S ASYLUM SYSTEM IS ABSURD...

ALFONSO CINQUEMANI works for

Centro Astralli a charity set up in Rome30 years ago to support the rst waves of

migrants and asylum seekers from East

Africa. He argues that variation of law across

Europe makes it difcult to properly protect

refugees and regulate migration.

“For each country the laws are different.

In Europe you can circulate freely. Also the

migrants with the permit may regulate freely

but the laws are different in each country.

That is absurd.”

But the EU has helped in other ways, with

funds to support refugees for example.

“There are some funds dedicated to the

immigration politic. Each country uses this

money in different ways. In Italy it depends

on the region. There are very advanced re-

gions, Lazio, Tarantino, [that offer] better helpto migrants.

“But in our region the situation is not so good.

The money coming from Europe to the Ital-

ian government in Sicily is dedicated not only

to help migrants, but to cover other prob-

lems.”

PROFILE

TWENTY-

YEAR-OLD

Soan Mauzien

has lived in Italy

for “two years,

three months

and 24 days”.His father mi-

grated to Italy

in 1990 and runs

a market stall

selling clothes.

When he rst arrived in Italy, So-

an worked in a factory earning a

decent wage, but the factory has

since collapsed and he is unem-

ployed. Soan speaks ve languages

including Russian, and hopes to usethem to nd work.

“I like Palermo very much. I would

like to stay here forever. I have

many friends from all over the

world. I have a lot of friends from

France, from Austria, from Senegal,

from Ghana, from Morocco, from

Palermo, from Greece. In Morocco I

know people just from Morocco.

“To nd work at this moment it

is difcult. I want to complete my

study. I want to go to the university

here. I want to study languages and

then maybe I can get a job.

“I think it is very hard [for immi-

grants in Italy]. If you want to eat,

just eat to stay alive, then you can

eat. But if you search for work, it is

difcult to get it.

“I hope to nish this crisis…every -

one can get a job and work and live.

Also Italians. Because there are

many Italians who don’t work, not

just immigrants.”

27



PROFILE

It’s complicated...Many of the irregular migrants living on less than €30 a day in Sicily, leave

jobs and their family to come to nd work in Europe. Why?

Abdarrazaq’s family are getting impa-

tient. They do not understand why

he lives in a hostel and why he has no

work, after all, he is in Europe.

Back in Somali, with his job as a teacher

earning $500 a month, he supported his wife,

his three sisters and his mother. For two years

he put saved some money each month to cover

his trip to Europe. “They are waiting for me tosend them money. Anytime they call me they

say, what do you do there? They don’t under-

stand. They think you go to the streets of Eu-

rope, you can get immediately money.”

Despite his job, life in Somalia was tough.

“When I was born, the country was ght-

ing,” he says. “For 21 years ghting. But [now]

the ghting was different. For the last six

years, it is very risky. Before there was no tar-

get, now everybody is a target. The youth of

Somalia, they are now in other African coun-tries, South Africa, some in Europe.

“The country has a lot of problems. There are

little aid agencies, they left the country. The peo-

ple who are rich are in Nairobi, or Mobassa.”

When Abdarrazaq left for Eu-

rope, he expected regularly work

and less chance of him being killed and leaving hisfamily destitute. Now is concerned that because

is struggling in Europe this will happen anyway.

“I worry about the whole family. Because

when we contact they say life in Somalia is now

changing day after day. There is no work now in So-

malia. People were working for aid agencies.

“Some people were working for business, the

people who were working for the business were

working for the rich. The rich have the money and

they invest. But if the big man [rich man] take his in-

vestment to Mobassa then they do nothing.”

EuropE’s falsE paradisE

“When we were in Somalia, we thought the

people in Europe had a lot of money. But when

we travelled to Europe we see the reality.

“Everybody says I must go to Europe. It is a

problem. If they tell the facts, nobody will believe.

Even if I say it, the life I have here, is worse than

even in Somalia, they won’t trust me. They say you

lie to us. Because the rst person who entered

in Europe, they lie to people. But [Somalians]won’t believe the people who are here now.

“I think some people when they enter Europe,

they don’t smoke cigarettes, they don’t use alco-

hol. Now, they smoke cigarette, they use alcohol.

Because of frustration. They don’t work, their life

here is very difcult and they’re confused.”

28



SWEET PRISON

Hundreds of migrants heading to Europe are

trapped in Spain’s tiny enclaves bordering

north Africa. Even those seeking asylum are

refused entry to mainland Europe. Why?

29



THE SKELETAL BODIES of dead Africans

scattered across the Sahara desert is a

haunting image. Their empty eye sock-

ets and stiff, scorched bodies belong in

a horror lm. One of the dead men is frozen as

though in Islamic prayer, on his knees, body for-

ward, arms splayed in front of him, head touch-ing the sand. An asylum seeker who made it

across the Sahara and eventually to Spain lmed

the desperate scene on his mobile phone.

On his way to Europe from the Republic of

Guinea 19-year-old Abdoulaye Bah saw many of

his fellow travellers give in to the heat of Sahara.

The dead bodies kept him going; he did not want

to die that way. “I am passing very hard travel but

…I don’t have the words to explain to you.

“You meet many different people who

want to kill you. If you don’t have money togive them, they think you are lying. Some peo-

ple will leave you in the desert. If they leave

you there you have don’t have a chance. More

than 4,000km – all you see is only desert.”

Abdoulaye’s mother was killed in the politi-

cal violence that plagued the Republic of Guinea

between 2009 and 2010. The ghting has stopped,

he says, but he left anyway, partly because he be-

longs to the Fula tribe, a minority in the village

where he lives. The Mandika, the dominant tribe

in the village, are at loggerheads on a national scalecompeting for control of the government.

A popular route for migrants travelling

from West Africa, the Algerian Sahara has be-

come an increasingly lawless place where a per-

son’s fate depends on having enough cash to bribe

border guards and ruthless trafckers.

Most migrants have to pass through Magnaia,

a dangerous part of Algeria, to get to Morocco.

Migrants are particularly vulnerable; the Algerian

guards in the area are paid off by ‘maa’, women areraped, people beaten and money is extorted.

Jesus Castro Gontales explains the com-

plex lawless underworld: “Maa is a difcult

word. What is maa?Maa is the Algerian per-

son, the police, the maa is all the immigrant

people that live one, two, three years here.

“They work in the maa. It is a problem at

the frontier.”

Abdoulaye paid Mali militiamen who helped

him cross the desert in a four wheel drive. From

there, he was on foot till the border between

Mali and Algeria, where he paid soldiers to let him

pass. “Enter Morocco, then you pay to enter Ra-bat, then you pay to enter the bush [forest/wood-

lands] near a town near Ceuta,” he says.

It took two months before Abdoulaye

was able to get passage to Ceuta in a small in-

atable boat with three other people. “I was

scared. It is very dangerous because many

people lose their lives in the water.”

After his horric journey, Abdoulaye,

who speaks uent French, is happy to stay

in Spain and is waiting for an outcome on

his asylum application. He is studying Span-ish in the meantime in the hope that he

will be able to continue his education.

“My life is safe for the mo-

ment. I don’t feel anything is wrong

here. If I get paper here, I work, it is

not a problem.”

FROM the port at Algeciras in Spain, there is aclear view of the sloping hills of Ceuta, a small

Spanish enclave bordering Morocco.

The island, a duty free playground for

rich Moroccans and Spaniards, is dotted with

ports full of expensive yachts, bars and designer

shops.Amongst the glitz and glamour are hun-

dreds of bedraggled African and Asian asylum

30



In amongst the glitz and glamour

of the Spanish island are hundreds

of bedraggled African and Asian

asylum seekers and migrants

desperate to get to Europe

seekers and migrants waiting for an opportunity to

leave the island for the European mainland.

As in Lampedusa, the Spanish islands of

Melilla and Ceuta are gateways to Europe for

many migrants, particularly those from west

Africa. The peak period for travelling was

2005, where at one point 2,000 people werecrowded into the immigration removal centre

in Ceuta, where Abdoulaye is being held.

“Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish cities in

Africa,” says Jesus Castro Gontales,who works

for the Association of Elin in Ceuta, an or-

ganization rst set up at the start of the mil-

lennium to deal with the large numbers of

destitute Moroccan street children living in

Ceuta. “The situation in Ceuta and Melilla has

changed very much over time. Ten or more

years ago, there was no frontier. It was possibleto pass through Ceuta easily [from Morocco].”

A number of factors, including pressure

from the European Union, led to the Spanish

government tightening its border with Moroc-

co, making it more difcult for people to use

Ceuta and Melilla as a passage to Spain.

The Spanish government also made various

agreements with the Moroccan government. Mo-

roccan politicians promised to deport the tens

of thousands of migrants living rough in citiesclose to the border with Ceuta and Melilla.

The violent tactis employed by bor-

der police to keep this promise came to a

head one day in September 2005. Reports dif-

fer but the concensus is that several hundred

(some say 200, others 500) migrants tried

crossing the six-mile long barbed wire fence from

Morocco into Melilla and were shot at by border

police. Five Africans were killed. Spain blamed the

Moroccan border police for the deaths, saying its

guards only red rubber bullets and used tear gas.

Many were seriously injured in the crush.

What followed was worse. Urged to resolvethe situation by Spanish and European governments,

the Moroccan police swept through the country

rounding up around 500 black men, women and

children waiting to cross the border into Europe,

and left them without food or water in the Alge-

rian desert. The Association of Elin followed the

buses loaded with migrants and spoke to many of

them aftwerwards. Some with mobile phones called

relatives in Europe. Many died in the desert.

CEUTA and Melilla are no longer citiesof passage. Prior to the new immigra-

tion bill published in November 2009,

people could apply for asylum or leave

to remain, get a yellow card which they could use

to travel to mainland Spain and work while they

waited for the outcome of their case. This in-

creased their chances of getting Spanish residen-

cy; in Spain if a migrant works for three years, he

is entitled to apply for a residency permit.

Now asylum seekers and migrants seek-

ing leave to remain in Spain must completethe entire process on the islands. The yellow

card is now a red card, which effectively bans

them from travelling to the peninsula.

This is illegal, argues Alejandro Rome-

ro Aliaga, a lawyer for the Comision Espa-

ñola de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEARS), an NGO

working with the Spanish government to

process asylum applications in Ceuta.

There are good aspects of the new law,

he says, better protection for homosexuals

seeking refugee protection and stronger sub-sidiary protection for those that fall outside

the remits of the refugee convention. But he

is furious at the government’s decision to dis-

regard Spanish law in Melilla and Ceuta.

How can they apply one law for the

peninsula and another for Melilla and Ceuta?

31



“The law doesn’t distinguish between

Spain and Ceuta. Keeping people in Ceu-

ta is against the law. The high court says the

people have the freedom to move through-

out Spain, the UNHCR say they have right

to go to peninsula,” says Alejandro.

“The government’s

refusal to let people

go to the peninsula is not a legal

action. It is illegal. These are people

who the government has accepted in

the asylum process. It is absolutely

disgraceful. The government has

broken the law, it is forbidden in the

Spanish constitution.”

The only migrants from Ceuta that make it

to the peninsula are those granted refugee status

or those who have spent several years in Ceuta.

On average asylum cases take around six months

to process, weak cases can take as long as a year

with appeals factored in. In 2010 out of 311 ap-

plications just two people were granted refugee

status and one given subsidiary protection.

Like other irregular migrants and asy-

lum seekers trapped across Europe, the imi-

grants in Ceuta seek other ways to move

once the legal process closes to them. Some

try to stow themselves in trucks cross-

ing on the ferry to the peninsula, while oth-

ers try to buy a ticket posing as tourists.

But the reality for many is that un-

less they turn back the way they

came, they are stuck in Ceuta.

An historic wall encloses the parts of the is-

land, a stunning remnant of the city’s ancient bat-

tles when it switched between Portuguese, Berber

and Spanish hands. Modern Ceuta is still a for-

tress, a prison for migrants trapped in limbo.

“Ceuta was the door of Europe, now it is

the sweet prison,” says Jesus.”The Indian people

say it is the sweet prison because the govern-

ment has organized a very good centre in CETI.

“People can eat, can sleep, learn Span-

ish. But the people are [stuck] here. Psy-

chologically they suffer, it is not possible to

nish their project of immigration.”

Rocky Gurdaspurya is one of 20 Indi-

ans living in Ceuta. When the 22-year-old ar-

rived from New Delhi via Morocco four yearsago, his plan was to complete his studies in the

west – Canada, Australia, Europe, anywhere

he could get to. He hoped this would increase

his chances of earning a good living for himself

and his family in India. Yet four years later it is

evident that he was better off in India.

“I was studying at university doing my bach-

elor of commerce studies,” says Rocky. “I stud-

ied for two years. I wanted to nish my study

abroad so that I could have a good future. But

bad luck I am stuck here for four years.”

“I made a big mistake. I have dug

my own grave. I was studying

there, I was with my family. But now

I am away from family. I have lived fortwo and half years in the mountain

also. For me it is very bad experi-

ence. I don’t want to think about it.”

Rocky Gurdaspurya, 22

32



Rocky is one of 56 Indians who lived the

wild hills and forests of Ceuta for two years. They

were protesting against the Spanish government’s

refusal to let them travel to the peninsula.

“It was very difcult ,” says Rocky. “We were

protesting there that we don’t want to go back to

India. We made huts like tents, with plastic. Wetalk with journalist and media. After two years

they tell us they would send us to the mainland.

They sent 34 Indians to mainland but we were 54.

They didn’t complete their promise and we are

here 20 still ghting. That was one year ago.”

Rocky epitomizes one of the biggest difcul-

ties with irregular migration. For genuine asylum

seekers the perils of returning home are clear. But

for those who start off as labour migrants, the

thought of return is incomprehensible, because of

all that follows once they leave home. Some refuseto return with nothing to show but memories of

a nightmarish journey and money lost to smug-

glers. That is why on their way to and through

Europe, when it becomes clear that the only

route to a work permit is asylum, they lie.

“You spend so much money to go through

such hell and to get here and be deported? No.

No way,” says one migrant in Ceuta angrily.

Maite Perez runs a day centre where irregular

immigrants and asylum seekers can learn Spanish

and use the internet. “A lot of people don’t knowanything,” she says, “but talking to their friends

they know what countries make good asylum cas-

es. They know if you come from this country it is

possible to get asylum, or from this country it is

not possible. In Morocco they are preparing for all

this – it is normal, this is how they survive.”

Current migration ows to Ceuta are

predominantly from West African countries

such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Guinea, though

there are a few Pakistanis and Afghanis as well

as the Indians. Ninety-ve percent of the mi-grants staying at CETI ask for asylum.

“When there was a crisis in Liberia, a lot of

Nigerian people said they came from Liberia. In

the last few years there are a lot of Nigerian peo-

ple saying they come from Sudan, Somalia and Er-

itrea,” says Alfredo Campos, a cordinator at the

“You spend so much mon

go through such hell aget here and be depo

No. No w

MENTION CETI to a taxi driver and

he will know what you mean. Every-

one in Ceuta knows about the im-

migration removal centre perched

upon a steep hill overlooking the sea.

The conditions are more humanethan similar centres in Europe, hence im-

migrants calling it a ‘sweet prison’.

The open centre is home to around 500

people, most of whom are waiting to be de-

ported. Inhabitants come and go as they

please; though they cannot leave between

11pm and 7am without special permission.

It is a bit like a children’s summer camp, ex-

cept with adults and it can last for years.

The centre has been open since 2000

and is run by the Spanish ministry for labourand immigration at a cost of around €8m a

year. There is a hospital open 24 hours deal-

ing with everything from tuberculosis to head-

aches to depression. Breakfast is served at

8am, dinner is at 7pm and snacks are pro-

vided at 5pm. There is a gym, outdoor courts

for basketball, football and table tennis.

One of the biggest benets of the cen-

tre is that the government allows trained-staff

from NGOs to run the services. At CETI,

the Red Cross and CEAR, who help pre-pare asylum applications and appeals.

Sheila Mohammed Salah, 25, works at

CETI as a social worker. “I love my work. I

used to work in a high school teaching but I

like the humanitarian work.” Sheila is at ease

with the inmates chatting and joking with them.

CETI, the island’s immigration holding centre.

33



Though there are always guards patrolling the

compound, unusually for an immigration holding

centre, the atmosphere is somewhat jovial.

Inmates are packed into tiny dorms with10 beds and personal lockers in each. In one

cramped room a Nigerian woman cradles her

new born baby, while discussing the possibil-

ity of being transferred to the peninsula.

Modern African francophone mu-

sic blares from another room and

a group men sitting talking.

“Ahora aqui muy bueno,” says one mi-

grant, who is part Liberian and part Ivo-

rian, who has managed to get a place

on a long distance Spanish course.“Here we don’t have any problems.”

But he adds, “Here in Ceuta we don’t

know how long we stay here – some peo-

ple stay for one, two years. We cannot call

our family because we cannot work.

“We go to school and after we can’t

do anything else. The problem is we can-

not leave here. It is a big problem. I want to

live in Spain to get the paper. To stay in Spain,

two years you can get the paper and then

you can anywhere to get the work.”Most of the inmates speak at least three

languages, mostly Arabic, French and Eng-

lish (as well as tribal tongues). All are keen to

learn Spanish, perhaps a sign of their desire to

settle rather than keep moving through Eu-

rope. CETI provides Spanish classes as well

Spanish cooking, IT, creative art and IT lessons.

There is a palpable sense of frus-

tration among the migrants; while CETI

is a pleasant place, many have made long

journeys to find work and being delayedfor months and years is difficult.

Even nding black market work is dif -

cult in Ceuta, mostly because Moroc-

cans migrants have the monopoly on poor-

ly, paid unregulated employment.

“Ceuta is a small town, it is very difcult

compared to the rest of Spain. In places like Ma-

drid it is easier for foreign people to get a job

with or without a work permit,” says Alejan-

dro Romero Aliaga. “For sub-Saharan people

it is very difcult to get a job because in Ceu-ta people work with Moroccan people.”

Moroccans from Tetouan, a city in northern

Morocco, have the right to enter Ceuta but they

cannot spend the night. It is also against the law for

them to work and they cannot pass to the penin-

sula. Most work on the black market, either selling

fruit and other wares, or cleaning homes.

For the people at CETI, this means

at best, they can earn €4 of €5 carry-

ing people’s shopping at the city’s major su-

permarkets or parking people’s cars.Rocky, though, is desperate for a nor-

mal life, in Europe where he still believes he

the best opportunities for himself. “I want to

leave [Ceuta] legally. The only way to go from

here is go on a truck, it is very dangerous and

you can lose your life.People do that. People

who have been here for a long period of time.

34



arrive here in Ceuta is around a year and a

half, two years. Then they get into the sea in

very small dangerous boats and most of them

before coming here to the centre have been

saved from the sea in very difficult circumstanc-

es and they have seen death very, very near.

“When they come here their psycho-logical state and condition is very weak and

to recover their human dignity and their own

estimation takes our psychological team a

few months of work, it’s not easy, before enter-

ing the rest of the integration programme.”

“When they

come here

their psy-

chological state

and condition is

very weak and to

recover their hu-

man dignity andtheir own estima-

tion takes our psy-

chological team

a few months of

work ”

Carlos Bengoechea,

chief executive of CETI

“There is no other option. But I am not

going to do this because I want to live.

“We are hoping that the Spanish govern-

ment will understand our feelings and let us

go to the mainland and have a good future and

the life we want to live, nothing else.”

COMPARED to reception and removal

centres across Europe, CETI is a ve

star establishment. Turning up at CETI

is a relief for irregular migrants after

the traumas of their journey up to that point.

There are showers, food, beds, computer access,

a doctor and staff with a genuine interest in their

well being. What more could they want?

Across Europe the answers are the same.

Freedom from misgovernment, poverty and con-

ict. One Nigerian, since deported from Spain, ex-plained that though he was a graduate it was nearly

impossible for him to nd work at home without

connections and contacts. Afghans are always

speak passionately of their motherland; we have

food, we have beautiful mountains, they say, but

we also have ISAF, war lords and the Taliban.

What irregular migrants and asylum seek-

ers want is access to education and work. The

global village means they are well aware that these

things are accessible in Europe and other western

countries. But what happens to that drive andambition and placed in a place like CETI where all

they can do is wait? Does it infantilize them?

The man in charge of CETI is adamant

that it is a good place for immigrants. Car-

los Bengoechea, 52, is a Spanish civil servant

whose experience includes time spent working

on immigration for the European Union, took

over the running of CETI in May 2010. “We

have conceived this centre as an open centre

so that immigrants can interact with the rest

of the population of the city,” he says. “Thereare no problems, it works quite well.”

“When they arrive here, they have prob-

ably made long trip in which they have suf-

fered a lot. They have been probably vic-

tims of many violations of their rights.

“And probably the average period they use to

35



“We

havepeople

who cry

all day

Refugee hostel,

Malaga

SPAIN struggles to deport everyone given an

expulsion order, so many migrants can live

without documents for long periods.

For those in the peninsula, there is

at least access to some work to earn a living,

but for those in Ceuta, this means more time

spent aimlessly at CETI. Around 60% of peo-ple staying at CETI have expulsion orders.

“If the govt cannot implement that

[deportation] decision they stay here,” says

Carlos. “Then … they are offered all these

possibilities of these programmes.”

The programmes Carlos refers to include

Spanish lessons and classes where they learn

how to cook Spanish food. What is the point if

they have no legal right to stay in Spain? Won’t

that give them a false sense of hope?

“No,” he replies with condence. “Theyknow they have to leave, they have a decision.”

He adds that the decision depends on the capac-

ity of the state to enact it, international agree-

ments with third countries, and the willingness

to cooperate by countries of origin.

“It is a very complex process, to be able

to execute that decision and to deport a person,

because of all those reasons,

most of the people who have

that decision to be expelled from

the country cannot really ex-pect it. So they stay here.”

The average stay at CETI

is just over a year. For many of

CETI’s inhabitants this is too long

and many express their frustra-

tion at time passing by, especial-

ly those who have already spent

months travelling to Europe.

Those deemed vulnerable or

in a precarious situation - though it

could be argued that they all are -are eventually released to the pen-

insula. Usually this means people

with serious medical conditions and

mothers with small children (there

are 31 families living at CETI).

Critics are skeptical about the

government’s motives; some argue that it is be-

cause CETI is close to capacity. By transferring

immigrants to peninsula, there is less chance of

overcrowding and the trouble that brings.

But Carlos appears genuinely concerned

about the welfare of people staying at CETI.

“From tomorrow until 20th March we are send-ing 39 people,” he says. “Our technical [staff], the

social workers, lawyers, medical workers… regu-

larly make studies of the residents and they deter-

mine if someone is in a vulnerable situation. We

make a list of people, we work it out and send it

to our ministry in Madrid with each report.

“When we get the permission, we send

them to different NGO houses, which are paid

by the ministry of labour and immigration to take

care of these vulnerable immigrants until the

course of vulnerability has disappeared.”Carlos admits that after two years at CETI,

most people are vulnerable and likely to struggle

psychologically if they are held any longer.

Once immigrants are sent to the main-

land they spend six months at special hos-

tel run by an NGO. The aim is to help in-

tegrate immigrants into Spanish society by

providing language lessons, employ-

ment advice and counselling.

After six months, social

worker Ivan Carlin explains thatthere is an option for the most

vulnerable people to apply for an

extra six months support. Many

turn it down. “Some didn’t want

to be in Spain. They had palnned

to go to France, because of the

language. They cross by boat and

their intention was to go there.

But they got caught by the po-

lice and they bought here.

“We know that people usedto apply for asylum because they

know that they can stay in a place

and then they don’t care if it is posi-

tive or negative. When they are told

to leave the centre because they

have received a negative answer,

36



they don’t mind.” Ivan works at asylum and

refugee centre ran by the Spanish Commission

for Refugees in Malaga. The bright and tidy cen-

tre has 65 places and as well integration, offers

support for asylum seekers with difcult cases.

“We have people who have been crying

all day and we have to call psychology to attendthat person because they are getting down.”

A particularly tough case is that of Abdullah, a

stateless migrant from south east Asia.

Abdullah turned up in Malaga after sev-

eral years of trying to get to Europe. He has

no family and left his country of birth to seek

work in Malaysia when he was a teenager. It

took him 10 years working in restaurants and

as a mechanic in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur to

save $6,000 to pay someone to help him get to

Europe. “No family in Malaysia. I eat, I sleep, Iwork,” he explains. In 2006 he ew to Moroc-

co, where he expected to be taken to Europe.

He was completely in the hands of his smug-

glers, who put him on a plane to Niger.

After four months in Niger, he trav-

elled to Mali and spent seven months there.

He nally arrived back in Morocco, where he

stayed for more than a year. Finally in 2008

he made it to Malaga, spent a month in pris-

on after being caught without papers and

slept on the streets the rest of the time.He was eventually taken in by refugee cen-

tre, but after staying for a year, he now has to

leave. He looks depressed and exhausted. “In

this situation, it is very difcult,” says his case

worker. “His case is not nished, so he can’t

take a paper [residency documents]. We don’t

know how long he will be in this situation. He

tells me, ‘I want to work, I want to have pa-

per.’ I say, ‘Abdullah, what can I do?’”

37



A EUROPEANDREAMMany of the migrants and asylum seekers I met inFrance

were tired, bitter and more desperate than ever. They

had become wise to reality of the European dream, but

still harboured one small drop of hope: the UK

38



“EVERYONE THINKS EUROPE is like

heaven,” says Sharaf. “Since I put my leg in

Europe I suffer. Since I left my country two

years and three months ago. I didn’t sleep

on the bed. I don’t think that I am in Europe.”

After leaving Darfur Sharaf bought a fake

passport in Khartoum, from there he ew toIstanbul, and from there he made his way into

Europe through Greece. “I didn’t know if I

was in Europe or a dream. It was very hor-

rible,” he says of Greece. He has since made

his way to Calais in France, and from there he

hopes to try his luck in England. The tall gen-

tle-voiced Sudanese man tries to sound casu-

al, but it is clear he is hopeful that Britain will

turn out to be the Europe of his dreams.

By this stage of their long journey to

Britain, many migrants are tired, bitter anddesperate. Having struggled in at least one

other European country, some began to cre-

ate hallucinatory fantasies about the UK

based on pure hope and speculation.

“England it is good,” insists an Eritrean

man wolng down his bread and soup at a Calais

soup kitchen. “Until they reject you they give you

basic necessities. Like food, water, house. Here

they treat you as animal. If you [are] going to

get the paper or not, you don’t know. Or if you

going to die or you going to go mad, you don’tknow. It is better for me to go to England, even

when they reject me, they treat me well.”

A 14-year-old Afghani boy cut his nger

so badly jumping over a fence that doctors were

forced to cut it off. The boy and his 12-year-old

brother had been trying to get over a fence to get

on a truck bound for the UK. They plan to join

their elder brother, a refugee living in Britain.

This makes Jacky Verhaegen, who runs

Caritas in Calais, incredibly frustrated because

their brother has no money or work to sup-port them. Yet they insist they must join him de-

spite the avenues open to them in France.

“It is a heartache for me to see them on

the streets all day doing nothing. They live in the

jungle. It is terrible for a 12-year-old. When I

was 12, I was at home, I was at school,” he says.

“I told them, you are 12, if you stay ve

years in a child centre in France, when you turn 18

you get a French passport. Not a residence per-

mit. Then you can go wherever you want.”

It is not just a childish fantasy, at any one

time around 200 grown men, and many hundreds

more along the coast of northern France, Belgiumand Holland, wait in Calais for an opportune mo-

ment to smuggle themselves into Britain.

Yet in reality those seeking asylum have

a better chance of getting a positive response

in France, where the recognition rate is 40%

compared to 27% in the UK. France also rare-

ly deports people to Afghanistan and Iraq, but

the UK regularly sends charter ights full of re-

jected asylum seekers to those countries.

But though France might well have a sys-

tem well-equipped to manage asylum fairly, thereality often falls short of expectations.

Matt Quinette, a eld worker for Mé-

dicins du Monde in Dunkirk, says: “When a Su-

danese and Afghani come to Paris and see un-

der the bridge his compatriot and say, ‘What do

you do here … homeless?’ And when he calls

his friend in UK and his friend says yes I arrived

one month ago, I get appointment directly, I get

money directly, and two months after I get my

answer. It doesn’t seem so much to say, ‘I will

spend sometime in the jungle and I will get agood place. England is better than here.’”

It is incredibly difcult for immigrants to

identify the facts and the reality. Many lie about

how well they are doing in Europe. Everyone

knows someone who started a business in Lon-

don, has a good job, drives a car and has a house.

Jacky remembers one man taking pictures in front

of the Caritas charity van pretending that it be-

longed to him, to send his family at home. Smug-

glers wanting to capitalise on their optimism, will

often embellish the opportunities in the UK.“They are always controlled by smugglers

and they don’t really know what the situation is

like in the UK,” says Jean-François Roger from

France terre d’asile, an NGO working with the

UNHCR in Calais. “It is really difcult for them

to know the reality and get the real information.

39



‘Africa House’ in Calais, France

“The people who stay in the UK don’t tell the

truth to their family in their original country

about the reality, they say yes OK come we have

found you a good job, we have found you accom-

modation, we have the possibility to stay.

“They imagine Eldorado for the UK, they

will arrive there and ask asylum, the UK will givethem accommodation and a job to work. We

know the reality and we say that, but nobody

thinks we say the truth. When they travel all of

their family says you will be alright in the UK and

everything will be OK. Nobody believes us.”

The situation for migrants in Calais is dire, so

it is unsurprising people do not want to stay. Calais

is a small town with high unemployment of its own

to deal with, so there are few employment oppor-

tunities for migrants and those waiting on asylum

decisions. And it is not just Calais, there are manyrefugees living in poverty in Paris as well.

Irregular migrants in Calais rely on

a number of small charities for food, they

have access to a nurse’s surgery where

they can shower a few times a week and

the rest they figure out for themselves.

A

10-MINUTE walk from

Calais town centre is

a large decrepit fac-

tory with a brokenroof, smashed windows, with

bits of rusted metal and garbage

strewn over concrete oors.

There are no doors, only door-

ways, and very little shelter.

Everyone in Calais calls the

building Africa House because it

is where many sub-Saharan Af-

rican migrants and asylum seek-

ers live. About 100 people share

the ‘house’, the majority arefrom Sudan and Eritrea.

Every now and then Cal-

ais’ riot police raid Africa House,

arresting any migrants they

catch. In February, one migrant

was chased up on the roof of

Africa House, fell and broke

his wrist. In the scufe that followed, two

people from the Calais Migrant Solidar-

ity group were also arrested after try-

ing to alert the migrants to the police pres-

ence and taking pictures of the arrests.

Celine, a nurse working at the medi-

cal centre for immigrants in Calais, is furi-ous. “The man is very lucky he broke only his

wrist, he can die or become paralysed.” And

this is not the rst time an immigrant has fall-

en from a roof and broken bones running away

from the police, she says. “Sometimes they ar-

rest them here [at the medical centre]. Last

summer it happened. Everybody jumped.”

Haroon Abdurallam, a 25-year-old asy-

lum seeker from Sudan, lives in Africa House.

He lifts his hat to reveal a scar where he was

struck by a French policeman. “I don’t care.I am not scared, I am not a criminal. If you go

anywhere, everyone looks at you like you are

an animal. They don’t like black people. Police

harassment makes [us] feel like animals.

Police harassment is another reason im-

migrants hate Calais. The criminalisation of

migrants that begins when they

enter Europe and become ‘il-

legal immigrants’, ends in places

like Calais, where a special po-

lice force patrols the streets andsquats looking for immigrants

without papers to arrest.

“The police drive around

in vans looking for people who

have dark skin because that is the

only way they can really nd peo-

ple who don’t have papers. They

say it is not racist but … it is not

very convincing,” says Matthieu

Gues, an activist from the Calais

Migrant Solidarity group.“They go round town dur-

ing the day, they also go straight

to the squats and camps, that is

where they check people’s IDs.

And we try to be there to warn

people that the police are com-

ing.” When they are arrested

40



they are held for anything between 24 hours

or a week or more. This might happen once

a week, once a day or in some cases, several

times in one day. Every time they are arrested

they must walk six miles back from the policestation to their squats or camps in Calais.

Mohammed Asif, a 27-year-old Hazare Af-

ghani who has been all over Europe trying to nd

a place to settle, is tired. “I had a small tent. The

police cut it and took blanket and put inside car.

Every time police control for [your] document.

‘Where you sleep? Who are you?’ When you come

to eat at Caritas, the police harass you. They take

you to police station, maybe put you in jail.

“In one week maybe three times. It

is too tiring. We got put inside the car, yougo to police station, police station put you

to jail for two, three days, one week. You

leave the station. It is too much.”

NGOs and charities working in Calais and

Dunkirk where police are equally aggressive are

nonplussed at the tactic, which does not seem to

have any point to it. No one is deported and no n-

ger prints are checked during these arrests. Matt

Quinette from Médicins du Monde says:

“People are living like animals

and for the police and the au-

thorities it is not enough.”

“They [the police] destroy their shelter reg-

ularly. They destroy food. They arrest the people

so many times. One time we had a young guy who

was 19 or 20 years old, he was kept three times

in the retention centre during 15 days, without

any results. He was still in the camps, still on the

coastline trying to reach England. But for him

it is really difcult, he is really suffering.”

“We [Medicins du Monde] have been red

from south Darfur yesterday. Can you imagine if in Darfur we have a healthcare centre and peo-

ple are arrested on the way? Can you imagine

that we give goods to the people to build a shel-

ter to improve their living conditions and the lo-

cal authority of Darfur destroyed it? What will

happen? You will have international community

shouting, you will have UN shouting, here it hap-

pens every day and nobody does anything.”

Those still intent on getting to Britain live

in camps close to the ferry ports. A groupof Eritreans has set up camp 50-odd kilo-

metres from Calais town centre in some

woodland close to a motorway service station.

From there they might try to smuggle themselves

into a truck, while the driver stops some tea.

At another camp, hidden by a small forest

just off a motorway in Teteghem, outside Dunkirk,

a group of Afghans share four large tents made

from wood and thick plastic sheets. The muddy

camp is covered in empty bottles, old clothes,

odd shoes and stale bread. A stack of dirty plastic

plates have been left in an old trolley. The Af-

ghans are asleep having spent all night trying to

stow away on trucks heading to England.

The France terre d’asile eld workers ar-

riving to provide medical care for immigrants,are

annoyed at the mess. If the place isn’t kept

clean, the authorities will destroy it, they say.

41



Their shoes are worn from

walking and they are

covered in bruises

and scrapes,acquired either

by running from

the police or falling

from trucks

But the Afghans living in the camp do not expect

their stay to be long. Everyday they search for a

truck or lorry to stow away in, and everyday they

believe is the day they will get to Britain.However, their chances are slim; there

are around 6,000 trucks crossing to Dover eve-

ry day, 99% are searched for stowaways.

This does not bother Zia-ur-ahman, pic-

tured above. He emerges from his tent, shivering

wincing slightly. He has no socks on and wears a

thin coat over his jumper. His left eye is closed

and sunken into his swollen cheek. The 14-year-

old fell off a truck the night before. Zia-ur-ah-

man, who left his home in Kabul, is not deterred.

He plans to try the trucks again tonight.Many of the men and boys need medi-

cal attention, it is a chilly winter and many

wear thin torn clothes. Their shoes are

worn from walking and they are covered in

bruises and scrapes, acquired either running

from the police or falling from trucks.

At another camp, this one half provided by

Dunkirk’s local authority, immigrants from

a mix of nationalities, Kurds, Iranians, Ira-

qis, Afghans and Vietnamese, live in miser-

able conditions. They are much less chirpythan the young Afghans a few miles away.

The council has provided one large

marquee, big enough to t around 30

people in it, and a smaller tent.

The Afghans in the camp have built their

own shelter away from the council tents us-

ing bits of plastic nearby among some trees. It

would be much more comfortable in the large

tent, but they accuse the Kurds of not wanting

to “live with others”. The two Vietnamese peo-

ple avoid the conict, refusing to speak to an-yone and are left alone in the small tent.

It is cold and dirty, and everyone is

tired and ill. A harmless cold can quickly

turn nasty if a person sleeping outside dur-

ing wet weather, with no warm clothes and

hot food only two or three times a week.

“The humanitarian situation is very bad”, says

42



Matt Quinette. “We are in France but you can-

not imagine we are in France. People have real

difculties getting access to water, they don’t

have hygiene, they don’t have good shelter,

they are open to the wind, humidity, they are

vulnerable with the cold. There is no waste

management in the camps … so sanitary con-ditions on these camps are really, really bad.

They affect the health of the people.”

A visit from UNHCR ofcials based in Calais

elicits only a sarcasm from one Iraqi. “ Thanks,” he

says, voice full of disgust as the familiar ack jack -

ets wave goodbye after half an hour or so.

“We are pissed off here in this jungle,”

says Abdil bitterly. “Everyone is itchy because

we are dirty. Everyone catches eas. Every day

my legs hurt, my shoes..” His annoyance also

stems from being pulled out of a truck around7am that morning. He is tired at having to lie

to family at home in Afghanistan too.

“Everyone comes here to benet his family,

if I make money, I can send it back to Afghani-

stan. Everyone wants to escape war and the

threat of death from IEDs. Right now day by day

the situation is bad, what should we do?”

An Iraqi named Saman Gaala says he

was invited to Britain by a soldier ghting in

his country. The soldier gave Saman his mo-

bile and told him to call once he got to the UK.Despite the gloom, talk of the UK raises spir-

its. Saman’s friend wonders how much money

is needed to set up a business in England.

But eventually the hope vanishes. Some ir-

regular migrants in France are so mentally and

physically beaten, that they opt to be deported

voluntarily. “It is not the Europe they pictured

when they left their own country,” says Jacky

Verhaegen from Caritas. “Two to three hun-

dred have asked for voluntary returns to their

home country. Mostly for the same reasonthat they apply for asylum, desperation.

For those eeing countries like Eritrea, Su-

dan or Afghanistan, this is not an option, so they

plough their efforts into navigating the French asy-

lum system. If they have no ngerprint in another

European Union country, then they will receive a

permit to stay in France for one month, while their

asylum application is being processed. During this

period the government allocates them €300 a

month to live on while they wait for a decision,

twice as much as they would receive in the UK.

The entire process takes around one

year. The situation is slightly different if a mi-grant has a ngerprint in another EU country.

In such circumstances, their application is fast

tracked with no social assistance while they wait

for a decision. Fast track applications are most

likely to be rejected and deported to the coun-

try where their ngerprint was taken.

C

eline, who has been working

with immigrants in Calais for four

years at the medical centre for ir-

regular migrants and asylum seek-ers, thinks the French system needs to offer

more cultural integration for migrants.

“When they wait to get asylum, it can

be six months, it can be one year, it can be

two years, but there is not school. In England,

they have to learn English, here they don’t do

that. They have to help them to speak French.

How can they stay if they don’t speak the lan-

guage? That should be the minimum, they can’t

nd a job if they don’t speak French.”

There needs to be more facilities cen-tres in Calais providing language tuition and

support for children travelling alone, as more

and more migrants give up on the UK and

decide to settle in France, she adds.

The government has made steps in this di-

rection by setting up an asylum ofce in Calais. But

as yet, the ofce has not employed any translators

and its staff speak only French, making it impos-

sible for some newly-arrived asylum seekers to

make an application without help from an NGO.

“Some have asked for

voluntary returns to their

home country. Mostly for

the same reason that they apply

for asylum, desperation.”

43



Mohammed Asif, above, like many

asylum seekers and migrants at

this stage of their journey, is re-signed to his fate. He eyes are

also open to the European dream.

“Europe is small country. Working is very

difcult in Europe. I only like Europe because there

is no ghting and no crazy Taliban. I leave Afghan-

istan because of ghting for 100 years. They say

they bring democracy and the ghting will nish,

the ghting didn’t nish. The ghting doubled.

“This [is the] problem. Maybe one time you

want to go to the supermarket, you want to buy

small newspapers for familia. Then a car is parkednear the supermarket. Pshh. People dead.

“Every time bombs are put inside cars

On market Friday, when many people in the

market. There was a bomb, many people

don’t have hands, don’t have arms, dead.

“If in Afghanistan there is no ght-

ing, why would I leave, am I crazy?”

PROFILE

Sher Wali, below, is tired of mov-

ing and wants to settle.

“I used to live in the jungle for

three months, it was very difcult. Every

time people ght, drink alcohol, because they

are stressed and depressed,” he says. He now

lives with a French family, is studying Frenchand works as a mechanic. His gentle demean-

our belies the trauma of his journey.

Sher Wali was born on the frontier be-

tween Pakistan and Afghanistan, and lived in

the Kunar province in north-eastern Afghani-

stan. He left the country with his younger

brother for Europe several years ago, while

his mother went to Pakistan after the family

sold their property to nance the trips.

It took 15 months to get to Europe.

Sher Wali was deported twice from bothIran and Turkey, but determined, he and his

brother began again. Tragedy struck in Tur-

key when Sher and his 18-year-old brother

were separated. He has not seen or heard

from him since. “He will be 22 soon,” he says.

Sher continued alone to Romania, Hungary,

Germany, Belgium and now plans to stay in France.

44



The Caritas small centre, a short bus

ride from the town centre is a place

where immigrants can drop their

guard. For a few moments they ban-

ish all thoughts of their transient lives.

Gone are the national divisions and ten-sions of the camps; instead the African jokes

with the Afghan, different tribal groups, who

usually refuse to even to live next to each

other, show concern for each other.

Jacky who runs the centre with sever-

al volunteers says the change in some of the

Afghan boys, barely into their teens, is most

remarkable once

they are taken out

of their usual envi-

ronment.

“When yousee them outside

they are like small

men, playing rough

and when they come

here, they start

drawing, they start

playing games and

being a child again. I am no shrink, but it is

going to be difcult for them to build them-

selves as normal balanced adult with no teen-

age years. They are going from childhood tomanhood with nothing in between.”

The centre offers practical support but

most importantly it is a much-needed haven

away from asylum applications, the Channel

Tunnel, their camps and the French police.

Immigrants losing faith in the dream of

Europe they once harboured, are not

completely disillusioned. Thanks to many

committed and kind-hearted Europeans

working to help them, even if their govern-

ments refuse to do so. This is less aboutcharity and more about individuals, like the

young social workers in Spain and Italy, the

photographer in Greece, and Celine, the

nurse in Calais. They manage to see past

their status as ‘illegal’ and see the human.

There is nowhere immigrants need this

more than in Calais. At Celine’s surgery

for a few moments,

they are able to relax.

“It is important

for them to be nor-mal people,” says Ce-

line. “When they are

in the street people

are afraid [of them],

they don’t look at

them with respect.

“When they

speak English, they

talk with me, just to

explain when they are

tired, when they havea lot of stress and they

need to talk about that.

“But they are

very strong, they smile,

they are proud. They

need to talk about oth-

er things…they need to

know how we live. We talk about the dif-

ference. Some of them say they are tired of

being in that situation, to think only about

their situation and to talk only about theirsituation. So they need to talk about an-

other thing, to compare our lives. They like

to explain to me the story of their country

and they like to talk about their religion. I

like it, it is very interesting because we talk

about our differences but with respect.”

45



CONCLUSIONA summary of my ndings and conclusions

46



there were also large numbers of Eritrean, Suda-

nese and Iraqi migrants. According to the chari-

ties and NGOs working in France there are less

Afghans than a year ago as many have decided

to settle in Scandinavian countries instead.

In Spain, most of the migrants I inter-

viewed were from West Africa hailing from Ni-geria, Cameroon, the Republic of Guinea, Ivory

Coast, Niger, Algeria and Mali. There was also

a large group of Indians, many of whom had

travelled across the Middle East and Africa be-

fore entering Spain. In Italy there were a num-

ber of Somalis and migrants from North Afri-

can countries including Morocco and Tunisia.

I also met most of these groups in Greece, as

well as migrants from Palestine and Iran.

In my reporting I refer to irregular mi-

grants, immigrants, undocumented migrants andasylum seekers. I use these terms to loosely de-

scribe those who enter Europe without papers.

The migrants I met fall into two loose categories;

those seeking asylum and those looking for work.

Very often the two categories overlapped.

Most of the people I met seeking asylum

were from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan,

Eritrea and Iran. Some had specic reasons for

seeking protection. Many of the Afghans and

Iraqis I spoke to had worked with international

forces in their countries and had been threat-ened by militia groups. Abozar, one of the Af-

ghans protesting against the asylum system in

Greece, left his country with his young family af-

ter receiving death threats from the Taliban for

his work with ISAF. I met several members of

the Hazare tribe, a minority group in Afghani-

stan hated by parts of the Taliban. Other Af-

ghans simply did not want to live in a war zone

with the ever present threat of suicide bomb

attacks by the Taliban or misre by ISAF.

Others were seeking asylum after trying tosettle in another country and eeing that country

because of persecution or discrimination. This

scenario predominantly affected sub-Saharan Af-

ricans and Afghans who had spent time in Iran,

where their civil liberties were denied and they

were discriminated against in the job market.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this report was to docu-

ment the experiences of irregular mi-

grants travelling through Europe to

Britain to pave the way for a more in-

formed discussion about immigration. Currently

in Britain, the issue is too often glossed over

with political rhetoric and myth, rather thaninformed facts and gures used in their proper

context. This has created a gap in public knowl-

edge about an issue important enough to inu-

ence the way people vote in elections.

My report sought to answer several ques-

tions to help better inform policy and debate on

immigration. I chose to focus on asylum seekers

and migrants who travel without documents, those

referred to as ‘illegal’ immigrants in public debate.

These groups are most potent in popular imagina-

tion and regularly feature in tabloid reporting andspeeches made by senior politicians. It is this group

that resonates most with the British public.

For a better-informed discussion, I de-

cided it was important to understand more

about irregular migrants travelling to Brit-

ain and their motives for doing so. The

questions I sought to answer were:

• Who are the migrants travelling irregu-

larly to Britain?

• Why do they want to come to Britain?

• How do they get here?

• What are the difculties they face in

Europe?

I chose to focus on the role of the

European Union as many irregular mi-

grants in Britain travel through sever-

al European countries to get here.

Who are the migrants travelling

irregularly to Britain?

The migrants I met in Greece, Spain, Italy and

France were mostly from Africa and the Middle

East. The biggest group were Afghans, who I

met in every country except in Italy. In France

“

”47



Many of those who I met travelling to

Britain were eeing enormous poverty and a

dire lack of employment opportunities in their

country of origin. One Nigerian migrant I met in

Ceuta explained with huge frustration, that de-

spite having graduated from university, he had

no chance of ever nding work without the rightconnections to navigate the corrupt job market.

What this illustrates is that objectively the fact

that a person is an economic migrant does not

mean that their reasons for migrating are invalid

or that they are undeserving of protection.

Why do they come?

I found that the reasons that migrants travel to

Britain are varied. In addition to the economic

and political reasons discussed above, many irreg-

ular migrants travelling to Britain have a skewedidea of life here. Many have grand dreams about

what they will be able to achieve in Britain. A

destitute Iraqi in Dunkirk asked me, for example,

how much he would need to set up a business

in the UK. That was his plan and he wanted to

know how long it would take to get started. In

nearly every country, I met migrants who knew

someone who claimed to have set up a business

in Britain, bought a car and a house. An Afghan

in Calais said he would be happy with running

a small shop. There was a general consensusthat Britain was a place where there were plen-

ty of jobs and hard work would be enough to

run a successful business. This begged the ques-

tion, where do these ideas come from?

During my reporting I discovered three main

factors inuencing this perception.

The rst is migrants themselves glossing

over their situation to family back home and to

other people they meet. Many are too ashamedto reveal the extent of their poverty and so em-

bellish how well they are doing. In France, charity

worker Jacky Verhaegen told me that one migrant

took a picture next to his charity’s van, pretend-

ing that it was his own, in order to send it home

to his family to show that he was doing well.

CONCLUSION

Yasmin, an Iranian woman who migrated to

Greece with her family, explained that she was

persecuted in Iran for marrying an Afghan.

Many of the asylum seekers could also be

described as economic migrants in that they

wanted to work so they could send funds to fam-

ily back home or to raise money to study in or-der to gain work. Abdarrazaq, who I met in Italy,

was one example of this. He ed his country be-

cause of conict. The violence in Somalia meant

if he stayed he might be killed. This would leave

his wife, mother and sisters without an income.

But another reason for leaving was the insecu-

rity of his job as a teacher; he did not know how

long his institution would survive the conict and

be able to pay him. Therefore he left for a safer

country with better job opportunities. The vola-

tile situation in Somalia means many aid agencies,a major source of alternative jobs, have left the

country. At the same time businesses will not in-

vest in a region with no government to regulate

and build infrastructure. So in many ways, people

eeing Somalia are leaving to seek better eco-

nomic opportunities and are also eeing conict.

Like many others, Abdarrazaq is therefore both

an asylum seeker and an economic migrant.

One of the difculties with the debate

about immigration is the idea that migrants

can be divided into “good” and “bad” migrants.Economic migrants are frequently considered

to be bad migrants; it is thought that they are

here to steal jobs and milk the benet system.

Those seeking asylum on the other hand are

generally considered to be the “good” migrants

and it is believed that it is only to these peo-

ple that Britain has a duty to welcome.

This narrative of “good” and “bad” migrants,

as shown through the cases referenced above,

fails to recognise nuances of migration, for exam-

ple that a person may be both an asylum seekerand economic migrant at the same time.

Equally the idea that an econom-

ic migrant is a “bad” migrant per se fails to

take into account the economic difcul-

ties or the level of destitution which a per-

son may experience in their home country.

“

”48



aspire to for people in developing countries. It

is mostly aimed at the growing middle classes

and a rich elite who can afford to attend foreign

universities or shop in London. Yet the same ad-

vertising impacts disproportionately on those

on the poorest in those countries who have a

greater need and desire to escape. For examplein Greece, Hadim from Senegal told me: “I know

London, I see it in the computer. London is very

nice place. The people have jobs. In London –

you don’t make problems for the people and they

don’t make problems for you. I like this.” Simi-

larly in Lampedusa, an Italian who had recently

returned from Tunisia remarked on the high level

of Italian cultural inuence in the country.

How do they get here?

During my reporting I identied two major routesto Europe. The rst was across the Middle East

to Turkey and then over the border to Greece.

This route was predominantly taken by the Af-

ghans, Iraqis and Iranians I interviewed.

The second route was across Africa to

the Maghreb, and then on to Spain or Italy.

Within this, the Somalis, Eritreans and Suda-

nese who I interviewed had travelled north

through Libya, then across the Mediterranean to

Italy. Others from West African countries said

they travelled through Algeria, then Moroccoor the Canary Islands and on to Spain.

There were however others who made jour-

neys that diverged from this route, generally as a

result of steps taken from Spain and Italy to pass

the burden of border control to the Maghreb. For

instance, a number of West Africans and Moroc-

cans I interviewed said they had own to Turkey

as this journey did not require a passport. From

there they crossed the border into Greece.

Each of these journeys is fraught with in-

surmountable difculties. From the migrants Ispoke to it became clear that there are a num-

ber of major, recurrent, humanitarian trag-

edies that occur during these journeys.

One is the peril involved in crossing the

Mediterranean Sea. I watched two small boats

carrying around 30 people arrive in Lampedusa;

CONCLUSION

Others, who have made it to Europe, say

that no one at home will believe them were they

to tell the truth about the difculties to be faced

in Europe. Samuel, a Ghanaian migrant living in

Italy told me that his friends back home did not

believe him when he said life was tough in Eu-

rope – a consequence of the fact that so manyembellish their successes in Europe and under-

play the difculties. Britain’s recent history of

welcoming migrants from its former colonies

also plays a role. It is of course true that many

migrants have come to Britain and set up busi-

nesses, some very successfully and this resonates

still with would-be migrants. However the cur-

rent economic climate means this sort of entre-

preneurship is far more difcult today. Coupled

with this, the government’s policy to reduce im-

migration and the lack of legal migration routesfor the low skilled and the poor means they sim-

ply will not be welcomed in the same way.

The second factor inuencing their idea of

Britain as El Dorado is the sheer desperation of

migrants after their grim experiences, particular-

ly in other European countries. I found this par-

ticularly prevalent among those I interviewed in

France who had made their way across Europe.

By the time they arrived in France, many migrants

were bitterly disappointed by their experiencesof Europe so far leaving them ever more deter-

mined to get to the Britain. Many were still in

shock about conditions in Greece, often their en-

try point into Europe. For example Sharaf from

Sudan was astonished by the state of Greece’s

reception centres. He could not believe that he

was in Europe and yet had to rummage through

dustbins for food. Such experiences concen-

trate their minds on the UK. It comes to sym-

bolise their last hope. In the words of Sandra,

a social worker working with migrants in Italy,“without hope a human being is dead”.

The third factor inuencing the decision of

migrants to travel to Britain is the impact of glo-

balisation. The lifestyle of the West has been pack-

aged, marketed and served up as something to

“

”49



Crossing the Aegean Sea is another dan-

gerous route for migrants crossing into Europe

through Greece. An Afghan woman in Greece

explained that when smugglers put them in a

boat from Turkey it was supposed to take them

to Italy. Instead they spent 16 terrifying hours

oating aimlessly in the Aegean Sea. The boat be-gan to sink and eventually they were rescued by

Greek coasts guards. Four people drowned.

The third of these humanitarian disasters,

perhaps most controversial, is the treatment of

migrants passing through Libya on their way to

Europe. Libya is one of the few countries not

signed up to the Refugee Convention and so is

not obliged to provide special protection for asy-

lum seekers. But not only does it not provide pro-

tection, the country actively violates the human

rights of migrants and asylum seekers. Despitethis well documented fact, Italy has a treaty with

Libya, under which Libya is paid to stop any mi-

grants crossing from the country to Europe.

The migrants I interviewed that had crossed

through Libya spoke of violent trafcking rings

within the country, sometimes involving ofcials.

Migrants might be passed from smuggler to smug-

gler, each extorting money and torturing those

who refuse to pay. If the migrants are caught by the

police, they are thrown in prison, held there till they

pay a bribe or are released into the desert.One Eritrean asylum seeker I inter-

viewed in France was traumatised by his treat-

ment in Libya; he said the Libyans he encoun-

tered acted like “animals”. Abdarrazaq, who

I met in Italy, told me that on more than one

occasion he was “captured” and taken to or-

dinary people’s homes, tortured and forced to

pay hundreds of dollars to his captors.

Though such events happened under

the former Libyan regime, there is still danger

for migrants in Libya. Many have been caughtup in the revolution, often mistaken for mer-

cenaries ghting in Muammar al-Gadda’s

army, and imprisoned by rebel groups.

The fourth of these humanitarian tragedies

is found in the Sahara Desert. Crossing this vast

expanse migrants are entirely at the mercy of rut-

CONCLUSION

the men, all from Tunisian, were safe, but lucky.

Since that time there have been numerous re-

ports of boats carrying migrants from Libya and

Tunisia sinking after coming up against bad weath-

er, resulting in the death by drowning of the pas-

sengers. The boats that carry migrants are usual-

ly overcrowded and ill-equipped to survive poorconditions. The head of the immigration holding

centre in Ceuta told me that Spain had conducted

numerous missions to rescue migrant boats stuck

at sea and that overall, hundreds of migrants have

died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Another danger stems from the hazards in-

herent in migrants crossing the border between

Greece and Turkey. The Greek police chief Geor-

gios Salamagkas showed me images and a short

lm made of some of the rescue missions he had

made on the River Evros, which runs along theborder between Greece and Turkey. During a

particularly bad month in June last year, his of-

cers pulled 20 dead bodies from the river.

There are several reasons for these

deaths. One is that the people smugglers help-

ing migrants to cross the river show little re-

gard for their safety and think only of prot.

The more people they help across the river, the

more money they get. Some migrants I inter-

viewed said they paid $150 for this part of their

journey while others paid up to $500.Most migrants I interviewed just arriv-

ing in Greece from Turkey said they had been

packed into tiny inatable boats. These rubber

dinghies are not suitable for carrying several

people and in the poor weather simply burst.

If a migrant cannot swim, he will drown.

During the winter people also die of hypo-

thermia making this journey. The migrants I in-

terviewed all walked for miles when they rst ar-

rived in Greece. They usually arrive at night when

it is easier to dodge border patrol, but this makesit difcult to nd their bearings as they make their

way through acres of farmland and woodlands. A

Greek villager told me that many seek shelter in

water wells where they freeze to death. During

December 2010 and the rst few weeks of Janu-

ary 2011, eight people died of hypothermia.

“

”50



On arrival in Greece Yasmin desper-

ately tried to contact the man, believing that

he would help them complete their jour-

ney. She and her husband had paid everything

they had to him. Unsurprisingly they were

unsuccessful in their attempts to nd him.

The difculties they face in Europe

For nearly all of the migrants I interviewed the

trauma of their journey to Europe continued once

they arrived. Though the specic difculties, and

the extent to which the difculties resulted from

the actions of the state, varied from country to

country, there was a common thread of inhuman-

ity, degradation and indignity which ran though the

experiences of the migrants that I spoke to.

Greece:

In Greece, as has been discussed, migrants

rst contend with the life-threatening dan-

gers inherent in the border crossing. In ad-

dition to this there is the presence of Fron-

tex, the EU’s ofcial border police.

The Frontex ofcers I interviewed stated

that they did not use violence against migrants

wanting to cross into Greece, and that they pro-

vided care (blankets, water, etc) when necessary.

However, ultimately their role is to stop migrantsgetting into the EU, which they try to do by “scar-

ing” them away from the border. This creates two

problems. First, it makes it difcult for migrants

to enter without enlisting the help of smugglers,

who endanger their lives. Second, it also impacts

on those entitled to refugee protection in Europe.

Frontex’s approach does not distinguish between

true asylum seekers and economic migrants.

Once migrants have passed into Greece,

they then have to contend with terrible condi-

tions in the country’s reception centres. Many aremakeshift cells in border town police stations. An

ofcial I interviewed from Médecins Sans Fron-

tières described the centres as inhumane plac-

es with poor sanitation, serious over-crowding

and freezing temperatures leading to many peo-

ple becoming seriously ill. However, the over

CONCLUSION

hless trafckers and corrupt border police.

People trafckers and bandits are a particu-

lar menace to those crossing the Sahara through

Algeria to get to Morocco. Jesus Castro Gontales,

a charity worker in Ceuta who has worked with

many migrants that have made the journey, said

gangs of trafckers patrolled large swathes of the desert, many with border police in their pay.

They use violence to intimidate migrants into pay-

ing for help to cross the desert. Any that do not

cooperate or do not have sufcient funds to pay

trafckers are left to fend for themselves.

Those who I interviewed reported that

hundreds did not make it and were left to die. Ab-

doulaye, a young man from the Republic of Guin-

ea, showed me stomach churning mobile phone

footage of the rotting bodies of migrants who had

died of thirst and the heat in the Sahara Desert.Those that make it across the Sahara into Moroc-

co, then come up against the Moroccan border

police who, according to Jesus, have been known

to round migrants up, drive them out of Mo-

rocco and leave them to die in the desert.

Involved in all of the journeys that I have

described, and exacerbating the scale of the trag-

edies which take place, are the people trafckers

who transport migrants, extorting large amounts

of money, failing to alert them to the dangersof their journeys and refusing to provide suf-

cient protection. In Greece Salamagkas lamented

the fact that trafckers, who might extort sev-

eral thousand Euros per migrant per journey,

would not even provide €3 life jackets for the

people they sent across the River Evros.

Along all the migration routes the trafck -

ers charge exorbitant fees for doing as little as

providing a imsy boat to cross the Mediterra-

nean or showing migrants in Calais which lorry

depot to stow away in. Often they take a mi-grant’s life savings and do not even deliver on

their promise of help. Yasmin, the Iranian woman

I met in Greece, said the person who helped her

family migrate from Iran had promised to help

them to Switzerland. Instead he put them on a

boat from Turkey and they ended up in Greece.

“

”51



sharing three rooms between 24 of them. With

little chance of nding work, one family were

forced to rely on the income made by their

9-year-old son selling cigarette lighters.

All of the problems described above which

migrants experience in Greece are exacerbated

by the Dublin II system. Under Dublin II, migrantscan only make an asylum application in the rst

European Union country they enter. They can-

not lodge an asylum in any other country and if

they do so they will be deported back to that

rst country. This creates a paradoxical situation

for migrants in Greece. As Greece is the most

popular entry point into Europe it is the country

in which migrants are most likely to claim asylum.

Having done so, the poor conditions for asylum

seekers soon encourage those same migrants to

seek refuge elsewhere in Europe. However theDublin II system means that as soon as they claim

asylum elsewhere they will be sent straight back

to Greece where their troubles start over.

Italy:

For the migrants I met in Italy, the biggest dif-

culties faced there were racism, economic ex-

ploitation and policy restricting immigrants’ from

being granted Italian citizenship. I spoke to sev-

eral Italians who claimed that migrants were subject to a number of populist policies introduced

by the government to distract people from the

other serious problems such as unemployment.

Last year, the government tried to enact a policy

that would deny any migrants without documents

access to health care. They wanted doctors to

refuse treatment and call the police instead. Ital-

ian doctors refused to go along with this and

the government eventually backed down.

The lack of jobs and miniscule wages for

migrants mean many live in severe poverty.Samuel, a Ghanaian migrant I interviewed in

Sicily told me he cried on seeing the poverty

of his fellow migrants when he rst arrived in

Palermo, which has a growing migrant commu-

nity. Stories abound of employers refusing to

pay irregular migrants proper wages and sack-

CONCLUSION

whelming difculty for migrants seeking refuge in

Greece is the asylum system itself. Making an ap-

plication is difcult and there is very little access

to legal advice or translators to help those who

do not speak Greek. Migrants I met leaving recep-

tion centres were given a one-month temporary

residence permit written in Greek (though oneofcial told me an English version is also available)

a language they did not understand. Those who

managed to lodge an asylum claim faced a wait

of sometimes years for it to be resolved. Greece

has a backlog of at least 40,000 incomplete asy-

lum cases. In Athens, in their despair over the

time taken to determine their asylum claims, 100

Afghanis set up a protest camp in the city cen-

tre. Eight of them sewed their lips together with

a needle and thread, symbolising the voiceless-

ness that they felt, and went on a hunger strike.One of the protestors had been waiting eight

years for a decision on his asylum claim.

Further, the number of asylum seekers rec-

ognised as refugees in Greece is less than 1%,

the lowest in the European Union. Yet the ma-

jority of migrants that cross into Greece have a

strong claim to asylum as they come from war

torn countries like Afghanistan and Somalia. The

logical inference is that a proportion of genuine

asylum seekers are being refused protection sim-

ply because Greece’s system is inadequate.Though migrants in Greece are entitled to

a six-month work permit it is practically very dif-

cult for them to obtain one. The permit pro-

cessing centre in Athens opens for applications

just once a week around midnight. The ofce

only takes 20 applications leaving hundreds with-

out a permit. The effects of this are that many

migrants are not able to work and are reduced

to poverty. Because they do not have a legal sta-

tus, they cannot leave Greece legally. In effect

they are trapped. The poverty among migrantsin Athens in particular, is shocking. Many are reli-

ant on soup kitchens, like the one I visited run

by Caritas, where migrants from around the

world queued for the only meal they would get

that day. They usually live in tiny overcrowded

ats. I visited a group of Afghans and Iranians

“

”52



The migrants in Ceuta are stuck in a cruel

limbo. Many have made often traumatic journeys

across the Sahara Desert, and many have genu-

ine political asylum claims. Many are young, ambi-

tious and with a strong desire to seek a better

opportunities. I interviewed an Indian migrant

who had spent four years on the island, protest-ing against a deportation order and waiting for

an opportunity to travel to the peninsula. Rocky

left India to complete his studies in business

abroad. Instead of furthering his education, his

life has been on hold for four years as he ghts

for the opportunity to stay in Europe.

France:

In France, the criminalization of migrants was par-

ticularly noticeable. In both Calais and Dunkirk many report facing constant harassment from the

special police force. These ofcers are normally

employed to keep public order during riots, but

unofcially they are regularly deployed to ar-

rest and re-arrest migrants. Mohamed Asif com-

plained of being arrested sometimes up to three

times in one week. Each time a migrant is arrest-

ed in these areas the police take them to a po-

lice station six miles away. Without money to pay

for public transport they must walk the six miles

back to their camps frequently with inadequatefootwear. In Calais, one migrant fell from the roof

of a derelict building and broke his wrist trying to

escape the police. NGOs were at a loss to explain

the police policy as the migrants involved are al-

ways released from custody without charge.

In Dunkirk, Matt Quinette of Mé¬dicins du

Monde expressed his fury to me that the police

would go so far as to destroy camps and con-

scate the migrant’s plastic sheets which are all

they have to shelter themselves. This approach,

while popular with the French public leavesmany migrants street-homeless without even the

most basic protection from the elements.

Another difculty is a lack of proper cul-

tural integration. There are not enough facili-

ties in and around Calais to help asylum seek-

ers properly integrate into France, such as

CONCLUSION

ing them once they became regularised in order

to avoid increasing their pay. Samuel said that if

he were to charged €50 for example, for a job,

there might be another migrant, more desper-

ate than him, willing to work for €5. Such des-

peration coupled with lack of regulation and

enforcement left the migrants in Italy highlyvulnerable to labour market exploitation.

Spain:

In Spain the picture I gleaned, based on the in-

terviews I conducted in Malaga and on the island

of Ceuta, was of a better functioning and more

humane immigration system. The opportunities

for work for example are higher than in Greece.

After three years of working in Spain migrants

can apply for a residency permit. The supportfor recognised refugees is also commendable. A

new immigration law currently working its way

through Spanish parliament includes plans to of-

fer protection for those who fall outside of the

Refugee Convention but still face persecution in

their country of origin. There will also be support

for other previously neglected groups including

victims of domestic abuse and homosexuals.

However, there are still huge difculties

for migrants who travel to Spain through Ceuta

or Melilla, the two Spanish enclaves borderingnorthern Africa. The Spanish government re-

fuses to let those migrants pass through to the

Spanish mainland, except in exceptional cases

where a person is seriously ill or has a small

child. Those applying for asylum must start and

nish the entire process on the islands.

In Ceuta, some of the migrants waited as

much as a year for their cases to be decided.

Meanwhile, they had no access to work while

they waited. Ceuta is a small island with few le-

gal jobs available to the migrants there. Shouldthey attempt to work illegally they must com-

pete with the established workforce of Moroc-

cans for black market work. Some migrants I

interviewed said that in the circumstances best

they could hope to earn was a few euros park-

ing cars or carrying people’s shopping.

“

”53



their hope in Britain becomes stronger. Mak-

ing sure that the common asylum system works

efciently and humanely is in Britain’s inter-

est and would also lessen the horric experi-

ence for irregular migrants in Europe.

To this end each country ought to have a

formal asylum process, where the basis for grant-ing refugee status tallies across Europe. There

needs to be trained staff and translators to con-

duct asylum interviews and counselling for those

who have made traumatic journeys. If the process

is going to take months and years, asylum seekers

must be given access to language lessons, and edu-

cation or skills training. They should be given tem-

porary status which allows them to work legally,

so they are not vulnerable to exploitation.

Critics argue that this means they put

down roots, making it harder to deport themif their applications are refused. If this is the

case, the application process needs to be a

matter of weeks rather than years. It is cru-

el to make someone waste precious years

of their life, unable to work or study, living in

poverty or held in a reception centre.

The prospect of a genuinely harmonious

European system is a long way off. Under the lat-

est plans set out in the Stockholm agreement,

the Union agreed to a 2014 deadline for the next

phase of integration. Yet current negotiations tocreate a mechanism to support countries strug-

gling to cope with exceptional inuxes of migra-

tion have come up against objections from 24 of

the 27 EU member states, including the UK.

What is clear is that European coopera-

tion is crucial to solving the problem of irregu-

lar migration to the UK. And in my view it is a

level of cooperation worth striving for.

It is now a little over 60 years since Brit-

ain signed up to the European Convention on

Human Rights; a landmark international trea-ty born out of the privations of the Second

World War and championed by Sir Winston

Churchill himself. The opening preamble reads:

“Reafrming their profound belief in those

fundamental freedoms which are the foundation

CONCLUSION

language lessons or information to help them ac-

cess the jobs market, while they wait for their

claim to be decided. Instead many wait for as

much as a year for a response to their asylum

claim, during which time they complete no inte-

gration programme and only learn French infor-

mally. As a result, even for those who I spoketo with genuine asylum claims, there was a lack

of impetus for them to stay in France and many

elected to continue their journey on to Britain.

If there were greater support, they might de-

cide to stay in France where there is a better

chance of refugee recognition and better social

assistance, rather than leave for Britain.

Conclusion: what does this mean for

Britain?

To reduce irregular migration to Britain, someargue that the solution is to tighten the border

control to prevent people from entering. How-

ever if the Greek model is anything to go by (i.e.

Frontex border control) this is unlikely to be an

effective solution. More to the point it does not

get to the root of the issue. During my report-

ing I identied three major drivers that play a

role in a migrant’s decision to leave home and

travel to Britain irregularly. These are:

1. The situation in their home country,

2. An idealised vision of Britain,

3. Trouble in other European countries

leading them to seek out Britain as an

alternative immigration option.

If the government wants to reduce irregular

migration then, in my view, policy must focus

on reducing the effects of these drivers.

More importantly, addressing these driv-ers would go some way toward reducing the

devastating human cost incurred by irregular

migrants travelling across Europe. As detailed

in my report, migrants face extreme difculties

and deprivation as they travel across Europe. As

their situation worsens from country to country,

“

”54



CONCLUSION

of justice and peace in the world and are best

maintained on the one hand by an effective po-

litical democracy and on the other by a com-

mon understanding and observance of the hu-

man rights upon which they depend.”

Addressing the root causes of irregu-lar migration and reducing the suffering, in-

dignity and deprivation experienced by the

migrants I met on my Churchill Travel Fel-

lowship and others like them, would go some

way toward fullling these aspirations.


September 2011

“

”55



AcknowledgementsI would like to thank all the migrants and asylum seekers who told me their stories, trusted me and gave

me access to some of the most difculties times in their lives. I hope I have done them justice.

I would particularly like to thank Ezmerey Ahmadi for taking me to Victoria Square and helping with Farsi

translations. I would also like to thank Abozar Jalily for keeping me updated. Thanks to Mawat Ali for help -

ing with Italian translations. Thank you also to Abdoulaye Bah for sharing what he witnessed in the Sahara.

Thanks also to Haroon Abdurallam for showing me Africa House.

I would like to thank all the ordinary people, particularly villagers in Greece, who showed me great hospi-

tality and provided immense insight and put up with my constant questions.

A huge thank you to Greek photojournalist Maro Kouri for some great team work in Evros and for her

wonderful pictures taken while we were in northern Greece. I would also like to thank Dimitris Aspiotisfor sharing his moving pictures of the Afghans in Athens. Thanks also to Nikos Markogiannakis.

Thanks to all the ofcials, charities and NGOs who gave honest and frank testimonies about their work

and sometimes gave up hours of their time to assist me with my research. They include:

Spyros Rizakos from Aitima, Médecins Sans Frontières Greece, Caritas Athens, George Petropoulos from

the Hellenic Police and Frontex, Georgios Salamagkas, Centro Astralli in Palermo, Alfonso Cinquemani,

Mauro Seminara, Progetto Tarik, Alessandra Voutsinas, Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR)

in both Ceuta and Malaga, Ivan Carlin, Alejandro Romero Aliaga, CETI staff in Ceuta, Sheila Mohamed

Salah and her co-worker, Carlos Bengoechea, Maite Perez, Jesus Castro Gontales from the Association

of Elin, Asylum Aid, Nick Oakeshott, Jean Lambert, Matthieu Gues from Calais Migrant Solidarity Group, Jacky Verhaegen, Caritas Calais, the Médicins du Monde team in Dunkirk, Matt Quinette, Chloë Lorieux,

France terre d’asile, Celine, Salam Association.

My sincerest thanks to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for awarding me such a generous fellowship

and giving me a fantastic opportunity. I gained an extrordinary amount from the fellowship both profes -

sionally and personally.

Most of all I would like to thank Connor Johnston whose encouragement, support and patience kept me

going from start to nish.

a study of irregular migration through europe to britain

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