Diallo is a survivor. He has tried to reach Europe by sea and land. He even entered Ceuta on two occasions, although he was returned hot by the Spanish police to Morocco. He also got on a boat to try to reach the Canary Islands, but bad weather caused them to lose their way and spend five days in the ocean until they were saved by the Moroccan coast guard. Ten people who were traveling died in the same boat. She regrets that he has not been lucky enough to enter Europe, as other friends have. He sums up his life in Morocco as “daily suffering & rdquor ;.
It’s been five years since he left Guinea-Conakry, and now waits for the moment to return home. “When there is no solution, there is nothing to do. Life is like that & rdquor ;, laments Diallo (fictitious name). His father is sick and wants to meet him again. He explains that he is the youngest of the family, He is 27 years old, and that since he left he has lost two brothers. “For this reason I have decided that if my father dies, he is going to do it in front of me, even if he is in poverty & rdquor ;.
Explain that in mali the route became “very complicated”, especially because of the mafias: “They sell you to other people, they put you in jail and you can’t get out if nobody pays for you”. She crossed the desert on foot because she was robbed and couldn’t pay to drive. He walked for more than two weeks through the desert: “A person I was with was left behind and I don’t know if they are alive or dead. There everyone looks for their way to survive & rdquor ;.
the moroccan border
When he tried to cross Algeria to Morocco, through the area of the city of Oujda “it was like in a movie”, account. There is a fence there and he says that when the Algerian police catch you, they beat you and send you to the desert, hundreds of kilometers away. On the third try he succeeded. In Morocco, he has traveled the country looking for a way to get to Spain, four years of looking for a life and marked by the forced transfers of the police far from the border.
jumped over the fence Ceuta on two occasions. “I entered next to the great forest, with other people, I walked three kilometers through the Ceuta forest until the Spanish police caught me, they took me back to Morocco and they sent me by bus to Tan Tan (more than a thousand kilometers south of the country)”, he explains. The second time he managed to enter Ceuta was at the end of the year 2021, although they also returned hot.
In Morocco, he worked on several occasions in the tomato fields in the southern city of Agadir. he they paid six euros a day for working eight hours without a break on the weekend. “The bosses could do whatever they wanted. When you don’t have papers you don’t have honor eitherYou can’t even talk to the police if you have a problem,” he explains.
Heading to the Canaries
With that money, he traveled to Dakhlasouth of Western Sahara, and tried to cross to the Canary Islands in January 2022. “A friend sent me to watch when a boat was leaving, but when I got to the water, I took advantage and got on it. That day, it was only God who helped me”, remember. There were 48 people, including women and children. After two days of sailing, they lost their way due to the strong waves and decided to turn around.
“In total we were almost five days at sea. Many were afraid, they cried, some jumped directly into the water, others died in the boat, we had neither water nor food & rdquor; Diallo recounts. Ten people lost their lives. “I thought we were all going to die there. I just started repeating: There is no God except God, and Muhammad is his prophet.”, account. One of the most important phrases in Islam that is also intoned when someone assumes that they are going to die. “Finally, we met the Moroccan Navy, which saved us & rdquor ;, she explains.
It was in Dakhla that he made the decision to return home when he learned that his ninety-year-old father was ill. He managed to reach Rabat and there he asked the IOM (UN International Organization for Migration) for voluntary return.
In 2021, 2,457 migrants who were in Morocco voluntarily returned to their countries of origin, according to the latest IOM report. The majority are Ivorians (657 people), Guineans (598) and Senegalese (367). It is the highest figure since this program, financed by the EU and other European countries such as Spain, was launched in 2005.
“My luck is not here & rdquor;
Mohamed (not his real name), also from Guinea-Conakry, made the same decision as Diallo in the Saharawi city of El Ayoun. “I have tried time and time again, my friends have tried and they have made it to Europe, but I have not. If I keep trying and forcing it, maybe one day I’ll die in the ocean and it’s all overThis is why I think my luck is not here. God has not wanted it to reach Europe & rdquor ;, he explains.
This 38-year-old man is physically tired, but especially mentally. He lives in a small house that he shares with three other people in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Rabat. He is worried because he doesn’t know how he will manage to pay the rent in four days. He barely leaves his apartment for fear that the police might arrest him for not having his residence.
Since he left his country by plane, it has been six years of trying his luck, taking risks and starting over. He spent three years in El Aaiún, there he tried to cross by boat on several occasions. Either the police stopped them before setting sail or they were rescued by the Moroccan navy. Also they cheated him out of 1,500 euros, when he paid a guy to cross, but never heard from again. He explains that in the city he was calm because, since he looks like a Saharawi, the police did not think that he was a migrant.
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The worst attempt was when they were three days adrift lost, before being rescued by Moroccan fishermen. Most of the time, the authorities sent them by bus to towns in the interior of the country, hundreds of kilometers away. He explains that when he was in Tangier, the police entered the house where they were sleeping at dawn, broke down the door and took them all to Tiznit, some 900 kilometers away. “It was during Ramadan & rdquor ;, he exclaims indignantly.
Now he is waiting in Rabat for the moment to return to Guinea-Conakry. Once he entered his country, Mohamed wants to start a small business with the help you receive from IOM. She also wants to see her two children, ages 11 and 10, since in the last five years she has seen them grow through her phone. “I wanted to enter Europe to send them money, I would have been proud, but it has not been possible and this annoys me a lot & rdquor ;, she laments.