"TANGER, MOROCCO"
To you it may sound as just another place.
To others it is an almost mythical refrain.
WHAT LITERALLY NOBODY TALKS ABOUT
Which is amazing since the region is absolutely world capital in something...
SPAIN keeps it in the closet, because the residents at the Costa del Sol are there for the sun, playa and shopping malls. Life is nice and solid as a rock.
MOROCCO doesn't put it in the spotlights either, because, well, tourism is booming, and we just already passed this law saying that harassing tourists is forbidden.
MANU CHAO talks about it. CHAMBAO does talk about it. (Click here for the video on YouTube).
It's a cat and mouse game, between one statue of a fatherly Christ and police in speedboats.
THE WILD CHILDREN
Or niños sueltos. An estimated 5000 of them. Currently dwelling through Spain, having been able to get into hiding onto a ferry or between lugage in a bus with tourists.
Ages: from 7 to 16. The youngest one known was 7 and got as far as Barcelona, 1000 kms to the north.
Nothing known. Most of them are believed to end up in networks (drug traffic or paedophiles).
Some organisations and individuals try to do what they can, but even with huge financial injections you can only start with centers that are able to lodge 12 or 20 children.
No, they are not cuddly. You do not know their names or where they come from (most likely giving false names and countries of origin). You do not know what they did to survive.
Easy prey for drug dealers, that can, for example, throw cigarettes through the windows of refugee houses to get them addicted.
IMMIGRATION AND BOAT PEOPLE
According to the United Nations, 300.000 to 500.000 migrants arrive yearly crossing the Gibraltar Straits.
It can simply not be estimated how many of them do so in an illegal way. In 2001 over 13.000 were intercepted entering Spain.
The Straits have been called the largest mass grave in Europe, with deaths resulting from drowning, burns brought on by soaking in a toxic mix of saltwater and gasoline, and boats being hit by tankers and ferries sailing through the busy Straits.
Between 1997 and 2000 over 3000 people died.
In Algeciras there is a public cemetery where hundreds of unidentified migrants are buried. Police have successfully identified about 50 bodies.
"Many do not arrive, they drown their dreams
Wet papers, papers without owner
Put yourself in their place."
Papeles mojados, Chambao.
